Rawr!

Rawr=dino talk for "I love you" (or was it 'hello"? Ella? Help! *cough*)
Um, ok, never mind that. In my old age, my memory is failing me.

I'm serious.

It snowed last night. By morning, we had a foot. Anyway, I went to go outside in the evening, and then when I got to the door, I turned around and asked my mom, "Mom, where did I put my glasses?"
Her reply: "They're on your head, aren't they?"
Me: "Um, yeah, right."

I kid you not. I'm getting old. And speaking of that--I'M 16!!!!!!!! And have been since the first of this month...and didn't tell any of you...haha.

So, a while ago I heard some people complaining that they didn't like the colors, & thought they were too conservative, not crazy enough.

Satisfied now? If not...how about bright green? Really, really bright green, the shade that makes your eyes scream in agony the instant they behold it? And really, really bright blue to match? With the text in really, really bright orange, of course. ;)

I'm really tired, so this isn't gonna be a very funny post, just a random one. Saaaawwy. I was out snow shoveling for three hours this morning.

So, Bridget spent all of November writing frantically, and ended up writing a huge amount of words--um...how many pages, Bridget? A few hundred? Lol--while I barely wrote anything that month. And then, come December, and just in the last several days, I have written two really long scenes on my main story, two short stories, a song (which actually has a tune! Astonishing--only a few of my songs ever have a tune to go with the words), probably a poem or two, or fragments of several poems, anyway, and--last, but by no means least--I started writing a new story. And it's a vampire story. Yes, you heard me right. I, Lanta/Sara/whatever other name you know me as, am writing a vampire story.

However, no decent, self respecting, average, run-of-the-mill vampire fiction will assosiate with it. Not even Twilight. And why, you ask? Why is my poor story scorned and degraded by all its kin? I will tell you, my readers. Be patient, and soon all shall be revealed to you.

For one thing, the only thing it has in common with its relatives (yes, even Twilight) is the whole drinking-blood thing.

All the decent, self-respecting vampire stories I have ever read (which is actually only a very few; vampires are just not my thing) have a few key things in common with each other:
1. They are set in this world, or in a world that's close enough to this world to be nearly identical in every way to it.
2. Vampires are always the strong, the powerful, never the weak. Being a vampire is a good thing. Except for the whole drinking-blood issue, it's acutally worth it, when you think about it--I mean, come on. You've got superhuman powers, strength, abilities, etc. You're better. Being a vampire is never (or rarely) shown as a bad thing--the vampire character rarely regrets it, and even then (in cases like Rosalie) it's not because of being a vampire, it's because of some of the unwelcome side effects.

Now, the reason my vampire story is shunned by all its kin is because it has neither of those two elements mentioned above. In my story:
1. It's not set in this world. Vampires don't belong in this world. I actually rather dislike most fantasy-set-in-this-world because, no matter how well-written, it's always just a little (or more than just a little) weird.
2. Being a vampire is a weakness. It doesn't make you stronger. It doesn't make you better. (And actually--I'm thinking there will be only one character who's a vampire, and it's not something that can be passed on by a bite.)
When the vampire lady (who regretably lacks a name as of yet) craves blood, it's like an addiction. it makes her weaker. She loses control over herself. Unless she drinks blood, she grows so weak that she can barely stand. Another idea I'm toying with--she doesn't crave blood all the time, only during certain times, or after she does something or other, I need to think this idea through more, though, before doing anything with it. And--drinking blood isn't nessasary. She doesn't live on blood, like the vampires in Twilight. But, unless someone else intervenes, she can't stop herself. And that's where the Guard comes in. They are people who are bound to her her, they owe her absolute loyalty & absolute obediance when she commands them using the bond. And, when she is overcome by the BloodCall, they are the only ones who can restrain her.

So, that's my story. I haven't even gotten to 10 pages on paper yet, but I'm totally hooked by it already. And yes, I admit it--I was somewhat (well, acutally, a lot) inspired by "Lord of Snow and Shadows", a book I read a few days ago. I started writing my story the same night I read that book.

Haha, you wanna know another funny thing?

Ok, so I write a short story. Bridget reads my short story, and than has a dream inspired by it, and starts writing a story based on her dream. So I read her story-that's-based-on-a-dream-that's-inspired-by-my-story, and I'm instantly inspired to write a song. So, I'm talking to Bridget on the phone that night (seriously, it was after 11 when I finally got off the phone with her) and I sing my song for her, and she gets inspired to write a song of her own. So, I read her song-that's-inspired-by-my-song-which-is-inspired-by-her story-that's-based-on-a-dream-that's-inspired-by-my-story, and I'm inspired to write a short story like, 10 minutes later.

I wonder what will happen when Bridget reads that short story. Oh, dear.

Well, I shall leave you to ponder in the depths of your heart the terrible image of Bridget and I writing stories and poems and songs inspired by each other's poems and stories and songs until the very day of our death. (It is actually quite a scary thought!)

To help rid your mind of that horrifying image (and believe me, this works), don't say more, say Mordor!