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Saturday, 31 December 2011

My 2012 Resolutions

My New Year's resolutions. I guess writing them down might make me stick to them a bit better!


1. Work harder in my degree - I'm studying Biomedical science. Why, you may ask, when I like writing so much? Well, because I've never thought myself very good at it. Not enough to make a career out of anyway, so my next love was science, and there should always be jobs out there for someone with my kind of degree. I've become very lazy at it recently though, only doing the bare minimum. I know that's the same for a lot of students, but I don't want to be just another student. I want to do well, and that will involve a little more elbow grease!

2. Stay away from Fanfiction - Not reading of course, I'll never stop that. No, I mean writing it. I get caught up in movies and books that I want to write my own ending/continuation, and my original ideas get side-swiped. There's nothing wrong with it, but then I get caught up in who's reading and leaving reviews, and sticking to a ridiculous chapter posting schedule that either destroys my sleeping pattern or means I dodge school work which really shouldn't happen.

3. Read more - I used to go through loads and loads of books in a year, but 2011 was a very slow year, and I probably can count them all using just my fingers, and that's not like me. Here's hoping 2012 goes better for me!

4.  Watch my tongue - I have this awful habit of speaking before I think about the consequences. I say things for comic effect or to big myself up, without considering who they might hurt. I had an incident a few weeks ago with a close friend and it really woke me up. She's very assertive, and called me out on my crap. It just made me think, who else have I upset who was too shy/polite to speak out? Engage brain before mouth this year.

5. Get fit and healthy - I guess this is on everyones lists. In the last year, very slowly, I've lost about a stone and a half of weight. It's not that I'm unhappy with the way I look. No, I became comfortable with my body image a few years ago after struggling with it through most of my teenage years. No, it's that my being overweight is probably the reason I have a few health problems. They're not serious, but I would quite like them sorted out, so I can feel a bit more normal. I've made a recent discovery that my University house is only about 5 minutes away from a gym, so I'm going to make a push to try and visit it a few times a week.

6. Put more effort into my Sunday school lessons - I'm a Sunday school teacher. It's a real privilege to work with kids but recently I've been in the mindset of 'can't be bothered' and instead of teaching them we just play games. I'm also struggling to hold their attention in the 30 minute lessons. I guess every sort of teacher has to battle with this so I guess it's just a case of 'buck up, chuck!'.

Whatever sort of year 2011 has been for you, I hope 2012 brings you happiness!

Sarah xx

Thursday, 29 December 2011

My favourite reads of 2011

Between University and reading, and my dalliance with jewellery making, I didn't get as much reading done this year as I normally do, but I do have a few favourites that I'd like to share with you!

1. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins



I had read this book a year or two ago, but with the movie coming out in March next year, I wanted to re-read it to remind myself why I enjoyed it before all the hype clouds it. I finished it in 6 hours. It is an amazing book. I have bought several friends this book for birthday and Christmas presents just to spread the Hunger games love. EVERYONE should read this book.

2. Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers



I haven't read very much Christian fiction, because in my limited experience it just makes me feel guilty for not being a better person who's stronger in faith. This book though completely captured me. I devoured it in every spare moment while away with my friend and her family for a week for a Christian convention called New Horizon. It's just so good. I'm also making my way through the Mark of the Lion series by the same author, which is fabulous.

3. Game Of Thrones - George R.R. Martin



I bought this book in the airport on my way to see my friend in London. Then, the TV show started and I really enjoyed it, I decided I wanted to read the book. Of course, it was in the middle of my exams and I had to discipline myself and only read it one chapter at a time; one for every hour spent revising. It's a great book and I wouldn't have been able to put it down under any other circumstance. I raced through the second book in the series, but I think I ran out of steam somewhere in the third because I haven't touched the ASOIAF series since the summer. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, I just got distracted. From my limited experience, I defiantly say that the first book is the best. I hope to get through the rest of the books sometime in the new year. AND, the TV series is filmed mostly in Northern Ireland, which makes me proud of my country!

4. Virals - Kathy Reichs



I read this in a few days flat. The author, Kathy Reichs, has written a series of forensic books that inspired the TV series Bones. My parents are a fan, and Kathy came on her book tour to my University. I went to see her and get a book signed to give to my mum and dad as a present and when she was giving her very interesting talk, she mentioned her new YA project. I had forgotten about it, but when I saw it the other day in Waterstones, I knew I had to get it. It didn't disappoint. The only criticism I have is that for a 14 year old, Tory (the protagonist), has an awfully advanced biology class. Sequence DNA? I'm only doing that now in my 2nd year of University!

5. A Great And Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray



My University book shop was closing down and having a very large sale. On top of that, we're given a card by the University with money loaded on it to spend in the shop. It's supposed to be on text books, but I had some money left over. I got this book, and the two sequels mostly because I thought the cover was very pretty. I confess, if I buy books on the spur of the moment, it's usually because I like the cover.  It worked this time, and I really enjoyed this book. I'm currently trying to finish the 3rd one. Similar story to GOT, I read the first two so fast that I couldn't manage the 3rd. It's still sitting on the window sill of my digs at Uni. It is also on my list for the new year.

So that's it! If you enjoy reading, then I would really recommend all the books above. Most of all The Hunger Games. Stephen King recommends it. What more proof of it's awesomeness do you need?

Sarah xx

The one in which I talk about fanfiction for (maybe) the last time...

There's a lot of hate out there for fanfiction. I know why but I don't think it's always justified.

When I started, it was because I couldn't get certain things, such as bands, movies, out of my head, and a writer will always have plots, characters, inside their heads, screaming at them to be written about. For me, in the beginning, they were characters and plots that already existed to a certain extent. And that was fine. It meant that I already had a starting point, and I knew there were people out there who would at least give reading it a shot. And the format, which is usually post a chapter, get reviews, write another one, get some more reviews is comfortable. You get immediate feedback, which in my experience was usually good. It was also a good confidence boost when strangers tell you that they like what you write. I'm essentially a praise whore. I did ask for some constructive criticism, but didn't often get any. I think this was more to do with the fact that no-one could be bothered to tell me when what I'd written was crap, rather than because my writing didn't need any improvement. 

Sure I know that there are a lot of people who just write/read fanfiction to let quench some of their sexual frustration. There is a LOT of NSFW stuff out there. And there is quite a lot of slash fiction too. There's nothing wrong with writing about a same sex relationship. But they take it too far when they pair brothers, even fictional brothers, together. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LEAVE SAM AND DEAN ALONE!

Google 'slash' if you don't know what it means but be warned. Out there, there be monsters.

However, fanfiction has been kind to me. It's allowed me to grow. Or so I hope. And it has shown me that there are people who will read what I write, even if they can be counted on the fingers of a pair of hands.

But it's the big bad world for me now. I don't think I'll ever put a years worth of my (spare) time into a novel length fan fiction again. The only return is a small confidence pick me up, and I think it's time that I grew up and started taking things seriously. I do want to be a writer, and I know that it may not be what my path in life is, but the only way to figure out is to try, and really try.

So, fare thee well fan fiction. It's been real fun, but it's time we parted company.

Sarah xx

Saturday, 24 December 2011

A year later...

So, FINALLY finished my Prince of Persia fanfiction! *party*

If you're interested. All 20 chapters (+ prologue) can be found at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6590275/1/Vengeance

When I write fanfictions usually one of two things happen: 1) I get distracted by another fandom/another story for the same fandom and can't finish it 2) I get fed up with no-one reading and stop writing. Either way the stories usually don't get finished. But this one did! Huzzah!

So, onto original fiction. I have started one recently, but that never means anything in the world of Sarah. I have a dozen first chapters written for various stories. I'll keep you updated though.

As of right now I'm going to read a few more chapters of Virals, the new young adult series by Kathy Reichs (she wrote the books that inspired the TV series Bones.) which is very good.

So to all (I say all, but I know rightly that this blog doesn't get a lot of traffic!) of you, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sunday, 18 December 2011

Update!

So what's been going on in the world of Sarah...

Firstly: NaNoWriMo was an epic fail. University work and life in general kept getting in the way. Also the fan fiction I've been working on demanded it's way to the front of my writing priorities and thus, I failed at Nano, but that's okay, I kinda knew that when I went into it. On the upside, I'm almost finished the POP fic and hopefully that will clear the way for something original to assert itself. If you've been following that, I know it's been a few weeks, but I'm writing the penultimate chapter right now!

I'm finished Uni for Christmas now. Although that is a bit of a misnomer as I have exams or 'finals' to those who follow the American system, to do in January. Yes, January. So Christmas is cancelled as far as I'm concerned! Well, not quite. I will still take a few days off, but I'll have to be working quite hard for most of my holidays!

Another thing of note: If you haven't already seen the trailer for the Hunger Games, watch it here... NOW. This looks like it's going to be one of THEE films of 2012. I already think March is far too far away!




On a side note I've been having a lot of vivid dreams recently, so I've been getting a lot of material for original fiction (I hope) which I am planning to start once POP is out of the way. I just hope I can get as sucked into an original story as I have been to Fanfiction.

Sarah xx


Friday, 7 October 2011

NaNoWriMo

I know it's been a while since I last posted here, but on my writing front things have been pretty quiet!

I am, however, going to endeavour to take part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I don't know if I'll be able to complete the challenge because of Uni commitments, but I'm going to give it a shot!

My username is Wings-Of-Fire, so feel free to check me out there and see how I'm doing!

The story I'm thinking of writing for it is called Beulah Heights. I'm really not great at summaries, especially when I haven't the plot properly figured out, but here go's... Beulah Heights is an apartment complex in the middle of the city. The story will centre around a group of young people who live there. If you were going to liken it to anything, then maybe Gossip Girl, but without so much of the scandal and social climbing aspect. One thing I do know is that I want there to be a Christian character. In most of the series' that are on television at the moment, any 'Christian'character is either portrayed as mad, malicious or horrendously hypocritical. For once I want to show that there are some who genuinely care about and live their religion out in their day to day lives.

Here's hoping that I can get into the swing of NaNoWriMo when it starts! Wish me luck!

Sarah xx

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Game of Thrones

So, yeah I know it's been a while!

And for those of you who are following this to keep up with my fanfiction I am sorry, but life just got in the way. Hopefully I'll be reaching some kind of normality within the next week or so and should get back on track with the writing etc!

Now, onto what I REALLY want to blog about!

Game of Thrones is a new-ish show from HBO and it is FABULOUS. It has such a great cast and a great story. It hooks you like a dumb fish and reels you in without protest. Here's a trailer for you:




I have read the first book so as to be able to compare it to the series and apart from a few liberties here and there that you would expect a TV show to take the likeness to the books is remarkable, they really stick very close.

I finished the first book within a week, a record for me considering that I'm in University exam season and the book was huge! I really mean it when I say I couldn't put this down! It's nearly onto episode 7 but if you can watch it I really suggest you do!

Oh and another interesting fact, most of it is filmed in Northern Ireland, just around the corner from where I'm living at the moment, and I didn't even know until about a week ago! How amazing is that? So, I've sent away a few letters offering myself as an extra for series 2. I know my chances are pretty slim, but it would be so amazing to be a part of something this epic that I couldn't resist. Besides, I've got nothing to lose by submitting myself.

So, that's it from me. I hope you're well. I also seem to have one follower! Hello! You are most welcome, hope you enjoy my ramblings!

Sarah xx

Saturday, 15 January 2011

My Angst Soundtrack

Angst, it's always in stories. You see it while a character is pacing up and down a room pulling their hair out over what seems like an impossible impending desision. That's angst.

When the two main love interest characters are in their "I hate you!" "I hate you too!" stage of their relationship, which can be seen in any Mills and Boon book, while their lust for each other bubbles away under the surface; that's angst.

Any kind of heated argument: Angst.

Here are some of my favourite songs for writing theses gritty parts of stories:

Blood On My Hands - The Used
The little goth girl in me still loves these guys.



Psycosocial - Slipknot
Pretty heavy, even for me. Although I'm told this is 'light' by their usual standards!



Love The Way You Lie - Eminem ft. Rihanna
Really can't get enough of this at the moment. Brillant piece for when one of your 'bad' characters is a bit of a masochist.



Make Me Wanna Die - The Pretty Reckless
Kick ass is an epic movie. Taylor Momsen gets some crap but I think this is an awesome song.



Taking You Down - Egypt Central
My cousin introduced me to these guys and I just love their music!



Bury Me Alive - We Are The Fallen
Evanescence wanna'be's but still, I quite like this song.



Going Under - Evanescence
The original Queen of Angst. Amy Lee is a legend.

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Prince Of Persia - Movie review and One shot

So, although I'm up to my neck in University exams, I still manage to find the time to write. I don't know how this is possible, but apparently it is!

It always happens around exam time, I don't know why, but the writing part of my brain just goes into overdrive and I can't concentrate on anything because these characters in my head just come alive. I'm always daydreaming, but it gets ridiculous around exams. My current daydreams of choice are that of the recent (2010) Disney action film Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.


This was originally a game, which I've played numerous times on numerous platforms and I loved the game, so I couldn't wait until the movie came out! Unfortunately I never got to see it in the cinema, because of a mix up with dates and the fact that it didn't do quite as well as Disney had hoped. I managed to catch it online, but have since bought the DVD because I thought it was completely epic!

Although some people don't like this because, well, because they're hard to impress. Disney have a habit of turning out their live actions in much the same way they do their cartoons. Think Pirates of The Caribbean, with someone else playing Jack Sparrow, because let's be honest, Jonny Depp brought that franchise to a whole new meaning of Epic.

So, if you don't mind being picky about highly unrealistic story lines, then check it out! For the girls you get to gawp at a majorly buff Jake Gyllenhaal. Lads, you can check out Gemma Arterton who's just flawless, and I love everything she's in. There's also the small matter of Ben Kingsley, who does a great baddie. Personally, I think it's worth a look!

BUT - let's go onto the story. Although I'm making my way through a full length story, I did happen to write a little short story. The film starts off with Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Dastan, being adopted from the streets of a Persian city by the King after rescuing his best friend. The film then jumps to 15 years later, where the friend he rescued is his right hand soldier. However, I got an itching to write what happened immediately after the adoption and here it is:

Friends Forever

Silently, the little boy wept.

He was cold, he was hungry, but most of all he was alone.

The noises of the night were so much more frightening when there was no one else beside you. Every little scratch and scrabble of a mouse, or a bat, sounded like some evil being lurking in the darkness, waiting to devour him. He huddled up even tighter and clamped his eyes shut.

This used to be their den. It used to be their palace, where they sat and talked about all the marvellous things that they would do when they were grown. It was built with love and friendship, from a patchwork of cloth.

Now, in the cold and dark, he could see it for what it really was; a shabby tent of rags stolen from unguarded washing lines.

Blinking back tears, Bis heard another sound, and winced automatically. He wanted the noises to stop, so that he wouldn't be frightened any more.

"Bis!"

The boy's heart began to pound thunderously. It was the shadow demons, he was sure of it. They'd come to take him away to the place where all street boys who disappeared went to.

"Bis, are you there?" the voice hissed again. With recognition, Bis looked up, to the voice that was calling from above.

Leaning over the roof of the building beside him he could see a shadow against the inky black sky. Although the voice may have sounded ghostly, it was certainly no spirit calling him.

"Dastan!" he cried for joy as he saw the outline of his dearest friend.

The boy on the roof swung himself over the edge with no fear, and landed with a comfortable flump onto the pile of rags.

Bis flung his arms around his friend.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he cried in elation, "I thought the King had taken you as a slave, or to be hanged, or… or…"

"No!" Dastan laughed, "Bis you'll never believe what happened! I don't even believe it."

"Tell me!"

"Well… I think the king has… I think he's adopted me."

Bis was stunned. When you see the King's brother taking your friend off on his horse, this was the last thing that you would expect.
"What?"

Dastan heaved a long sigh, before beginning his explanation.
"The King has told me to call him father. He's also told the Princes, Tus and Garsiv, to call me brother. Tus, he's older than me, but he's been very friendly to me, showing me where everything is. I don't think Garsiv likes me very much though, he keeps hitting me when he thinks no-one's looking, but someone always is, and he gets into trouble. Oh and I have a room, all to myself, with a big bed, and lots of new clothes and…"

He trailed off. Bis wasn't looking at him anymore, instead, he stared off into the distance, with an ugly scowl on his face.

"What's wrong?" Dastan asked gently.

Bis sniffed back more tears, but instead of sorrow, they were tears of anger.

"I thought you were dead and I was all alone. But you're not dead, instead you're now a Prince."

He spat out the word 'Prince' like it was a foul taste on his tongue.

"I… I thought you'd be happy for me…" Dastan said in a disappointed voice.

"You come here to gloat, and you want me to be happy for you?" he demanded.

"I'm not gloating!" protested the adopted prince, "Bis don't you know what this means?"

"That you're going to leave me, all by myself on the streets?" the boy muttered bitterly, "We used to be a team. You and me against the world, right? You promised me we'd be friends forever."

"What are you talking about? Bis, I'm not going to stop being your friend just because King Sharaman took pity on me. Tus told me that when I'm older I get to have soldiers and I get to fight in wars like all the knights in the stories!"

"I still don't get it," Bis sulked.

"You can be one of my soldiers! You'll get train with swords, and fight wars!"

"Really?"

His eyes began to sparkle as all the jealousy and anger melted away.

"Really! You'll be my best soldier, and then you'll become really important and have soldiers of your own, and live in the palace too!"

The grin on Bis' face stretched from one ear to another as he thought about it.

Suddenly, Dastan stood up.
"Come on!" he said, "Let's go to the palace now."

"Are you mad?" Bis asked disbelievingly, "I can't go in there!"

"Sure you can. I'll just tell them you're with me. I can go anywhere I like in the palace and I can bring whoever I like."

"I don't know…"

"They let me eat whenever I want. I just call for someone and they bring me food."

The deal was sold on the single mention of food.
"Let's go," Bis said eagerly.

In the palace, Dastan was still a novelty. Sharaman's wives fussed over him, pulling his hair and wiping dirt from his face. Except one, who looked at him like a bug that had crawled out from under the carpet.

The guards, though they laughed at their new prince, let him and Bis through the gates. They didn't even stop to question why the little prince had been out so late, and how, in fact, he had managed to get out.

In the kitchens, Bis' eyes were as wide as great clay plates as he stared at all the food. He stuffed his face with as much bread as he could, a hunk of cheese, a slice of meat and some fruit that, although he'd never seen before, tasted heavenly. He finished it all off with a glass of watered wine which still made his head feel a little funny.

When they'd finished eating, Dastan wanted to show Bis all the rooms in the palace, including his room. They were walking down the great corridor, when around a corner, they practically bumped into King Sharaman and Nizam who were talking about whatever it is adults talk about. Bis made a little noise that sounded like a mouse that'd been stepped on.

"Dastan," Sharaman spoke, with an air of a parent that's caught their child making mischief, "Who is this?"

"His name's Bis, sir," Dastan replied politely.

"It's nice to meet you Bis," the King replied, then he turned and looked very seriously at his new son.
"Now Dastan, I know you think you're doing a favour, but we can't have you brining in every urchin you find."

"But Bis is my best friend!" the prince protested.

Sharaman looked at the two boys.
"Alright, we'll make an exception for tonight, but just this once."

"Actually," Nizam interjected, a knowing look on his face, "I believe the stable boy took fever and died only a few days ago. I don't think they've found a replacement yet. Should I go and have a word with the Horse Master?"

Sharaman looked at Bis thoughtfully, with a corner of his mouth turned up in a smile.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea, Nizam."

The two boys looked at each other and beamed.

If you want to see some more of my stories, only about Prince of Persia at the moment, but I plan to get some other's up when I have the time to write them: go to, http://www.fanfiction.net/~woffles92

Saturday, 1 January 2011

New Year's Writing Resolutions!

So I'm hoping to get a few things done this year in the way of writing!

1) Finish my Prince of Persia Fanfic.

I've only started it, but I've already been uploading it to Fanfiction.net If you're interested in fanfiction and that sort of thing for movies, tv shows, games, books, then that's your best bet! I wonder what the word count on that site is! There are literally hundreds of thousands of stories, so the word count would be well into the millions, maybe even billions!

If you're interested in the Prince of Perisa fic, then check it out here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6590275/1/Vengeance

I have every intention of finishing this, even though I can never guarantee that. But I have two weeks after my exams (Which start the 10th January, and I'm messing around with Fanfiction, am I insane? - Probably.)

2) Finish Avatar fic. I started this well over a year ago, and was uploading it, again, to Fanfiction.net but a lot of things got in the way. There was A levels, Part-time job, boyfriend and a whole bunch of other stuff and I just couldn't fit it in. But I have over 25,000 words written on it and I'm hoping that I can pick it back up, finish it, and post it up so that all the people who were reading it will finally get some closure! I'll give it a try in my two weeks off.

About those two weeks off. Have you ever been to a really big Library? I have, the one at my University is huge, and it has loads of snug little corners which I can secret myself away in to get writing done.

I love the Library, I find it so easy to work there! So once all the hard exam work is done, I'll be taking myself there every day to work on my stories!

3) Get another chunk of my original novel done. I'm already three chapters into this Medieval based story, but as always the fanfiction voices in my head got in the way as they demanded that their story be told. What can I say, the characters that I fanfic about have such large personalities that they dwarf my own humble creations.

So, three new years writing for you! Let hope I stick to them!

Oh, and I now have started my personal twitter again. You can follow me @Woffles92