Ellie Di Julio's Blog, page 28
May 20, 2013
{Summer Rewind} They’re all gonna laugh at you!
When I was in middle school, I was a proud member of the chess club, which was run by my mother, who was also my English teacher.
I’ll give you some time to giggle.
Our handful of members ranged from age 12 to age 15 or so – it was open to grades 7-12, but most of the high schoolers were too cool for us. We were stereotypical nerds, a cadre...
May 15, 2013
Where we go from here
Tomorrow’s the big day, folks.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be prepping to have my hip operated on. I’ll spend 2-4 days in the hospital, then be home under the care of my mom and husband for the next two weeks. I’m not sure how long I’ll be down after that, but I wanted to make sure that you guys know I’m not abandoning you.
I decided to pull up some of my personal favourite posts from the archives for a summer rewind between now and the beginning of July. That way there’s still cool stuff going up h...
May 10, 2013
{Inkchanger Week} The unpublished epilogue
It’s day five ofInkchangerAwesomeness Week!
But alsowaaaah because it’s the last day.
I did save the best goodie for last, I must admit. Originally, Inkchanger had an epilogue, written in the form of Agent 97′s debriefing report, but I cut it before the second draft because it seemed like overkill. And then a bunch of people said they wanted to read it after they finished the book.
This version is modified to reflect the actual events of the story and containsHUGE MAJOR SPOILERS for the e...
May 9, 2013
{Inkchanger Week} Agent 97 appears
It’s day four ofInkchanger Awesomeness Week!
I know you’re not supposed to have favorites among your own characters, but Agent 97 is mine. I’ve also heard from loads of readers that he’s a fan favorite, too, which makes me extra special happy. He’s kind of a freaky mix of Agent Smith and Carrot Ironfoundersson, and I had so much fun writing him. What’s been most interesting is that he’s stuck with me long after Inkchanger was done; it’s possible you’ll see him again!
So enjoy this excerp...
May 8, 2013
{Inkchanger Week} Zara’s story
It’s day three ofInkchanger Awesomeness Week!
Today’s goodie is an excerpt from the story (one of two). This is an early point-of-view asides scattered throughout the story that gives you insight to Zara’s mind. It tells the story of her history of foster care and hints as the reason for her boarded-up heart. Enjoy.
INKCHANGER – Zara in foster care
to listen, left-click the link; to download, right-click and save
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They don’t tell you how it’s going to be when you...
May 7, 2013
{Inkchanger Week} Book soundtrack
It’s day two ofInkchangerAwesomeness Week!
Back in my heavy LARPing days, I’d write what was essentially fanfiction of our scenes just to entertain myself, and those stories always used a song as the focal point to pinpoint the tone. It got so that I’d even include lyrics as a framing device for even more impact.
But for some reason, I forgot about music when writing Inkchanger. It wasn’t until last week, when I was listening to my Tori Amos library, that I realized it was even an option...
May 6, 2013
{Inkchanger Week} Character concept boards
It’s day one of Inkchanger Awesomeness Week!
With my surgery coming up (10 days and counting), I wanted to do something extra-special for you guys since I’ll be out of the loop for nearly two months. I figured since I didn’t have much promo forInkchanger, I could release a bunch of goodies at once!
This is the first post in the five-dayextravaganza. There’ll be one post a day, Monday through Friday, basically rolling in the fun of the story (and piquing the interest of those who haven’t...
May 3, 2013
The State of the Ellie – May
I realize that I wrote a State of the Ellie in March but then promptly forgot. I’m blaming the stress of March and April. I’m also going to give the universe credit for getting me back into it now by making me hanker for a newsletter. The last two months are sort of a slurry in my brain right now, but I’ll do the best I can in catching you up. As always, any questions, concerns, or funny stories are always welcome in the comments.
Writing
I’m hoping you saw the release of Why Did I Write That?!...
May 1, 2013
Why Did I Write That?! An anthology of awful high school poetry
You’ve probably heard me talking about my “bad poetry project” the last couple of weeks on social media. This is it!
Itstarted as a wild hair, joking with friends about how hilarious it would be to release a chapbook of all the shitty poetry I’d written back in high school. And college. And after college. Anyway…
Turns out, not only are other people willing to admit they wrote shitty poetry when they were hormone-riddled, but they think it’s hilarious and want to share it.
A few exciting convers...
April 30, 2013
A final reminder to myself
And in the end,
you face all your challenges alone,
but the manner of the meeting
is up to you.
Hold your chin high,
put on the game face,
remember it’s not forever –
that suffering now means
freedom later.
You’re stronger in the broken places
with time.
Just bring it.
.
Other stories you might like:
Your Hardest Challenges Are Your Best Friends In Disguise
2013: The Year of Being Brave
Unconscious and out of control
