Briana Vedsted's Blog, page 27
May 19, 2013
Why I write
After commenting on a post by Charles Yallowitz about what inspires him to keep writing, he urged me to write about what inspires my writing and keeps me going. And here they are:
1. My love of literature that I gained in third grade
2. The dream I’ve had since I was thirteen to be able to write a novel
3. The hope that my name will one day be associated with great western books just like Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey.
4. Wanting to make my family proud
5. Prove to all the naysayers that I can do this, even without a degree in English or Creative Writing
6. My wish of sharing literature that is appropriate for all ages and can be enjoyed by all
7. Knowing that I’d rather be writing a book than having an office job
8. Hoping that when the day comes that I have children, they will be proud to have me for their mother and they can read my books and just smile.
9. Having to write down ideas as the inspiration flows into my head and has nowhere else to go.
10. Hoping that one day my work will make earn enough income that I can live comfortably and debt-free.
So there you are. Here are my ten reasons for writing. These are my inspiration.
May 17, 2013
Author Interview Program #17
It seems as though this week has been a good one for author interviews! Here’s another one for you before I call it quits for the week. Please welcome the wonderful Ms. L. Maire!
Where can we find you?
My blog: El Space and on Twitter. I’ll eventually create an author page under my pen name on Facebook. But not right now. I’d like to sell the manuscript first.
What is your author name?
L. Marie
What is the title of the book you’re currently working on?
Maiden’s Choice
What is the genre of your book?
Middle grade high fantasy. At first I was going for the teen market. But after my beta readers read it, I realized it fits a middle grade audience. And that’s the audience I’ve always written for anyway.
3-4 sentence synopsis of your book:
I can do it in one long sentence: Fifteen-year-old Gerta, who is mocked by the people in her village for believing in dragons they don’t believe exist, has to outwit not only those who kidnap her grandmother and use dragons as weapons, but also the mentor later betrays her.
What inspires you to write?
Everything. Kids, other stories, God, flowers—you name it. As soon as I learned to read, I wanted to write. After reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle when I was eight years old, I knew I wanted to write science fiction and fantasy, because those are the stories that flamed my imagination. We always had science fiction books around the house: Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, James Blish. Dad and I would watch Doctor Who, Monty Python, Star Trek (in various forms). He read fairy tales compiled by the Brothers Grimm to me at bedtime. I love those so much! They helped shape my sensibility toward fantasy. Those, and of course, Tolkien’s books. Oh and Robin McKinley—anything she writes. I have an innate curiosity about everything. My father used to complain that I asked too many questions and wore him out. I ask questions, because I really want to know the answers! Some might call this being nosy. I call it curiosity!
Self Publish or Traditional? Why?
Traditional. I’m shopping my manuscript to an agent now.
What advice would you give an aspiring author?
Work on your craft. Give it all you’ve got. Don’t settle for a first draft and call it done. Revise and repeat. Be persistent in the face of rejection.
Author Interview Program #16
Today I had the privilege of chatting with my good friend and fellow writer, Francesca. You would probably know her better as Franny, from http://frannychallenge.wordpress.com/ You’ll recall that it was this very talented Italian lady who gave me the idea to interview characters from my book. Now living in Ireland, Franny has embarked on a writer’s journey, and she agreed to let me interview her about it. So here she is!
What is your name, and do you use a pen name?
My name is Francesca Dalle Lucche, but I use the pen name Franny Stevenson, so it is easier for my readers to pronounce. A coworker called me “Franny”, and Stevenson is the surname of my favorite author, so I hope it brings me luck!
What books are you currently working on?
Etruscan Pledge is my main book right now and it is almost complete. I’m also working on a series of books, called the Vision Project, the drafts I’ve written for some of the books are the Knife, the Chain, and the Vision, The Heir and the Vision, and Solo of Water.
3-4 sentence synopsis for Etruscan Pledge:
Fedora loses her best friend in a terrible accident. She can’t console herself and decidrs to find a way to talk to him and hug him for the last time. Volterra lies on the ancient Etruscan soil and sometimes the ancient can mix to the modern.
3-4 sentence synopsis for the Vision Project:
The world of Sonrisa is coming out the biggest war everybody had seen. Black Dragon fell after managing to bring down a part of the big smile of the country. The evil Dragon is wounded but it’s not dead, so the next move will be trying to get its revenge moving into the shadow.
The aim will be to manage to let down the good power remaining in the world destroying little by little the key pillars of the Vision, according to which Sonrisa will be saved and freed from them!
What inspires your writing?
People I know, things that happening around me and being twisted by my imagination or association of idea and a big thing is coming out of my dreams!
Self-publish or traditional?
Traditional. I really hope to find an agent that thinks my work is worth his/her time.
What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
I really have to say I’d say do it only if you love it. Passion powers everything. Passion and enthusiasm are the two things that can probably bring you on even if your head is telling you to give up.
Anything else you’d like to say to your aspiring fellow authors?
For whomever out there that thinks that he/she’s taking long time learning, there is always someone taking longer! And you don’t finish learning. There is something new. Which is good because I think because it means that you’re open and modest enough to learn.
Thank you so much Franny! I had a great time talking to you! 
May 16, 2013
Author Interview Program #15
Yah! I got another author to interview! For now, until she’s more well-known, we’ll just call her Ellespeth. Give her a nice warm welcome, and than you again Ellespeth!
Where can we find you? (website, blog, twitter, facebook, etc.)
I am currently putting out pieces of prose for general readership. These pieces can be found on my blog: http://balconyviewz.wordpress.com
I am putting these pieces out as feelers for two small books currently seeding in my imagination. I am open to discussion and critique of these pieces and am trying to figure out how to best facilitate such exchanges.
What is your author name, and do you use a pen name?
Ellespeth
What is the title of the book you’re currently working on?
These are both small books of somewhat attached pieces of prose. Each small piece is a scene. Each scene carries the story forward – as the way our lives carry forward. Very few episodes have complete closure. This is how I view life.
The first little book is Flirting With the Moon. The second little book is Lauradale.
What is the genre of your book?
Fiction with touches of fantasy – like life. My hope is that my stories will lend well to many ages.
3-4 sentence synopsis
Flirting With the Moon will be pieces of prose loosely tracing the family line of a family from Scandinavia. It begins in the mid 1500’s and will end in the present day. The book will be in the form of stories carried down through the generations. Both women and men will pass down stories. That is important to me and challenging at the same time…to ‘see/feel’ life as a man might. Perhaps developing deeper understanding and respect.
Lauradale is the story of a young woman, from New Orleans – now living in Los Angles, who inherits a ‘cousin’s’ plantation cottage and all of its contents. A part of those contents is an old chest filled with family documents. One large bundle, of documents, contains letters and papers and legal documents pertaining to the purchase and history of Lauradale. The prose pieces will center around those documents and the life of the present day characters. I’m not sure how yet…not side by side – such as this happened the same. More like the documents can be story connector prose.
What inspires you to write?
Quite honestly, anything…depending on the moment and my mood and whether the sky is blue or the moon is full or if I’m inclined to write at that moment. And the realization that, for the most part – for reasons one might read or write a story, lives all over the world are somewhat similar. Layers of affluence against the backdrop of poverty; birth; life; death; joy; sorrow; love and loss and anger. It all depends on what I allow to inspire me that day or that moment.
Self Publish or Traditional? Why?
I’m not that far, yet. I suppose having a blog is a form of self publishing. I’m quite new to blogging but I find it a good way to get my prose out there and read.
What advice would you give an aspiring author?
“I work to support my writing,” is what some writers will tell you when asked what they do for a living. Don’t take that lightly. Look at Einstein. He wrote the theory of relativity while working a non-tiring job at the US Patent Office.
Also, Invest in a good set of headphones and USE THEM. Listen to music or sounds. If you are married or share living space, you wearing headphones means ‘disturb me at your own risk.”
May 15, 2013
My first real novel
I wrote this when I was fifteen, it was the first book that had over 100 pages, and I was (am) very proud of it. Looking at it now, I can’t help but notice how similar to “Snow White” it is! The title is “Forgotten“.
A young girl sat on a rock at the mouth of a great big cave.
The cave was located deep in the woods of Muerte Bosque, which meant woods of death in her language. She wore a long, pale blue dress with long sleeves edged with white cuffs. Her black hair was braided down her back in two long tails, tied with bits of thread. Her skin was lightly tanned, with a few freckles across the bridge of her nose. The girl might have been charming, but her mouth was turned down into a frightful frown, and her dazzling gray eyes, framed in the longest black lashes, were downcast. Though she was tall and willowy, she looked no older than sixteen, but she was really seventeen with her eighteenth year fast approaching. Her hands were tightly clasp around something, lying on her lap. There was a golden circlet that lay a few inches above the girl’s brow. It was the only thing bright, in the forest’s gloom. And it was the only thing that showed this girl was someone special. And she was indeed special. She was a princess, and the rightful heir to the throne. And yet here she sat, an unhappy, unwanted, and unloved girl. She had lived in that cave for over seven years. Why was she not ruling the country you ask? Well, that is quite a long story, so let us begin.
Only three years after she was born, her beloved, happy, and honest mother died. Her father, the young, proud and very handsome king, ruler of Orientasia, mourned her for many months, paying little, if any attention to his toddling daughter. The girl was looked after by her mother’s hand maid, Lana. Almost a year later, King Trenton had almost recovered from his sadness, but he had become a fierce, short tempered man. All the servants in the castle feared him. The villagers loathed to go to him with their problems. Even Lana, who had been around him since he had married Queen Annett, stayed out of his way. The only human being in the world who did not fear him, who had no need to fear him, was his little daughter, Venus. When Trenton was around her, he was a different person. He was a kind and loving man again, a doting father. He didn’t mind at all when she tugged at his long golden beard, or sat on his chest, bounced up and down and laughing at the top of her lungs. He would hide little golden trinkets in his pockets for her to find and play with. He would take her for rides with him on his big white stallion. He would hold her carefully, never letting her fall. But as soon as he left her side, he was again a fierce man. One day, Lana fell ill. For many days she lay in bed, no longer was she able to care for little Venus. When Lana wouldn’t get well, she was sent to a country with a dryer climate in hopes she would get better. But now, the King had no one who would care for his child. He frightened the village girls so much; they refused to care for the fair little princess.
One day, a very stately looking woman arrived at the castle. Her long blond hair was twisted up on the back of her head, and stuck out much like a thick horn, as the servants thought of it. Her face was sharp, with a pointy nose, high cheek bones, a dagger like chin, and icy blue eyes. Her face and hands were white as snow, and her gown was made of fox’s fur. She wore high heeled, silk shoes that made her look several inches taller. The king fell in love with her, and married her a few weeks later. The new Queen Lattice was a hard woman. King Trenton now found out she had been married to a wealthy Duke and she had a five and a half year old son. Yet her dislike for little girls was great. This sadly, was another thing the king had not known. For he had long been looking for a wife to care for Venus. But shortly after he was married, he found he had made a great mistake. Lattice despised his darling daughter, and kept well away from her. The king sought for a way to fix his mistake, but he found none. He became a very humbled, feeble, and greatly distressed man. Venus, who was five, greatly disliked her new mother, and made no attempt to hide it. When, on the rare occasion, Lattice spoke to her, Venus ignored her. I rather think it was because Venus sensed the woman was evil, and the girl wanted nothing to do with it. Children have a way of knowing more about people than adults do. King Trenton was now merely a toy in a cat’s grasp. Lattice used him to enforce new laws at her every whim. Lattice was now ruler of Orientasia, and to the king’s great despair, she wished for her son to be the next ruler. He knew that once Lattice’s son was old enough, there would be no hope for his own daughter. He knew Lattice would play with the balance of his kingdom, and somehow, someway, remove Venus from the throne. King Trenton was no longer the proud man he had once been. Now he used his every spare moment looking for a way to get rid of this new queen and her little son. For the next three years, King Trenton searched for a way to fix his mistake.
King Trenton spent his last dying day trying to get rid of this hatful woman. Eight year old Venus was past disliking Lattice, she now despised her. She rightly blamed her for her father’s untimely death.
May 14, 2013
Awards for ALL my followers
The below awards were shared by Charles at http://legendsofwindemere.com/
And now I know that anyone can make and share awards. And who knows, maybe one day, your award will come back to you!
Big thank you to a woman with a big heart, http://themotherofnine9.wordpress.com for these 2 awards. There are no hard rules. So thank you again xx
http://themotherofnine9.wordpress.com made this award, can you all please say this when blogging this to your followers? The woman deserves the praise!!!
This award was given to me with this message:
Awards are nice – they are the equivalent of Girl’s Night Out or a Night with the Guys where you compliment each other, share juicy tidbits about yourself and then inform the group of what amazing find you came across last week.
However, for a variety of reasons there are those who choose not to accept or pass on awards. For those who like the idea of having an award or two on their site, but aren’t up to the work involved or feel like they’ll somehow betray those they follow by narrowing a list down to just 10 – here’s two awards you are welcome to put on your site if I’ve followed you, Liked one of your posts or left a comment that included the link to this page.
You are also free to bestow these no-strings attached Awards to others as you see fit – these images are free to use as long as you and others don’t pretend they are your own. If you wish to link back here, Fantabulous – but not required.
CAN ALL THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW MY BLOG PLEASE ACCEPT THESE TWO AWARDS. Yes you!!
This award is for everyone who follows me, please accept both awards. I can’t type every one of you, so PLEASE, Take and accept these two awards
Thank you again for this award, and please, all of you take these awards
IF YOU CHOOSE, JUST COPY AND PASTE THE ABOVE!!
Barnes and Noble
The Night I walked off of Boot Hill is on Barnes and Noble!!!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1115276391?ean=2940044511187
Me and Billy the Kid
As most of you know, one of my books was selected for publication last year through Tate Publishing and Enterprises LLC. Me and Billy the Kid is a YA historical western about Billy the Kid’s girlfriend, Angel.
For the next two months, I’ll be working with my editors, cover designers, and deciding on a layout. I don’t have a publication date for the novel yet, but I think it will be in November. So over the next few months, I’ll be posting excerpts, updates, and hopefully, sneak peaks of the cover.
So for those of you who know a little bit about Billy the Kid, or for anyone who is curious to know more, I’m going to be posting questions and quizzes, as well as asking you what you’d like to know. (Does that even make sense? Hmmm….)
Anyway, I’m going to start out by asking your opinion on a matter that is very important to me: Was Billy the Kid a bad guy? Explain why or why not.
May 13, 2013
Liebster “Dearest” Award
Oh my goodness! I’ve been nominated for the liebster award again! I recently found out that liebster is German for ‘dearest’. So a great big thank you to http://ofglassandbooks.wordpress.com/ for so thoughtfully nominating me!
The rules for accepting this award:
Answer the 11 questions provided.
Create 11 questions for the next nominees to answer.
Link back to the one who nominated you.
Choose 11 people and link them in your post. (Since I’ve done this several times before, I’m only going to do three.)
Go to their page and tell them.
Questions for me to answer:
1. What was your first record you bought? Hmm, I think it was Jason Aldean’s Big Green Tractor CD.
2. What is your favorite dish? (if you cook, if not just one you pick out of a take away menu!) I love pot roast with potatoes and carrots.
3. Do you bite your nails? No.
4 Do you sleep well at night? Three quarters of the time
5 out of the following books, which one is your favourite, or which one would you buy? The Hobbit, Catch 22 or the latest by Sophie Kinsella? The Hobbit.
6 are you fed up with electronic devices? Only sometimes
7 if you could choose your ideal day, what would you do without for 24 hours? your phone/s, TV or car? I’d say TV
8 would you eat steak for breakfast? Oh yes! With some fried eggs, that is the perfect breakfast!
9 did you ever tell somebody they looked nice but secretly thought they didn’t, just to make them feel better about themselves? *blushes* Yes
10 ….bringing the animosity down a touch: what’s your favourite colour? Cherry red
11 if you were to pick a book genre right here and right now, what would it be? Children’s books, YA, comedy, horror, thriller, detective? YA
Questions for my nominees:
What is your favorite prehistoric animal?
Do you love or hate cotton candy?
If you could go back in time, who would you visit?
What is your favorite holiday?
Do you like white, milk, or dark chocolate?
If you look behind you right now, what do you see?
Do you like sunrise or sunset better?
Are you happy or sad when it rains?
What is your favorite song?
What is your ideal vacation destination?
Why did you create your blog?
My nominees:
http://dreamingcreatively.wordpress.com/
http://meloniekydd.wordpress.com/
http://litandscribbles.wordpress.com/
Another thing I thought I should add, I’ve been hearing that only blogs with under 200 followers are eligible for awards. This is a Myth!
