Archive for September 2019

ahhh, those times when you promise to do something by a certain time but then get so busy that it gets pushed further and further. that's this post.

so, since my life is so full right now that I barely have time to sit down at a desk, this will be a short post. but nevertheless, I'm so happy to be able to present you K. A. Emmons's third book - the finale to The Blood Race trilogy - RESURGENCE.

as I'm still reading this book, I cannot give as extensive a review as I promised but here is the blurb and a few thoughts.

200 years into Earth’s future, the Anomalies return…

When Icarus and the other Anomalies of the Dimension reemerge into a war-torn world, they have no idea how to take down the Reformed Global Militia — a military superpower which now rules by force and mind-control. Without Hawk or Sensei by his side, Icarus is haunted by his own self-doubt and questions his ability to lead the sliders into battle. But when he’s captured and inducted into the RGM, Icarus must face his biggest challenge yet: keep his true identity a secret from the power that wants to kill him.

While Fin roams the Irish countryside searching for Hawk, tensions rise between students in the Dimension. Desperate to escape the clutches of the RGM, Icarus makes a run for it — only to be captured again by a mysterious young corporal who’s been hiding a secret of her own…for the past 200 years. As the Anomalies prepare for war, the Dimension spirals out of control, creating more division than ever. Icarus is forced to make an impossible choice between life or death when he realizes that in order to defeat the darkness, he may have to become it.

1. the writing is beautiful. kate's writing is always beautiful, and this is no exception.

2. the setting is fascinating and immersive. it's like The Blood Race and Worlds Beneath, but each book has it's own vibe and own setting and I love that very much.

3. the characters are like same old friends and new acquaintances and very real and very relatable and very entertaining and I also love them very much.

4. the story is so rich in possibility and symbolism and allegory.

5. it feels epic. it feels apocalyptic. I have no idea where it's going.

* * *

that being said, it's the last day of the blog tour, so I hope you check out the book here and here.

I'm also giving away one ebook copy of Resurgence so listen carefully. everyone who comments below on this post will be entered into the giveaway, which will be open for one week - up to Monday Sept. 7th. on the 8th I will reply to the winner's comment, whereupon the winner must send me an email via my contact form. so please be sure to check back - if you don't reply within a week, I'll be picking another winner. SO GOOD LUCK.

excited, anyone??

Today we have a post by my dear friend Micaiah on a very fascinating topic that will turn heads : story structure, and why it you don't (always) need it.

I’m going to make a lot of writers scream in horror and throw their computers at me over this statement, but here it goes: Your story doesn’t need a structure.

Sound the alarm. Close the computer. Run away. Hide under piles of carefully thought out manuscripts with their neat and tidy structures. Hold your story structure worksheets tightly to your chest. But first… Let’s talk about what structure is and what I’m talking about when I say the word “structure.”

A quick Google search will show that structure can be defined as “the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex.” So in a nutshell, a story structure is the arrangement of parts and elements of a story (a complex thing).

Now, to get even farther down into the nitty-gritty, here’s what I mean exactly when I’m talking about the structure your story doesn’t need: The traditional three act story structure that we have been taught to mold our stories around. Generally, this structure has an exposition, some rising action, a climax, some falling action, and a resolution.

There’s nothing wrong with this structure. In fact, it has been used to create some of the greatest stories ever read or written. Lots of the stories that we know and love fit within this framework. The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. On and on the list goes. But here’s why your story doesn’t need that structure:

Your story doesn’t need a structure because sometimes, our adherence to structure takes away our freedom to be creative and write the story we want to write.

We skip scenes because they don’t fit in with rising or falling action. We hurry to find a dramatic climax. We try to figure out how those authors utilized a structure so beautifully and yet we seem to fumble with the same building blocks of story. We scramble for a five page resolution. Cram in another scene here and one there. On and on it goes…

Imagine what stories would look like without this need for structure, or what writing a story without agonizing over its structure would be like. What would happen if you just… Wrote a story? Any way you wanted?

I’m sure that many of you are seeing piles of pages of what some would call rubbish--unorganized, messy rubbish. But when it comes to art, there is something to be said for messiness. There is something to be said for no rules, no boundaries, no molds. In art, beautiful things, perhaps even the best things, can be made when you’re not keeping yourself in a box (or a story structure!).

Think of all of the possibilities…

What if you wrote a story by simply describing a place and the people there? Or perhaps just describing a thing?

What if you wrote a story told through commands, like Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”?

What if you wrote a story that looks like a mishmash of memories and snippets of scenes, but was all tied together by an emotional arc rather than a plot arc created by story structure?

What if you wrote a story where seemingly nothing happens, and yet a person can learn so much from that “nothing”?

What if…..?

That’s the beauty of having no structure. What if… You just wrote? What if… You just let yourself go wild and be free on the pages? What if...?

I want to encourage you to not keep your story within the confines of three acts. Create your own structure. Make a mess of the pages. Write your own story.

And stay stellar. <3

Micaiah Saldaña is, first and foremost, a follower of Jesus. When she isn’t lost in the stories she writes, you can find her reading classic novels and short stories, going on one of her many adventures, or drinking salted caramel hot chocolate. She is known for having a weakness for notebooks of all kinds, daydreaming about typewriters, checking wardrobes for Narnia, and baking dozens of macarons. Find her rambling about stories, adventures, and her faith on her blog Notebooks and Novels at www.notebooksandnovels.com or on Instagram @micaiahsaldana.

COMMENT BELOW WITH YOUR OPINIONS ON THIS IMPORTANT BUT (somewhat) CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT - WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT STORY STRUCTURE??

about four or five months ago, some blogger friends and I were searching for a name for our hangouts chat group. since the founder is a very big fan of the blood race series we finally agreed to name ourselves the dimension (which, in the book, is the name of the alternate reality wherein certain characters live).

last month, our founder also had the great idea for us, the dimension, to take over the blog-sphere for a week - so here we are. we wanted to roast each other for our obsessions or oddities, but as it turns out, we decided that for my post it would be far more fun to roast a seventh, secret member of our dimension chat ... that little imp who's responsible for all our typos and spelling errors.

let's get into it!! (I shall be speaking in GREEN.)

Introduce yourselves please!!

It is I, the Queen of Ships, Brooke!

Heyo! I’m Gray Marie the queen of all things relating to messiness.

Greetings, lovely people! I am Lila the queen of awkward potato-ness.

Hello all, it’s Faith!

Lisa: Will you all please tell the audience the backstory of Lisa and Carden so that they will not be confused by the subsequent questions?

Brooke: Haha, well, it started when Lisa began reading The Cruel Prince. And soon after, our group chat began to have typos from her. Naturally, being a place of rambles and fun we didn’t care. But we soon discovered something- or someone- more sinister lurked within Lisa’s phone. And that someone was Carden.

Gray: Ditto, what Brooke said. Carden is the reason we can never fully understand Lisa’s already hilarious ramblings.

Lila: Lisa read The Cruel Prince. That was apparently a big mistake because now Carden has invaded her phone and tortures her with typos and spelling mistakes.

Faith: Cardan invaded Lisa’s phone when she read The Cruel Prince. And now it will never go back to normal. He recognizes his own name in spell check...but nothing else.

Lisa: How annoying is Carden to Lisa and to everyone else in the Dimension chat?

Brooke: Personally, I am more amused by his clever wit, but I do feel bad for Lisa having to struggle with his idea of fun. But, considering the horrible way he treats humans in his book, I suppose I am thankful he is only messing with her words.

Lila: Like Brooke above, I’m more amused than anything. But, typos ARE in general super annoying, so… I guess on the Annoying Scale, I’d give Carden something like a 7 out of 10? XD

Lisa: And now, in spite of his annoying-ness, please describe how much Lisa needs and likes him anyway.

Brooke: Without Carden, Lisa might actually be less amused by The Dimension. She may find our daily tasks of being sliders less fun without him. And she loves him the most, anyway.

Gray: Carden is just that loveable little brother that misunderstands conversations he was eavesdropping on and shouts out something nonsensical. He’s a smol mischevious bean, one must sort of love him.

Lila: Unpopular opinion, but Lisa doesn’t need Carden at all. He’s mean and won’t leave us alone, and I’d advise her to run away from this toxic relationship as fast as she possibly can. XD

Faith: He needs to shut up and stop interrupting conversations that aren’t his xD

Lisa: How often does Lisa (and the rest of the anomalies) yell about Carden?

Brooke: He sometimes comes to visit all of the sliders’ phones, so we have to put him in his place at times.

Gray: He keeps making me put “food” instead of “good”, which I’m not sure is a bad thing??? I feel like the word “food” expresses my pleasure just as well as “good”, if not better.

Example:

Me: *asks a generic question*

Friend: *gives generic answer*

Carden: food.

Lila: I just join in when everyone else yells at him, but I don’t think I’m very good at it because I always end up laughing?? This just goes to show how manipulative Carden is and how he needs to be caught and shunned from The Dimension ASAP.

Faith: Cardan is a menace and I think he pops up just about every day. It’s definitely a problem.

Lisa: Does Carden feel any remorse whatsoever for all the pain he’s inflicted?

Brooke: Absolutely not! He is only getting started. I fear for what he might do later, if he decides messing with words is not enough for his tastes. I suspect it won’t be.

Gray: I’m starting to doubt it. What’s next Carden after you make all of my friends think I’m always hungry (where’s the lie though)? World domination?

Lila: I seriously doubt that Carden has any regrets whatsoever.

Faith: Regrets? We all know he mislikes grammar issues and prefers to just change them to his own thing. Such as the main case in point: mislikes. WHO SAYS MISLIKE?! It’s dislike.

Lisa: Please recount your best (or funniest or worst) memory of Carden’s antics.

Brooke: When I had my blogger form up for the updates of things going on for my blog, Carden had to hijack Lisa’s entry. He was, reluctantly, let in on the updates, but I suppose he had to be.

Gray: Lisa having to repeat words to no avail in the group chat because Carden always finds a way to change them.

Lila: I can’t think of anything specific, oddly enough. CARDEN IS MUDDLING MY BRAIN.

Faith: That time Cardan hijacked Brooke’s blog was definitely fun xD

Lisa: And lastly, please describe your feelings about Carden somehow getting his very own post on Lisa’s blog (this post.)

Brooke: I should have seen it coming, tbh. Carden is very persuasive. He’s been wanting his own post on Lisa’s blog since he discovered Lisa had a blog. (Of course, she had to explain to him what a blog is as his home is not that advanced in technology.)

Gray: LIKE I SAID, WORLD DOMINATION. The dude has a plan and now we are playing right into his plans.

Lila: Selfish, manipulative boy! (I’ve actually never read The Cruel Prince, so I have no idea what I’m talking about?? Oh well.)

Faith: He does NOT deserve this sort of privilege. Toss him out. Delete this post. Don’t comment—don’t give him that satisfaction.

Lisa: Now, please feel free to free write however much you want on this subject, and say whatever you couldn’t say before.

Brooke: Carden and Lisa in The Dimension can be a fun duo, but they can argue sometimes, which isn’t so much fun. I find it amusing, though, and enjoy their conversations with each other. <laughing emoji with tears face>

Gray: I find it hilarious, especially when I miss an incident and open my phone up to 100+ messages of Lisa ranting about Carden.

Lila: All we can do is pray for Lisa’s sanity and hope Carden doesn’t spread the invasion to the rest of our devices (anymore than he already has). I speak on the behalf of our dear Lisa and everyone else contributing to this post when I say you can blame any runaway typos in here on HIM. *points accusatory finger*

Faith: Cardan is problematic in the extreme and he’s already taken over most of our phones (I mean, I cursed at a number of people BY ACCIDENT because of him. That alone goes to show what a menace he is.) We need to do away with this threat, NOW.

AND THERE WE HAVE IT FRIENDS. also listen to Faith and don't comment on this post unless you want Carden to get more smug of his mischief. XDD

visit the other dimensioneers and their roasts at these links (which shall be updated as the posts are posted):

lila @ the redhooded writer

brooke @ chasing dragonflies

gray @ sunshine and joy

faith @ the writer's song

(shoutout to our darling anna even though she didn't join in the roasting XD)

DOES CARDAN EVER POP INTO YOUR PHONE TOO?

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