Manga Monday! #8 - Daa! Daa! Daa!

Title: Daa! Daa! Daa!
Author: Kawamura Mika
Available: Online ONLY! (That is--look it up!)
Price: N/A - Not available in the U.S.
Books in series: 9

Description (via Wikipedia, because it's more detailed!):
Miyu Kouzuki is an 8th-grade student whose parents leave for the United States to work for NASA and arrange for her to stay with their long-time family friend, Hōsho Saionji (a monk who lives in an old temple atop a hill). However, the monk leaves soon after for India on a year-long voyage, leaving Miyu to stay in the same house with his son, Kanata.

Suddenly a UFO lands – transporting an alien baby, Ruu, and his cat-like "sitter pet", Wannya. They arrive after being separated from their home planet, Otto, when it falls into an interplanetary worm hole (a time warp which can transport objects across several regions, planets and time planes). They cannot return to their home planet because it is too difficult to reach; Wannyā asks Kanata and Miyu to allow them to stay in their house, and they agree. Miyu and Kanata learn from Wannyā that people from Planet Otto look identical to human beings, and that Wannyā can also transform into human beings, animals and objects.

Miyu and Kanata feel deep love for Baby Ruu, who also cares for them – thinking of them as his parents due to their similar looks – and they go to great lengths to help and protect him and Wannya. As the story progresses the group are often involved in comedic and funny situations, but their sense of family deepens. The story ends with a rescue team from outer space coming to Earth and returning Ruu and Wannyā to Otto safely. Miyu goes to boarding school alone. However, years later Miyu and Kanata reunite, marry and have a daughter named Miu; they also reunite with Wannya and Ruu.

Why you want this manga:
I have been hesitant to post about this series because it's not available in the U.S., so you can only read it online through manga sites. But it's such a good series that I just had to share it. The relationship between the two "parents" is so heartwarming and adorable you can't help but cheer for them. They're just kids, but they make some of the best parents I've ever seen. I only hope when I'm a parent I remember some of the lessons I learned reading these books! (Of course, I also hope my baby isn't an alien, but that's not the point.)

The romance between the two "parents" is subtle, but builds sweetly and naturally, out of their love of the baby they somehow end up caring for, and the circumstances that force them together. It's an adorable, easy, fun read, and if you're looking for a lighthearted romance and you don't mind sitting at the computer for a few hours, this is just what you need. I highly recommend this manga! (And hey, you can't beat the price--it's free! Though when it comes to the U.S., buy it! It's that good.)

The Best Part About Vacations...

I love August-September.

It's usually around these months that my husband and I start discussing where we're going to go for our anniversary. The past two years we've gone to the same place (Disneyland!), but this year we've decided to try something new.

We're going to New Orleans!

http://www.bourbonorleans.com/

I went to New Orleans when I was around 16, and I remember loving everything about the city. I love history, and as you read in my last post, I love researching everything about new stories I'm working on.

And what an amazing place to research for a story! New Orleans? Yes, please!

In a city rich with history ranging from real history to all the wonderful ghost stories you could dream of, why wouldn't you want to visit? I am super excited to be going there as an adult, too... I can't wait to finally go on my bayou swamp tour and visit all those wonderful Creole-Cajun cities you can only visit via the water! What delicious story ideas!

http://www.houmashouse.com/ - One of the plantations we'll be visiting.

Acadian Village - Historical Reenactments - http://www.acadianvillage.org/home_page0.aspx

The problem with writing a story, if you've ever tried to write one based in a real city you've never lived in or visited, is that it's next-to-impossible to capture the real "vibe" of the city. You can never fully capture the essence. The details. And you know what they say about the devil and those details... So you will notice it's not something I attempt. There's a reason for it.

Authenticity, my dear friends.

So I am beyond excited to be visiting New Orleans, and getting to really delve into the city. We're going for ten (10!!!) days, and to celebrate, as I do every year, I've purchased a new wardrobe for the trip. (I'm a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl, so when we go on vacation I like to dress up for my husband. It's my way of celebrating our time together.) I'm also stocking up on memory cards for my camera, and you can be sure I'll be taking along an expanding file so I can keep all of our awesome tour maps and brochures. (Not only does it make for wonderful scrapbooking material, it doubles as memory-joggers for storytelling!)

Expanding file I like to use. Available at office supply stores.

Researching: Is It Half the Fun?

As you read in the last post, I've been working on a new piece lately.

Honestly, I haven't touched it in a couple of weeks, but that's mostly because I've been sick. (And not really the point, either!)

Here's the premise:
Sometimes life can just be too overwhelming. Sometimes the people you trust most betray you in impossible ways. Sometimes, you just need to break free.

When Juliet's CEO-father decides to announce his plans to marry her off to the heir of an oil company at her sweet sixteen birthday party in front of a room full of people she doesn't even know, she decides now is that time.

Living on the run isn't easy, but day-after-day the tiny, elitist corner of the world Juliet has been born and raised in expands before her very eyes. With her fake IDs and stolen trust fund, she moves from small town to small town, living on odd jobs and trying desperately to stay one step ahead of her father's guards--desperate to bring her back and secure the merger with the oil company.

Juliet is determined not to be found. But when her father brings in the one person who would do anything to find her, Juliet isn't so sure she wants to stay lost anymore.


Okay, so it's a rough edit, but you get the idea. Anyway, I started doing a ton of research on small towns in the U.S., searching for different small towns to base Juliet in. And oh my gosh, I literally lost days researching these towns. I found this amazing website: http://www.smalltowngems.com/browsetowns.html, and just kept clicking. I took notes, jotted down some of my favorite cities, and even started looking at the town's websites and doing more in-depth research. Now I even want to visit some of them!

And this isn't the first time I've done something like this. I wrote a story based in space once, and I lost days researching facts about the planets, our solar system, and anything else I could find. Research is amazing, and with the internet right in front of us, it's easy to get lost learning new things.

And it really made me wonder--is research half the fun?

Idea Time!

I am so, so happy.

After a few months of non-writing, over the last few days I've started to get that itch. That little urge in the back of your mind that kind of taunts and toys with you, and says, "I'm an idea. And I'm forming." It might sound strange, but that's how it happens. It doesn't necessarily have to be an actual idea, it's just motivation to be an idea, if that makes any sense. And it kind of sits back there, building itself up, a tiny little notion prepping itself to be a full-fledged idea.

Well when I was driving home today it struck me. The Idea. I immediately came home and jotted it down in my idea journal (yes, you've read my blog, and you know what that is) and started doing what I am adamantly opposed to--I started outlining.

And I started drafting character outlines.

If you're asking yourself why I started doing this, I'll tell you it's pretty simple. I've struggled a lot with my writing. I write a draft, then go back through and in editing discover I've left out a key scene that changes the entire book and I have to rewrite the whole thing. Multiple times. I love my characters, I do, but I've gotten several reviews/comments talking about how they seem one-dimensional and cliche. Well--I still stand by my characters, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't grow and learn from the comments, right? A comment my editor gave me has stayed with me all this time... It was to the effect of her wanting to know my character's back story, because my main character wasn't the big mystery, and it helped make her more sympathetic.

And that, I think, is a very fair and valid point.

So I wrote a quick little bit on each main character, a quick overview of the story and underlying themes, and then started a chapter-by-chapter outline. I think it's the chapter-by-chapter outline that kills me, to be honest. I need to keep it more vague. If I write chapter-by-chapter outlines, the story has pretty much been told and I'm bored. As I've said a dozen times before, I discover the story just as the reader does. So I think I need a vague outline to make this all work.

I was going to share the premise here, but I think I need to work a little on the pitch before I do. Pitch, of course, being the summary. So until then, sit tight, because I kinda dig this idea!

Until next time, guys, thanks for sticking with me! <3

Scene Sunday #5

Since I haven't been writing much lately (read: at all), I thought I would take this opportunity to post a new Scene Sunday and get those creative juices flowing!

Scene Sunday Concept: The 5W1H Rule--answer the questions, and create a scene based on it!

inspiring-photos.com

Who: A girl on the open road.
What: Is driving.
Where: In the middle of nowhere.
Why: Because she's trying to escape her life.
When: Late afternoon/early evening.
How did it go: She finds something she wasn't looking for.

Scene:

The air was surprisingly warm, despite the heavy gray storm clouds overhead. Her hair whipped around her face from the rush of wind through the open window, spraying it around her face. She reached up with one hand, pressing it back away from her eyes so she could focus on the road. The engine on the heavy, beat-up truck gunned as she pressed harder on the pedal, trying to outrun the storm.

The radio had long-since given away to static, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She kept her eyes fastened to the pavement in front of her, not wanting to think; not wanting to remember; not wanting to let her mind continuously replay those final moments in her head again and again.

So she drove harder. Faster. The long stretch of road gave no chances to take a turn to fast, but she desperately wished to play her odds. To treat her own life with the contempt and recklessness it had been shown. To abandon everything she'd ever been taught about morality, truth, and family.

Hot tears stung her eyes, a solid lump forming in her throat and nearly choking her. Her lips parted with a gasp to breathe in air, steeling herself against the impending tears. She hadn't cried yet, not once since she had left that horrific scene behind her. She wouldn't cry now. She wouldn't allow herself to think them worthy enough of her tears.

As if it wanted to do the job for her, the skies suddenly split open with a resounding crack of thunder, the rain falling down in sheets and pummeling the aged truck. She quickly reached for the window handle, rolling it up desperately to keep herself from getting wetter. Steam rose off of her newly-drenched arm as she reached for the heater, turning it on her at full blast.

Her visibility reduced to just yards in front of her car, she instinctively slowed, lifting her foot from the gas pedal. She scanned the sides of the open highway for a sign of where she was--where she might stop until the rain eased up a bit--but it was deserted. Just a long road and endless fields.

She slowed the truck more, dropping it down a gear. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen headlights, either coming toward her or behind her. She was completely alone on this isolated stretch of highway. It had been a blind turn, one she had made after countless others, and as the magnitude of her solitude crept in on her, one she was starting to regret.

She glanced at the gas gauge, relieved to see there was still half a tank of gas. She gritted her teeth, leaning over the wheel, keeping her eyes fastened to the road in front of her.

She continued on, driving, the rain streaming down around her and pelting the truck almost violently. Thunder cracked and roared in the skies, as if warning her away. For a moment she considered turning around, and then, blessedly, she saw it. A sign.

New Hope, it read. 5 miles.

She smiled wryly at the city's name. And then she continued her car forward, her destination set.

Radio Silence

I haven't posted much, and I always mention on this blog that I only blog when I'm writing.

So, we can pretty much take from this that I'm not really writing right now.

I will say it's not for lack of trying, though. I started one story, got about 30 pages in, and then gave it up. (I believe I mentioned it a couple of posts ago, about a couple of characters I wanted to try out.) I liked the characters, but the story felt really rushed and the characters lacked conflict because they were so compatible. So the story died right there on the operating table. (We will mourn you, dear story.) Of course, I'm keeping the story, because who knows? In ten years I might just pick it up again. ;)

Some amazing news! The Wrong Path is doing astonishingly well. Better than I ever could have dreamed. I am floored at how many people are giving it a shot. And it even got some phenomenal reviews on Amazon--I was so touched! It just blows my mind every day. I don't know how it happened, I just know I'm incredibly grateful.

So. Since I haven't really been writing, what have I been doing lately? In my post-surgery recovery, I've been watching insane amounts of General Hospital. (Jonathan Jackson is back as Lucky. Rebecca Herbst has been saved as Elizabeth. The chemistry between them is explosive.) I stopped being a Lucky/Elizabeth fan when JJ left the show and became a diehard Liason fan, but now with JJ back, I find myself rooting for LL2 once again! Plus, with a new headwriter on the show, I am looking forward to each episode to see where he takes our much-loved characters. (Soap operas have taught me the best lessons in my life--including and especially that absolutely nothing is black and white and people will always see things in their own perspective.)

I haven't really been reading much, either, but that's partially because my eyes give me a bit of trouble when I try to focus on words for too long. And with a computer-based job, that's loads of fun, lemme tell you. LOL! It'll get better when I can put my right contact back in and actually see the world clearly instead of only half-clearly.

Meanwhile I've been trying to decide what my next book to release should be. I can't decide if I want to write a new one or if I want to try one I've already got and just clean it up. Decisions decisions! I have a post somewhere on this blog where I summarized all of the stories manuscripts I have complete or mostly-complete. I'll have to find that and see if I can get buy-in on what my next publishing venture should be...

Sorry for the lack of updates lately! I'll get back into the swing of things soon! :) Until then, hope there's been a lot of amazing reading going on, and lots of enjoying the summer!

Update! Life and The Wrong Path

I want to start off by apologizing for not blogging for so long... My husband went away on a business trip last week, so we literally spent every waking moment together. And then when he was gone I was depressed and so just laid in bed and watched TV. (I didn't even check my e-mail!) Then work exploded, so there was a lot of sleeping involved once I finally did get home.

And my husband came home (thankfully safe and sound!) and the next day I went straight into surgery. (A couple of years ago I had a DCR, which is fancy-talk for a blocked tear duct, and it became blocked again, so I had to go back into surgery to get it fixed again.) So I've spent the last couple of days lying in bed feeling terrible as the medicine wore off. Happy to say, though, today I'm feeling much better! Plus, I have a pretty cool-looking black eye. I'm going to tell everyone at work I fought off an attacker. Ooo! Or that I'm an undercover assassin on the weekends. Or... uhh... any other ideas?

I even have some AMAZING news to share! Thanks to all of you, and to all of you who wrote reviews and blogged about The Wrong Path, I've sold ~60 copies! Considering I had no idea if people would even find the book, to discover it's actually sold ~60 in two weeks just made me want to dance! (But I didn't literally burst into dance, because I'm still feeling pretty sick.)

A huge, huge thanks to all of you for reading the book, spreading the word, posting amazing reviews, and being so supportive. I am so honored people are spending their time reading my book. I am a lucky girl!

The good news about surgery and post-surgery sleep, btw, is the random bits of inspiration that you get struck with! The hard part is figuring out which idea to go with next... <3

Thank you again to all of you! (And leave your suggestions for my black-eye story in the comments!)