Travel Into My World

Hi everyone! Finally feeling better, and I am back on the planning wagon for NaNoWriMo. The official website is down still, and has not been reset for official prep, but that's okay! I've got plenty of places I can write planning things down in.

But before I forget!! I want to wish my dear friend, insaneladybug A very happy birthday!! I'm sending you lots of love and hugs, my dear friend.

I got some planning advice from Joelle Charbonneau, author of the New York Times Best Selling series, The Testing trilogy. Originally I had always thought that world building in a dystopian was the most important thing. She listened (read) what I had going on in my novel, and told me 1) scale back my world building and 2) to just let the story tell itself. Let the characters guide me. Don't worry so much about the world building aspect and let it happen naturally. She said that she started with just Cia and her family, and then went from there. Maybe I need to start with just Atlas and Essex, and let Journey and Bridget come in naturally. (I also think I may be aging Bridget up a bit. It is VERY hard to write consistently for a five-year-old with the intensity I need this to have. Unless she's suddenly extremely intelligent like Angel from James Patterson's Maximum Ride series... which I refuse to let happen. I'm borrowing from enough series as it is.

But while I'm planning a LOT for NaNoWriMo, in the background the plotting for Into the Lion's Den's sequel is beginning, too, and that's even more intense now that I've gotten the Royal Albert Hall recording of The Phantom of the Opera and the Bluray. <3 I am so excited to have this, as it is the first live performance I ever saw, and as much as I will always love Sarah and Michael, Ramin and Sierra have won me over completely in their roles of Christine and the Phantom respectively. Do I wish they'd kept the lyrics for the original? Yes. But I do understand that lyrics get changed for varying productions for various reasons. So as I am listening to this soundtrack in full without watching the production, I feel like I am listening to a live production as they did not edit out the applause. I love that. Its magical for me. But it's also giving me Tori and Christien feels. LOL. Even though by the end of Into the Lion's Den part 1, Victoria has admitted to Griffon that he's a VERY good Phantom.... ROFL. Christien would have to be having a pretty bad day because she has chosen him every time.

Took Mom to see Dolphin Tale 2 today. She and I both love the stories of Winter the dolphin with the prosthetic fin, and this story was just as heartwarming as the first one was. I loved it. I especially liked that the main credits at the end showed actual footage of the new dolphin, Hope. And a few of the other animals that Clearwater Marine Aquarium have rescued, rehabbed and released. I know that some of hte proceeds for the movie tickets go to the aquarium so I am happy to be able to give to that cause.

Tonight I am working on braclets for the series, The Testing. My friend Joelle (yes the same as above) agreed that there needed to be merchandise. She thinks if there is ever a movie made of The Testing, that could happen. I want to make something to hold me and a few other loyalists over until that time, if it ever happens. I think Dystopians are pittering out now though, and that's really sad for me. But I'll hope they keep going. With the first part of Mockingjay being released for The Hunger Games next month, and Insurgent released in March for Divergent trilogy,we're running out of dystopian movies! Thank goodness The Maze Runner trilogy got picked up officially. (Technically there's four, but I don't think the last book, which is a prequel, will be a movie).

Trivia: The first Dystopian series I ever read was The Hunger Games trilogy after quite a few false starts. Now I can pick out the Mockingjay tune in a crowded mall.