Oh My Hero Bloghop

As part of a fun blog hop hosted by Jaycee DeLorenzo and Victoria at Confessions of a Twenty Something Fiction Writer we're supposed to post a picture of our book's hero and interview them, so here goes!

The hero of my current WIP is named Julian and he's a human who lives among cursed witches and works as a sort of control officer to make sure the witches stay in line and arrest those who don't. He's assigned to work with my MC who is a witch who carries a curse heavier than others, she she gets her very own babysitter.

This is a picture I drew a few years ago but I thought it worked well for the image I have of Julian because there is a gentleness about him that my heroine is attracted to. Now the image may seem sweet but he's plenty tough, I just thought this picture would showcase the side of him that is willing to fall for and accept a witch who carries a terrible curse that could quite literally kill him.

So, an interview with Julian!

Q: So tell me Julian, why did you become a control officer against witches?
A: Witches get the short end of the stick because most of them who are here are cursed and  discriminated against, they don't get fair trials or fair treatment after arrest so I wanted to join the force and try to make a difference.

Q: That's very noble, but it's widely known that the WCC (force he works for) are entirely against witches and don't care one way or another about what happens to witches, they are all too happy to get them off the streets, what makes you think you could alone could change that?
A: I'm not naive, but I think even one person can make a difference.

Q: Malachi (heroine) seems to think it's only a matter of time before you become...and I quote her here...a 'prejudiced black hearted bastard like the rest of them.' Do you think that's true?
A: *laughs* No, I don't, and don't worry, I'm working on breaking down that wall Malachi has up.

Q: Do you think that's such a good idea considering she's a cursed witch? I mean, you do know what her curse will make her do right?
A: I do, trust me, but to be honest with you, when I'm around her I sort of forget all of that, I don't look at her and think "you're cursed!" I just think of her as Malachi, beautiful, tough, and burdened. I can't help wanting to protect her.

*Malachi interjects: Damn it Julian, do you have a death wish? Stop it! *stomps off*

Q: Ahem....sorry about that, didn't know she was lurking. Anyway, that sounds so ooey gooey romantic Julian, but I have to agree, sounds like you wanting to get close to Malachi means you have a death wish.
A: I don't have a death wish, but I'm not going to give up on her, whether she wants me to or not I'm going to stay by her side.
Q: Oh my...I think you're breaking down my walls too.

Julian: *smile*
Me: *swoon*


Well, that was fun! Hope you got to know Julian a little!

Book Giveaway! Win a SIGNED copy of 'SHATTER ME' by Tahereh Mafi!

WINNER: Daisy!

I was able to go to another awesome book event, it was called 'Spring into the Future' and featured authors of dystopian themed YA novels: Lauren Oliver, Tahereh Mafi, Anna Carey, and Veronica Rossi. So for this month's giveaway, a signed copy of Tahereh Mafi's 'Shatter Me' is up for grabs! To win you have to:

1. Follow my blog
2. Leave a comment on this post
3. Optional: If you also blog or tweet about this giveaway you earn an extra spot in the drawing (meaning when I gather the numbers to draw from, your number will be there twice instead of once. Remember to leave links)

Giveaway closes on 04/23/12, which is when I will draw and announce the winner.

Poetry week 2 - Outside my box

Last week I posted pieces that were along the lines of what I consider my usual style of poetry, this week I thought I'd share pieces on the other end of the spectrum, at least for me. I went through a couple phases where I wanted to write pieces that were in sharper focus than what I usual wrote, so I experimented a bit. Compared to last weeks poems I think these are very different in style, but the reader can still take away from it what they wish.

Routine

Glasses clink,
plates are filled,
footsteps whisper across floors
or stomp down heavily from above.
Words flat and un-reaching
fall out disgruntled
onto smeared napkins
and worn knuckles
that grasp at silver
all too tightly,
and work mechanically
to lift and lower.
Eyes never meet,
only pieces are ever heard,
stark white walls
lack twenty years of flavor.
Chairs are pushed back,
plates are washed,
ripened bellies whisper or stomp,
a breath is finally released.


Un-sung Elegy

Standing in the doorway,
he watches her as
she prepares dinner.
The soft muscles in her arms
straining ever so slightly
as she brings the knife
up and down in a familiar rhythm.
To him her shoulders are
a little more relaxed
Than what his hands used to know,
as though some seven year burden
has been biding its time there.

The hand that stirs is steady,
and full of purpose.
Purpose that will end
once the spoon is laid down.
Those hands used to draw
maps across his skin,
as did the lips that pucker
for a small taste
before they hide away again.
And the feet that slide over to the stove
have a slower pace than the ones
that used to slide across dance floors
and foreign sidewalks.

He loosens his tie,
and clears his throat,
and she turns to him with that tired smile,
the one that long erased all memory
of any other,
and says, dinner will be ready soon,
before she turns her back again.
He nods to her silence,
and walks away.

Hi my love, I missed you today,
stayed just on the edge of his tongue.

Poetry day 2 - Allusions and Thoughts

I always prefer the idea of something than the actual thing, at least when it comes to my writing. I love when things are alluded to rather than outright said and you can think about it a little and take away from it what you wish. Back in high school my creative writing teacher called my writing as "lyrical" because I loved coming up with beautiful sounding descriptions for things, it wasn't until my writing progressed that I looked back and realized a lot of my earlier pieces sounded pretty but really said nothing. Since then I'd like to think I've become better at the alluding and making sense thing, so I think today's pieces represent that side of my poetry writing:

Black Eden (prose poem)

I was trying to find some solace in that place where your shadows are sleeping. The tree you planted next to them still grows as though light can reach here. I tried to make some room for me, but it seems as though you've already plotted your garden. White lies, daffodils, an affair with someone who dances on air; every place is all carved up and ready for you to forget I ever had a place. So I've abandoned myself to be the dirt in your folds and crevices, hoping one day you'll clean yourself out and find me lying here. But you've long had a thing for dark places haven't you? So the more you churn the soil to plant yourself more seeds, the more you'll bury me and I won't be the thing you've forgotten, but the thing you'll never remember.

Gentle Beast

Let the dust settle beneath closed eyes.
The unwanted always find a place
where they don't belong.
Rub softly and feel time shift,
like a gentle beast breaking the surface of the ocean
after spending an eternity beneath
on one breath.
And when there is a tear,
it will carry a new flavor,
though there will be no one to taste it.
Forgotten...is what will happen
when those unwanted find a home.
They aren't worth a thought,
and hardly a tear.
Like one breath taken every thousand years,
they get only one chance at remembrance,
before they spend an eternity swimming
in the darkness beneath.

April is for Poetry!

So April is National Poetry Month and I'm actually excited about this because before I wrote books, I wrote poetry. Over the years poetry has meant different things for me and has often been the only way for me to express a lot of the emotions I've gone through as I grew up. I've been to dark places with poetry, happy places, confusing places, and heartbroken places, so my log of poetry is almost like a record of the phases of my life. So for national poetry month I want to share some of my poetry here on the blog. I'm going to post maybe two or three times a week, and I thought I would kick things off by sharing my very first poem. Of course I'm a little hesitant about sharing it but I couldn't think of a better way to start this month of poetry. I wrote it when I was eleven and I can remember writing in while in school and being amazed that I had written it because I had never written a poem before so I was bursting with pride over my little accomplishment. And it rhymed, oh yeah! Anyway, here it is, and look out for more poetry all month long.

The Year Two Thousand and Twenty

When time changes in the not so distant future,
man may be completely ruled by a computer.
Life may be easy for those who think
a machine should instead of a king.
With the tap of a key you could open a world
of complete satisfaction with cyber action.
To be alone you could drift along in space,
or let go let life run its own race.
We would soar full speed ahead into a whole new year,
or go back to the time when dinosaurs were here.
Advanced technology would soar everywhere,
isn't it strange to think of a world so near?
But now turn back the pages to our simple world,
as we await the day when the tide will turn.


Bonus, here's the second poem I wrote, also when I was eleven:

The Loner

With each step taken on the sandy shore
he saw a picture of his life before.
Scenes of sadness flashed before his eyes,
things his heart greatly despised.
These chapters of his life he could never re-read,
for now to live and breathe, he felt no need.
To him life was punishment, why was he here?
Was it only to live in sadness and despair?
Sorrow ruled where joy should reign,
there was no bright side to his life,
just darkness and pain.
So distant was he from the rest of the world,
as he tried to run away from the grief that gripped his soul.

Guess I got sucked into writing darker stuff early?