Ice Flower: Information of La Fayette

Dear Reader,
It's the 2nd post today but I have this urge to write, given the fact I have been in another major writer's block (even blogger's block). The thing is, I managed to get out of it. I just glued my ass to the chair in front of the laptop and promised myself a huge coup of hot chocolate if I write more than 1,000 of words. I guess everyone has a different way of passing over this, but chocolate has always been my thing.
Today I'm gonna tell you 'bout my story, Ice Flower. The cover isn't that pretty or interesting because I did it with old Photoshop cs3 and I can't say I'm Wonder Woman when it comes to it. I'm just good. It is also in romanian, my mother language, so don't scream at me - I've kind of lost the original photoshop file, so I can't change the title to english.
Still, as soon as I convince myself to get rid of the laziness for some minutes and find some good pictures, I will make a brand new english cover.
I'm curently writing this on Wattpad in romanian and I'm planning to translate it as soon as I get my lazy ass to do this have some free time. I am not a busy person. Really.

Basically, all the action is taking place in a very different world called La Fayette, a kind of... parallel world? It's complicated, given the fact that you can get in that world with the help of some old, special books called Portals. I wanted to be a little ironical, so it seems that normal humans (called Exteriors or Earthlings) like to... put some distance between them and these Portals. The humans just don't like them.
The human world is big and has a lot of countries and et cetera, but La Fayette is bigger. Somehow, unseen to the humans and their electronics, La Fayette is a world that covers the Earth, with just kilometers in between. While the Earth is in the middle of the electronical revulotion, La Fayette isn't using computers or other electronic aparature at all - even more, they despise it. It's more like a Middle Age Earth, but with magic (even if not many of them are able to use it, just the ones that are Fey).
La Fayette is somehow the place where all the fairytale creatures have their own haven. There are vampires, werewolves, fairies (pixies and the ones more... scary) and mermaids, spirits of the woods, fox-people or other half-animal half-people, unicorns, any magical creature you know and even more. These folks are all called Fey and don't live in the same places that normal people - or lightlings, people that don't use magic - live. All Fey  use magic, so they are called nightlings.
La Fayette is divided into five Empires: Sariah, Canolia, Va'al, Nariem and Aditi. Every Empire has its Emperor and its divided into smaller regions named differently (In Sariah there are five Kingdoms, in Va'al there are 12 Crowns and 7 Scepters, in Canolia there are four simple Regions, in Nariem there are 35 Domains and in Aditi there are 43-44 Lands).
I think it's enough for today, and thank you for listening.
Reader, you're truly the best.
xoxo
XD
Ann C., off.

Even if it's late, it's nice to say Happy B-day to me

Dear Reader,
Well, I can say yesterday was my birthday. Of course I know there is... no one that actually reads my blog. It's just kind of refreshing to, you know, share with someone that doesn't know you. No strings attached.
I had a nice day, to be honest. Family and stuff, but nothing that exciting and I'm still begging my mom for the second A Song of Ice and Fire book, A Clash of Kings.
I devoured the page-turner the first book was. A Game of Thrones totally deserved every coin.
My cake has to wait for Christmas, because my family thought it would be kind of a waiste to buy a cake for my birthday, and two days later to buy another one for Christmas. So, they will buy ony one, for the Christmas Eve.
So, Reader, I consider you've said Happy Birthday and wished me that warm birthday-ish stuff. If you didn't, it's no problem, I'm used to people forgetting my birthday in favour of the Christmas. It was the time.
Thank you for listening, Reader.
P.S.: By the way, is's that cake awfully good-looking? I would kill for one of those.

Oh, well...

Well, I can see my blog has gone a little... deserted already, now that I haven't been posting for over a month and a half, if I'm counting well (I'm dumb when it comes to maths. For me, one and one make a baby).
Now, I must come up with some good and nice excuses, right? Well, my first one is, of course, school being a good old pain in the... hand. Yep, hand. Maybe there are kids out there reading my post and I really don't want to have some pissed parents on my tail.
Another excuse is... oh, well. None I can think about. Maybe writing on my new-born draft of a book? Well, I find it a pretty good excuse.
Well, I was just stressed. Blocked. Both in writer and blogger's block. And believe me, you do not want to experience it, as long as you're not crazier than me (even if that seems unlikely; no one is crazyer than me).
Well, I gotta go. Must write something before mom begins to pick on my brain and put me to work.
A., off.
(And please note the piggy right near the laptop. Isn't it cute?)
xoxo, XD

Anne's Writing Tips 1: What is Writing?

I'm not an expert in this, and I am no more that a girl aspiring to be a writer some day. Still, I have some ideas of how I should write, what I should write, and when I should write. But the most important thing is What is Writing. Not for you, not for me, for us. All of us.
I say it again - I don't think of myself as an expert in writing, but I write, wrote and will write; I can't live without writing. For me, air and writing have equal importance; writing is, like air - tameless, timeless, tireless. Three "T". That's how I like to call it.
Words are more powerful than anything - they reach people's hearts and minds - they entertain, educate, inspire. After reading a good book, you sometimes remain with a sweet, lingering, warm feeling; you want more. That is called a good book.
If your book is neat, and comes in an error-free strong package, your readers will most likely love it; even if your writing is weak, they say: "So what? The plot is good. You will improve". But if the text is full of errors and messy, they would understand nothing; readers will get confused. Distracted from the plot. And that's bad for your book.
Before your words touch the reader's heart, your words need to get to your own heart. Don't be afraid to get emotional; it's a sign you're on the good path. Don't be afraid of errors - they can be corrected later, and it's a sign that you want to write.
Sometimes, I want to write so badly that it hurts - I can't do anything except thinking about what should I write. It's like a drug. I started taking it, then couldn't stop myself.
But still, I think writing is the best drug there is on this Earth.
"What is the difference between reality and fiction?
Fiction must make SENSE."
xoxo
Ann. C.

How (NOT) to Speak English Properly

Well, even if my school life is more than full, I had this crazy idea of getting my Cambridge B2 certificate. It can't be that hard, can it? It can't. Oh, well - I hope it can't.
While I was, you know, just surfing the net, I found this nice and amusing thing about english - some "rules" for Hot to NOT speak English Properly.
(largely stolen from William Safire and then elaborated upon anonymously)

1. A writer must not shift your point of view.
   
2. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
   
3. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
   
4. Always pick on the correct idiom.
   
5. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
   
6. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
   
7. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat)
   
8. Be more or less specific.
   
9. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
   
10. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
    
11. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
    
12. Don’t over-use exclamation points!!!!!
    
13. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
    
14. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
    
15. Employ the vernacular.
    
16. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
    
17. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
    
18. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
    
19. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than under-statement.
    
20. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
    
21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
    
22. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
    
23. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
    
24. .If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
    
25. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
    
26. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
    
27. No sentence fragments.
    
28. One should NEVER generalize.
    
29. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
    
30. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
    
31. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
32. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
    
33. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
    
34. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
    
35. The adverb always follows the verb.
    
36. The passive voice is to be ignored.
    
37. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth-shaking ideas.
    
38. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
    
39. Who needs rhetorical questions?
    
40. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
    
41. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects. And the last one...
    
42. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

Gossiping on Gossip Girl

Yep. After watching some episodes from "Games of Thrones" I switched on something more... scandalous. And that is Gossip Girl. I like it - not obsession, not adiction, just like.
I watched about... hmm... two episodes? Yeah, the Pilot one and the Wild Brunch. I have now the third episode, Poison Ivy opened an waiting for me to search any imperfection and endulge my eyes in the visual pleasure of brand clothes, dazzingly wild New York's Upper-East Side, and of course, the hot boys and awesome, awesome, AWESOME dresses I would never afford. A girl has to dream, right?
The thing I liked was that it didn't really... have just one main character, but followed the lives of three main pairs (well, four; if you count Selena's mom and Dan's dad, but only little romance was showed); so, six main characters.
Hmm... I have nothing against Selena, but up untill now she seemed almost too perfect to be true, and that is pretty much obviously suspicious. And, being me, I'm overly suspicious on everything. She was the trigger to everything - all the gossips/disasters happened after she abruptly came back from her misterious boardin school. She's the typical "It Girl".
Blair is the Queen Bee of the highschool, the epicentre of all things. She's the sometimes friend, always enemy kind of girl, when it comes to Selena. Not that I blame her - it was S. who really made the wrong decision to sleep with Blair's boyfriend, knowing how... how... how... unforgetful Blair can be. And that's why I love Blair - she's merciless.
I can't really choose between these to sides - Selena or Blair, but I think I must watch a little more before actually thinking to... choose a side.
xoxo XD

Writer's block

Bloggers are indeed scary when they're in Writer's Block. What; did you think just writers can be in writer's block? WRONG. Bloggers can too.
A living proof is me. I've been in W.B. for already one week and... no idea how many days. Well, almost two weeks, it is for sure. A lot of things happened here; I was on the 9th cloud to let you know it all, but when I got home an I opened the Blogger window, I... didn't know what to say. How to begin. No way, how to end.
Well, as an advice for Bloggers in Blogger's Block: don't panic. Be calm, and, like me, post something about you Block.
It works.
It really does.
...Or I hope it does...