Improv Writing: That Summer

This is another Heron scene, but it's completely different from the last on I wrote. This one is based on some song lyrics I came up with today.

I remember that summer
Watching her smiling in the sun
I remember that summer
Talking, laughing, having fun


I smiled as I remembered that summer, one of the best I'd ever had. My band had been on tour for months, and it had just ended a week before. I couldn't even recall where we were exactly. It didn't matter though, as long as I was with her. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. We decided to have a picnic, just the two of us.

Her hair flowed over her shoulders like a golden waterfall. It was longer than usual, almost down to her waist, but it was beautiful as always. I had an irresistable urge to run my fingers through the silky blonde strands, and so I did. She smiled contentedly and closed her deep blue eyes. In the warm sunlight her face seemed to glow.

"What did I ever do to deserve something as divine as you?" I wondered aloud.

"Well, there was that time you saved the world." she replied. "And that time you saved the Goldens. And then you saved the world again. That might have something to do with it."

"No, probably not." I said, playing along. "Maybe it was because I kissed that absolutely gorgeous girl."

Her eyes snapped open and she turned to glare at me. "What? When was this?"

"Right now." I whispered, quickly kissing her soft lips. She laughed and pulled me closer. I kissed her again, delighting in her tender smile.

"I love you," I told her. "More than anything."

"I love you too."

Improv Writing: As I Lay There Bleeding

I  just really wanna write right now, but I'm not feeling inspired by any of the scenes I need to write. So here's a random Heron scene that won't actually be in the book.


As I lay there bleeding, I think of her. She must hate me so much. Why wouldn't she? I left her again. I broke her heart again. I hurt her again. I broke every promise I ever made to her, and I hate myself so much because of it.

As I lay there bleeding, I think of all the terrible things I've done. I disobeyed my parents. I nearly killed my brother. I fought with everyone. I got my best friend killed. I drank, I lied, I cheated. I hurt the best thing that had ever happened to me. I never realised it before, but I'm a terrible person.

As I lay there bleeding, I think about all the things I'm about to lose, and all the people that are about to lose me. My brother, always keeping me in control and fixing my mistakes. My almost-sister, wise beyond her years but still too kind for her own good. My not-quite-friends, who dislike me but tolerate me. And her, my soulmate, my true love, my other half. It always comes back to her.

As I lay there bleeding, I again think of her. I miss her so much. I love her more than the world. I wish I could see her one last time. I can see her golden hair, her deep blue eyes, her brilliant smile. I can feel her hand in mine, hear her saying "I love you" one last time.

As I lay there bleeding, I stop thinking, and accept the end.

Nikki's Notes: Intro and The Tree of Souls

Hey guys. This is a new thing I decided to do called Nikki's Notes. I thought it would be cool to let you take a look at some of the notes I make when I'm planning books and scenes. I'll scan my notes, and then tell you a bit about them. For example:

This is a diagram I drew of the Tree of Souls. The space surrounding this area is called the Void. It's a never-ending white space. Each circle represents one of the eleven guardians (yes, I realize I spelled (spelt?) it wrong in the diagram). The guardians protect the Tree from shades, which are demons that live in the Void. The Gateway is enchanted so that no one except guardians can enter it. The Gatekeeper guards the Gateway just in case someone manages to break the enchantment.

The Guardian of Souls watches over the Tree. It is his/her job to make sure the Tree is cared for. If a leaf falls off the Tree he/she summons the owner of the leaf to the Otherworld, but this rarely happens. In Somewhere in the Middle, Serifina is the Guardian of Souls.

The Best Scene Title Ever

Usually when I write a scene I give it a name like "Jenn's Vision" or "Graduation". Something simple that tells what the scene's about. Occasionally though, I will come up with a really interesting or funny scene name. Here a few of my favourites:

Nicole had coffee?!
Call me Jenn
Chickens
Ren meets Alex... kinda
Fragments, fish, and pussy willows

And the best scene title I've ever come up with is:

Because I Love You (Heron's Sweater)

Believe it or not, it's actually a very dramatic, romantic scene. It also makes a great song title.

Laterz

Fanfiction and other random thoughts...

Whenever someone asks how many books I'm writing I usually say about 20-25. Recently I actually went through my list and discovered that in total I'm writing twenty books and five fanfics. Although I'm writing twenty books I'm mainly focusing on twelve of them, and eight are just side-projects. Most of what I post on this blog is about the twelve main books.

The fanfics are also side projects, and most probably wont be completed. I'm just writing them for fun. Also, when I'm having writers block I find it easier to write in a world that has already been created, as opposed to writing in an unfinished world of my own design. At the moment I'm writing two Criminal Minds fanfics and three Harry Potter fanfics.

I absolutely love Harry Potter, so I really enjoy writing the fanfics. Each one is centered around a different original character. While on DollDivine's Hogwarts Scene Maker, I made this:

These are my characters, Vextera LeStrange, Jennifer Evans, and Azalea Snape. I created Jennifer years before I started writing, when I first fell in love with the Harry Potter series. My friends also had characters (Crystal Black and Erika Edgewood) and we would add them into the series. Azalea was created from my love of Snape. After reading the seventh book Snape became my one of my favourite characters, along with Lily Evans. I really wish that he and Lily ended up together. In my fanfic Azalea is their secret daughter. I created Vextera because I have always wanted to write a Slytherin/Death Eater. While her mother, Bellatrix, was in Azkaban Vex was raised by the Malfoys.

For anyone interested, here is my FanFiction.net account and my DeviantArt account. I haven't posted any of my fanfics yet, but I'm considering posting Vex's because I'm planning on writing it from start to finish instead of assorted scenes. On my deviantart I'll put my drawings and photography, and the occasional character picture.

One last thing; I've decided to combine Cornell 2 with the first Cornell book. My original idea for the sequel didn't work out, but I still want to keep James and Niare. Celeste's trip to Brazil has been moved to the first book, and her mysterious illness has been eliminated entirely.

I think that's about it.

Laterz

Improv Writing: Memories

Before I start writing, I'd like to apologize for not posting often. It's summer, I have endless amounts of free time, I'm not doing anything productive, and at this point the only thing stopping me from blogging is pure laziness. I'm feeling really uninspired lately, but while searching the Internet for writing prompts I came up with an idea for a scene. So here it is, unedited, written on the spot. Enjoy! (P.S. It's told from Celeste's point of view, sometime between Cornell 2 and A New Beginning)


I sat on the couch, staring at the old cardboard box. It was a completely ordinary, unremarkable box, but it scared me more than anything else. I knew what was in this box. I knew that if I opened this box, there would be no going back.

"Now I'm just being paranoid." I said out loud. "It's just a box. I should just shove it in the attic and forget about it."

As I said it I remembered what James had whispered to me when he dropped off the box. You're going to have to face it eventually. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew that he was right. I had to open the box.

Slowly I kneeled down and lifted the cardboard lid. I could smell dust, old paper, and ink. The first thing I saw was a picture of James and I dressed for our Grade Eight graduation. My mother had forbidden me from wearing jeans, so I had picked out a short zebra-print dress and paired it with dark makeup, combat boots and skull jewelry. James had worn a black suit with a red tie that matched my hair. We had opted out of the after-grad party and instead walked along the moonlit beach.

Setting the picture aside I picked up the next one, a family photo taken at the beach. I was 10, and Kevin was only 3. We'd gotten another beach goer to take it, but just as he pressed the button we were attacked by seagulls trying to steal my french fries. Every time we looked at that picture my dad would burst out laughing and then we'd all start laughing until our sides hurt.

I set the picture on top of the first one. With tears blurring my vision, I continued to shift through the old photos. There were a few school photo, along with more of my family, and some of James and I. All of them were taken before I was changed, before my parents died, back when everything was normal. Although I loved my new life as a vampire, I would've traded it all to have my old life and my family back.

Finally I reached the bottom of the box. The only thing left was an envelope with my name on it. Opening the envelope, I pulled out a sheet of paper covered in James' familiar handwriting.

Dear Celeste,
     I just wanted to let you know, you are the bravest girl I have ever met. Not because you saved your brother's life and defied death, or because you survived in the jungle against all odds. You are brave because you faced all the painful memories contained in this box. I know it wasn't easy for you, reliving it all and seeing what your life used to be like, but you did it. I'm so proud of you.
     You've changed so much Scar. Not only your appearance, but everything else too. I could go on for ages about how much you've changed, but I won't. I will say this though; I know you're strong and fearless, but at the same time I know you're also terrified of slipping up or making the wrong choice. Just know that if you ever need anything I'll be there for you, even if it means flying halfway across the world. You can count on me.
Love always,
            James

I slumped over, clutching the letter in my hands. My tears stained the paper and smeared the ink, but I didn't notice. Later I would think of how James knew me so well, and how he always knew what to say, but at the moment my mind was blank. I sat on the cold hardwood floor, alone with my memories, my face streaked with five years worth of tears.

My Books: Elemental

Elemental is about a girl named Lexi. Everyone at her school can control one of the eight elements (fire, water, earth, air, spirit, electricity, light, dark) and they are sorted into houses according to their element. Lexi is a bit different though; she controls an element that no one has seen for thousands of years. Unfortunately, while returning from a vacation with her parents, Lexi's plane crashes and she loses both her family and her memory. She doesn't remember her powers, her friends, or even her own name. After her friends tell her who and what she is, she struggles to recall her lost past and the hidden element within her. But on her quest to find herself she may end up getting more than she bargained for.

My Books: Drained

Drained is the sequel to Jackie. I actually started writing Drained before Jackie, but I decided that I couldn't fit Julien and Heron's past and Drained into one book. The story of the Foxe brothers was too important to cut out completely so I started writing Jackie.

Drained begins about twenty years after Jackie ends. Jackie has been forced to move to America to live with her mentor Madeline. She's at a new school, she's learning more about her powers, and she has a new boyfriend. Things aren't as perfect as they seem though; Jackie still misses Julien, she's being stalked by a dark, power-draining force, and there's something strange about the new guy at school. This time it's up to Jackie to set things right.

MyDivaDoll: Willow

I changed my OhMyDollz account to Willow. Click the button in the sidebar to check it out!

Willow is Amy and Quinn's daughter.

Laterz!

The New Sloan

When I started writing The Last Chapter (a.k.a. Book 4) Sloan had blonde hair and she was an only child. Then Avery came along and became Sloan's little sister. Avery was the warm to Sloan's cold, the good to her evil, the light to her dark. They were opposites in almost every way. After Avery and Sloan became sisters I discovered their dark past full of betrayal, abuse, drugs, and evil. I saw Sloan in a whole different light, or rather lack of light, and her appearance changed to reflect her inner darkness. Her hair was black, her eyes cold and gray, her face thin and pale.

Even though I liked this dark new Sloan, I still missed the old Sloan. Then one day I was on Deviant Art and I found this:

http://lilithvampiriozah.deviantart.com/

I knew the second I saw it that I had finally found Sloan, the way she was supposed to be. Still dark and mysterious, still cruel and icy, Sloan had returned to way I'd originally imagined her. I quickly remade all of my other Sloan pictures, and I'll post them alongside the old ones.

Also, in case you missed it, here's the MyDivaDoll version of Sloan.

My Books: Jackie

Here is the first of the book updates. I'll probably post another one later tonight.

Jackie was actually one of my original books, but when I started this blog it didn't have a solid plotline, just a few assorted scenes. Jackie is split into two parts; part one is told by Julien Foxe, a psychic vampire. It's about him and his brother Heron, and their witch friend Serifina. The Witch Council has been killing psychic vampires for centuries because they're to "dangerous", but Serifina is determined to protect her friends no matter what the cost. When the worst happens, Heron and Julien are forced to face the consequences of their actions. Part two is told by Jaclyn, more commonly known as Jackie, a young witch living in Australia. When Jackie meets the Foxe brothers they reveal a startling secret about her past and the trio must confront the Witch Council to discover the truth.

My Books Update

Hey everyone! I'm back! Who missed me? Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been on for a while. I've been crazy busy for the past few months. I recently realized that I haven't done a My Books post for almost half of my books. Over the next week or so I'm going to try and finish updating everyone on my new books. I'm going to warn you now, exams start next week, so I may or may not have time to write them all. I'll do my best though!

Keep checking back for the new posts!

Dream Scenes: Secrets

A chill ran through me as I drove through the woods to the beach house. I could feel their glowing eyes staring at me from between the trees. They'd been watching me all my life, which is why I'd started calling them the Watchers, but lately there had been more of them then usual. They'd never come close enough for me to see them until they attacked me today. I could still see the pointed teeth and fiery eyes in my mind.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the beach house came into view, but my relief quickly ended when I saw Teresa sitting on the steps of the front porch with her head in her hands. The truck had barely come to a full stop when I was running to her side. She looked up at me through tear filled eyes and said only two words.

"He's gone."

I didn't hear myself cry out in anguish as I ran for his room, hoping he would be sitting there lost in his own world like usual. Instead I was greeted by an empty room. I looked at the unmade bed, the clothes-strewn floor, the dusty window, and everything seemed to scream Brandon. On his nightstand was a picture I had taken three years ago of the two of us on our first date. Our smiles were hidden by a web of broken glass.

Next to the picture was his journal; an old black leather book given to him by his father before he died. The journal lay open, the page covered in a messy scrawl that was nothing like his usually neat writing. I picked up the journal and sat on his bed. A cool breeze drifted into the room and I pulled on one of Brandon's sweaters as I flipped through the pages. I saw my name and stopped to take a breath before reading.

April 17

Things are starting to change. Paige is starting to change, although she doesn't realize it. She doesn't know who she is, or who I am, or what's about to happen. I'm starting to change too. Soon I'll have the power to fulfill my purpose. Cameron is excited and eager, but I can tell that mom doesn't share the feeling. She's scared, but whether she's scared for me or of me I can't tell.

The next few entries were the same, talking about changes and things starting to happen. None of it made much sense to me. He kept writing about gaining power and fulfilling his purpose. I found my name in several entries, often accompanied with talk of me changing and my destiny. It seemed important, but I couldn't make sense of it. Then I reached the latest entry.

May 3

It's happening. I can feel the power in my blood growing to unimaginable levels. Everything is clear, everything is new, everything is right. Now I know what Cameron has felt for the past five years, and I can see why he loves being what we are. Still, I don't know if I can do what I must do. Although I'm no longer human, I'm still in love with her, with Paige. If I turn my back on my purpose, I'm turning my back on everything I've ever known. Is she worth it? Will I have the strength to finally tell her the truth? No matter what the answer, I have to leave her for a while. It's the only way to save her.

I will save her.

I traced my fingers over those last four words as chills again ran down my spine. I will save her. What did it mean? Brandon was hiding something from me, and I had to know what. I had to find him and convince him to tell me the truth. Something was going on and I needed to know what.

"What are you doing?"

My head snapped up and I saw Cameron standing in the doorway. Normally he was happy and carefree, but today there was something about him that terrified me. I watched his eyes darken as he saw the journal in my hands.

"You shouldn't be looking at that."

When I didn't reply his eyes darkened further and I stood up, looking around me for some sort of escape.

"What did you read?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"N-nothing!" I stammered.

"What did you read?" he asked louder, taking a step towards me.

His lips had pulled back in an animalistic snarl, his eyes glowing like the ones that had followed me in the woods. Without thinking I ran, darting around him out the door, through the house, and into the forest.

The trees seemed to reach out in a desperate attempt to trip me. Small twigs and branches tore at my skin. They didn't deter Cameron though, because I could hear his footsteps getting closer. The sun had set and everything was dark and frightening. My mind was void of rational thoughts, focused only on my primal instinct to survive. I ran faster than I ever had before, until I felt arms wrap around me and pull me to a stop.

I screamed and struggled until I realized my captor wasn't Cameron. The grip loosened and I turned to look into Brandon's blue eyes. For a moment I was stunned by how bright they were, but then I remembered what I had read and took a step back.

"What's wrong?" Brandon asked, his voice a mix of confusion and worry as he noticed the scratches that covered me. "What happened?"

Before I could answer Cameron appeared out of the darkness and leaped for me. Brandon quickly pushed me out of the way. As I fell to the forest floor I watched Cameron land as gracefully as a cat, and saw blood drip from the cut that had appeared on Brandon's forehead.

Then I hit the ground, my head snapping back against a tree. I tried to get up to make sure Brandon was okay, but I couldn't make my limbs move. Fog clouded my vision, and I could barely hear muffled voices through the haze. My last thought was: Save me.

Dream Scenes: Tiger Lily

My dreams are usually pretty crazy, but every now and then I have one that actually makes sense. Sometimes I try to turn them into scenes for my books, but they don't always work out. Unfortunately, they get stuck in my head until I turn them into a scene, so I decided to post the reject scenes here for your enjoyment.


Laughter and voices filled the air as I walked past the playground. I'd been stuck inside all day yesterday,and although I had a project due on Monday I hadn't been able to resist the beautiful weather. It was a perfect spring day and I intended to enjoy it.

As I stopped to admire some wildflowers I felt something wrap around my legs. Looking down in surprise I saw a young girl, about three years old, smiling up at me. She had beautiful black hair, but it was her eyes that stunned me most. They were an amazing green-gold colour, like a wild-cat's.

"Tiger!" the girl said, seeming to read my mind. "Rawr!"

"Lily!" a woman said, approaching us, "There you are!"

The woman picked up the little girl, Lily, and smiled at me.

"Thank you for finding her. She doesn't usually run off like that." the woman explained, "I'm Sandra."

"I'm Winter Langford. Most people call me Winnie though. It's nice to meet you."

I shook Sandra's slender hand. Like Lily, she had dark hair, but her eyes were light grey. Still, she was very beautiful, and she seemed kind. We chatted for a few moments and she introduced me to her husband, Jackson. He was tall and well built, with fair hair and blue eyes. He smiled and thanked me again for finding Lily, although it was her who'd found me.

"She doesn't usually take to people so quickly." he commented, "She must really like you."

"Winnie, we've been looking for a babysitter." Sandra said, "Would you be interested? Lily already seems to love you."

"Sure, I'd love to!" I agreed, pulling a scrap of paper and pen out of my pocket. "Here's my number. Just call whenever you need me."

"Are you free on Tuesday?" Jackson asked, "We have a business dinner to attend."

"I'll be there. I've got to go now, but I'll see you on Tuesday!"

"Thank you." Sandra smiled, "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"You too. See you on Tuesday Lily!"

She waved at me happily, and I laughed. She was so adorable. I could barely wait to see her again. Good thing I didn't have to wait long!


I hope you liked it! I might continue writing, because I have some great ideas for this. You'll have to wait and see!

Laterz!

MyYearbook

If you've ever heard of MyYearbook, you'll know that it's a bit like Facebook. I thought it would be fun to make accounts on MyYearbook for some of my characters. I just made Jennifer's, and I'll be working on another one soon. The link is in the sidebar.

In other news, I'm going to try and write some of the posts on the Coming Soon list. Sorry it's taking so long. In the meantime, I've started a new blog to review books I've read. It's called (Insert Blog Name Here). As you can tell, I'm not good at naming things.

That's all for now!
Laterz!

Glogster

Not to long ago I did a post on the characters in Book 4, which is now called The Last Chapter. I have now turned this post into a glog. For those of you who don't know, a glog is made on the site Glogster, and is like an online poster. Check it out here.

I also made a glog of the character video for A New Beginning. Check it out here.

Laterz

Buttons! Yay!

I added a couple of new buttons to the sidebar. One leads to writer123357 (Zoey) on OhMyDollz, and the other leads to zena123357 (Aridia). I thought it would be easier than having to look through all the posts for the ones with the links. Enjoy!

Laterz

OhMyDollz: Zoey & Aridia

Hey everyone! I updated my OhMyDollz account the other day. She's now dressed as Zoey. Check it out! I also changed one of my other accounts to Aridia from my new book Sanctuary. Check it out!

Blog Design

I updated the design again. I like this one a lot better than the last one. What do you think? What do you like or dislike about it? Please let me know.

Blog Design

I updated the blog design today. What do you think of it? I'm not sure if I like it that much, so I'll probably change it around some more.

MyDivaDoll: Hayley

I updated my OhMyDollz account to Hayley from FBI.

Also I wanted to let everyone know that MyDivaDoll has closed, so the links to it wont work anymore. Sorry.

Laterz

The Characters: Book 4

Hi guys! I have exams coming up in a couple weeks and a lot of homework/projects, but I wanted to post some of the stuff I've been working on. So here it is!

The New Coven
Celeste, Cameron, The Twins, Zach and Liam left Charles' coven to form their own. These are all the new members of their coven.

First, Zach, because I'm not sure if you've seen him yet.


Sloan hates Celeste and the coven, but she can't go back to where she came from. She takes every chance she can get to disobey Celeste.


Avery is Sloan's younger sister. Avery is an avid reader who trys her hardest to avoid Sloan.


Sakura is an excellent fighter. She never gives up hope and is very confident.


Krista has always been a hunter. She's the leader of what she likes to think of as "The Pack", the group formed by her and the boys.


Wolfe is always ready for a challenge. He doesn't like anyone, except the members of The Pack.


Ryder is wild and fun. He's up for anything, any time.


Nickolae doesn't talk much, but he notices everything. When he does talk, it's usually to point out some detail that everyone else missed.


Others

Katara is Jackie's apprentice. She is the newest member of the Witches Council.


Anika and Willow are Amy and Quinn's daughters. Willow is six and Anika is two. I don't have pictures of them because they are so young.

Sorry I don't have two pictures for the guys, but the site that I use isn't the best for making guys. If you know of any good sites for designing characters, let me know.

Laterz

New Design

Hey guys! I'm thinking about changing the design and layout of the blog. I like this one, but I'm ready for something new. What do you guys think? Leave me a comment!

My Books: FBI

Hello hello hello! Skyres recently did her post about our new book FBI, so I thought I should probably do mine.

Some people believe that there are things the government doesn't want you to know, things that could change everything we think we know. Some say those people are crazy, but are they really? Or do they know something the rest of us don't?

Hayley is the new girl in the FBI. No one tells her anything important, and she only does the small jobs. She never suspected anything. Then one day she met a man who was too perfect to be real. That was the day her life started to unravel, and her world was turned upside-down.

Diandria has worked for the FBI for years. She and Hayley became instant friends. Everyone knows Diandria and trusts her. They would never suspect that she would betray the government.

Natalie always wanted to change the world. She and Sophia had loved science since they were children. When they joined the FBI they never knew what secrets were being hidden. All Natalie knew was that she was going to be the one who changed everything, one way or another.

All Taylor could remember was this; the constant pain and torment. She hadn't known that the testing would go this far. She hadn't known that when she started, she couldn't stop. If she had, she might not have done it; if she had, everything might have stayed the same. But she had signed up for testing, and now all she knew was that she had to escape.

Felix never knew what he wanted to do with his life, but this was as good a job as any. He helped the FBI, and they paid him a lot of money. Win win. Lately though, he longed for adventure. There was a time when Felix was always having fun and getting into trouble. He was starting to miss that, but he knew he would get another chance at adventure; he could feel it.

Cedric was too perfect to be real. He was handsome, rich, and powerful. He wasn't happy though. He hated what the government was doing, and he had to stop it. He had to be patient though. He knew it wasn't time, and he knew his plan wasn't complete. Then he met a girl, and all the pieces fell into place.

If you want to read about Skyres's characters, check out her post!

Laterz!