LARKSTORM

In the years following the destructive Long Winter, when half the world’s population perished, the State remains locked in battle against the Sensitives: humans born with extra abilities.


As one of the last descendants of the State’s Founders, seventeen-year-old Lark Greene knows her place: study hard and be a model citizen so she can follow in her family’s footsteps. Her life’s been set since birth, and she’s looking forward to graduating and settling down with Beck, the boy she’s loved longer than she can remember.


However, after Beck is accused of being Sensitive and organizing an attack against Lark, he disappears. Heartbroken and convinced the State made a mistake, Lark sets out to find him and clear his name.


But what she discovers is more dangerous and frightening than Sensitives: she must kill the boy she loves, unless he kills her first.

Go to YA Highway to find out how you could win a copy of Dawn Rae Miller's LARKSTORM.

Bad Guys and Good Guys and Good Bad Guys and Bad Good Guys

...Not to mention Bad Bad Guys and Good Good Guys.

I'm just wondering if I might be thinking about something in one dimension.

For Creative Writing, I have to write an 8-22 page short story (by Dec 9th! Yikes!) and I thought a campus alert e-mail sent out over this last summer would make a good starting point.

A person was accosted by three guys, one of which had a gun.  They took the person's car, but before they left, one of them told their victim that the reason they were doing what they were doing is that their mother was sick, and they couldn't think of any other way to get money to help her.

Now, whether or not what he said was even true, the reaction of the victim cries out (to me) to be explored.  What would you say to that?  What would you be too afraid to say but would think?  "Oh, well, that makes everything all right - wait! Here, let me give you my wallet, too" or "Pull the other one chum, it's got bells on."

In an idea workshop, I explained this to the rest of the class, but they didn't seem to get what I was getting.  One person wanted me to write about the guy who told the victim about his mother instead of the victim.  But one of the most important things about the scenario to me is not knowing whether or not he was telling the truth.  It doesn't matter whteher or not he was telling the truth but knowing if he was or wasn't would spoil the whole thing for me.

And then I started to think about why this had such a pull on me.  Am I being too one-dimensional?  Seeing all bad guys as just bad guys, or was I justified in thinking that life is not an episode of Flashpoint, and sometimes bad guys really are just bad guys?  Or do I need to step back and look at my assumptions?

Well, that's always a good idea.

So.  I admit that life happens, even to people who are otherwise good, clean upstanding citizens.  What would I do if MY mother were desperately ill and my family had no way to help her?  Not armed robbery ( I don't think), but I'd definitely let my grades go to hell... which in my family is probably worse than armed robbery.

*sigh*

Ok, I'll admit it: I'm only here because I'm in super-procrastination-ninja mode.  Why yes, I did just work the word ninja into a sentence about paper writing procrastination, yes I did.

Happy Monday

[Heh, if only]

Dear Imaginary Readers.

Dear Imaginary Readers.

I think I'm back.  Think, because sometimes, from day to day, I feel like a completely different person, and as a full time college student, this is the time of year when the world seems to come unglued around the ears.

Looking back at some of the posts from the beginning of 2010, I'm amazed.  And not in a good way.  Another blog author I read talked about the rising level of maturity she could see in her own writing after sticking with her blog for a number of years.  She said you just had to stick with it.  Well, I didn't.  Then.  But I hope to give it a try now.

The posts with specific "-day" appellations like a book review every Thursday and a story serial every Saturday and some sketches every Friday weren't necessarily a bad idea, but I doubt I'll have the time or inclination to do them EVERY Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

I'm not going to be ambitious this time around.  I'm not going to dream about having a massive following.  I'm not even going to give in to the temptation to constantly check the "Overview" and "Stats" pages from the dashboard.  And, the second week of December, I'm flying across the country for my best friend's wedding, and before that I have finals.  So above all, I'm not going to be a slave to this blog.  I have a life (I do!) so I will only post on my schedule.

And I'll try to make sure that what I want to say is either worth being said or at least said the best way I know how before I hit that Publish button.