The Sparrow's Nest

Hi! I'm Julia! I'm writing a blog! I'm so excited! I want to bring awareness! It's not just for you and me! It's for the world! Here's why I write! 1. I want the world to know about how I can't cook donuts! 2. I want to teach the world what it means to lose a sunflower after months of hard work! 3. They have to know about all of my dead fish! 4. Don't pour your money into dating sites! 5. There's nothing we can't do! If your writing looks like this, you sound like a chicken! Banish those exclamation points to the abyss. They're like sugar. Please use sparingly. Nobody wants to catch writing diabetes. Exclamation points can render the most serious of writing pieces idiotic. Add the extra kick only when needed. Example: Kara skipped home from school. She couldn't wait to see her chicken. She and Mrs. Hopper were the greatest of friends. She forgot to feed Mrs. Hopper most of the time, but it was okay. ...

Even before Pariahs  was ready for publication, I'd started working on book two. When I finally came up with a title, I was thrilled, because usually my titles are the last to arrive. Well, last week a different name showed up and said, "Hi, I'm the official title!" It didn't even apologize. In thinking about book two's name, I realized it revealed too much. For the Ilings series, I want each book to have a mystifying title encompassing the novel's heart. When the complete series showcases, Gorgeous,   Elegant,  and Majestic  can't be grouped with Bumpkin Town.  The titles need to mesh together. I slept on this title for several days. Something wasn't right, but last night around midnight, I got it. Make the title plural. Bam, the chills struck me in the gut. This is what the title should be. Without further ado, let me introduce the sequel to Pariahs. Embers.

With me today on this beautiful first of November are Sean L. Brown and April Emerson, two exceptional people who wish to open your eyes to the beauty of the world. Anyone that has met the two of us at a signing, an event, or simply walking around exploring knows that we are not quite your typical pair. So when Julia invited us to guest blog here and talk a little bit about #LETME, we jumped at the chance to have a little fun. Now, we have been interviewed in the past, yet this time we looked at each other via video chat and said, “Hey, if we don’t have an interviewer, why not interview each other?” In true Team Sean’s Thoughts: why not, indeed.. APRIL: Sean, let’s go. What is LETME? And, how did it get started? SEAN: LETME stands for “Live Every Tiny Moment Exceptionally.” After I had been writing online what I called “Sean’s Thoughts” for several years, I wanted to show people that the best things in life could be found in the small things. I thought that this messa...

WARNING: STORIES MAY BE TOO SCARY FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES The names of the individuals have been changed to protect their identities. The small town of McNary is kind of split in half. One one side is the main town, but on the outskirts is a part of McNary that the people like to call Indian Camp. It's been called that since before political correctness had a place in society. When the roads used to be made of dirt and the forest was thicker, a girl went hitch hiking. As she headed for the highway, she ran flat into a hairy creature standing on two legs. She didn't scream, but turned around and walked back home. She tried to keep calm, because she was afraid that if she ran, it would chase her. Closer to the old sawmill are a row of houses. There, a man I'll call Randy hooked up with a woman I'll call Marie. She had two children. One night, Randy and Marie decided to grab a pizza and a movie to bring back home to them. Everybody was excited and the ki...

Hi, everybody! I did something stupid again. 😊 Being that I'm single beyond belief, I joined several dating sites. I'd never done it before and figured, what do I have to lose? I still have nothing to lose. If you want to find yourself a beautiful weirdo who'll bump you into the next season of Forensic Files, you need a ridiculous amount of money just to send a stupid message. Most sites are so stupid you have to pay just to see who sent you a message. Of course, you can never send any yourself unless you upgrade to premium, which is being able to do everything you can already do for free on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else. Since when has love costed money? I'll tell you where. In the red light district. I got my very first flirt from this hunk. And I mean, Gale from Hunger Games kind of hunk. Wow! Dating sites are like magic! I'm really going to get a boyfriend! I will no longer be boyfriendedly challenged. I clicked so fast on his profile m...

Hello everyone! Today, the talented Miracle Austin is here with me, discussing creepy writing! Enjoy, and learn from a master! Be sure to check out her books and other writings. They're absolutely fantastic and deliciously creepy. Creepy Writing Tips Salutations, readers, I want to take this time to thank Miss Julia Benally for inviting me to her blog. Before I dive into the topic above, I wish to introduce myself. My name is Miracle Austin, and I’ve been writing off and on, since junior high. A few years ago, I rediscovered my love for writing. I must confess that I never thought I would become an author. Well, four books later, it is my reality. As you may have guessed, my favorite genres to write include the horror and supernatural realms. I was introduced to both when I was a pre-teen and teen in the late 70s and 80s, via listening to a spooky AM radio series on Friday nights with my mom. Watching scary movies and later reading books by Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, R....

Moon Dancer is my favorite short story. Like Seven Floors, it received buckets of hate before it was loved. I used to live in the city. At thirteen, my family and I moved back to the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, just in time for a high school full of kids who all grew up together. I was the "City Indian." In the end, it was all right. I made awesome friends and I had the greatest time of my life. One of my friends and I would tell scary stories to each other. One day, she told me about a centaur lurking in the woods. I'd never heard of such a thing in my life, at least as far as the reservation was concerned. Centaurs belonged in Greek Mythology, not on the reservation. After graduation, my friend died in a car wreck the next winter. Several months later, I headed off to Brigham Young University in the worst of spirits. I graduated with only one thing in mind: to write. Short stories were beyond me, but I really wanted to build a platform. I ended up ...

My short story taking place in Hawaii has finally come out. In fact, two went live at the same time. It seems to be the trend for my writing year of 2019. "Seven Floors" and "Moon Dancer"; "Coffin Walker" and "The Cowboy Cabin"; "I See You" and "Kittylyn." There's a few more months left in the year, so let's see what happens. "Seven Floors" is about a young Hawaiian woman who accidentally unleashes an ancient monster (one of my own making) in the building where she lives and works as a janitor. She has to get rid of it before it eats her. My idea for the story was actually inspired by a movie called "The Raid." It's a cool martial arts foreign film about policemen who raid a tall building trying to capture a crime boss, so it's kind of like "Dredd."  A severely ill woman made a brief cameo and I fixated on her. What if her husband never came and she had to get out by herse...

I loved the cartoon, so I decided to read the book, too. I bought that thing with a special cover, only to find out that Peter Pan was almost like a little demon. He didn't even care when Tinker Bell finally kicked the bucket. Yeah, he did the clapping thing, but fairies don't live long. So later, he was like, whatever. Who's that? The author said he's drawn to women who haven't been married or have had children. So here I am, single as crap, and thinking about some kid lurking in my room in the middle of the night. Ew. I mean, what if just his shadow showed up? I'm allergic to things like that. The look of Peter Pan is also in childless women's eyes. I don't have kids. The next morning I'm staring in the mirror like a freak, wondering what in the world does that mean. Is Peter Pan looking out of my eyes? I started watching women who didn't have kids, searching for that look. Dude, I don't know. Where's that creepy little k...

I said before that I had dreamed of the Grand Apwor Karijin. He's not the only one I dreamed of. In fact, I dream of my Iling characters every once in a while. When sharing a room with the sister who does the drawings, I slept on the top bunk. One night, I sat up, feeling I had somewhere to go. I crept through the house and exited through the back door. I headed across the highway and into the forest behind my house. Once there, I found a worn road leading to the reservoir. It was still dark, but no wolves, bears or drunks wandered around like they usually do. After a while, I smelled cooking smoke. Stepping through a stand of trees, I reached a cookout full of people. Zhin was kneeling over the fire and Vijeren was across from him. Sibare, Miranel, N'Nar, and Rilkin were talking to one another. Other people were there, too. Some were characters I knew and there were others I didn't, at least not yet. Their faces were blotted. They were having a grand time. ...

One night, before the tribe tore down the beautiful forest in front of my house and erected some sick looking houses with hideous yellow streetlights, I dreamed I was in the city four hours away. wanting desperately to get home, I went outside and found a kiderrin waiting for me. A kiderrin is what Ilings use as steeds on Ilo. They're huge and fast. I climbed up on my kiderrin and it rushed home. It indeed feels like riding on a massive wave. As I got further into mountains, everything grew misty and dark. When I finally turned into my street, there was a shadowy figure in a long cloak standing in front of my house. The thing's head reached the roof of the house. The air grew colder around this figure. Jumping off the kiderrin, I raced to my front door, always keeping an eye on the eerie figure in the mist. It watched me, too. I sped into the house where there was light everywhere, and I slammed the door shut. I told everyone about the figure, but when we looked outsid...

Zhin was an overpowered superman who cussed like a sailor. When my brother asked why anything even happened to the group with him around, it got me thinking. I read somewhere that overpowered characters couldn't develop, grow, or be interesting. I powered him down about 80%. Since I didn't cuss, Zhin's dialogue looked like this, *$%#@! Of course I couldn't have that, so I had to get creative with his words and how he insulted people. His personality stayed the same, more or less. Zhin used to be a doctor with all kinds of tricks up his sleeve. Now he's not, and he only knows enough medical things to get him by. Being a doctor just made no sense in the long run. Zhin's race is Berivor, but his power is Iskerkin. That power didn't exist and neither did his entire background, which has a huge impact on Vijeren and Sibare. The Iskerkin power came to life in the bloodheart scene in the forest. His powers flowed right off my fingers and I stared at it in ...

Rilkin started out as a...I don't know. He was just a character who showed up with a serious presence. I think he came in around page 600 in the notebook. I liked him so much that I put him in the beginning as a school teacher who hated kids. He only liked Vijeren because Vijeren didn't annoy him. Pretty soon, it was like, Rilkin's not a school teacher. I thought maybe he's undercover...for what? I made up a situation that didn't work, but it transformed into the main conflict that it is today, and a law enforcer Rilkin remained. Even though I was all over the place, the idea of Rilkin's occupation was one of the first permanent pieces of "Pariahs." I had several variations of Rilkin's personality, obviously the one where he hated kids, and now he loves them. He used to be a strict person with no humor. Now he's the exact opposite, and I like him better that way. Lots of people on Ilo think he's baby cute. What do you think? Do...

N'Nar is Vijeren's oldest brother, but he almost wasn't. He started out as a villain who turned good, but there wasn't a plausible reason for it, and I had no idea where he came from. There was something wrong and when he finally became Vijeren's brother, he fell into place. N'Nar's physical appearance also changed drastically, because N'Nar's race is Sirilith. The Sirilith race used to have no legs at all. They were built like merpeople, but instead of a mermaid tail, it was a snake tail. They were bald, earless and had some serious snake eyes. The word Sirilith wasn't even Sirilith. I called them plain old Snakemen. Snakemen existed for a really long time, and then one day I said, "I don't like this. It screws with my muse." Besides, when I saw N'Nar in my head, I saw him as he is today. So why the crap was I describing him like a snake that sprouted arms? So I revamped the entire race and gave them a new name, legs, ...

In the first of all first drafts of "Pariahs," Vijeren didn't have any brothers. Sibare existed as his perfect, gentle, patient cousin. Vijeren hated his guts. Sibare was also a lot duller-looking. So dull in fact, that I saw him as a blurry image. After writing him for almost 1000 pages, by hand in about 5 notebooks, and then typing it all out on a computer, and going through SEVERAL drafts, I decided that I hated him too. So I did a full character redesign until he was reckless and bold, tough as nails, braver than a retsinist and possessed a wicked sense of humor. His features did a full 180 and for the first time, I was able to see his face. Thank goodness the agents kept rejecting the manuscript, or you would have had a piece of Cubon to suffer through forEVER. Drawing by Nicomelia Benally Order "Pariahs"  here on Amazon

The main character Vijeren came about in a convoluted way. Some say it's a heartfelt way. I guess so. He's based off of one kid I used to substitute for a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. He wasn't popular, got picked on, and he had a hard time learning, but he was the best kid. I saw him as a little light, hence Vijeren's powers. Vijeren went through a million changes until he became what he is today: an adventurous little nut full of mischief. Writing a lively character was extremely fun. I usually like side characters best, so when I made Vijeren, I made him like a side character, and then I made him the main character. He bounced off of Miranel perfectly. Miranel is the little girl he has to watch over and help gain a soul. She's cheesy, she's embarrassing, and she has freakish articulation. It took me thirteen years to write "Pariahs" and Miranel is the only character in the cast that was the same from beginning to end. D...

Today I have with me F. Allan Roth, who will be teaching us about developing your writing style! He and his wife live in Idaho. He is the author of Fighting the Promise ( https://mybook.to/Fighting-the-Promise ), a post-apocalyptic novel set in the mountains of Idaho. He is also the author of a commentary on the Book of Mormon titled A Missionary’s Musings on the Book of Mormon ( https://mybook.to/Mission-Musings ). So without further ado, developing your writing style. Developing a recognizable, unique writing style is one of the hardest problems new or inexperienced writers face. I have a three-step process that helped me polish my writing style and that also helped many of my writing students at Brigham Young University and Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho). What I’m about to tell you will probably contradict everything your composition teachers ever taught you. That’s okay. It works. The three steps are these: 1. Reading to analyze style. 2. Writing to emulate style....