What a WEEK...

It sure has been a looooong week. Me and my family have been super busy these past days...between trying to get a job (yeah, like writing isn't a REAL job...tuh, people these days... ;-}), listening to my eighteen-month-old sister scream her head off for five hours while my parents and my sister are gone at her five-hour-a-day dance thing, and trying to hack out an outline for The Sentinels, it's been a rough, rough week. In fact, as we speak, I have my little sister on my lap watching Tangled on the same computer I'm currently typing on.

Still, I have gotten some writing done, somehow! I attended a critiquing session with the Nassau Young Writer's Program and had some good feedback for The Journey. Also, my wonderful big brother (I nicknamed him the Random Idea Spitter-Outer) gave me some SERIOUS awesome ideas for The Cycle of Time. Not to mention I FINALLY started SERIOUSLY editing The Deadlands! Which is a big deal! Because I love that book but I've been dreading editing it's horrid roughness. But I've come to realize that it actually wasn't written as terribly as I once believed.

AHG...glad all that's off my chest.

Anyways. How's everyone else doing?

~Anastasia

P.S. Now you know why I haven't been posting... :)

The Journey "Unpublishing"

Upon inspecting The Cycle of Time: The Journey for the millionth time, I have decided...sniff sniff...to withdraw it from the market.

I am a perfectionist. I know that's good in some cases but sometimes I just really hate myself for it. This is one of those times. I am still not satisfied with the editing quality of my novel, and I will not stop until this book is the best it can be.

No worries, though! Since it is already near-perfect (in my opinion), it shouldn't take long to revise for the FINAL TIME (I swear it's the final time this time). I believe it will be available by the end of the summer.

Bear with me, readers! The Journey will be published by the end of the year, at MOST!

Plus, I just had a book breakdown with my brother, and he gave me some great material for The Sentinels. Thank you, bro! Now I am inspired. And I will go write that book.

Right after I finish this post.

It may possibly be the best of all four of the Cycle of Time series.

~Anastasia Cross

Good Movie List/Reviews

I LOVE MOVIES. There I said it. The bookish writer loves her a good movie. I admit. Movies really Prince of Persia or Rise of the Guardians just sets me right off into writing mood. Movies are one of my main sources of inspiration. So, here are some of my favorite movies of all time. See if these get your creative juices flowing!
get my creative juices flowing, I tell ya. A few scenes of


Rise of the Guardians
Dreamworks

The Guardians is possibly my favorite movie of all time. This movie is an animated piece of artwork. One thing Dreamworks holds over Disney, in my opinion, it attention to the details. I am always amazed at the amount of depth each Dreamworks character's expression holds. (Oh, BTW...I. Love. Jack. Frost.)


Batman Begins
Warner Bros. Pictures
(WARNING: SPOILER AT THE END OF THIS REVIEW)

Okay. About Rise of the Guardians being my favorite... Yeah, I'm a serious Batman fan. As in, I have Batman keychains, Batman pens, Batman t-shirts, and I've watched an entire Batman series (okay, so that's not too unusual, but you get the idea). And this is the best of the series (from what I've read on Wikipedia, that is...). Christian Bale rocks Bruce Wayne, and Michael Caine is the perfect Alfred. It also includes Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and several other well-known actors. And any movie with Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson in it HAS to be good. *SPOILER START* I would watch the other two movies, but I got so attached to Rachel that I don't think I could stand watching her die in the second one... *SPOILER END*


Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Disney

I love how they managed to mix humor, adventure, action, and that haunted-house quality all in one movie. And Jack Sparrow, too. I drew inspiration for Rhett Hawke from this movie (in case you haven't already caught on to that... ;})


Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Disney

Okay, I do get tired of all of the colorless sandy landscape after a while, but this movie boasts in awesome action and seriously cool characters (Prince Dastan and Tamina, anyone?). The storyline is amazing, to boot.


Oz the Great and Powerful
Disney

I watched this movie last week and loved it. The story has tons of twists and the actors are all very good. The animation of Oz was BEAUTIFUL and looked real. Very good movie, though a lot of love scenes... :(


Tangled
Disney

Yeah, I watch Tangled. Rapunzel rocks, okay? Lovin' the soundtrack.


Lord of the Rings Trilogy
New Line Cinema

The best fantasy movies out there, though can get gory at times (for the little ones...there is a reason they are rated PG-13). Filled with awesome actors (Hugo Weaving plays a mean Elrond, and don't get me started on Orlando Bloom's transformation into Legolas), and of course based on some of the best books of all time, they're sure to put the spark back into your imagination.


Other good movies include:

• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Dawn Treader
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Brave
• Wreck-It Ralph

I have an entire gigantic folder full of DVDs, but those are my favorites.

Thanks for listening!

~Anastasia Cross

P.S. GO BATMAN!!! And Jack Frost. ;-D

Great Name Generators/Lists

Mostly, I come up with my own names by changing the spelling of a normal name (i.e. Jen to Jyn, Will
to Wyl, Eden to Eadën, etc.) but sometimes I get tired of my own name creations.

I am a strong believer in names. I think names create a character as much as you do. Sometimes, I hear a name and immediately think of some complex awesome character. (For example, one time I heard the name Luke Vinson and immediately thought of a Navy SEAL turned secret agent.)

This is a fantasy name list consisting of over 4,000 names. I found it really really helpful. Some names are really cool, others are sorta ew, but overall it's a really good resource, especially for just a random character you need a name for. http://www.creative-role-playing.com/fantasy-sounding-names/

Here is a fantasy name generator, where you can generate your own names specifically constructed to fit your criteria. (i.e. long names, short names, vowel-heavy names, consonant-heavy names, etc.) Really cool! http://rinkworks.com/namegen/

Thanks again!

~Anastasia

Wrandom Writing Tip #6: Conciseness is the Key

Tip #6:

I used to be the writer with the flowery words, the writer like L. M. Montgomery and Eloise Jarvis McGraw. I was a firm believer in adjectives and their impending power to bring to light the many details of things I thought important in my books. I was the master at listing adjectives behind nouns; I would go on for paragraphs and paragraphs, using redundant words like "brilliant" and "excellent" in the same sentence. Looking back, I find it humorous, but at the time I was dead serious. L. M. Montgomery and Eloise Jarvis McGraw were my role models. They still are in a way.

But today while editing I learned something that I had learned before, just never consciously realized.

Conciseness is the key.

"Well, duh," you might think. "Everyone says that." But really think about it. Really, really think about it. Why write, "He took a deep breath in" when you can write "He inhaled deeply"? It means the same thing, and it obviously reads better, right? I thought so, too.

See, conciseness packs a powerful punch. When you are concise and specific, you can move mountains with your writing. Instead of using to-be verbs, use specific, powerful verbs to really show the readers what you want to say. Use "glance" instead of "look", and that right there ups your writing by ten percent. Use "morbid" instead of "dark", and you get ten whole brownie points (and those are redeemable at any Anastasia Cross hug store).

Now, instead of writing lists of adjectives, and try to find one or two specific words that sum up the characteristics of whatever I'm describing. And if I want to dig deeper, I look for one or two specific traits and describe those. My writing has become much less boring and much more intense.

Now, I pass the torch of awesomeness to you, reader. Carry it well.

~Anastasia Cross

Character Profile: Jayd

Jayd
The Orion

"“Welcome, new recruits,” said a too-familiar female voice with a lilting accent. As his eyes accommodated to the light, Will made out a slender, graceful form and a mane of wild hair. “Step out and line up.”

        The teenagers scrambled to their feet and hurried to obey orders. Now that Will was out of the dim room, he could see that the woman had taken her mask off to reveal that she was surprisingly young, no older than Roy. She had a delicate face, but at the same time she seemed sly and deceiving. Her thin eyebrows were poised over harshly slanted eyes that matched her hair in color. Her lips were curved into a beguiling smile as she considered the group of beaten-up teenagers before her. Despite her wild, frightening appearance, she was strikingly beautiful." —The Orion: The Deadlands

        When the Orion began drafting Middle Class and Upper District children to train, they overlooked the Deadlands, where Jayd lived before she became an Orion general. Jayd ran away from the life of a Lowlander when she was ten years old and demanded to be given a chance at joining the Orion. Soon afterwards, she proved her talents as she progressed through the stages of training with flying colors. At fifteen, she was the Orion's best agent, and was promoted to first general at the age of eighteen.

        Jayd relies on stealth and deception in her fighting style, which also shapes much of who she is.  She has been groomed to believe that she is the greatest agent to join the Orion, and has plans of overtaking High Generals Viktor and Ivan and becoming complete leader of the Orion. Despite her harsh, unfeeling outer shell, she does have a soft spot for children.

Age: 18
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: 96 lbs
Hair color: black
Skin color: nut-brown (Asian toned)
Eye color: black