Helen, answer to these on your writing: Best thing you wrote/Worst thing you wrote/Favourite thing you wrote/Worst thing you wrote/Favourite female character/Least favourite female character/Favourite male character/Least favourite male character

January 19, 2016

Stockholm
His Private Challenge/Her Split Decision
This unlabelled piece in my file where a sister is trying to protect her sisters name and goes after an investigative journalist. typical fluff piece that I wrote when I was sixteen all on paper. its hidden away in my file. It may see sunlight one day...
either bailey from MP or Stevie from Stockholm.
(male) has to be Wolf from MP
The entire list of characters from the Choices series (under construction at this time)

Marta, how do you decide which book you're going to read next?

May 11, 2015

I look at my Goodreads shelves and find a book that belongs to the category I'm in the mood for (fluff, urban fantasy, classics, etc).

Melissa, how do you decide which book you're going to read next?

May 08, 2015

Goodreads, my sister, and Rosie are my three main sources. Also, the librarians I work with like to rec books to me a lot.

Best writing music?

May 07, 2015

I discovered 8track last NaNoWriMo and I think it's part of the reason why I won. They have some fantastic writing playlists and I love the fantasy ones best, because they're so emotive - Rosie

Rosie, how do you decide which book you're going to read next?

May 07, 2015

Pretty much on how I'm feeling, nothing as awesome as Helen's way :) I'm always either in the mood for slash, fantasy, or YA, so I check out my GR to-read list. As for how I get that . . . well, it's a bit of a struggle since sometimes it feels like I've read all the good books and I'll never find another one again, but then a story comes along that's so perfect I don't lose faith. Other than trawling through GR lists, Melissa gives me a lot of suggestions too :D

Marta, when do you finish up with school? What are your summer plans?

May 06, 2015

Technically I'm done with school but I'm still doing my official exams right now, which take up pretty much most of May. Today, for example, I did three exams and I'm so so exhausted after 5.5 hours (!!!who made the schedule!!!) of writing and thinking.

My holiday is going to be 4 months long but I haven't put much thought in them, honestly -- besides for lots of sleeping. I'll be getting my driver's licence though and probably spend two months at our house by the lake! :)

Helen, how do you decide which book you're going to read next?

May 02, 2015

It's either a case of following on through series (at the minute I'm re-reading Rizzoli and Isles, the Women's Murder Club as well as staring the Grant County series by Karin Slaughter and the Byrne and Balzano series by Richard Montanari) so that keeps me busy as they have multiple books. With stand alone books, I normally text Lauren saying give me a letter which she does then I calculate how many books I have starting with that letter and ask her to give me a number from 1 to how many there are and ta dah! I have my next book. however, my Mum has saved me a jar because she saw this idea online where you write all your books on a piece of paper and fold them into this jar and have to read the one you pull out so that'll be my new way when I go get the jar.

How are the goodreads challenges coming along?

April 27, 2015

I'm 390849080 books behind. (Okay, fine. 12. But it's close enough and it certainly feels like 390849080.)

I can't tell how many books ahead or behind the others are, so it's a bit of estimating here (but I've calculated that we're roughly 44% through the year already):

-- Rosie: 66/150, 44% -> she's exactly on track

-- Melissa: 46/150, 31% -> a bit behind

-- Helen: 135/300, 45% -> she's a bit ahead

So there you go! Slightly more mathematical than you probably asked for but I'm studying for exams right now, so what better what to revise and relax? :)

- Marta

Helen, current favorite book?

April 20, 2015

Anything crime related which is why I'll always be in love with the Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter.

Helen, what's your favorite movie?

April 20, 2015

Oh I have so many for like every category... I'll give you my top five.

1) The Green Mile
2) Anastasia
3) Beauty and Beast
4) Serenity
5) The Shawshank Redemption

There are many more but these are definitely five I'd watch over and over again if they were the only films I had on me I'd I was shipwrecked or something.

Helen, how do you get over writer's block?

April 20, 2015

I write tiny little scenarios for my characters, blast ideas out with the girls through messages and if all else fails I just work through ideas in my head when I'm working. Then set myself challenges like taking part in NaNo.

What's your story idea for Camp NaNoWriMo?

April 19, 2015

Melissa's is a f/f one-shot for Star-Cross'd, Helen's is a story she's continuing from a past NaNo I think? Here's the summary:

Thirteen years ago, Matthew Newstead couldn't get off the small island that his family owned fast enough to start his career as a soldier. He left behind an angry father, four young sisters and a girlfriend that thought he was the one. He left with the intention of never returning until his unit is hit and he's left a broken man with only the island as his sanctuary but can he take the changes that have happened in his departure?

Mine (Rosie) is also a continuation of 2014's NaNo, because I can't seem to write steadily unless NaNo is on :P. This is the summary: Cai, the most powerful man in the world, rules a country fractured by ambitious nobles. He has one goal before he dies: unite them, and leave a legacy of peace and prosperity in his wake. It seems hopeless, until he discovers his soulmate in Blaine Allanach, a man renown for his ruthlessness on the battlefield and strength outside of it.

I can't write stop-and-start, which totally hinders me because that means I can only write if I have huge chunks of free time...which, let's face it, I definitely don't have! Do any of you writers encounter this problem?

April 18, 2015

I think I get what you mean -- once you start writing non-stop, you get completely in "the zone" (for a lack of a better word) and once you break out of it, it takes a hard to time get back. I used to have the same problem but I figured a pretty easy solution is just to constantly think about the story/plot/characters when you're not writing, so that when you do get to write, it's still running fresh in your mind.

- Marta

What kinds of book covers attract your attention?

April 18, 2015

Well, it depends. I have different preferences for fanfic/FP/online fiction than I do for published novels. I'll just talk about published because I think that's what you mean.

I'm a sucker for pretty fonts. If you have like a Comic Sans title font, I will seriously put your book down and leave the room so I don't have to look at such a travesty. Also, I like seeing nice watercolors on a cover--those are always spectacular. The one thing that really bugs me is, being a huge m/m fiction reader I encounter this a lot, there's always half naked people on the cover of things I want to read. Why do publishers think this is what I want. Naked people are nice to look at, but not nice to have on book covers. It looks kind of cheap and it doesn't draw my eye. They don't even need people on the cover! I'd settle for a nice illustration or graphic design.

-Melissa

What was the first Fictionpress story you remember reading?

April 14, 2015

I remember it clearly: Queen of Glass by SJ Maas. My friend showed me it in the library of my old school years and years ago, and I decided to give it a go. I remember printing out pages of it and reading it on the train! My parents were furious when they realised I kept using up all the ink and paper! - Rosie

After Camp NaNoWriMo ends, could we have a WHWN session again? Maybe at the end of May/middle June once life gets a little less hectic and the holidays have almost begun? :)

April 14, 2015

YES I WOULD LOVE THIS! I'll see what I can do :) ahhh lucky ducks who will be on holidays, my semester finishes in early July! - Rosie

How did you personally discover Fictionpress?

April 12, 2015

Back when I was solely on Mibba, the site admins were announcing that we would be going through this huge site change and there was a thread where people were talking about what other sites were available if the revamped Mibba was terrible (anyone who had come from Quizzila (like me) would have been skeptical about any revamps (which is a dif story all together) and probably would have been looking for alternatives at that point). Someone listed ff.net and FP and at that point I'd seen my sister on both sites so I figured I'd try it out. The rest is history :)

-Melissa

For the published book reviews, are you guys only posting reviews for books you recommend (like you do with FP stories), or will you review books that you didn't like too? Love the site guys, check it everyday :)

April 12, 2015

There'd honestly be no advantage for you to read reviews of books we didn't like. The lowest rating we'd give a book is 3 stars which are the ones we like but still find rather flawed in some respects.

- Marta

Do your friends read as much as you do? Mine don't, and therefore don't quite understand my desire to spend my weekend reading rather than going out.

April 12, 2015

I think that out of all the friends I've ever had, only about...two of them liked to read (though both liked vastly different genre: one liked romance-fantasy and the other liked books containing essays regarding various theories in physics, which...uh, I never really understood).

So I've always been in more or less the same boat as you! I've never really minded it much -- actually, I probably prefer it. If all my friends liked to read, we'd probably hibernate at home all day long (which isn't too healthy), so it's nice to have friends who are willing to get you to go outside every once in a while.

- Marta

How do you find new books to read?

April 11, 2015

Recs from friends (mostly Rosie) or randome Goodreads surfing :)

-Melissa

I'm watching neafcy's video now and yes SO on point. Which YT people do you follow? I only follow Charlie and Nigahiga tbh, my selection is pretty narrow.

April 09, 2015

I think my list is limited to grav3yardgirl, Cryaotic, marinashutup, and CartoonHangover (for Bee & Puppycat and Bravest Warriors). LastWeekTonight is one of my favorites too, but that's more of just clips from the show.

-Melissa

OMG, do you follow Charlie McDonnell? Did you follow the whole Alex Day scandal? Honestly, I watched Day's video on the whole thing ("The Past" it's called, I think) and it's so disgusting how he acts as though he's the victim!

April 09, 2015

YESSSSS. I am beyond disgusted with Alex. I used to watch his videos and even though I hadn't seen anything of his in a few months when this whole abuse situation came to light, I still felt betrayed. He's garbage and I want him to leave Youtube forever. That video was like 30 mins of straight manipulation. Neafcy (on youtube) made a really great video about the whole situation and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

The whole situation has completely opened my eyes to the... awfulness that can happen on youtube. I find a lot of youtubers to be fake now and pretty greedy. There's only a few YT people I can stand to watch now.

Actually I had a small run in with Alex on Goodreads because I read his book and thought it was terrible and boring and BADLY WRITTEN . Then he commented super passive aggressively even though it's common knowledge that authors shouldn't reply to 1 star reviews.

-Melissa

OMG do you follow Charlie McDonnell Did you follow the whole Alex Day scandal

...then that's just depressing. Surely books provide things that are worth than money? Anyway, thanks for listening :)

April 09, 2015

PART 2

So true! I'm not downloading books from tuebl because I'm greedy or cheap--I literally do not have a cent to my name in which to buy them with. I love owning physical books. I love sorting them on my shelves and being able to pick any one of them up and sift through the pages. If I could buy more books, I would. But I can't.

As for the money thing: that's my argument as well. Books are such an important part of life and I don't think people should be scolded because they're trying to access them. The same argument could be made for downloading music.

Whenever I think about downloading things off the internet, I think of this video [which I think sums up my opinion rather nicely]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6vgkDbMcZc

ADropofRomeo’s Video 125724640998 s6vgkDbMcZc

Don't apologize! I love having discussions and interacting with all you guys <3

-Melissa

Melissa (last one, I promise!), yes, thank you! And the part of the against-argument that really annoys me is that it assumes I would buy the book if I didn't have tuebl. It's not like tuebl stops me from buying books -- I buy the ones I can afford! If everything about books must relate to money..

April 09, 2015

PART 1 [answer to come]

Hey Melissa, thanks for easing my worries! Because I've gone abroad from the US to university, all my money has gone to other things and I turned to tuebl. But a lot of people say it leads to authors not getting enough money and such, which makes me feel bad, but unless I'm 100% sure I'm going to lo

April 09, 2015

No problem! We are in the same boat, I see. Ask cut you off, but I think you were going to say that unless you're sure you're going to love a book, you won't buy it, which is definitely my policy too. I don't want to shell out $10-15 just to end up hating the book (it's happened a few times recently and I was not happy). And sometimes if I really like it, I'll buy the book afterwards when I get some spare cash, even though I've already read it illegally.

Personally, if I was a published author, I would be happier knowing that people were reading and enjoying my book than I would be by getting a little more money. So, yeah. I definitely am a believer in buying books if you're able to, but downloading them if you are not. And if someone tries to make you feel guilty for using tuebl, then they're an asshole. You just do you, sweetie.

-Melissa

A Drop of Romeo

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