I have conquered NaNoWriMo

Here it is: I have finished NaNoWriMo with 2 days to spare (I finished yesterday, I just didn't post). My final word count (when entered on the site) was 50035. I had to dig into the deepest, darkest crevices of my brain to get through it. I wanted to finish so badly that I just couldn't wait. Here's my graph that was on the website every day:



Pretty sweet, huh? And if you're wondering why my bars don't start until the seventh, well, it's because this story wasn't meant for NaNoWriMo. It was started earlier in the year but I decided to give it oomph. I made sure that I started when my word count was in a good position. I don't think it's cheating.

NaNo update

Yay! Yesterday I got to my daily quota AND I got caught up! But I couldn't stop writing. So I went to the next day's goal. =) Oh, and I went over my Pandora Radio limit. I listened to 40 free hours. Now I either need to pay $.99 to keep listening for 4 days or upgrade to Pandora One. Or I could listen to Jango for free...? Duh.
Number time! I'm at 43890 as of 12:00 PM on November 26 (happy Black Friday, by the way). At the rate I'm going, I should finish on November 30. And I only have two characters left. All the others are either A) dead B) in jail or C) the MC isn't allowed to see them anymore. She and her mom are on a plane to the Netherlands now.
Last night, I almost made a post that said: I'm ahead on my word count and am having a turkey/stuffing/mayo sandwich and some 7UP. Be jealous...
Pease out.

Translate this!

.... .- .--. .--. -.--   - .... .- -. -.- ... --. .. ...- .. -. --.   --. --- -... -... .-.. . --..--   --. --- -... -... .-.. .

NaNo update

Right now, at 6:22 PM on November 23 I am at 34165 words and I am supposed to be at 38-something. Either way, I'm behind. Not a whole lot, but enough that I'm worried because we have friends coming down from Minnesota tomorrow night for Thanksgiving. The good news is that I get out of school early tomorrow and that I have to sleep in the basement where the computer is! Hooray! But I still have to write a cutesy short story based on a picture of a little girl and a lamb for Language Arts by tomorrow. I am almost done and have managed to make the story sad enough to make Daniella and Gabby go, "Why would you do that to a cute little sheep?" But that's how I roll. And I managed to work it into my story. Yay! And I performed at the Festival of Trees at about 10 AM this morning and my mom and dad said I rocked my solo. Hurrah!

NaNo update

Well, there it is, folks! I am officially caught up! Last night, my sister had a band concert, and my parents said that it was okay that I didn't go because of NaNoWriMo. And I got all caught up! I wrote about 5000 words! That's insanely good, if you didn't know. I was supposed to be at 30000 and got to 30045! Yay! And, people in my Language Arts class are getting interested. They are baffled that I wrote 100 pages! They think it's really cool that I'm trying to do the improbable! Yay mee! Mrs. Burke, my LA teacher, is being very encouraging, too. She didn't even yell at me when I danced on the desk when I hit the half-way point! Yay to Mrs. Burke! My mom also said that if I make my goal that I get the NaNoWriMo hoodie! I love hoodies! I am having an excruciatingly good day. : )

NaNoWriMo update!

Really quick! 25603 words, should finish on Dec 4, and I'm behind 2731 words. Go me!! To bed...zzzzzz!

'Nother NaNo update

So, I'm at 18023 as of 12:31 PM on November 14, 2010 and still need to do my Algebra homework. I should be at 23334 today, but I'm not. At the rate I'm going, I should finish on December 9th, my mom's birthday. To finish on time, I should write 1999 words a day, compared to the usual 1667. But I'm always behind, so I'm not worried because on JanNoWriMo earlier this year, I was about 3000 words behind on the last day and I finished. I should be fine.

Keep me in your thoughts!

NaNoWriMo update

So. It's Day 11 of NaNoWriMo and November (and, yes, I do count them as separate times) and I am, as of now, behind 688 words and the Flyers are winning against the Hurricanes at 5-0. Goodnight.

Covers!

A while ago, I made a post showing all of my book covers I had created. And those stunk. Out loud. Here's some more recent (and better) ones.

I think I may have ....

I think I might have aichmophobia and ligyrophobia. Maybe. I dunno for sure.

Continue On

If I begin to sink,
I try to swim.

If I begin to slouch,
I try to sit straighter.

If I begin to limp,
I try to get through it.

If I begin to trip,
I try to regain my footing.

If I begin to slow,
I try to move faster.

If I begin to falter,
I try to sing louder.

If I begin to go flat,
I try to play better.

If I begin to lose it,
I try to find someone to lean on.

We will continue on.

NaNoWriMo

Here I go again. Gonna add 50000 words to Give and Take and, quite possibly, add some to my other rewrite Truth.

Guess what I got!!

I just got a guitar! Yays! I'll post pictures. We just went to the library to grab some instruction books. G7 and C are proving difficult (those of you who play the guitar - don't laugh or I'll find you). My fingers hurt already! Please, calluses, come already!

Doing What I Thought Was Right

Softly crawling,
creeping forward.
Could tell
they saw
us.

Don't make
a single
sound.

Open fire.
Raining bullets.
"Go, go,
GO!"

The tiny
children, weeping
for Mummy.
Grab one,
you get
the other.

Always watch
your feet,
son.
I did
not.

A million
pieces of
me, and
the children.
Scattered across
the desert.

Good luck
with your
recovery.

- from "There Was Pain: A Collection of Poems of War" by Frankie Ballard

Just found this...

Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings. - Anonymous

Star Wars fanfic link

Click here. Hope you enjoy! Even though it's only the prologue. I'm debating whether the rest of the story will be in her perspective or not ... oh well. I'll figure it out eventaully! :)

Pease!

Star Wars

Hey, did I ever tell you that I'm writing a Star Wars fan fiction? Cuz I am. Well, in my head. It's a work in progress. :)

If you want to see how it's going ...

... click here and see my writing!

The Hunger Games (Goodreads)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I thought that this book deserved three out of five stars. There has been a lot of hype about this book, but I am the kind of person that does not like hype. >:( It is my personal opinion that it is hype that ruined the Twilight saga. I think that since this book had been talked about so much, since everyone said that it was so amazingly brilliant, that I was very disappionted. I kept waiting for that WOW moment, that one part that gave you perspective, made you stop and read it again, etc. I didn't get it. I didn't get my WOW moment. It was monotonous until the end with the muttations. Then it was like, "Ooh! More violence!" Still, just violence? Oh, but don't forget the sappiness. Gotta have that. Peeta and Katniss have to be in a strained relationship, but don't forget Gale! Ooh! Drama! No. No thanks. The only part of the book that gave it substance for me was the alliance with Rue and her death. That was it. Sorry, Suzanne Collins, but to really get a five of five from me, you are going to have to do better than that.



View all my reviews

Selling What?

http://www.pandora.com/music/song/regina+spektor/back+of+truck#lyrics

Must ... keep ... writing ...

Almost ... at ... 7000 words. I ... have ... to ... eat something. ... But it's ... getting so ... good. ?

How Many People Have Your Name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So, I said that there had been changes to I Will Save Her. A title change, a plot change, and now A TRAILER CHANGE! Please enjoy!

New Covers and a Title Change

I Will Save Her has now been changed to Give and Take. I have been working on a new cover, and I got five, but I can't pick. I'll wait until I finish. The ending has also been changed - but I'm not telling anyone about that. : ) I also changed my pen name ... for no apparent reason at all.

Give and Take Recent Convo

Lee-Elba, what's happening?
I don't know.
Why did they stop?
I don't know.
Why aren't you moving?
I don't know.
Where's Exodus?
I don't know.
You do know.
I don't care.
You do.
No, I don't. I never did.

-Give and Take
between Harlow and Lee-Elba

Need a drink with your mind salad? How about some coffee?

What A Mush-Fest!!

Last weekend, my sister and I made breakfast in bed for my mom. No real reason why ... and we started to go through her hope chest at the end of the bed. 50% towels, by the way.

We found her wedding album! Aw! Cute! My dad looked six with his buzz cut. LOL

Then I found a box with a piece of masking tape on it. "Frankie's 16th Birthday" Hmmm. I'll check into that later ;)

Then we found a small wooden box with four envelopes, two IDs, a pictue of my dad with a goofy hat on, and several strings with flip-flops on them from their honeymoon in Jamaca.

Three of the four envelopes were to my mom from my dad in Somalia about a month after they met. Let me say first, AWWWWWWWWW! Daaaaaaddy, that's sooooo sweeeeet! Ahem, okay. On the first one he drew himself with sunburn. :0 Where do my drawing skills come from??

Peace, Love, Save The Whales!!

As August comes to a close, a quick recap.

So, school is back and, actually, it feels good to have a schedule to follow again. I am enjoying German (Wie heiss du?). I didn't think I would. And I got a new name for seventh period, Sabine. Pretty name, I think. I'm going to use it sometime.

Just read The Hunger Games. Wow. Ho-ly crapstock that was so great! I have got to get Catching Fire soon! Mom's gonna try and read it in a day. I'm waiting for it to get bigger than Twilight. C'mon, c'mon ...

I Will Save Her and Days (which I might get around to telling about later) are going well, too. Plots are coming together, characters are developing easily, and I find that I want to just dive into the worlds I have created and live there forever.

So, all in all, I think August went really went for me. I can't wait for September!

PS - just watched The Blind Side from Netflix last night. I lost it in the middle. Go. Watch. It.

Brady loves Charley!

Okay, so we had my little cousin out here a couple weekends ago, and I forgot to post the most adorable little thing he did!

My dad got Long Way Down on Netflix, so we were watching it and everytime Charley Boorman came onscreen, Brady squealed like a girl! It was the cutest thing in the world!

Things are going well in Suburbia. All is quiet - except for the bubbling of our new hottub! Hello!

See ya', wouldn't wanna be ya'!

I Write Like ...

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Who knew? :)

Are you afraid of dying?

It seems like a simple question, right? Think about it. Do not think about what you are leaving behind!!! That is a different question!!! I mean, are you afraid of death? Just death.

I think most people are afraid of time, not death. Not having enough time to do what they want, see what they want, etc.

In the words of Albus Dumbledore, "To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

So, are you?

WH13

Just was talking to Allison Scagliotti aka Claudia from Warehouse 13 over Syfy.com asking her:

"Hey Claudia, will your hair color be changing anytime soon or is it a new WH13 icon?"

and she responded:

"It'll be different every week, Frankie. Just like the show"

My mom freaked out!! We just watched the new episode and will continue to enjoy the show like we did last summer. We thought it had gotten cancelled, but no! Here it is, a brand new season! Check it out. Syfy channel - and no, I am not spelling it wrong.

Peas!

Be Fearless

I was writing in my notebook for Fearless last night and I realized something - how much I want people to read this when I finished. I mean, having a cynical character for just yourself is one thing, but having a cynical character that other people can love is another thing entirely. Jesse, the main character, is so awesomely developed that I can't wait to finish this story and type it up. Also, one of my friends was around in the early days of this story when TJ, other main character, was the pessimistic one.
JulNoWriMo is going. I'm not quite where I want to be, but it is going ... not sure where though. Maybe you should check out JulNoWriMo's YouTube page where some of the members are posting vlogs. http://www.youtube.com/user/JulNoWriMo I'm not in on it, since I don't have an account or a video camera, but it is kind of cool.

Cynical ... what a cool word ...

JulNoWriMo!!!

Ahhhhh! I'm so excited!!!!

...

That was a worthless post ...

Another Role Play

... but this time it was online at the JulNoWriMo forums. I went as my character Bridgit (otherwise known as Bunny) and discovered some amazing things about her. Awesome!

If you are a writer, I strongly suggest you print this out: http://www.epiguide.com/ep101/writing/charchart.html (an in-depth character chart)

Covers!

BTW, some of these are still rough ideas and my pen name is Ellen Baker.

I Won't Let You Down by ME

It is NOT published!!!!!! Just so you know.

Just started this morning on a coffee-ran adrenaline rush (I know - and I spend it on writing), about a girl named Christabel and her family, crush, and best friend. Their world is run by three brothers that go by The Committee (which I always want to spell with two i's). She studied combat, which girls do not in their society. Because she wants to join the army, one of the brothers kicks her down into the kitchens until she is eighteen OR relinquishes her dream of fighting.

The ending is fuzzy, but I thought I'd share.

Upcoming: JULY!!!

JulNoWriMo is coming up, and Bunny is about to get underway! I'm so excited!

Again, 50,000 words. Hopefully it won't crash and burn like the last :)))) (chins! lol)

Sand Trooper

This morning, I was having a "MythBuster fan moment." I watched Tory Belleci's short film, Sand Trooper. Whoa. Love it!!

Here's the link to it: http://www.toryb.com/videos.php All you have to do is click on Sand Trooper. It's seven and a half minutes. Enjoy!

Also, I am still working on how to post pictures. Maybe I'll show you my amatuer covers for my books. ? I dunno.

Peace, love, bathe the whales!

I'm Baaaaaack!

Hellooooooooooooo!

South Dakota (and Devils Tower, Wyoming) is awesome!!!!! Love it!

We saw Mt. Rushmore (night and day), the Badlands (very cool, but I fell asleep), Crystal Caves (I fell for the trick that in complete darkness, if you wave your fingers in front of your face, they will turn purple), Devils Tower (sort of creepy), Bridal Veil Falls (where I walked up to the falls and got bathed in mist ... barefoot on sharp rocks! Mom fell into the freeeeeezing water (ha) ), and some other things ... I forget. Heh.

After about 14 hours in the car yesterday (only two potty breaks for me !!! ), we got home at 8:30. Put everything away and watched two Good Eats (strawberries and cobbler).

I'll try to figure out how to post pictures sometime ... I hope. :)

Going Away

Hey, readers!

I'm perky today. I really don't understand why, because I just got back from the dentist! Oh well.

I wanted to say that I'm leaving the state on Friday the ... eighteenth, I believe ... to go on a family vacation to South Dakota! We'll be staying in a cabin with a pool (splee!) and we'll see the monuments and such. How fun!

TTFN ... ta ta for now!

??

I really don't know what to talk about today. I guess I'm just bored out of my gourd.

. . . . I watched a lot of Good Eats and Whose Line Is It Anyway? this morning. I laughed. And I sounded like a zebra, as usual.

I guess that's it.

OH! How do you like the new layout? Took me about ten minutes. I like it a lot more now. Hope you do, too. If you read this anyway.

Byyyyyye.

Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog . . .

I wanted to tell you about my WIPs. What? You don't know what they are? *sigh* You don't hang out with teens, do you? WIP is an acronym for Works In Progress. Get it?

FEARLESS - a girl who does not fit in at her school. She rants on and on about how no one understands and how crappy life is. She sits in a corner of the busiest part of the school in between classes and draws. One day, she finds out someone is watching her. She develops a relationship with this person and s/he (haven't decided yet) teaches her to see that some people are more than they appear.

4 MINUTES - apocalypse thing. Three girls' home is invaded by gas in the air that is highly toxic. Their familes die and it is up to them to find the source . . . before their oxygen stores run out.

THE WAY THING ARE - big life, bigger family, and even bigger stories. In a family with thirteen kids (five girls, eight boys), one girl will tell what it is like. It isn't all pretty.

TRUTH - a world of war, Shadow Knights, and lies. An evil queen is ruling and ordering for the slaughter of millions of people. One Shadow Knight fights back.

BUNNY - a case of identity theft. Except, the girl knows who she is. She just doesn't know the people around her.

GOOSE GIRL - (just started) finding hope in the unexpected. One girl lives on a tiny island in the middle of a pond with dozens of geese. She says they are her family. One boy and a reporter aren't sure.

Thanks for reading all that. There are probably many that I forgot, but you know . . . I'll update them when they mosey on farther.

Ciao for now.

Book Review!!!

I recently read the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I admit, I watched the movie first. But, in the words of Alton Brown, that's another show.

I thought that it was really, really good. The plot followed through the whole way, there wasn't as much mushiness (mushy-ness?) as there was in the movie, and the characters really stood apart.

The story is set in South Carolina in 1964, during a time of racial segragation.

Lily Owens is living with the haunting memory of her four-year-old self having shot her mother. Since she is gone, Lily is left with her father, who is not the nicest man in the universe. Lily and their maid, Rosaleen, a black woman, leave T. Ray and travel to Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily finds hope in a form she never expected.

I will not tell you more, because I want you to read it!

This book gets a 5/5 stars from me.

Tech.

What would we be in this society without technology?

Before you say, "If we didn't have technology, we'd be like we were two to three hundred years ago," I was thinking about what would happen if it was taken. For instance, you went to bed with the fan and A/C on, and you wake up at midnight and everything is off. The light won't turn on, the TV and radio don't work, and it is H-O-T in your house. Would you freak out?

Sc-c-c-c-ORCHING!

I am not, under any circumstances, stepping foot outside today. It is 91 degrees and HOT as Hades out there (I shall not swear on the Internet). In our living room, with no fan, it is probably a little cooler, but not much. Ugh. I think I just might drown in my own sweat.

By the way, the movie Changeling is okay. Three out of four stars for me. Good storyline, but not as moving or anything as it should have been. Oh, and Angelina Jolie says "MY SON" waaaaaay too much.

Peace, Love, and Yoga,
Frankie

Photo Story and Coffee

So (why do all my posts start like that? idk), I downloaded Photo Story 3 from Microsoft two days ago (FREE) and I love it! I'm making book trailers and they are sooooo cool!

Also, www.coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com. GO THERE! Aaron Mauer = biggest nerd ever. Better blog. GO WASTE YOUR TIME THERE! : )

Ice hockey on hold. I'm writing a sequel to my JanNo story.

Hope the world is okay for you,
Love,
Frankie

Tough May

I have lost all inspiration for my MayNoWriMo story. It all sucks. I'm supposed to be at 25K and I'm only at 10K! I keep trying to get back on track, but . . . *sigh*. It just isn't going. I'm going to see how much I can do in half a month with a new plot.

One word for the story - hockey. Ice hockey, so I guess it's two words. I love hockey, and it's also Stanley Cup Playoffs time. I needed to get to it sometime. I knew I was going to write about ice hockey - so . . . yeah. Tess Kyme and her brothers (Max and Tori) love hockey, but she can only play with them on the weekends because the town they live in doesn't have a girls' hockey team.

Ugh. I now HATE May. And the overuse of the word 'like.' But I do that all the time - so I guess I am a hypocrite. Huh.

I Got Impatient

So, I got impatient, so I'm going to tell you what my story's about. I need something to write about, so cut me some slack.

It's called Prove You Exist and there is this group of friends. Their names are weird, but I wanted them to be that way. Ajax Turow, Fox Turow, Magic Eyates, Strider Eyates, Wren Eyates, Jupiter Rokker, and Ranger McCallo. Ranger had two younger twin sisters, Oakley and Wednesday, who will join the group when they're old enough.
There are these things called Creepers, that feast on poor people with no money. They have milky-blue flesh and golden eyes.
Their population is growing and Wren is being sent away to Lousia K. Cartovan Finishing School, supposably the most secure place in the country. The boys try to get on without her, but it's not working. So they send in applications to the school and a big donation which helps them get in.
When the boys get there, they are amost drowned by interested girls. The most persistent are a group led by a girl named Persephone (Poppy) and her sister, Ekaterina (Kate). The girls in the group are Taylor, Claire, Mayzie, Megan, and Effie. They accept Wren into their "elite group" when they figure out that she is related to two of the boys, and knows the rest.
Basically, it's the school year and the end the Creeper population going down by generousity of the wealthier people to the poorer, so the Creepers have no food anymore.

What do you think? Any suggestions? Post a comment!

Sorry I'm Late

So, peeps, yesterday was a bit . . .how you say, much. We were playing with Brady, pampering him, watching him crawl around and all, until my parents got sick. Then everyone left. Yeah, then I had to babysit my sisters ( :( ).

Brasy is gone. Another :(. But! I started MayNoWriMo! I got to 3226 today and that's good, because it means I'm keeping up with my goals. I have to get to 50000 by the end of the month. Now I can have a :). Am I insane? Did you really have to ask? But, yes.

I think that's it. No more random comments except that I'm not telling you the plot of my story until the END OF MAY!!! MUUUWAHAHAHAHA!!!! :)

TeenBlips!

My blog is now on TeenBlips! Hooray. Now I have to claim it. It told me to paste the code here . . let's see . . . That should do 'er.

My cousins and aunt and uncle are here! Awwww . . . my baby cousin is soooo cute! His hair is orange fluff and his eyes are soooo huge and blue!! Awww!

We are going to spoil him rotten this weekend!

Love,
Brady and Frankie

Hi-LARIOUS Roleplay

My Health class is odd because everyone is gone to camp and I was the only one left. My teacher and I had to do a roleplay about peer pressure. One word, "Awkward."

Anyway, today was as uneventful as yesterday. Booooooring. Pickle is being boring, too, which hardly ever happens. He's just napping or peeing or something.

Reese's peanut butter cups are my favorite! I always forget how much I love them until I eat one!

Ciao.

Uh. . .

Today was very uneventful. I didn't really do anything exciting. Nothing really happened. I guess there were these guys over by the middle school giving out free mini Bibles, so . . . ?

You know what, I hate pearls. I just don't like them. They're my grandma's birthstone and she wears them all the time, but I just think they're ugly. No offense to pearls, people named Pearl, or people born in the month of June, but I don't like them.

Pickle's napping. And snoring. Loudly. It's quite annoying, actually. Maybe I should join him? : )

TTFN - ta ta for now

Bubble Wrap

I just got a package (what was in it and who it was from, I shan't reveal) with some insanely huge bubble wrap inside! Now, to me, bubble wrap is like therapy, but cheap. I popped and popped and popped until all the bubbles were gone and now . . . I am relaxed.

I'm thinking there must be some birds in my backyard because Pickle is sitting at the window and pawing at the glass and mewing and flicking his tail. His special favorite kind of bird is the cardinal. Don't ask me how I know, I just do.

The idea for MayNoWriMo is bursting in my head! It's sooooo awesome! But you still have to wait! Ha, ha, yeah, I know I'm evil.

Peace

Oh! Wait, before I forget. Happy birthday to my dad! Age catching up to you, ain't it, Pappy? : )

CD Review!

So, in the length of empty time between this post and the last, I listened to a CD.

Now, I must admit that I already had this CD for a while (one-two months) and have grown fond of it. I have also grown fond of the artist, so this review, as you may have guessed, will be biased.

The CD I reviewed is: Far by Regina Spektor!

I know, you're thinking, "Who?"

Well, let me tell you that she is an amazing singer. She sang the song "The Call" at the end of the second Narnia movie. AND! A few of her songs are in the movie (500) Days of Summer, which I have not seen. She has also been on SNL and Jools Holland.

I loved this CD. I mean, REALLY loved it. It just gets better the more you listen to it! It has a total of 15 songs and they all feature some sort of piano instrumentalization (is that a word?). The first song, "The Calculation", is very bouncy and bubbly, my favorite little piece saying, "We made our own computer out of macaroni pieces." How awesome, right?

All the lyrics have special meaning to them, and the songs have compatiblity, but are different. All together lovely.

My cat has something to say.

My cat, the lovable Pickle, keeps walking over my keyboard, so I think he has something to say. Here he is:

kookmkjnunjbhhjugvgycftdcrederszwaqAWEAWESRESXRFDFFGTFTTGHIJJNMKMP;

Thanks, Pickle, for that amazing post.



Anyway, I have an announcement. I have signed up for MayNoWriMo 2010! In case you are not familiar with this website, it is where writers (such as myself) can get something done. During MayNo, 50,000 words in 31 days. Fun, yes. Easy, no. Impossible? Probably. I have succeeded in 30,000 words during January, but only because I added an excerpt from the sequel, which I am still not sure when I will get around to writing.

I have what it's going to be about. BUT! I shall not spill until May when I need something to do other than lose my sanity.

I hear a peanut butter sandwich calling my name. Why? 'Cause I'm hungry and I don't feel like cookin'.

Blog, blog, blog, blog . . .

Well, here's to the crisp smell of a brand new blog!

My name is Frankie, and I'm a writer. Not a published writer, of course, but an aspiring one. I'll keep you up to date on all of my projects.

I also (like anyone else) have personal preferences as to music, books, shows, etc. So, if I ever find anything new that I like, I'll post that as well!

I'm also new to blogging, so I might not be able to post all the time. Please keep that in mind, those brave or foolish enough to read this.

That's my first post people!