Stories and Treks

By Dan Haring

My older brother and I shared a room growing up, and for many years we had this poster of the USS Enterprise hanging on our wall.

Neither of us were huge Trekkies, (or Trekkers) although I seem to remember my brother watching a fair share of TNG as he got older. But before that, we were little boys and it was a cool spaceship with a ton of really neat detail. That's all that really mattered. After watching a few of the Star Trek films and finding out who Kirk and Spock and the rest of the crew were, I found even more enjoyment staring at the poster. Not only that, I was inspired by it.

And that's what great stories and characters can do. That's why there are millions of Trekkies and Star Wars and Batman fans. Millions of Dr. Who and Firefly and Sherlock fans. It's because these mythologies have characters that we love and hate, characters we're able to lose ourselves and our normal lives in, characters that change our lives. 

And that's why we see these characters popping up again and again. That's why there have been 500 James Bond films. It's why we're getting a new Superman movie next month. These characters resonate.

So think about it as you're crafting your story and characters. Are your characters worth caring about? Would anyone cry if they died? Does it break your heart when something horrible happens to them? Are you elated and inspired when they overcome their hardships and obstacles?

If you answered "no" to any of the above questions, chances are your characters aren't quite where they need to be. I don't have a silver bullet answer for what to do or how to fix them if they're falling short. But the best characters not only have pieces of us in them, they allow us to project our hopes and dreams and fears onto them. It's not easy to create a Katniss Everdeen or James Tiberius Kirk or Luke Skywalker, but it's possible. 

This past weekend I saw Star Trek Into Darkness, (which was fantastic) and got this cool Star Trek poster by Mark Englert. (it even glows in the dark)

As soon as I saw it, I knew what I was going to do with it. My two boys share a bedroom, and I hung it where they both can see if from their beds, next to the Batman and Star Wars pictures. They're a little young for Star Trek, but they're not too young to be inspired. And as they read Harry Potter and watch The Avengers I want them to have favorite characters and go through the love and hurt and joy and pain those characters go through.

If you ask me, that's why we read and watch stories.

And why we tell them too.

Lectures, Laughter And A Love Of Writing

 Lexi Brady

 @LexiLoopsy

Hey everyone! 

My name is Lexi, and this is my first blog post on ADR3NALIN3! To help introduce who I am, I’m going to tell you all the story of when I realized I wanted to write. When I first wanted to write and never stop. 

I was six years old sitting on my couch as my mother was giving me a lecture. I don’t remember much of what she said, it was kind of like in the movies where the rest of the sound drowns out and the only thing I was aware of was my own internal dialogue. 

Earlier that day I had gone to a birthday party, and as the end of the party drew nearer I began to spin an elaborate tale to the father of the child’s birthday I was attending. I told him that my mother has a twin sister (which she doesn’t) and that they were so identical the only way you could tell them apart was by their hair. I told him that my aunt would wake up before even the sun would rise so that she could blow dry her hair straight, (this was before straighteners) and that my mommy wore hers naturally curly. 

Little did I now that while I was at the party, my mother had gone to a hairdresser WHERESHE GOT HER HAIR STAIGHTENED. So whenever she comes to pick me up from the party, Jack (the father) goes to shake her hand as if he had never met her before. My mother’s face held a fantastic cocktail of emotions, befuddlement to why he was introducing himself when she had dropped me off only two hours prior, curiosity as to why I refused to meet her eye. And finally embarrassment as she realized what I had done. 

After explaining that I had an over active imagination and some awkward apologies my mom ushered me home, which brings us to the couch. 

I only had the ability to listen to the first few things my mother said because I picked up on just a few key words. ‘If you wanna lie Lexi, just become an actress, a politician or a writer.’ 

People got to tell stories for a living! It was the most incredible thing I had ever heard of. I knew instantly that one of these things was going to be my calling. 

I participated in theater for the next few years, under the tutelage of an incredible woman that continues to inspire me to this day. And one day after I asked her for the twenty-somethienth (yes I know that isn’t a word) time ‘Toby, wouldn’t the script sound better if…?’ Toby looked at me with a big knowing smile on her face, a smile that I didn’t realize at the time but now I recognize it to be the smile of possibilities. Toby told me, ‘Why don’t you write a script? Let’s perform YOUR story.’

Now don’t get me wrong, I had written short stories before. Little rhymes that didn’t make sense and storylines involving a princess named Lexi who has a pet lion. Because really, how awesome would that be?? But until then it had never really occurred to me that I could write something important. And yet here was this wonderful woman that I looked up too, telling me she not only wanted me to write a play, she wanted to read it and then eventually perform it!

And it seems that is all it took, someone believing that the tales I spun from inside of my head were important to make me feel like they did, in a way it even made me feel important. (Still does to be honest.)

Writing is such a huge part of who I am, and that is why I am honored to be writing for this blog!

I hope everyone has a good Saturday! See you in two weeks!

Write On, ;) (Did you see what I did there?)

Lexi

Weird Stuff I Have on my Desk

Jordan Dane
@JordanDane

In a recent interview, someone asked me about my writer’s desk. They wanted pictures. My desk is in a constant state of clutter. I have books ideas, edit notes, and research piled high. Even though it looks like a complete mess, I generally know where everything is. I’m better organized online, but I am a packrat.
 
A better thing to talk about are the weird things I’ve accumulated over years and KEEP on my desk. While I was gone to the OWFI conference in Oklahoma recently, my husband waited for me to leave town before he cleaned my office. Basically he took the things I had in moving boxes and displayed them so it didn’t look as if we just moved in. I have taken over our upstairs media room and use it solely for my office. It’s like an apartment, suitable for my desktop sprawl so we can keep the rest of our house in order and pretend we are grown-ups. 
 
When I got back from OK, my office looked like someone could really work there. It was like taking a trip down memory lane, too. He hung my awards, recognitions, and B.S. degree. (I write fiction. Of course, I have a degree in BS. Duh.) He also has a section of photos on the wall - fun pics of salmon fishing with friends when we lived in Alaska. I have my writing contest certificates and old volleyball trophies and plagues when I was a player and coach in Alaska. My office is like a time machine now.
 
I tell people that I use toys to keep me plugged into my inner child so I could write YA, but that’s not entirely true. I am NEVER far away from my inner child. Since I chose not to have kids, I’ve never had to be a good example to ANYONE. So my inner child is totally me. Writing YA only gave me a reason to get worse. So the things I have on my desk were accumulated BEFORE I wrote YA.
 
Here are a few:
 
Pog Mo Thoin sign – a gift from my aunt and grandmother. It means "Kiss my Ass" in Gaelic. (Yes, I’m bilingual in obscenit-ese.)

 
Hat collection – My Greenbay Packer cap lights up and flashes & I wear my hardhat & bee antennas to ward off writer’s block.

 
Walkie-talkies – Doesn’t everyone have these on their desk? My husband and I recently used them to trap a stray Great Dane in our backyard to rescue him. True story.

 
Screaming Tomahawk – When you strike it on a surface, it screams bloody murder. I use it for scary scene writing to get me in the mood.

 
Mr Perfect Doll – Pull a chord on his back and he tells me whatever I need to hear. And no, he is not anatomically correct.

 

Diva Dog - This was a gift from very dear friends who thought Paris Hilton and I would have plenty in common once I got famous. The stuffed dog is a purse with a pen zipped into its back for autographs.

 
Okay so I have dished the truth about my office and desk where I write. Now it’s your turn. What is the weirdest thing on YOUR desk…at home or work? I want deets, people. We’re all friends here. I promise not to tell anyone, so spill.

Alt. Girl

Dear ADR3NALIN3 readers,

I'm the new alt. Thursday author and I thought we should get to know each other as our meet-cute!

It seems I've been writing forever, that my journals and I have never been apart, that every waking hour was spent waiting until I can finally put to paper what's boiling deep inside - but it hasn't. In fact, it's been 9 years since I realized how much I loved to write... and it didn't come cheap, either.

Working in a prestigious company with a good salary and few advantages was nothing compared to an extensive course in London, completing a Master's in screenwriting, living my dream for this one year. So I quit that job, sublet my apartment, said goodbye to everything I knew and flew overseas to the city that still feels like home. It happened there, that moment when you fall in love with something that's been there all along, but you just didn't quite know it: writing. Back then it was screenplays and the power of dialogue, revealing through images what words could not, and finding the balance between one-liners and monologues – it was tough, at times brutal and painful, but I loved every torturous second of it.

Then it was time to come back home – on the other side of the pond in Canadaland with its lack of proper tea houses and too many normal-accented folks - and did what good screenwriters (with film production backgrounds) should do: I wrote, directed and produced three short films. These were my projects with actors I'd hand-picked and technicians I'd interviewed, this was my time to shine, to fall in love with film again... And nothing, not even a pitter-patter or a heartbreak, because I came to face the facts: I've moved on, I was in love with writing and I wanted to be alone in my dungeon and not making films, anymore. How's that for student loans and a maxed out Visa card on film stock and equipment??

It's time like these you grow up, the moment that changes your life forever; not when you pack your bags or walk on foreign soil, but when you quit that old dream to become who you're meant to be. It's hard, I'll give you that, and it hurts at times, but then you receive that magazine with your first published story in it, with your name in print, and it's all worth it. In the end, through the fog of regrets and the shreds of remorse, the new dream wins.

For nine years, it's been me and my friends and betas and critique partners; for nine years, my stories have been shared with a limited number of people. Until now that my first book is out and people are actually reading it. How does it feel? Like I never wasted a day of my life, that everything I've done brought me here, and that it's only the beginning.

I can't wait to get to know you, ADR3NALIN3 reader, so drop me a comment about your dreams, writing, reading - anything that makes your life worthwhile:)

Lots of spooks,

 

anne ♥

***

So what is that book called Girls & Monsters? It's a collection of dark novellas for young adult (or anyone who wants to read it, I'm not ageist) where girls become who they're meant to be. But for me, it's the result of years of fine-tuning my voice, of finding my way into this crazy and ever-changing publishing world, and discovering that being a writer is who I have become.
 

Since I want to share Girls & Monsters with you guys, here's a chance to win an autographed softcover copy!! The international giveaway ends on June 28^th and the winner will be picked by random.org. Good luck, keep calm, and be dark.

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway