YA Gets Real: Don't Go Inside the House

The lone house loomed at the end of the street, dark and foreboding. Night crept around the car's headlights, trying to shut off what little light illuminated the front of the building. As Trevor cut the engine, a crow cawed in the distance.

"This doesn't look anything like the brochure." Katie held up the bed and breakfast pamphlet, one that promised pampering and relaxation. She glanced between the brochure and the house. The sign that hung on rusted nails came loose at that moment, and half of it fell in a pendulum arc, swaying back and forth to the breeze.

"Yeah," Trevor said, holding his gaze steady on the house. He wouldn't claim to be afraid of whatever was inside, not in front of the girl he was trying to impress, but he also didn't want to step foot inside the house.

The wooden paneling was a gray, faded from the bright white that the pictures of it reflected in its glory days. The paint was chipped and peeled, flaking off in the least bit of wind. Each window was smeared and tarnished with years of grime, unknown in origin. The porch held a single rocking chair, one that eerily tilted with the wind, creaking all the way.

"Maybe ..." Katie let her voice trail off as she stuffed the brochure back in the glove compartment. "Maybe we shouldn't go inside?" She rubbed her arms, trying to stop the goosebumps from forming on her skin.

"I mean, it doesn't look anything like the advertisement." Playing it cool, Trevor tapped his fingers on the wheel. "If you want, I mean, we could ..." He shifted his gaze to Katie, hoping she would tell him to get out of there.

Katie took another look at the house. The roof hanging over the porch seemed ready to collapse on itself. Curiosity had run through her, but she didn't like the looks of those steps. If something happened to her already sprained ankle, she could be looking at sitting out the rest of field hockey season.

Just then, a small flicker of a light danced in one of the upper rooms. The couple blinked and leaned forward, trying to get a better look, but the house offered no answers. The yellow glow eased in and out of existence, almost like it wasn't real.

"We probably shouldn't go investigate," Trevor said. To heck with trying to appear cool, he had no desire to die at this old house.

"No, you're right. This place gives me the creeps." Katie squeezed Trevor's arm. "Hey, look." She held her phone up to him, and he was momentarily blinded by the blue glow. "I found a place with better reviews. Want to go?"

"Sure," Trevor said, turning the car around.

For the seventh time this month, the spirit was annoyed that social media existed. The ghost sighed. Someday, maybe, someone's phone would fail and leave them with no other option than to go inside.

- - -

These posts are silly, parody posts of some scenes that can be found in YA tropes intended to make you smile for your weekend. I adore YA books, as a reader and a writer. These stories are fiction, but provide a possible alternative to scenes from stories we love.

Titles I enjoyed where the MC does investigate (linked images):
            

Managing Mischief

I think about when I was younger and how, for the most part, I was a fairly well behaved kid. It wasn't because my parents were huge disciplinarians, but because of self-regulation. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt whenever I did anything relatively "bad" or "destructive." The guilt was crippling. A tingling feeling would invade the base of my neck and travel up to my brain, numbing me from the inside out with a painful coldness. Nausea would flood my stomach. I'd be paralyzed, my mind a record repeating the one thing I did wrong over and over.

It was the same feeling I had during the beginnings of a panic attack. Needless to say, young me avoided this feeling like the plague.

I wonder, however, how I came to admire the kinds of characters that I did. I fell in love with Dallas from The Outsiders, thinking of him as a tragic hero. I adored Harry Potter, who wouldn't listen to the rules so long as it meant keeping his friends safe. He was a hero in more ways than one.

Most of the heroes that I read in YA literature have some sort of rebellious nature. What makes them a hero? Doing something heroic, sticking to their guns no matter what? None of them deal with getting caught or the guilt that comes thereafter. If they do get captured, the last thing they are thinking is I should feel guilty about this. No, they do what they have to do.

Though, these heroes are generally not dealing with the mundane, but with tyrants, corrupt governments, and supernatural creatures.

There wasn't a tyrannical government when I was growing up, and there certainly wasn't magic (or maybe I just never received an owl letter). The friends I did have, we had to carve out our own lives. I think self-regulation through guilt forced me into finding different ways to enjoy life. Instead of combating evil, I read. I snowboarded. I wrote. I played games. I drank tea. For a while, I knitted.

I won't get into all the times I spent bored out of my mind or staring vacantly into the distance like a cinematic overly dramatized moment of a slightly depressed teenager (but that happened too).

Because there were not a lot of heroic deeds I could do (at least not the kind we read about), I became the kind of girl who went to parties. But because I wasn't the "party-type," I would grab a single drink and nurse it while having one intense conversation with someone in the corner. I was the kind of girl who wanted to be surrounded by people, be a part of a community, but was terrified to actually get involved (What if they don't like me? What if I'm not cool enough? What if I say the wrong thing?).

Today, I still avoid mischief. Instead, I live out mischief and drama through my writing. Sometimes, the scenes my characters live through are more real than my own memories. Perhaps that's because we change our memories every time we access them, but that's for a different blog post.

So today, I'll sit down and create more mischief. My characters in The Mundane List are almost at the end of their journeys. I always stall with a few thousand words left, because I don't like letting go of them. Once I finish writing the story, I'm onto the first step of publishing, and perhaps, the first step of not having my work be successful (or perhaps, which potentially terrifies me more, it's the biggest hit of my life and I can never, ever live up to that expectation again).

If you feel like reading The Mundane List and seeing what adventures my characters get up to, the first nine chapters are available for free on Wattpad. It is, however, in the very first draft stages (as in, zero editing). I'm going to revamp it this January and hopefully get it published sometime next year.

Hope you all had wonderful holidays! Tell me what mischief you are getting up to this holiday season.

An Existential Existence

I haven't updated in a really long time, and perhaps I am now due to an existential crisis about what it means to truly exist and be conscious and simply "be" because I watched a marathon of Westworld. It made me think about life in a slightly different way, and I suppose I was already starting to do this, but it reinforced this idea of never winning. As it stands, there's a strange peace in knowing there is no such thing as winning. This life that we're given may in fact be the only one we are ever privy to and may be the only one we get (beliefs aside for a moment).

But in knowing there is no winning, then what is the point? As Ed Harris's character explores in Westworld, why do we keep going through the daily monotony if there is no actual way to get ahead. There's small battles that lead up to small wars and then what? More battles? More wars?

If life is a cycle, what makes it worth continuing?

I turn inward to my creative self, the self that wants to keep producing, keep making despite all the hardships and consequences of trying to achieve a creative life in today's time. Though, I wonder, where did this wondrous desire to write come from? Sure, I've been inspired numerous times in my life, by my peers, my teachers, random strangers, my family. But where did it all start? And more importantly, why did it start?

The first story I ever wrote was about a haircut. A girl who hesitantly entrusts her best friend to give her a haircut, even though he has no professional experience. Now, my best friend when I was nine was not about to give me a haircut. My sister, up until that point, had been my only hairstylist. Why that story? Why that idea? Why any of it?

When I take a step back, I come to realize that I write because of the why. There isn't any grandiose reason I chose to become a writer. There wasn't a single light bulb that turned on one day and made me realize "this is my way of being." I write because I need to explore. I write because I ask these questions, questions many of us never find the answers to. While that might seem sad or depressing, I'm actually okay with it. Maybe these questions weren't meant to be answered. Maybe they were meant to be explored again and again.

That's the interesting thing about existing and searching for answers you may never find. Once you become okay with the search, accepting that the search may indeed be endless and you may never find the treasure trove perfect answer (42), then life becomes much more enjoyable, because you can become more focused on living in the moment.

With all that being said, what prompted this mass exploration of myself and writing and what makes life worth it? Well, I spent the last week in a tremendous amount of pain, so much so that I had to swallow my pride and ask for help. I hate feeling reliant on other people, even my wonderful partner in crime, because I have this idea of me being strong and independent. Fact is, my body gave up. Something happened, or maybe many things happened, and my back could no longer support my weight, a result of massive sciatica. I could barely stand up or sit without assistance. I went to the emergency room and still don't have answers as to what exactly happened to me.

The pain made me question why I do the things I do, why I pursue the things that make my life so financially hard (and therefore, make acquiring healthcare hard). Ultimately, the answer remains that I do what I do because I'm in search of answers. And it's the search that makes life intense, unique, fun, and difficult. But if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't choose another life path. I will always choose to explore, however difficult that may be.

Here's hoping all of you have a wonderful, happy, and healthy holiday season. I am going to be more active on the blog going forward, because this is something I've been missing.

New Release: In a Blue Moon

Today, I am super excited to announce the release of In a Blue Moon (Blue Moon #1). This book has been in the making for quite some time. I got early feedback from readers telling me I should shop it prior to self-publishing. I've spent over two years querying agents and publishing houses.

At the end of the day, there are a lot of fairy tale retellings, and In a Blue Moon is hitting the market a bit too late for publishers to take interest. Therefore, it is hitting the shelves like all of my other books, independently.

This fairy tale retelling begins with the apocalypse. It's fun, adventurous, and has enough action to keep you turning the page. I couldn't wait to share it with everyone, and today's finally the day!

When Effy stumbles down the rabbit hole, she discovers the wondrous fairy tale land of East Valley in chaos. Death and insanity reign after the release of the deadly blue moon curse. Teaming up with the only sane people left—Jack the giant killer, Hansel, and Cat from Cheshire—they traverse East Valley, desperately searching for an answer. 

They know Effy’s the key to unraveling the curse, but everyone who remembers how to break the curse is… well, cursed. The murderous mob has Effy in their crosshairs. With Snow, Red, Rapunzel, Gretel, and Pinocchio on the group’s trail, Effy isn’t sure any of them will make it out alive.

Excited? I sure as heck am. Effy's a strong female character who stays true to herself and her weird, quirky talents. Jack has an infectious sense of humor, and he grows on you.

Soon, Jack will have his own in between sequel, Greener on the Other Side (do you see the color idiom theme going on here?). The Blue Moon series will have numerous prequels with different character origin stories, so if you fall in love, chances are, you'll see their own book soon. One prequel and Jack's in between novella are currently in the works!

Pick up your copy today!

Paperback. ---  Kindle.  ---  Smashwords.

On Wattpad: The End Diary

I'm super excited to tell you guys about The End Diary being available on Wattpad. I'm updating it regularly, and already have five parts up for you to read and enjoy. I've been busy working behind the scenes, but it's only fair that my readers get something from me sooner rather than waiting any longer.

Here's a little Q&A I put together regarding why you should check out The End Diary.

What is The End Diary?
The story is told from Megan P. Whitford's perspective (don't ask her what the "P" stands for, she'll never tell). It's a coming-of-age story where she realizes the truth matters more than life and death itself. Told in a memoir-style, The End Diary is her last chance to get the truth out about her and Carly Jacobs. It is a LGBT story, but focuses largely on Megan's outlook on life, which may not be a healthy one.

What should readers take away from The End Diary?
In today's society, people are so polarized with social issues and the way society should be run/viewed/etc. We have a lot of hate, and most of it comes from a line in the sand where we see life as us versus them. Megan sees her life in this way--her against the world.

I hope readers see how detrimental this outlook can be to... well, everyone. The End Diary also explores the idea of truth and perspective, as we all perceive the world differently. Her story has a lot of lessons in it, and this explanation only scratches the surface.

Why call this book "The End Diary"?
While Megan has feelings for Carly and there is a small (echoed: small) romance in The End Diary, that is not the core of the story. The core of the story is much deeper, drearier, and darker than a romance and first love. As Megan says in the very first chapter of The End Diary:

But I should preface this with a warning: this story probably doesn’t have a happy ending. If it does, on some level, I’ve failed. There shouldn’t be a knight in shining armor swinging in at the last second—or riding in? Is that a better visual? Whatever. He won’t ride in at the end of the story and say, “Hey, Megan, guess what? I’m saving you.” And boom, story’s over.

It is called The End Diary because there is supposed to be a sense of finality and foreboding right from the get-go. Megan's character is strong enough to pull you into her story and life despite her accidental spoilers and hints (she chastises herself as a writer). She's unhappy and frustrated, but she is ready to let the world know the truth in her manifesto.

Be sure to check out The End Diary on Wattpad!