THE ORION Cover Project: Look What I Did!!!!! :D :D :D

So I was bored one day and was like, playing with my PixlrExpress+ app and having a good old time when I decided

"Hey, me, why don't you try and make covers for the Orion series, since you already know what you want them to look like more or less?"

So I did.

And here they are, for all the world to see.

(Note: I do not own any of the photos overlaid in the covers.)

This cover is for The Orion: The Deadlands, the first installment in the first series trilogy. See that girl in the background? Know who she's supposed to be? Lemme give you a hint. JAYD.

Yup. THE UPRISING. DUN DUN DUUUUUN.... This is the second book's cover, which we are currently halfway through with.

This one is scary. No more.

SERIES TWOOOOOOO!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITING I WANT TO WRITE IT NOOOOOW. BUT I CANNOT. BUT SOON KILI....SOOON.........

No words.

Only pain.

*majestically turns, hair swishing in the wind, as tears stream down face*

*ed sheeran i see fire plays in background*

OH MISTY EEEEYE OF THE MOUNTAIN BELOOOOW.............

KEEP CAREFUL WATCH OF MY BROTHER'S SOOOULLL..........

AND IF THE SKKKIIES FILL WITH FIRE AND SMOOOOOKE.................

KEEP WATCHING OVER THE STAUNTON FOOOLLLKKK.............

Write from the Soul

Too many writers in today's market write for just that—the market. When wizards and magic were the hype back in the Harry Potter days, everyone wrote fantasy books. In the dark days of Twilight, it was all werewolves and vampires (I can still go to the YA section of my library and find nothing but werewolf and vampire books. That was a BIG fad.). Now, the new thing is post-apocalypse and dystopian genres, and I can't even count how many movies and books are following suit. (Think Hunger Games, Divergent, Walking Dead, Falling Skies, Godzilla...). And the rumors are true—if you write for the market, your work has a huge chance of getting published.

BUT, your work will be the forced product of something you may have no interest in.

While it's tempting to write for the market to have a better chance at getting published, writing for the market is just not the answer. The market changes; by the time you finish your vampire novel, pop culture could change to pirates. There's no point in it.

Don't write for the market. Write for you. Write what you want to read, and you'll enjoy it so much more than writing for other people. Sure, keep in mind your audience and readers, but you're the writer, not them. You make the ultimate decision. You're writing the book.

If you're not interested in vampires and werewolves, don't try to write a vampire book. If you're not interested in post-apocalyptic or dystopian genres, don't worry. The market will change, so there's no point in freaking out about publishing your book. Just keep trying.

Don't get caught up in the "write for the market, you'll get published" fad. Write from the soul, write what you want, write until you bleed words, write until you find what you want to say. Then, say it.

King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Storytelling

I am a strong believer in retelling old stories. I believe there is whimsy left over from those old tales people once fell in love with, whimsy we writers can use to recreate these old stories and make them into something entirely new and wonderfully magical. When you use an old story like King Arthur and twist it up, recreate it, and make it into something modern, you are retelling an ancient story. And I think that is amazing.

There's also some ease to creating new stories from old ones. You already have a setting all mapped out for you: with King Arthur it would be Camelot an old medieval places, and with Robin Hood the forest of Sherwood and the town of Nottingham, etc. You already have the basics of your characters—unless you want to completely reconstruct them, you have all sorts of potential heroes and villains waiting in the souls of Lancelot, Marian, and Alan-a-Dale.

In my own writings, I've played around with recreating some of the oldest fables in history. In my Knights of the Round Table edition, Lancelot is my protagonist, and I overhauled his background and gave him a new one. In my head, Lancelot was the son of a low-ranking lord and lady who both died of an illness soon after he was born. A little rogue boy found baby Lancelot and raised him until he too died of the illness, and Lancelot was left on his own. He was a thief and a crook and a no-good-doer, and soon his name was posted all over the kingdom on WANTED signs. As a young adult he broke into a high-ranking lord's house and met Elaine, for whom he changed his ways and eventually married. Together they had Galahad, met King Arthur by running from Elaine's revengeful father, and soon Lancelot was made a knight.

This is just a sampling of what you can do with these old stories. I created an entire new clan of natives for the backstory of Lamerak, who came from his warring tribes as the last alive of his kind.

I am still having trouble imagining a new way to imagine Robin Hood. In my head, he is something his enemies mortally fear and his allies both fear (in a different way) and respect. Sort of like the Batman of Nottingham. I want to make Marian afraid of him at first, and have her related and living with the Sheriff of Nottingham somehow. I am both excited and eager to see where God takes me with these passions.

The best of luck,

Funniest Thing You Will Ever Read (if you are a writer)

So here I am, lonesome on my couch as I surf the internet. My family is at the beach, except for me and my sister because SOMEONE *eyeballing little siblings* used up all the 30 SPF suntan lotion and SOMEONE *eyeballing my cherry red face* had to use fifteen. So SOMEONE *eyeballing myself again* got burned to a crisp and is now un-allowed to go to said beach. Cruel world, isn't it?

To quote the post below:

To: my sunburn

From: me

Anywho. Offtrack. So, there I was, crying softly as I searched for some source of inspiration, when suddenly it hit me. I found this post, which brightened my entire day. I couldn't have asked for better inspiration.

Read it and weep, brothers and sisters in writing!!

http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ten-things-never-to-say-to-a-writer/

I hope you enjoy as much as I did. I cried I was laughing so hard. I hope someone out there understands this.

If you totally get this post, holla at me! What was your favorite?

Heroes, Protagonists, and Jack Frost

Psst.

Can I tell you a secret?

No, right now.

Yeah, like, before my computer runs out of batteries and I have to go to bed!

(*cough* Actually I should really already be in bed...but my dad hasn't given the order yet... >:})

(Especially since I think I'm coming down with the cold circulating throughout our two-bedroom condo...)

(Anyways.)

No, I only have 18% left, you have to come right now!

Okay. All settled? You may want to sit down. This could knock your socks off.

For real this time. You ready? Okay. Here goes...

I have serious character envy.

There, I said it! The secret is out! I, who treasure and adore my characters, with all their little flaws and occasional rebellion, and their cute little perfect features (perfect for me, anyways), ENVY another character...one I did not create!

Ooohhwwggg...I'm so ashamed...

Here's the whole story. You know I have this whole 'affair' with the Dreamworks movie Rise of the Guardians? Well...I watched it today. It was probably my fifth time I've ever watched it. And around that time I start to really take apart the movie and its characters. And I am seriously jealous of Jack Frost.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm sure you read that little blurb on my author blog about "I. Love. Jack. Frost." I'm sure you caught wind of my animation romance with the complexity and awesomity of Jack Frost. But you have no idea how deep that character goes.

First, I'm going to have to ask you to watch the movie. Yeah, I know, it wasn't exactly a BLOCKBUSTER HIT or anything, but it is a super good movie. Especially if you're artsy like me. The story is awesome and the animation is INCREDIBLE. The facial expressions always get me...I could watch Jack and Santa Clause talk about their center all day... No seriously, you can tell everything Jack is thinking in that scene from the way his face moves, I swear.

Anyways. Off-track and distracted by the late night hypers. Ahem. So, go to your local Redbox and pick up the movie, dust it off, and stick it in your Blu-ray player. No, it has to be Blu-ray. No Blu-ray?! What, do you live in the twentieth century or something?! FINE, use your DVR...sheesh.

...Watched it? Good! Now I can blurt out all the secret stuff about Jack Frost.

Okay. Here's why Jack Frost is such an awesome hero.

1. He has flaws. *Gasp!* I know! Heroes aren't supposed to have flaws, right?! Nope, wrong! Heroes should ALWAYS have flaws, weaknesses, and things that make them tick. Haven't you ever come across a protagonist in a book that you just hated because he was too...good? Jack Frost can't be seen by the children of the world. He has a bad weakness because he's doubtful of himself. He feels like he can't know who he is unless he knows who he was before he was Jack Frost. That. Is. AWESOME.

2. He has fears. And it's not just because of the Boogie Man. Jack has always been afraid of never being believed in. He's afraid of never knowing who he was. He's afraid of himself, in a way. It's sooooo easy to make a hero perfect. (I have on many occasion...ahem...) But lots of people don't realize it's the flawed, fearful, messy characters we love the most because we sympathize with them. We feel their pain, because we aren't perfect. (I guess that's why I never liked Superman... Always had things going for him with the super strength, the invincibility, the laser eyes... I think the whole kryptonite thing is in his head, too, because, um, wasn't his PLANET made out of kryptonite?!)

(...Don't answer that, I know literally two things about Superman.)

(He's super and he has a dog named Krypto.)

(Another weird thing. Name a dog after your greatest weakness.)

(...Losing track. Sorry.)

3. He has desires. Jack wants more than anything to be noticed by kids. His greatest wish is to figure out why he is who he is. Why did the Man on the Moon pick him to be Jack Frost? What is so special about him? These desires drive Jack into the adventure. They keep him going when the going gets tough. When life hands him lemons, he looks at his goals and desires and squeezed those lemons right into his eye sockets just to feel the stinging flames of victory. And that, my friends, is the mark of a true hero that us readers can say, NOW THAT'S SOMEONE WORTH ROOTING FOR! HE'S NOT JUST FLYING BY THE SEAT OF HIS PANTS, THERE'S MOTIVES BEHIND THOSE DECISIONS!

4. He makes mistakes. When Jack gets distracted and abandons his team to search for his past in Pitch Black's lair, he makes a big mistake and ruins Easter, resulting in him being cast out from the Guardians. Now, this is something I have trouble with: letting my heroes fail. As writers, we want our heroes to succeed! We want them to get the girl and fly off into the sunset on a cherry red Mustang GT 500! We don't want to see them stuck in a snowy wasteland being tempted by the villain. But in order to make a believable and sympathizable (is that a word? I just used it. Loud and proud and no one will notice, that's what I always say.) character, we must let our babies experience life. In real life, things aren't easy. They come with hurt. Bad choices have consequences. It's just hard to fit that all into a character who still seems so awesome.

5. He still manages pure awesomeness. Grace under pressure. That's a hero's motto. Or it should be, anyways. Despite his faults, Jack still strives in his own little way to become a better person. He wants to help the kids of the world, and he wants to help the Guardians. Realizing that he'll do whatever it takes to accomplish that takes guts. The guts of a real hero. See, heroism isn't all about the cape and the sword and the cool quips. A hero has to get his hands dirty or he'll just end up like...like...Superman. Too good for his own good. And that is not something we writer's want, right?

Right. NOW GO OUT THERE AND GO TO BED, NOW THAT YOU HAVE LISTENED TO ME RAMBLE ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE JACK FROST!!!

(Wow...I managed to write that all and still have 12% battery left! Yippee me! That was like...speed blogging...oh yeah, if there was an Olympic sport called speed blogging, I'd SO win.)

(But if it came to staying on subject...yeah, that's a whole different matter.)

;)

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

Wrandom Writing Tip #3: Real Live Characters

Tip #3:

Writing can be so...enlivening.

I have created a million-jillion characters in my head, without particular stories of their own (Marie and Phillipe LaCroix, Matt Hartman, Ryaan, Rgaatornn, Mikhail Avandayev, and Luc Martine, to name a few). I don't know why, but I find awesome joy in creating characters, even if I come up with them and never apply a story to them. I think it's partly because I like to have a few extra characters around in case I miraculously come up with a storyline. Then, I can plug in someone I'm already familiar with into the new book.

If you're struggling with thinking up characters that come to life on the page, you might be over-thinking things a bit. Creating believable characters isn't as hard as you would think. There are a few secrets I've learned over the years for coming up with the coolest characters ever:

1. Give your character a secret. I've neglected this tactic for years and have just recently come to appreciate how a well-kept secret adds depth to a character. You can make it something silly, sad, serious, or embarrassing, as long as it's believable. How do you know if something is believable or not? Try putting yourself in your characters shoes. Would you go into hysterics if someone found out you slept with a teddy bear? Or have a temper tantrum if someone accidentally bumped you while walking?

2. Give the character a name you love. This might not be a problem for some people, but for me, it's a huge deal. I pick out names for my characters as if they were my own flesh-and-blood children. I spend days pouring over baby name books, searching for that one name that pops out at me. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll see the name first and model the character after the name. But usually this isn't the case. Give your character a name you won't get tired of writing over and over. I believe names contribute to a character; a character named Bob probably won't be nearly as interesting as one called Cole or Dwayne (is it just me, or does Dwayne scream ace-pilot-turned-rogue?).

3. Give the character interesting features. I love to describe people. There, I admit it. Sometimes I do it too much (if you've read The Journey, you probably noticed how much I love to point out how blue Eadën's eyes are). But I believe I write this way because I see this way. When I meet someone I usually find one distinguishing feature that I remember the person by (i.e. Eadën's blue eyes, Dirco's pale hair, Vette's bouncy curls and wings...). So, why not try to make someone who's interesting to look at? While I have an awful habit of making every character I create beautiful, I do suggest you don't make everyone as handsome or as pretty as possible. Some people can simply be described as 'interesting': others, ugly, or even horrid (save those for the villain! ;D). Others are simply simple; some teens can have acne, adults should have some gray hair, and little kids don't have to be cute every single time (but then again, they can be!). Give your character something to remember him by.

4. Give your character an awesome, unexpected personality. Have you ever read Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank? If not, I suggest reading it. There are many diverse, wonderful characters in the story, especially the main character, Randy. In the beginning, Randy is described as a scoundrel; he is seen as a reckless youth with no self-control. But once the story shifts to Randy's point of view, you are quickly confused. The exact opposite seems to be true of Randy's personality; he is quite calm and cool-headed, even under nuclear fire, and incredibly responsible. He ends up leading the ruined town as a mayor-like figure. This is a wonderful example of an unexpectedly-characterized character—every character should be as diverse and unexpected as real-life people.

I often—really, I do this every time!—begin writing a book by creating character sketches—short blurbs about the different characters in the story. After all, the characters are what will be pushing the story along and giving you inspiration to finish the book. Shouldn't you make them worth remembering?