Fan Fiction: Real Writing or Not?

I’ve been a secret lurker of FanFiction.Net for about a year now, consuming stories from both the "Mass Effect" and "Dragon Age" universes, but just recently started to create my own.

Some writers feel fan fiction is a cop out with its already-established characters and for some, plot lines. I take a different stance. What about it being a great way to exercise the writing muscles? When you’re on a treadmill you’re not actually running a marathon, but you could be training for one. Isn’t the same true for fan fiction?

What do you think?

Blog Fail, But Big Wins

I've been a bad blogger. No need to make nice. You can tell me how much I suck.

But before you do, I have a couple things to announce:

1 - Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Matters has been selling well and I've been accepted into a new edition to be released early next year. Yay. The new book is about grandmas because they're the best. Thanks again for your support!

2 - After a long search, I got a job as Director of Marketing for an international software company. My new role is all about long hours and stress. Double yay. Other than that, I'll be bringing the company's global message to the North American audience hopefully utilizing my creative mind. *insert maniacal laugh here*

3 - I've joined the illustrious and supremely-awesome production company Crabcat Industries. Aw, yeah. This group of talented artists, led by the reknowned Holly Conrad, brings characters from popular video games to life with movie-quality costumes and animatronics. If you haven't heard of them yet, believe me, you will. We've been slaving away on the website and will have lots of amazing news soon.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Do you forgive me now?

Day of Yays

Today was a good day. Of course some bleakness crept into my silver lining, but overall, it was a very good day indeed. You know it’s true when I throw down the word, “indeed.”

Yay #1 – Got a free pedicure.

Yes, my friend and I inadvertently forgot to pay, but that’s beside the point. No one told us to fork over the dough, no one chased us down like dogs to rip away the marrow of our wallets, and certainly no one reminded anyone involved including myself, my friend, the nail, um, technician(?), the receptionist, other patrons, and security cameras that we hadn’t paid. Not to worry, you moral compass enforcers, we’ll make it up to them. It was still cool though. Moving on…

Yay #2 – Worked out at the gym for the first time in years.

The best part, each cardio machine had its own TV. Rachel Zoe, thank you for entertaining me during my calorie inferno. I’m not about to mention that my face took on the hue of an eggplant by the end… *cough* I’m a little out of shape.

Yay #3 – I’m finally over caffeine.

Diet Coke and coffee, you have no power over me!

Yay #4 – Started my new sci-fi book.

Only 300 words, but hey, better than nothing.

Yay #5 – Went to a great tapas restaurant for dinner.

Another friend and I swapped stories of married life betwixt bites of paella. Super yummy. The remainder of the night consisted of me trying to sell our server on the idea of trying the Mass Effect video games.

All in all, a great day. Just thought I’d share.

Addiction Distraction

This post is a little off topic, but that’s okay. Deciding in which direction this blog should go is not at the top of my priority list at the moment. The feeling my head has been cleaved in half by a very dull and rusty axe is. Caffeine withdrawal sucks.

I’m not sure if any of you have problems with addiction, but I certainly do. To be clear, I’m not a toothless wonder hobbling down dark alleys scrounging for my next hit of crack or anything. I just have a severe penchant for caffeine. And with me, I don’t just like something, I LOVE it.

Doctors have told me I should quit. Ha! Right. Me, the coffee aficionado, the three-Diet-Cokes-a-day connoisseur, the Excedrin extraordinaire, me? Good luck with that.

So, instead of conquering the universe on the wings of my violet pegasus or storming the castle with my laser-beam assault rifle, I’m loathing my very existence struggling not to give in to the temptation that is Diet Coke. Wish me luck and send me good-writing vibes. Peace.

Discovery

Huh. I've been ignoring this blog lately. As if you couldn't tell. No doubt a lot of you have given up on me. But for those of you special people who haven't, I give you a rockin' high-five.

To tell the truth, I've been ignoring writing altogether. Perhaps being a "Writer" is too much pressure. Maybe the scrutiny got to me. I don't know.

I do know that I've started a new project; one that deviates wildly from anything I've ever created before.

(My blog, my rules. I can use as many freakin' adverbs as I want in this post.)

So, I will continue to tap the keg of creativity and hope you'll stick with me. I promise to write more often.

Funny Thing Happened...

I cut my hand open today. To be exact, I was pulled into a metal door jamb by my dog and scraped two layers of skin from my index finger. And because of my awesome aversion to blood, shock set in almost immediately.

Yep, that’s right, dizziness combined with nausea and sweating in equal parts. Loads of fun let me tell you. The one thing I thought as my head tumbled between my knees in the “I’m not gonna faint” position was how am I going to type with a bum hand?

A startling question since I’ve been hosting an epic-scale pity party for the past two months, the theme being, “Everyone’s making it but me” complete with depression draught and procrastination pie. Maybe scraping up the layers of emotional epidermis forced inspiration to flow to the surface.

I think it’s time to work on a new book. What do you say?

The Military Channel

“Babe! Hey Hil!”

Oh! My husband calls. Time to be the dutiful wife.

The swishing sounds of my crinoline skirt accompany me as I prance into the family room all Lucille Ball-like. Birds begin to chirp outside and the sun shines a wee bit brighter with my entrance. This is my blog post after all. Don’t mind me.

"Yes, my dearest most wonderfullest man o' mine.” I hand him a plate of freshly-baked cookies while I straighten my lace apron.

No, not really.

“Did you know we get the Military Channel in HD?” He smiles and squeezes the remote control tightly to his chest whilst squealing with delight. I might be exaggerating, but again, my blog my rules.

Little did I know this amazing discovery of television programming would haunt me. For weeks.

Battles and more battles and then more history about battles...

Throw in some shows about the newest technology for blowing things up and that’s about all I’ve heard coming from the big light box hanging on the wall. Granted, explosions do sound pretty cool in Dolby 7.1, but I digress.

An epiphany struck. Perhaps he loves the Military Channel because he was once IN the military. That got me thinking about writing. What if there was the Writing Channel?

Would I subject him to hours upon hours of literature history programs and interviews with famous authors?

What about documentaries on “the novels of the future” where we watch authors type their manuscripts and become victims of rejection?

Now that sounds like some quality television.

Reality shows like “Survivor” and “The Biggest Loser” could focus on writers pitching to agents. Hmm…

Anyway, the Military Channel is annoying. Thanks for reading.