Steph V. / Comments

Ha, that's the plan! XD Win the lottery, travel the world, and have money left over to do whatever you want with. ;)

I was only about half way through chapter 22, so I didn't go back too far. Especially when you compare it to last time, when I went back six whole chapters. D=

Yeah, I guess self-publishing would be satisfying in that way. It's just the hardest way to do things - you have to do your own marketing, sell the book yourself. I don't think self-published books generally make it to the shelves in bookstores, but I could be wrong. It's harder to convince people to read it that way. I've seen it happen before, on another writing site I was on. This girl had written the most amazing novel ever (based on a true story) - it had more reviews (comments) than any other story on the site. But when she self-published it, very few people went and bought the printed copy. I was one who did, because I loved it so much. But I'm sure you've seen the sorts of comments before: "I wish I could buy it, but I have no money!" Really, people just don't want to buy something when they can get it for free, or they don't want to buy something if they're not sure they'll like it.

Sometimes I like to just jump in the deep end. Last time I went book shopping, I picked up a book simply because it caught my eye. And then when I read the blurb, but turned out that said book related to a dream I'd had the night before. So I just had to buy it - and it's turned out to be one of the best things I've read so far this year. ;)

It's hard to explain what my novel's about, but basically... It's about two nephilim (half-human, half-angel) who are running for their lives. They're being hunted by both angels and scientists, so they have to keep a low profile. They're twins and they live with their two uncles and an older brother, and for the most part they lived in the city. The story starts when they move to a little country town. Because obviously this is where things start to go differently. =P Yeah...

Her chapters do take a while to read, but when you hit the end you're always wishing they were longer. She's just THAT good. I should also mention that English isn't her first language, so sometimes her spelling and grammar aren't the greatest - usually if it's too bad that can turn me off a story. But her plot was just so gripping and amazing that I could never stop reading once I started. There were 22 chapters posted when I started - I read it all over two days, non-stop except for when I had to go to work. XD Now I have to wait for updates like everybody else...

I know exactly what you mean about short chapters not being satisfying. It's a very fine line, though. If you make them too short, they're not satisfying; if you make them too long, people get bored. That's why when I write online, I stick between 2,000 - 4,000 words. I think I told you I aim at 3,000. But it's different for published works. Most of my favourite writers have chapters of around 4,000 words. But it's better with published works, because of lovely little things called bookmarks. XD

Re-reading favourite parts is one of the greatest things ever! =D You get to feel the emotions all over again - whether it be a heartbreak, or new love forming, or having your heart race while action or drama unfolds. Ugh, it's amazing...

I love fiction. <3

Thank you again. ^_^ I get to go and officially enrol tomorrow. Very excited! XD

It's better to have been and made a mistake than to never have been at all. =) ...okay, so maybe not, 'cause you could end up in prison and on death row and such, but I'm sure you get what I mean. o.o

Ah, don't worry. I know I'll please you eventually. ...well, I hope I will, anyway. I guess we'll see. But writing is going much better now that I've gone back to where the problems started and gone on from there. 21 is nearly finished again. I might update after that. We'll see.

Self-publishing does seem like a challenge. And I actually know somebody who's in the process of doing it, so I can tell you it's even worse than people might think. Especially when you're designing your own covers. This girl is a friend of a friend, and she asked me to do the book covers for her - we had to look up all sorts of things about dimensions and resolutions. It was pretty confusing, and that was just for covers. I can't even imagine what she's going through when it comes to formatting and such. Blehh. It's expensive, too.

Yeah, I'm writing a novel at the moment. =) And you're not ignorant. Most people don't even bother to ask. They just assume I'm writing a book, end of story. I'm hoping to get it straightened out and written soon. I even set myself a deadline - I want the second draft done by the end of June. Probably won't happen (especially with school now) but I'll try. =P And then you can read it. XD

You're not alone - a lot of people think plot is the easiest part, but it's not. Not by far. In fact, I definitely think it's one of the hardest parts of writing a novel. But it's also the fun part, so there you go. =P

You think my chapters are long? HA. My favourite author (who writes fan fiction on the other site I write for) has chapters that are 10,000 words long minimum. And her work is AMAZING. ^_^

And that's not weird at all. I do that, too! XD ...for other people's stories, I mean. But sometimes for mine, too...

And thank you! ^_^ I'm going to be doing Certificate IV in Photoimaging. It's a photography course. Because besides writing, photography is one of the loves of my life.

I know exactly what you mean - I tend to forget things pretty easily, too. XD Which is why there's probably a lot of inconsistencies in my stories. =P But oh well. I guess as long as you don't travel to a country and make some terrible mistake based on their culture, it's all good.

You make me feel bad for having taken the kiss away. But I'll find a way to make it up to you. Somehow. Honestly, the scene wasn't that great anyway. As we've already established - never been kissed, so don't know how to write those scenes too well. But I'll try to get it right when I do end up writing it again. When, I don't know. But I promise it'll come.

Honestly, I don't know TOO much about publishing a story. I haven't researched it all that well because I've never finished one and been satisfied with it, so I've never really needed to know. But my aim is to be published with HarperCollins. So I guess I'd find an agent and get them to help me with that. Obviously I'd try with other publishers as well. I know of a website where you can post your completed stories - a website that's frequented by HarperCollins people, so it gives you a better chance of being noticed. ;) I have two other back-up plans of course, for if I fail.

I know of another publisher that accepts manuscripts even if you don't have an agent, so I'd try them. But I don't really like them. They're not too professional. I have a few books that I bought from them, and they're just...they don't look professional. =P Whoever does the cover designs for them is pretty hopeless, among other things. And if I got rejected from them, there's always self-publishing. That's my final, final resort.

So yeah, I've given it some thought since then. I'm still considering publishing the one I'm writing - but it all depends on whether or not I still like it by the time I'm finished with it. And whether or not I can get the plot straightened out. I planned it as a trilogy, but I still have a lot of kinks to work out. I'd offer to let you read it, but at the moment I don't even have half a chapter written out. D= And you can't understand a single thing from the NaNoWriMo version - it's all over the place and rushed, etc. But eventually...

50,000 words sounded like a challenge to me the first time, too. But when you really think about it - 50,000 in 30 days is only 1,667 words a day. Most of the chapters I write are 2,000 words minimum (I aim for 3,000 these days). So reaching the word count for me is simple - it's having a plot that will last that long that's the real challenge. Everybody thinks it's so easy, but I know a lot of people who could finish within the week - but they don't, because their plots run out at around 20,000 words.

And I did finally hear from the school, after I'd officially given up. And I'm pleased to say that I got in. ^_^ I'll only be a part-time student (the full-time course filled up so I only made it into part-time) but it's still better than nothing. I'm pretty excited!

Don't worry about confusing me. ;) It's always interesting to learn new things, and this is definitely something new for me.

Ahh, I was hoping you wouldn't ask that. =P The kiss was at the end of chapter 21. So...at the moment it's completely gone. But I promise, they will kiss. Eventually. =P

Planning out stories for ages probably would, but I'm too lazy to do it. The only reason I planned that one out for so long was because it was something I seriously wanted to consider getting published. With fan fiction, it's just for fun - so I don't want to take forever to get it done. =P It's also me trying to teach myself to get things right quicker.

NaNoWriMo...well, it's only a contest when it comes to the word count. The point is to hit 50,000 words (or whatever goal you set yourself). But it has nothing to do with what you actually write. So, nobody's seen what I wrote at all. Does that make sense? =P You're not ignorant.

My headache is just from being at work, I think. And probably the stress from waiting on an email to see if I got into school. An email that STILL hasn't come. ='(

I think it's like that for everybody. We always come to regret something and then have to deal with the consequences. I try to remember that it could always be worse. But sometimes it's hard.

...wow, that just confused me even more. =| So many names, and you can't even keep track of what happens to them. XD Ahh, dear. I know that if I ever got married, I could either keep my own last name or take on my husband's. Easy peasy.

Ha ha, don't feel bad. I was already considering the fact that I needed to re-write some chapters. I went through them all, and I'm only re-writing from 21 and onward, because that's where things started getting hard and going downhill. So hopefully things will start going smoother now. Faster updates maybe, sticking more to my original plot. =P Getting things back to the way that I planned them.

It's hard when writing a story. =| I always do it. It's one of my biggest issues with writing. I'm pretty sure it's one of the main reasons that I come to hate everything that I write after I get a few chapters in. Thus far, my NaNoWriMo 2011 novel is the only thing I've ever written that I didn't start to hate - and that's probably because I planned it all out for a whole year before I ever started in. Now it's just a rough draft sitting on my harddrive and various back-up places. I really need to work on the second draft some more.

Wow, I ramble.

I have a serious headache. Blehh.

Okay, where to start. Wiiiiiiiith the comment.

I guess we should never take anything for granted. Our eyes are just the tip of the iceburg. =/ And I'll definitely be doing that research.

I've met a few people who don't have a middle name. I've never met anybody with two last names, though? ...well, actually, maybe I've met one. As in one last name from each parent? That blows my mind. It's a little confusing. =P

Okay. The story comment.

Thanks so much for the story comment, hun! XD ...yeah, I need to come up with something more original.

As always, I loved everything that you said, and it makes me really glad that I decided to update today. I did so looking for inspiration, and I think I got it. Unfortunately, I think it showed me that I need to go back a few chapters and re-write them again. In the long run, a good thing. I've just screwed things up a little too much at the moment.

I need to stick to my plot, damnit!

Ahem. Anyway. Thanks again. =P

xoxo
HJ.

For me, I think it was mostly that I hated my brothers teasing me for having to wear an eye-patch. And it was irritating having to walk around, play games, talk to people, etc. when I couldn't even see them properly. I wasn't short-sighted back then, so I took for granted the fact that my other eye worked perfectly fine. I used to be warned that anything could happen, but nope. I was a kid, and I was invincible.

I honestly don't know if there's an age limit. =| I oughta do more research into it.

Names are such a funny thing... Your mom has three!? D= I never understood that. And I don't understand people who don't have middle names, either. But there you go. We're all different.

Of course, you're right. Everybody wants what they can't have. But man, it's so annoying...

Actually, it apparently can be fixed. If it's caught before the age of five, it has a better chance of it. Mine was caught around that time, so I used to have to wear an eye-patch around the house for an hour or so a night - blocking my right eye so the left one had to do all the work. Turns out this would have helped a lot - if I'd actually stuck to it. I was a stubborn kid. I hated that eye patch, and I hated my glasses when they tried to make me wear them - so I hid them. If Mum couldn't find them, she couldn't make me wear them. It worked.

Obviously, I regret it now. I've read somewhere that I could get it mostly fixed with surgery, but even after that it would take a lot of rehabilitation. Put together with the fact that it would be incredibly expensive, looks like I'm stuck with it. And I'm okay with that for now, but I know eventually I'll really want it fixed. We'll see what happens then.

I guess the name thing goes back to we want what we can't have. =P I used to want my mother's middle name - Joyce. She assumes that because I called my character Haylie, that I'd want that name. But really, Haylie is common, no matter the spelling you use. I actually stole the name from a movie, and I liked twins that had names starting with the same letter. ;) These days I like more unusual names. I stole Adalia from a Madina Lake song. I think that's pretty.

My hair is...thick, but wavy as well. My mum says it's the sort of hair that girls would kill to have - I say they can have it. I can't do anything with it, it's just so frustrating. -_-

My eyes could hardly be any more screwed up, I assure you. On top of being short-sighted, I also suffer from a condition that I only really knew the name of less than a year ago. See, when I was six they started doing all those routine tests in school - checking out kids' eyes and ears and such. And the woman doing my tests realised that I couldn't see properly out of my left eye.

So I grew up being told that I had a lazy eye. And that was what I told everybody, until my American friend told me that it wasn't a lazy eye at all. Basically, just looking at me you can't tell that there's anything wrong. I'm the only one who knows it. What I have is called Amblyopia. It's something to do with my brain not processing what my left eye sees properly, so...yeah. That eye is pretty much dead. I can see out of it, but not well. Really hard to explain...

I like the name Steph. I know it's common, but it's still pretty. ^_^

Glad to have made you smile. XD

I don't get many pimples any more, but I have a lot of acne scars, too. Specifically around my forehead and chin. =/ I also really hate my hair, because it's just...blehh. It doesn't look good. That's what holds me back the most.

It sucks that your glasses hide your eyes so much. =( That would suck. Do you have to wear them all the time? I have glasses too, but I only need to wear them when I need to read the blackboard and stuff like that.

Ha, I wish I had a name like Jaed. I grew up hating my name - Renee - so I recently shortened it to Rae. But lately I've been going by my first and second names together. If I ever manage to be a published writer, that would be my penname - Renee Shantel. ;)

Matt seems like the sort of guy who would swoop in and scoop you up so he could move you somewhere more comfortable. Like maybe a hotel bed? ;) That's after he's done the CPR, of course. Gotta make sure you're alive first.

I tried using mascara once, and all it did was make my eyelashes clump together. Yuck. I'm lucky in the sense that I have long, dark lashes anyway. My eyes are probably the only thing about myself that I like. =/ I tried foundation too, just to see if I could get it right. Even though I knew it would make me break out. But somehow I managed to look orange even when I put on the lightest shade I could find. Go figure! I agree, it's depressing. You go somewhere feeling fantastic and thinking you look great...and then you see the photos. =|

Will do. XD

Ha ha, nooo. It had absolutely no plot. =P We just liked to write. We had these characters that we just threw into Harry Potter's world. The first characters we ever created. And incidently, that's where my penname comes from. Haylie Jaed was originally Haylie Potter, Harry's twin sister. ;) Obviously she's evolved a lot over the years, but I kept the name. She's more me now than ever before though, thus I use it as my penname. I really don't like using her in stories anymore because it makes me feel big-headed when I'm not trying to be, but oh well. =P I'm growing and changing every day...

But yeah, no plot. You didn't miss much. I'm sure you didn't waste your youth. XD

Oh, I dunno. Passing out has its advantages, too. One of the guys would likely try to perform CPR. ;)

I don't like being in front of the camera. I'm hopeless with make-up, and I'm not photogenic in the slightest. Extremely annoying. =/

I'll definitely check those bands out, when my net speeds up. I sorta can't load YouTube videos at the moment. =P

Heh. Fan fiction...means the world to me. There's never been a time when I haven't been writing something or other. In tenth grade, my best friend and I started a Harry Potter fan fiction. We just wrote it on paper during classtime. It was great, because it made the teachers think we were always working. =P We just passed it back and forth, and over time random people would randomly add lines. It made absolutely no sense, but it was good fun. I think we stopped some time in late eleventh grade. By the time we did, it was over 120 A4 pages, back to back. XD

Oh, God. If I got told I was interviewing Avenged...I'd be excited, obviously. Then I'd be nervous in the days, weeks, months leading up to it. The week would arrive and I'd start wondering what to wear, how to do my hair, do I put on make-up? The day would arrive and I'd be insanely excited. And then finally walking into the same room as them...I'd probably just blush and not be able to stop giggling. Yep, that would be me. Sadly. That's why I stay behind my camera. XD

I...have never listened to any of those bands. Except BMTH, whom I don't really like. Too much screaming for me, and I can't understand a word of it. =P ETF with Radke are pretty good. Most people prefer him over Mabbitt (I prefer Mabbitt, to be honest). If you wanted to give one of Radke/ETF's songs ago, I'd recommend "Situations". That song is catchy as all hell. XD

I've been reading fan fiction online since I started posting it, so...since I was thirteen. =P I don't know when I really started reading. I was either nine or ten. I know I was in sixth grade...

Don't worry. I only know because I've checked websites out and stuff. ;) I'm incredibly jealous of both of them, too. And no, the AU Review covers all sorts of Aussie events. And they're not just for photos, either. They do interviews, reviews, etc. All sorts of content.

I like a little bit of screaming. As long as it's not the entire song. =P I quite liked FIR. I suppose it helps that I already liked Escape The Fate, so I already knew what Radke sounded like. Basically, if I didn't already know it was FIR, I would have assumed it was just some old ETF. =P

Even the thought of giving up reading fan fiction makes me want to cry. D=

I don't think it's incredibly hard to get passes, but I wouldn't know. I've never really tried. =P I've never tried because you need experience to be able to get in a shoot signed bands, and I've only ever shot one local gig before. That's why I'm going to those two gigs from my friend - that'll be two more under my belt. I have another friend who is a contributor to an Aussie website (The AU Review) and because of that she's shot a heap of signed bands, including her favourite - Bon Jovi. She also shot Soundwave's sister show, Counter Revolution. One of her friends even shot Avenged Sevenfold! So once I have some experience under my belt, I'm going to apply at that site and see where that takes me. ;) If I could combine music and photography, that would be amazing.

I'll have to give AA a listen, then. I listen to a lot of bands, really. It just takes some time for me to get into new bands. I tend to just listen to my iPod and my CDs, so I don't get a lot of new stuff until my friends push it on me. My bestie is currently trying to get me to listen to Falling In Reverse. I've since done so. I'll definitely be checking out the locals you mentioned. ;) Bound to be something on YouTube, I'm sure.

Maybe you read it in a fan fiction. ;) That happens to me a lot - I read something in a fic, and then I think it's real for some reason. =P Not always the greatest thing.

Nice to know it's not just me! XD We'll be doomed together.

I don't yet know if I'll go, but I know it'll be fun if I do. Usually I wouldn't even need to think about it - I'd just go. But I'm trying to be smart with my money though, and I'm probably already going to two gigs the weekend before. My friend's band is playing, so that's a great opportunity for me to take my camera along and get some decent gig shots. Can't do that for signed bands. I don't have the passes for it!

I don't listen to them, no. My brother listened to Asking Alexandria, though. But if he played one of their songs, I wouldn't know it was them. =P My musical tastes are pretty boring. Besides Avenged Sevenfold, I listen to Taylor Swift, Three Days Grace, Papa Roach, Sixx: A.M., and then whatever I feel like. Right now I've been listening to a local band, Tonight Alive.

I'd gladly swap you Soundwave for Warped. ;)

Definitely look it up, I'd like to see if it's real. XD

I like to think that I'm prepared for a zombie apocolypse, but I know I'm not. =P And even though of most of my friends I'm one of those who knows the most about zombies, I'd still probably be the first to die. I'm that stupid girl who wouldn't be able to shoot her infected friend even if it was to save her own life. But I'm not ashamed to admit it.

That's what Soundwave's like for me. They announce the bands, and I've never even heard of half of them. This year is a good year - I know a lot of them. But still. =P Not a huge fan of SOAD or Slipknot. I only know a few songs from ADTR, but what I do know from them is great. Tempted to go to the sidewave that is ADTR, The Used and You Me At Six, but we'll see.

Did he announce that? O.o I don't think so. I think Tumblr would have exploded if he had, and it definitely would have been on Deathbat News. Then again, maybe he did and it died down before I noticed. =P I don't know what to believe these days when it comes from him. XD

Dimpled baby Matts and Vals would be so freakin' cute. ^_^

Trust me, I don't care what anybody says about my brother. I don't like him. And it's not just sibling rivalry. Most of the time I straight out hate him.

It WOULD be interesting if we had those sorts of burial grounds. But then we'd most definitely have a zombie apocolypse on our hands, 'cause you'd get all sorts of idiot kids burying every dead thing they found, and people burying loved ones that they want back. Creepy. =|

I don't plan on going this year, no. Soundwave was just too horrible an experience for my friend, so she refuses to go, and there were no bands that I'd pay that much to go see this year. Not saying the line-up is bad, of course. I'm just not hugely interested. Besides, I'm about to try getting into school, so I've been saving my money for that. I'm jealous of you - you get Warped. And England has two amazing festivals! D=

My friend (from Italy) and I thought Michelle was pregnant for a while, too. She thought it because Brian was gaining a little weight. She called it a sympathetic pregnancy. ;) It was cute. And all I can say is, I hope Matt's kids have dimples!! XD

If you respond, I probably won't get back to you again until tomorrow. I'm about to head off to a friend of a friend's 21st. I get to be photographer!! XD So, see ya later.

My mum tells him off for it all the time, but he doesn't listen. He yells back, and if the conversation doesn't go his way, he leaves.

Yep, I've seen Pet Sematary. That one creeps me out. =| Just the thought of your own beloved pets coming back from the grave like that...and seriously, I get why the dad did what he did...but that's just fuckin' creepy. o.o

Ha, I've only ever got one shot of lightning. And it was blurry. -_-

The Soundwave we went to...yeah, I guess it was worth it. We saw All Time Low and Paramore, but we left pretty early 'cause my bestie was ill. We wanted to watch Escape The Fate, but they weren't on until after 10pm. We haven't been back since then. We were gonna go last year for Avenged, but I sold my tickets when they dropped out. Tickets for Soundwave are hella expensive. Like $160+.

Crash Into Me isn't going to change perspective. But Lost, like I said - different perspectives. Only the two though. And it's nice to know it's not just me! I completely agree. XD Brian, then Matt, then Zacky. =) I used to think that it would start this year (that maybe Michelle's already pregnant) but now I'm not so sure. Thus Brian's daughter in my story only being eight months old in 2015. =P

You're officially too quick for me. XD Thank you for the story comment!

You do get to see what Zacky's son is like, in the very next chapter. ;) 'Cause the next chapter is from his son's point of view. I figured I'd alternate them. It's something different for me.

And I've always said that I think Brian and Michelle will be the first ones to have kids! XD A little girl. I'm almost sure of it. Now all that's left to do is wait.

Thanks again, hun! ^_^

xoxo
HJ.