Friday, August 30, 2013

Claws Ready, but Unneeded

Following up from my previous post, yes I did switch to institute (for those of you who are unaware of what that is, it's the grownup version of seminary) and my first class was today.
It was so much better!
I'll admit, my claws were poised and ready, but I had no need for them. I got along with a lot of people and I was FINALLY not a chair. It was nice to be among people dressed normally, with normal mindsets, and not one from the school I was taking seminary at. I'm dropping seminary. They say it's good for all students, but it was about as useful to me as putting my hand on a hot iron. I think I've matured past that point (if you met me you'd probably wonder how I consider myself mature. I can be a real nut at times.) I'm tired of cliques, of hazing, of popularity contests, you know, I'm TIRED of high school in general.
Yes, and you will be amazed to know that I actually got something out of the lesson. It seemed to be custom made for me. It was about softening your heart, and I've been hardhearted and guarded for a week. I walked out of that class smiling. :)
Another fun thing to note, I have nothing to write. I have several stories that I'm considering, but not entirely sold on writing. I took this week off from writing to give my brain a break from being creative, (yeah, it didn't go well. I get soooo bored when I don't write. I watched Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie all day on Wednesday. I'm tired of being lazy (whoa, that's ironic!))
I'm taking today completely off from writing, I kind of broke my "no writing" rule on the other days of this week.
Oh and good news, I'm going to Elsie Park's book party (sorry, just spaced the proper name, that's how my brain works) I'm super excited because I've never been to one before and I'll get a book signed! The only signed copy of a book that I own is by Brandon Mull and it was a already signed book, I didn't actually meet him :( though if I did, I'd thank him. He gave me an idea for my book. Elsie's book, BTW is called Shadows of Valor, it comes out on September 7 of this year and looks incredibly awesome. (For more on this I did an interview with Elsie on my blog, it's appropriately called that.)
And for the record, I don't use so many parentheses in my book. I can only think of TWO places where I did, Aster really isn't a parentheses guy, neither is the Secret Keeper.
More exciting news, I'm published! No, not with Twisted, it's a short cheesy story that my mom went all crazy about. It's on Amazon called Wizard Wanderings by Tayla Durham (duh! =D) Three people have bought it, I'm incredibly rich, just rolling in my sixty cents. ;)
http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Wanderings-Continuing-Story-ebook/dp/B00EPTWH1M/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377885414&sr=1-1&keywords=wizard+wanderings
Here's the incredibly long link to Amazon. You can check it out if you want, but if you don't, I can't say that I blame you. Short stories are not my rosy cup of tea. There's no time for proper character development, or world development, or even a proper bad guy! Yes, I prefer my books to be longer, but this was for school, so what can I say? But if you're looking for a short story it's only $1 and free if you're a prime member (wink, wink.)
My final thought of the day, I'm taking a photography class (I love taking pictures that tell a story!) and here's one I took for an assignment. I call it Sunflower. Maybe I'll rename it Rise Above, kind of has that flare, doesn't it?
Yes, you can tell I'm in a better mood. I RAMBLE (hey, cookies!) when I'm happy. You should see me trying to write. My room is full of pictures (maybe I'll show you someday, a guided tour of where Tayla Durham wrote Twisted. (*pathetic eye roll at myself)) and other things that are very distracting and then there's YouTube, ah, my fatal flaw. YouTube.

4 comments:

  1. Tayla, I LOVE your picture! You are good at photography! I never took that class, but it sure sounds fun.

    I'm very happy for you that institute went well today. I thought you'd enjoy it there. Just think, once you start college ALL of your classes will be like that! I think for once you will start enjoying school. :)

    And I'm glad to hear you're going to Elsie Park's book launch. I'll be there too. I'll look for you. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully I'll see you at the book launch (I keep forgetting what that's called!) And yes, institute was sooo much better than seminary. I'm still holding my breath waiting for the catch, but I'm ready for a good year. Can't wait 'til college.

      Delete
  2. Tayla, I read your story and it's so fun! I loved your portrayal of the wizard. I'd like to read part 2--are you going to write it? As a constructive criticism moment, I had a hard time putting my finger on the direction the story was headed and I would have liked to feel more of an overlying sense of plot progression--I hope that makes sense. But I have to say that it was definitely an enjoyable read! I laughed when you threw out that stones sleep like the wizard did (yes, I probably slaughtered your line).

    Thanks for sharing the story with your fan club. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it rambles a bit, but you know that was back in the OLD days (before I sent a book to the editor)and YES, part 2 is coming out soon. I'm working on a new cover design for it.

      Delete