Paige's story...in her words...

"I - I want to apologize about earlier. I've been talking with Felicity, trying to figure out a way to explain to you why I butted in," Paige faded off, looking uncomfortable.

"You don't have to apologize..." Cassie began.

"Yes, I do. That was a private moment, and I stupidly thought I was saving you from a situation you maybe didn't want to be in."

"I don't know if I didn't want to be in that...situation," Cassie whispered. "I've been thinking about it all afternoon."

"Can I tell you something?" Paige asked.

Cassie nodded her head.

"Before I came here, I attended a school on the coast. I was...a different person then. Wild, you could say. I certainly wasn't Prefect material then. I snuck out at night, broke the rules, dated guys I shouldn't have. It wasn't that I didn't care about getting hurt, I just didn't know that I could," Paige swallowed, pausing to gather her thoughts.

****Paused for lunch....let me know what you think of this! ******

Character Lineup (with physical descriptions)

Alright guys and gals! I figure, for a little help on both sides, I would do a little character lineup for visual.  ***UPDATED: With the descriptions and last names my memory could not provide. :) ***

Our absolute main character is Ravenna (Raven) Goldsmith, auburn hair, pale green eyes, shy around all but her friends, Felicity's roommate.

Her best friend is Cassandra (Cassie) Ryevo, wild brown hair, brown eyes, olive skin, very outgoing, Phoebe's roommate.

Their friends include:
          Zoe (Zee) MacKenzie, brown hair, honey colored eyes, leggy, freckles, tomboy, Paige's roommate.
          Phoebe Hunter, golden hair, dark blue eyes, hair obsessed, Cassie's roommate.

Other girls: (physical descriptions to follow when I find my notes lol)
          Paige Winthrop, aquamarine/turquoise eyes, vivid red hair, school prefect - rule follower, Zee's roommate
          Felicity Jamison, smooth brown hair, twinkling cornflower blue eyes, boy obsessed, Raven's roommate

The boys (AKA the Jags):
          Ryder Prescott, sandy hair, hazel eyes, bookworm, roommates with Joey.
          Mike Buchanan, black hair, hazel eyes, leader, roommates with Cyrus.
          Cyrus Foster, black hair, silver eyes, lady's man, headmaster's son, rebel, roommates with Mike.
          Joey Saunderson, white blond hair, light blue eyes, bit crass, roommates with Ryder.


Setting: Pennsylvania private school, Howard P. Foster's College Preparatory Academy, school colors royal blue and black, remote forest location.

I think that about sums that up!

Let me know if there are questions!

Ta readers!
-AU

Guess what? I'm still stuck...

So, this is more of a question for you, dear readers.

Between two characters, I have the guy kind of stalk, corner, and kiss the girl. Originally, this scene is based off of my BTN story on HPFF between Chloe and Sirius.

Looking at it a second time, and writing it with my more worldly views and experience and blah blah, I started thinking, "Woah. That's kinda not okay."

My mind started going to all the places of consent, and rape, and the annoyingly thin line. And of course, whether or not the scene would promote those kinds of things.

I don't want my story to blur that line more. I don't want this to be like Fifty Shades of Gray with the whole, just because he's rich means he can break into her house, sell her car for a new one, etc etc. Basically, just because she likes him, means whatever he does is okay.

One of my characters is traumatized as it is from an encounter with a guy in her past, and now that I'm writing this scene, I've started to wonder. Is it really okay? Just because, hey, what can I say, the kissing part of the scene and everything leading up to it makes me happy. Happy as a writer, however, doesn't necessarily translate to setting a good example or precedent or something.

If this is a YA novel, and if teenage girls read this, will this make them okay with something that actually isn't?

Ugh. See? I'm going in circles.

Please, please, please....give me your opinion.

Am I being WAY too paranoid about this? Should I keep the scene, and maybe add the perspective of "that's not okay" from the girl's friend? Leave the scene, and not even address the other side? Take it out?

Help!

***Update: I altered the scene, so that there is a much more obvious "out" for our girl. No trapping, full consent. ((thumbs up)) -AU ***

My New Quandary...and more of me being W.E.I.R.D.

Alright guys...Cassie, my lovely Cassie, has a propensity for awkward accidents - unintended klutziness and collateral damage.

Cyrus happens to be the unwitting recipient.

Cyrus, the rebellious womanizer, son of the headmaster, wants his revenge.

But how to make his approach sound more like a panther stalking his prey and less like a rape-y stalker with malevolent intentions. Rather, how to make him not come across creepy and perverted.

Because that's how he's playing out so far. Perhaps I need to revisit BTN to see how I handled it there. Or just rewrite a scene or two. Because heaven knows, mama don't write no weirdos....although, I certainly write like a weirdo. Yikes. I believe my baby scrambled my brains a little while she was bouncing around in my belly.

And with this post, I have now had my eyes opened up to the fact that these names are a little....well, not jelling in one respect. Raven and Ryder, Cassie and Cyrus. What the what?!? Definitely not my intention, guys. Definitely not.

Do I want to change them...? I'm kind of attached by now. What do you think??

Oy vey.

Fun times. 😉

About this story, a new beginning...and a whole lot of ramble.

About this story.

Since I've been rather absent on this blog (having a baby is hard work - where has my time and brain gone??), I think my way back will be to let you all in on what this new story of mine is about.

The whole premise of this book, or the idea behind it, is to write a novel that is a living embodiment of what I wish I could read in terms of Harry Potter Marauder's Era Fan Fiction. Yes. You read that right. And you probably didn't understand it, if you've never read fan fiction for Harry Potter...

I have a story on the the HPFF (harrypotterfanfiction) website called Brighter Than Neon. This story is originally my attempt to turn THAT into a novel ... that I could actually publish.

I have/had a small obsession with the Marauders (James, Sirius, and Remus - I tend to ignore Peter), and this novel is my tribute to that.

But I do want it to stand alone and be good even to those who don't see the reference.

This is a coming of age novel about a girl trying to have those quintessential life experiences before being spit out into the real world. This novel deals with many topics, including grief/death, depression, young love, and many other things that aren't coming to mind but are definitely there.

I want this book to be a little more than fluff, but to still feel like a fast-paced and witty read. Something fun and serious all lumped into one.

Clear as mud?

Anyway. While this book started out as primarily about Raven, it has sort of evolved to include the whole gang. I have three little pairings happening in my head, and I am attempting to flesh out the chapters to include them all. So that a novel that started off with just being about one person has now become a novel with the central theme being "growing up is hard shit", and Raven's "HOW TO BE AWESOME AT LIFE" list is the mold that keeps it all from getting too crazy.

I want this blog to EXPLODE with amazing-ness, I want everyone to read it, I want all kinds of feedback, and basically I just want a LOT. But, obviously, none of that will happen if I don't get off my tuckus and start writing on here for all of you to see.

So, my new resolution is just that - write for everyone to see. Because it's a fabulous cycle that feeds off of itself and grows and creates this little bubble of creativity and positivity and inspiration and motivation, and works great for stress and depression relief (for me at least), and once it really gets going it can snowball into a whole little land of loveliness.

Boy, I'm already feeling it. Can you tell by my rambling?

Well. That's all I wanted to say. Better get started writing!

Ta for now my wonderful soon-to-be readers!

-A.U.