I bet you didn't think you'd see a post about Beautiful People again on this blog, did you?!

Neither did I, to be honest. But I was thinking about it, and I really miss doing these for my characters. Plus, there are a few characters (at least one) that I've been itching to develop, introduced here. So today, meet Kess! (P.S. Naturally she's got light brown hair, but she dyes her hair tons of crazy colors.)

(photoshopped by me)

What is their full name?
Kess Elizabeth Matthews. (Currently.)

Does his or her name have a special meaning?
Nope. Her mom made it up, said it reminded her of the sea and the air.

Does your character have a methodical or disorganized personality?
Methodical at work, disorganized at home. She has a certain level of organized chaos, but it's always organized.

Does he or she think inside themselves more than they talk out loud to their friends? (more importantly, does he or she actually have friends?)
She'll think inside, and then speak her thoughts out loud. She does a whole lot more meditation before actually saying something.

Is there something he or she is afraid of?
The unknown. Losing her job. Not being able to take care of her siblings, or losing them altogether.

Does he or she write, dream, dance, sing, or photograph?
She sings, but amateurly, and mostly rock. (Like AC/DC.)


What is his or her favorite book? (or genre of books)
The Book Thief. (I haven't read it, but I think she might like it.) Genre is literary fiction, and poetry.

Who is his or her favorite author and/or someone that inspires him or her?
Ray Bradbury.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?
Chocolate and vanilla. Yes, at the same time. Double-scooped.

Favorite season of the year?
Spring and fall.

How old is he/she? 
18.

What does he/she do with his/her spare time?
Read about scientific developments in the machinery world. Read, mostly.

Does he/she see the big picture or live in the moment? 
She likes to think of herself as a mix of both. But overall, she looks at the big picture. She can get overwhelmed thinking about the future. And for her job as a mechanic, she has to look at the big picture.

Is he/she a perfectionist? 
Pretty much, yeah.

What does her handwriting look like? (round, slanted, curly, skinny, sloppy, neat, decorative, etc.) 
Angular and straightforward; print rather than cursive.

Favorite animal? 
Cockatiel.

Does he/she have any pets? 
Her siblings have a lizard, yes.

Does he/she have any siblings? 
How funny you should ask! Yes.

How many? 
Two. A boy and a girl. Eight and seven years old. (For now.)

Where does he/she fit in?
On the fringes of the outside, where you wouldn't think to look.

Does he/she have a 'life verse' and if so what is it?
Nope. If and when she does pick up a Bible, though, she'd probably appreciate the poetic, introspective parts of Isaiah and Ecclesiastes.

Favorite writing utensil?
Pencils, but she doesn't mind pens either. Whatever it takes to get the job done. She carries around pencil stubs with her, though, in the pocket of her plaid overshirts.

(lately, at least.)

I turned 18 on the 15th of this month. It was such a weird experience. All at once, I feel not older, and yet older. It's scary to be an adult. Actually, flat out terrifying.

Along with my 18th birthday I got an iPod as a gift, which I'm incredibly grateful for! And with the iPod, I get to take (and post) more photos than ever before. (As well as get the long-coveted app, instagram!)

So here's some snapshots from my life.

written January 25th, 2014
...i'm behind on a ton of drafts. better four months late than never. p.s.! new year, new design. and hopefully fresh wind in my sails for this blog. i'm hoping. stay tuned.

last photo of me for 2013

Because of my chronic pain, it's hard for me to walk, run, or do any type of exercise. This is something I sometimes can do, though. After being begged by one of the little girls we babysit, "Kylie! Kylie! Come with us!", I decided to go on the walk with them.

I walked three houses down (five if you count the distance I walked the dog while I waited for the others). I didn't want to overdo it so I decided to stop, but then I ran the entire way back.

I ran.

The only sound was my breathing and my feet against the pavement. The only thing I could see was the path in front of me and the sun in my eyes and the bright blue sky.

It was glorious.

As I ran, Jon Foreman's voice came into my head.


There was nothing in my mind except the song. My mind was totally clear, thinking of nothing except getting down the path, getting to the next stretch.

I can see why people run. It feels amazing. Maybe someday, if I feel better, I can start running too.

At least I can run in heaven, where the streets have no name.

I seriously, seriously can't wait.

In the meantime, I'm so grateful that I was able to run and feel the breath in my lungs, the sun in my eyes, and my footsteps against the sidewalk. I want to hold onto that feeling forever.

Here we go again, indeed.

I actually considered not doing NaNo this year, but for some reason, I just accidentally started planning for it. Whoopsie. Old habits die hard, apparently.

The reason I almost didn't do it was because of being incredibly writer's blocked. I've hardly been able to write since Camp NaNo--a hundred words there, a thousand words there, but nothing at all consistent. (And, obviously, the blog has suffered. I'm sorry for disappearing, guys.)

I'm not sure if the writer's block is because of feeling inferior in writing (it might very well be), or genuinely being burnt out. I don't know. However, I thought and prayed about it and I felt like maybe running from writing because I feel I'm not good enough would really... not do anything. I felt like God was saying that to keep writing, to get past this writer's block, especially during NaNo when everything that comes out of your fingers is crazed and frenzied, would be the best thing.

So this year, I thiiink I'm doing it. I have about a day to decide. :P I most likely am, but the possibility exists that I'm not.

I don't think I could stay away, though.

This year, I'm writing my novel Petrichor. I don't remember exactly when I came up with this novel--two or three months ago, maybe? Since then, I've been pinning pins and coming up with ideas.

My first character was Astrid.


Her name came about as an inside joke. (Which I'm beginning to realize are PREVALENT in my writing. I should just expect all of them to flavor all my writing in some way, shape or form.)

I'm really excited because she's logical and thoughtful in most of her thought processes, and yet she's incredibly spontaneous and free-spirited.
And a total dreamer.
It's my first time blending these personality qualities, so I'm really excited.

I also have Cobie and Ryker.




Fourteen is an age far too young to be handed a gun for self-defense, but in Oakridge, Oregon, the stakes are different. When danger roams the streets and crime is at an all time high, you're expected to be prepared.
Five years after her father gave her her first gun, nineteen-year-old Astrid has learned to use it. Though she is prepared at all costs to defend herself, she's a realistic dreamer. She hopes that things could someday be different, though logically she hasn't ever expected that to be true.

 Oakridge has fallen into complacency, but secretly, Astrid longs for something more. So do Cobie, a young, beautiful spitfire; and Ryker, an edgy teen with a penchant for danger and motorcycles and pushing all limits. They're an unlikely pair to be matched with the logical, levelheaded Astrid, but maybe they're just what she need. Together, they are made aware of the spark sleeping in all of them.

 With a handful of others, Astrid and Ryker and Cobie decide it's up to them to purge the crime from the streets of Oakridge and defend their home, as well as wake up the unaware citizens and bring them something more.

 It might just wake all of them up in the process.


I'm probably doing NaNo. I have characters and a novel. And I'm   v e r y   excited. If you're doing NaNo and would like to add me, my username is ScarlettGamgee--just be sure to let me know who you are! :) 

So... yeah. Let's do this, guys.  NaNo 2013,   here we come!

Are you doing NaNo? If you are, I'd love to hear more about your novel and characters!

No, no. I'm not actually gone. I am, however, doing Camp NaNoWriMo for the very first time.

... No, of course I'm not addicted to NaNo! Why do you ask?

Anyway, I started out the month with the plan of winging my way through my angel novel. (Pun not intended.) This angel novel started out as a Pinterest board and has slowly grown its wings. (Oy, I'm so sorry, I can't seem to stop with the puns here.)

It just... didn't have a plot. But no problem, right? Last year, with Broken Wings, I created a whole novel almost entirely from scratch in the few days before November.

But things don't always go according to plan.

Not even two days into NaNo, Beau arrived.

 He was intended to be the older brother-type character. He was not supposed to be the love interest. Still isn't, really, but my mind had other plans. (I think my downfall was looking up Sebastian Stan pins. On the right, I give you Exhibit A.)

I decided--no, more like was forced (by my characters, of course) to scrap my previous plans and thus, the Incredible Ship of Beau + Violet was born.

At first I felt really bad for Ethan (who was the discarded love interest) but then I got more ideas on how to turn it around, and Ethan became ten times more multi-dimensional and I decided that the Great Beau Change of 2013 was for the better. (He was quite happy about this.)

So I kept plugging away, inspired by another idea I hadn't expected to happen. And for a while, Beau... I mean, my nonexistent plot, kept me going. Until the words started to feel like slogging through acorn butter. (Or peanut butter,  if you don't live in a fantasy world. Which you probably don't if you're reading this.)

I spent a few days not touching the angel novel at all. Then, inspiration hit for a different novel. I spent the morning writing out the outline in a One Direction notebook and after that I think I was doomed. (Mostly because of the outline, not the 1D notebook.)

This novel is Because We Can, the sequel to Because I'm Irish, and I officially have switched over to that for Camp NaNo.

I didn't intend to, really. I meant for BWC to be a diversion. A little break from the angel novel.

Ha. Ha. Ha. We all know that's not how it works! *shakes head at self*

So after I wrote 5k, I realized that this novel was coming out much more easily than the angel one. And when I tried to watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and reruns of Suite Life on Deck and yet I still couldn't focus on anything but my book, I realized this was what I might need to be writing instead. When I'd rather write instead of watch TV, something is really going right. That's when you know it's serious.

It took me a few days to acquiesce, but I finally just decided that I was going for it. Since then I'm sitting on 13k as of today in BWC, and almost 35k total. (Yes, I added my BWC wordcount to my preexisting wordcount from the angel novel. I feel like such a cheater. But I'm trying to be okay with it.)

As for writing, it's going pretty well. I'm writing a court trial right now, so that's pretty boring, but I am happy with myself with not stressing about getting every detail right and, instead, just plowing straight in. (I mean watching Legally Blonde has to count for some sort of research, right?)

But it's kind of funny. I thought about doing BWC for Camp, but I didn't because it "wasn't ready." I kept resisting it. But now I realize that BWC is perhaps the most ready novel that I have right now. It has preexisting characters that I already adore and it's just like returning to an old friend.

Not to get all philosophical, but each NaNo I try to look at what that experience has taught me about writing. And for this round, I honestly don't know. O_o

Probably this quote by Madeline L'Engle best sums up how I feel about it at the moment.



And other than that, just don't worry about it too much, I guess. The words will come. As well as the characters. (No. I'm serious. They do come. With a vengeance little known to mankind. And just when you think that you know what you're doing, they whack you over the head with a frying pan and snatch away any control over the story you thought you had.)

Ahem.

Happy NaNoing! Good luck!

(And, as Beau would say, just wing it.)

(I love angel puns.)