my new blog site on Wordpress

I've decided to change sites. So for further updates of my book please go to my new site:

http://amberdover.wordpress.com

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blessings, Amber Dover

On to Chapter 6 & my new writing space :)

             Well, today I am not sitting in bed writing to you like usual. I actually have my own desk and my very own creative space. The walls around me are painted terra cotta rose (kind of red). I've read that the color red is supposed to raise blood pressure and to energize. So hopefully my quality of writing will be better in this room. I've heard red can also make you angry and hungry.....did I mention that I've been chowing down on snacks while I write....lol I promise not to throw my shoe at you ;)

              I have finished chapter five and I'm about to start chapter 6 of my book. So guess what! I am a quarter of the way  to finishing the first book in my series. Yes, I hope to keep it twenty chapters (which is not too much more than 200 pages). I'm really aiming at preteens and up. So I don't want this to be so long and detailed that people fall asleep in their Corn Flakes. I just finished reading the third book in The Mistmantle Chronicles and each book is a little over 20 chapters. So it is possible to wield a great story in a shorter book. People like quick reads these days....stories that hook you and have you begging for more.

 

              If you haven't read The Mistmantle Chronicles I implore you to check it out. It's a fantasy adventure book about talking animals on the island of Mistmantle. The main character is a squirrel named Urchin. It's perfect for kids. Now you may be thinking that a book about talking rodents is ridiculous but take it from me...a person who hates squirrels and has a great fear of them....these books are good. I think I might start liking squirrels a bit now.....

               The lady who wrote these books ( Margaret I. McAllister) has immense talent. I checked the books out because I wanted to read books in my genre and geared towards the age group I'm writing to. At first I wasn't that excited about reading about evil rodents squirrels. But Mrs. McAllister's writing was so interesting that I began to care about this orphaned squirrel. The first book opens with a very disturbing scene for a kid's book but it's no different than Harry Potter I guess. Sometimes traumatic scenes draw people's interest. I personally don't want to start off with action at the beginning of my book. I like to show the natural world before my characters are catapulted into craziness. But Mrs. McAllister was able to pull it off with style and I am now a huge fan of hers.

              I am excited that my characters are getting into more action scenes and their personalities are really coming out. It's fun getting to know them as I write. LOL Hey, writers are allowed to have little people in their heads!
Books really are like children. My Emmanuel is about to face some major fears and Timothy has learned that good intentions can sometimes cause bad events. Then there's Besem....sweet innocent Besem.....just a little girl...and she's going into the woods of Shazar.....where she might meet a nasty beheymah. But thankfully all of my main characters have courage and hope that the King will make things right in the end. Ok that's all the preview you get for now...until I have a copyright ;)

For Those Who Wait

Well, lately I've been watching the days go by slowly........just waiting for answers from God......waiting to see where my life will go. Wondering if my hopes have no foundation.......

I keep telling myself: Godliness with contentment is great gain.(1 Timothy 6:6)

but contentment is hard when the old life feels claustrophobic...
Another person can relate to me. Albeit she's fictional but she understands my situation well. Her name is "Belle" or "Beauty" from Beauty and the Beast. I had the great thrill of watching the musical last night. The cartoon is amazing but the musical really pointed out some lessons I never noticed before.
You see, Belle feels out of place in her little town. She wants more "than this provincial life". Everyone in the town thinks she's weird for reading books all the time. And they think her father is a nut. Then she has Gaston, the town big head, trying to get Belle to marry him.
Well, Belle gets her wish. She leaves the town to find her father in the woods. You know the story....Belle finds her dad at the Beast's castle in the dungeon. She bravely chooses to take her father's place as the Beast's prisoner. Now she faces a life in a dark depressing castle with a prideful Beast who desperately needs anger management classes. Suddenly her provincial life seems appealing.
Why did she ever complain? But as time goes on we see a change in Belle. Belle decides to make the best of her prison. Soon she learns that things aren't as they seem. The Beast is really a Prince who had a spell cast on him. Belle learns to love the man inside of him and in the end the spell is broken. The Beast magically becomes a Prince again. Beauty and the Beast live happily ever after. Belle has learned that good can come out of the bad. Wow, what a message from a kid's show!

Looking at the word "contentment" in the original Greek we get the idea of "sufficiency". Hmmmm what does that mean. Let's look at the definition of "sufficient".
Sufficient-  enough to meet the needs of a situation or a proposed end. Adequate for the purpose; enough

This makes me think of the song "Enough". It states that God is more than enough.

Also, I think of what Jesus told Paul when he had the thorn in his flesh "My grace is sufficient".  Enough for what? It says enough to meet the needs of a situation. Well, what are our needs? I'm not talking about wants. Seriously do we "need" a candy bar or to see a movie? Do we need the internet or cable?
When we get down to it, our basic physical needs are food, clothes, and shelter. God makes it clear in Matthew 6:25-34 that he takes care of those things:
²⁵Therefore I tell you, stop being ^[v]perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?

    ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?

    ²⁷And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the ^[w]span of his life?^(B)

    ²⁸And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and ^[x]learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.

    ²⁹Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his ^[y]magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these. [I Kings 10:4-7.]

    ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

    ³¹Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?

    ³²For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

    ³³But seek (^[z]aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (^[aa]His way of doing and being right), and then all these things ^[ab]taken together will be given you besides.

    ³⁴So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.            

Oh and there's that word again "Sufficient". We have enough trouble for one day. Why borrow trouble by worrying about things that may not happen.

 Moving On: okay what do we need emotionally? We need love. Sometimes people literally die of heart ache. It happens. Well, we are not promised to always have our family. Loved ones die all the time. But God is love (true love). God is sufficient for us. Even if our family abandons us we will still have Jesus. He says he will never leave or forsake us. Nothing can separate us from his love. Ok so our emotional needs are also met by God.
Spiritual needs: Obviously, Christ fulfills those needs too. We are spiritually dead until we are born again by Christ's redemption. His grace is all we need for eternal life. Jesus did it all on the cross. And God's grace is our purpose. We are to share this grace with the world.
  So those are our needs and every one of them is met by God. So I am definitely preaching to the choir. These are things I remind myself of while I'm in this waiting period. I must focus on Christ and live one day....actually one moment at a time. And most importantly I must ask myself are my moments glorifying God. Am I focused on God's kingdom?

SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM........Lord, please help me to do this

What? The inspiration fairy isn't real? :'(

     I am very thankful for my new acquaintance Susan Bischoff. Her blog has led me to Kristen Lamb's blog. Of course, it's all about writing. I have learned about the procrastination pixie and the job description of a writer. Also, hey world listen! I AM a writer! Hear me roar!!!!!! I'm not an "aspiring writer". I AM a writer :)

      Apart from Kristen's blog, Susan has stressed to me the importance of getting into my imaginary world....(lol my book world) daily. My inspiration must come from keeping one foot in my book always. Yes,  the inspiration fairy is a myth. She will not leave golden eggs under your pillow.......ummm ok maybe that's backwards. She doesn't leave presents  under the Jack-O-lantern.......and she will not fill your driedal with candy.....She's a mean one Mrs. Grinch..........Sorry excuse me...I had a scary writer's tangent.

        Sooooo where does that leave me? Well, I have not mastered the disciplines Susan has taught me. But last night I spent time editing my book. I had no desire to write at that moment. But lo and behold as soon as I began editing I got the urge to continue my fourth chapter. Yes, I know......I've been on this chapter awhile. But it is very different from my other chapters. The POV (point of view) changes a few times and instead of one continual scene, there are several. This is an emotional chapter. I don't like being sad but sometimes it's necessary to write sad parts. I almost cried while writing one scene........ok that's pathetic or either really good lol.

            I pretty much have all the pieces to the chapter mapped out. I just have to write them and make sure I'm descriptive enough.  Oh if only the scene in my mind could magically appear on the page.I could already be published lol. Anywho, I love that Kristen lists reading, watching movies, and blogging as part of a writer's job. All of which  come naturally to me lol. But seriously, I am noticing how other media effects my writing. The other day I was really inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia. Then last night one of the songs I was listening to put me in the right mood for the scene I was writing.

               So just because I look lazy, sitting there eating popcorn and watching a good movie...almost every day...well it does not mean that I am lazy. No, ya see I am just being a good writer ;) Now it's time to play Sims because my little sims world inspires all kinds of crazy stories......bwoohahahahaha! Seriously, I haven't played Sims in a month or two. But I have did my mommy/wife work for the day and I wrote several pages last night. So it is time to veg :) JOY!

Here, enjoy Kristen's blog for yourself ;) : http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/writer-reality-check/



 God Bless!

The persecuted church/ persecution in my book

       It is shocking to read about how many Christians are being killed and persecuted all over the world. It's happening in so many countries too. I wanted to cry today when I got my Voice of the Martyrs magazine. On the cover there was a picture of a woman whose face was burnt when her Christian village was burned down. Check out www.persecution.com to find out how you can help the persecuted church. Most of all they need your prayers. Many of them have been tortured and have lost loved ones. The violence against them is appalling and it's scary to think that persecution this hard could come to the states......but it's possible. So when you think of our brothers and sisters in bonds just remember that it could be you being persecuted and pray even harder.
      Well, I'm still working on chapter four. This is a hard chapter to write because it involves alot of persecution. I've got to get graphic with violence and that doesn't naturally come to me. But faith always shines the brightest during persecution and trials. I want my book to feel real and to move people. So I'll probably be reading and watching material on persecution. Right now I'm thinking about scenes from Amistad and The Hiding Place......also China Cry. These movies represent a variety of persecution happening to different people in different parts of the world and in different time periods.
              Keep me in your prayers :) It is only by God's grace I can write at all. I have a hard time organizing my thoughts these days and I get sick alot. Thankfully I got my referral today to be tested for EDS (hereditary disease my father had). Hopefully I'll find some answers healthwise. Also we are in the process of trying to buy a house. My husband is getting out of the military next week and it looks like we will be moving to the opposite side of the state. I'm very excited but also overwhelmed. Like I said...it's by God's grace.......I know he will help me through all these transitions. His faithfulness is apparent to me always.

Editing/ the virtual world of role play/ lunar eclipse 2-nite!

          So I've finished editing my first two chapters. My Sister is still reading my third chapter. It took some work :) Next time I think I'm going to edit the chapter as soon as I get it back, instead of waiting until I've written other chapters and having to edit them all at once. That could get tricky if I end up editing ten chapters at once lol. Yeah, so no more procrastinating.

        On to other news: I have entered the world of role play. Okay well I've been visiting virtual lands on Second Life for awhile now. I've made my avatar many things (mermaid, fairy, elf, and even a native American in Tombstone, AZ), but I've never REALLY role played as how I define role play. But now I have joined a "real" role play group in the virtual world of Ambrea. It's a land full of fairies, dragons, elves, and other weird creatures. There are some things about the land I do not like......like the story behind it comes with a pantheon.
       So I had to figure out how to make my character fit into this role play world but not give homage to any false gods (whether in a fictional world or not....just not gonna go there). So I became an angel....an angel with amnesia lol. My character "Osbrasia" just knows that she is from a heavenly plane of existence and was sent to Ambrea to spread the light.  So how to do that? I have no idea but there are job openings for candle makers, Apothecaries assistants, and defenders. Candle maker sounds safe and gods-less (new word ha!).
       Anywho, I have met some interesting people in this virtual world and a few nice people willing to help me understand the role play. For those of you who have never played a game like this let me explain. When you role play you have to type out everything you do. For instance: if my character was entering a room I wouldn't just walk in....I would type something like  "Osbrasia holds her head down as she enters the room. She wonders if anyone notices her. She scans the room and thinks to herself * my what strange customs these humans have."
                So as you can see this type of game puts my writing skills to the test...especially since I have to think and type quick. It's really fun during battles. And I'm excited about the battle aspect because I think reading how other people narrate a battle will help me with writing battles in my book.

           
           It's funny because I actually had help with this the other night. My friend was teaching me how to do a battle with the role play system (rps) and she was writing that she tried to disarm me. So I wrote back that the daggers flew out of my hand and I rolled out of the way. And she was asking me to get more detailed...like did my hand bleed when she cut me...did I cry out in pain. And she was right on cause in real battle when you get hurt you have a reaction. So I had to rewrite my response. She said that details make the role play more interesting. So now I know. Had it been a real role play moment then my character probably would've fled the scene lol. But I do have a sword now so I can defend myself if I get attacked by robbers or something in the bad lands........there are scary creatures like werewolves and vampires in Ambrea. Although they don't act it....in fact one of the vampire families through a ball for everyone. My favorite thing though is to ride my horse through the virtual lands. Anywho, I doubt I'll see too much action if I become a candle maker.

                     This is rather long but I'll end it with two things: first tonight we have a complete lunar eclipse so set your alarms between 1-3 am (EST) and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. I am so glad we have a REAL God who created this world to be one of order....not of chaos (like the pagan false gods). I can't quote the Bible when I role play but maybe I can be a witness one on one with other role players through private messaging. Games are fun and fantasy is fun but at the end of the day there is only ONE who make life worth living and that is Jesus Christ :)

               Second: If anyone reads this please respond, what do you like most about the fantasy genre and what do you hate most about it? Every genre has it's good and it's bad. Let me know ;)

             God Bless and Merry Christmas!

Excited :) Talking to other authors

      I'm aware I have no followers yet but I'm going to post anyways lol. Cause one day...... ;) Anywho, I am very pumped that I've gotten feed back from two authoresses (spelling?). I took Pam Halter's Characterization and Exposition challenge a few days ago and I was very pleased to read what she had to say (from Fairies, Fantasy, and Faith). I'm more confident about one of my new characters now :). This is kewl because this character is based somewhat on my Dad (who died Oct 2009 of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome- for more info look at my link to www.ednf.org). My main character needed a mentor...so who better than someone like Dad. His character is going to be fun to write.....because my Dad was such a genius and also very eccentric lol.
       
       Moving on.....I also got to post on Susan Bischoff's page. She's the authoress of "Hush Money".  It was so nice to hear advice from her. I can totally see her as the next Stephanie Meyer or Kailin Gow. It's nice to hear that there are wonderful authors out there that didn't necessarily have college training or they weren't born with divine brilliance. It takes work to write. We just don't see it when we're reading. It looks so effortless. I have begun to see that it is not. I thought it was just me but I've read that other authors have had to rewrite chapters over and over. I've only did that once and it was painful. My second chapter was so hard to write. It was my husband's idea to make it full of flashbacks. Now it's so much better but I'm sure I'll have to rewrite all my chapters once I get the hang of what I'm doing lol.

          Now my question to whatever author out there that happens to see my page is this: how do you write on a schedule or by a deadline? I know it's a job but seriously I doubt I could do that. I have to be REALLY inspired to write just one chapter. Sometimes I think about it for a week before I finally piece together a chapter in my head.  Maybe I'm lazy...or scared. I don't know. I just can't see myself working under that pressure. I keep telling myself once we move into a new house we're looking at....back in the woods...then I will write several times a week. I'll take that writing course with Stratford and just look at the trees and write. You know trees really are inspiring :)....I used to read these old fairy tales at my Aunt Lynn's out in the country. I would take the old books and go to the edge of her woods. The woods seemed so magical.
   
              A lot of my book takes place in wilderness and exotic locations. Maybe if I could visit these different climates I'd have a better understanding of how to write them....hmmmm note to self. Good thing "Emmanuel's" first stop is the woods. :)

                    God Bless and check out these two wonderful authoresses I've mentioned :)