Behind Every Illusion Online Community

Hey! If you’re reading this, come check out my new blog website at http:www.christinaharner.com. I’ll be updating that one from now on. Thanks!

DR. SEUSS is one of my heroes.

I’m often not a fan of reading children’s books to my 3 little kids. But it’s not because the kids climb all over me or interrupt me with questions like “why is she wearing green?” and other unimportant things. No, its because most children’s books are written like most adult books: HARD TO READ OUT LOUD.

However, when it comes to DR. SEUSS, I will gladly read my kids a super long story involving lots of climbing and talking. Why? Because the way Dr. Seuss tells a story, it makes reading enjoyable. I can read all the voices, I can feel the movement of the words on the page, I can fly through each sentence at lightning speed and still understand the story line, I can grasp the concepts but not feel bogged down by each letter. Simply put: IT FLOWS.

Take Horton Hears a Who. Now there’s a book that’s LOOOOOONG (for a kid’s book) and potentially boring. But is it? Nope! And that’s because each word flies into the next word with such fluid perfection that the only time I pause is for a breath of air, and I do even that as infrequently as possible (I actually think my lung capacity has increased since reading that book).

So, for those of you learning to write a story, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you read Horton Hears a Who several times right before sitting down to write. There are other books I would recommend as well, depending on your AGE, GENRE and STYLE, all of which play a part in which books you should be reading while you are penning a story (there are books you should NOT read as well!), but every single writer out there should have Horton Hears a Who, or at least, Dr. Seuss on the brain while writing.

Okay, now READ THIS OUT LOUD WITH FERVENCY and then try to write your own lines that feel just as passionate. They don’t have to rhyme. They just have to FLOW:

• “Don’t give up! I believe in you all.
  A person’s a person, no matter how small!
  And you very small persons will not have to die
  If you make yourselves heard! So come on, now, and TRY!“

• “This”, cried the Mayor, “is your town’s darkest hour!
  The time for all Whos who have blood that is red
  To come to the aid of their country!”, he said.
  “We’ve GOT to make noises in greater amounts!
  So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!“

Enjoy!

PS. If you ARE writing your own book, EMAIL ME! and I’ll be happy to recommend some novels. Let me know what your book is about, how old the “hero” is and a little about yourself!

Sometimes I think I’m just plain crazy, forgetting that I’m in a living room with people yammering away about their days and transporting myself to a distant land where I have magical powers. Sometimes I’m determined I have ADD, unable to hear a complete sentence without suddenly wondering if this world is just one of the many parallel universes. And sometimes I swear I hear background music as I walk around my house cleaning up after three children. So, am I crazy? Or am I just a Young Adult Fantasy Author?

Both. I think. Or, at least, I hope I’m not just the first thing.

So, let me get you inside the mind of a writer. At least, one who has an uncontrollable imagination. So how to write a scene? Let’s take this one: a merman and mermaid looking at each other for the first time underwater, ecstatic at finding someone just like them, wishing they could run away together….but its really complicated. Yet, despite the complications, meeting was the best thing that ever happened to either of them. And so, how do I write this scene?

ANSWER OF THE DAY: FIND A SONG

This song doesn’t have to have lyrics that say “I am a merman, you are a mermaid, we are together now, you are exquisite. (Believe me, there are none.) Any song might inspire this scene. I may have to listen to fifteen albums from Taylor Swift to Five Iron Frenzy to Green Day to find it, but it’s there. Somewhere, it’s there. For example, here’s a song that I used to inspire the above scene. This, I should note, is only ONE of two songs that capture the scene. The other one I blogged about several weeks ago, The Resistance, by Muse. That one is the serious side of the scene. This song, on the other hand, is the beautiful, guilt free side of the scene.

NOW, before you listen, CLOSE YOUR EYES. Make your mind do crazy things like my mind does when I’m writing. Take the boy mermaid and have him turn around to see the most beautiful creature he has ever seen–fins, tail, webbed fingers and all. He smiles, reaches for her, clasps her hand, and they float through the waters together, unable to believe that their wildest dreams came true. Now, when the words say, “I am floating away, lost in a silent ballet,” DO IT! I mean, make them dance! C’mon!

Okay, now that you’ve enjoyed the song, you need to write about it! Did the boy merman think it was cool that she had webbed hands like he? Did the girl mermaid feel her heart beat speed up when he touched her? Was light breaking through the surface while they danced? Were there stars? A full moon?

“But it takes much longer to write it than to listen to the song!” You protest loudly. Well, listen to it again, and again, and again. Seriously, the other day, I wrote a scene where one guy said he had to leave the girl whom he’d been with for a long time and I just wasn’t in the mood for sadness. So I listened to Muse’s “Unintended” for THREE HOURS STRAIGHT (!!!!!) while I typed. My husband came in about 2 hours into this fiasco and was like, “stop listening to that confounded song!” I just looked up, bleary-eyed and said, “Oh, sorry, I hadn’t noticed,” and then looked back down and kept writing. And believe it or not, the very first person to read that scene when I’d finished the book did some serious crying. So, see! It works!

Okay, so what scene did I actually write that might be inspired by the above music? Hehe, can’t tell you that! My book is now in the hands of three different agents, and I’m pretty sure that means I need to wait until I see if one of them wants to help me get a publisher. But if anyone feels like writing a scene and emailing it to me (along with the song that inspired whatever story you chose to tell) I would be thrilled to read it! Email me at christinaharner@behindeveryillusion.com

Have a great song-inspired day!

Christina

Hi guys! So I finished my book this week!!!! November 1st was the official finishing date and I’m so excited to be sending out query letters to agents tonight! Sadly, this book will not see the light of day until it is officially printed by a publishing company, so that could take a while. But in the meantime, I am going to post Chapter 1 here for people to read and get an idea of the plot a little. Please comment with feedback.

Also, I NEED YOUR HELP! Many of you wrote ideas for my book title both here and on facebook and Twitter. Well, I need more help, because I think most of my original titles sucked. I’m just not good at titles.

Here’s the thing: I want something that portrays fun and querky while showing that she’s either 1) at a life crisis, 2) strong-willed or 3) a mermaid. and yes, she really is ALL OF THE ABOVE, but it would be hard to have a book called “A strong-willed mermaid’s tale of how she dealt with her life crisis”. Yeah, not such a seller for agents.

So, here are a few ideas I came up with, and I want your ideas as well!

A Mermaid’s Tale of Destiny Dodging

A Mermaid’s Tale of Drowning Destiny

How I Dodged Destiny
My Life As A Destiny Thwarter

So, there you go!

Oh, and here’s chapter 1!

CHAPTER 1

Can you hear me?

I grabbed the no bake cookies out of the backseat of our car and walked toward the pavilion at Swanton Memorial Park, following Aaron’s trail. And although it would be the focal point of my life within a few short minutes, at that moment my mind was oceans away from the question of destiny or the idea that soul mates were anything more than those rare creatures people dreamed about but never found.

In fact, I like to think of myself as a destiny-thwarter. Three months ago, I married my best friend—years before I should have had to think about things like weddings and commitment. And although my body is screaming to be beside a lake or ocean at all times, I live in Northern Ohio, where the largest body of water is ten feet deep. And then there’s the fact that although I am surrounded by crisp farmland air and it should be perfect, I prefer to breathe underwater. But I tell myself every day that I am where I am supposed to be. Even if it’s not true. Yes, I am a destiny-thwarter.

“Kirsten, hurry up,” Aaron called out as he reached the pavilion.

I smiled and ran to catch up with him, thinking of how even my unlikely friendship with a guy three years my senior was part of my destiny-thwarting. When my mom and I moved to Swanton, I was immediately enrolled in Swanton Middle School where I had thought I’d be a complete loner. But a girl named Maddie had shown interest in being my friend despite my weirdly thick hair and my strange neck with what always seemed like slash marks along the side of it (people used to meet me and then, after staring for a few minutes, walk off muttering, “there’s just something different about her . . .” but they could never figure out what that “something” was).

During lunch the third day I was sitting by myself in the corner table when Maddie came over to me, setting her tray down across from mine. “You want to try out for cheerleading?”

I’d looked around, making sure she wasn’t talking to someone behind me and then realizing she was asking me, managed to say, “Uh, I could I suppose. Do you need people?”

She’d smiled and sat down next to me. “We don’t need just anybody, we need people with talent. But you looked like a cheerleader . . . I mean, you’re thin and pretty and confident looking—even for a newbie—so I thought you might want to try out.”

I had never thought of myself as pretty, so the compliment threw me off guard. “Maybe. I guess it couldn’t hurt—”

A boy from two tables away had walked over to us, holding a glass of water. He’d grinned mischievously at the girl. “You trying to suck the new girl into becoming a dumb cheerleader?”

Maddie had stuck her tongue out at him. “Whatever, loser.”

“Oh, come on. You know cheerleaders are all stupid!”

“Are not! You are, you little brat,” she’d retorted angrily, throwing a piece of her sandwich at his face.

(I discovered later that he and Maddie were related, not a bitter broken up couple.)

Before I knew what was happening, Micah had flicked the water from his glass all over Maddie—and me, quite unintentionally.

The instant the water hit my face, something weird had happened inside my body. I felt all wrong, like something inside was screaming to get out but it was stuck. My breathing sped up as I tried to relieve the unfamiliar tension building inside me. I began waving my arms frantically and—as Aaron tells the story—I was hyperventilating something fierce. Panic began to take over all my senses. I had to get out, I had to get dry, I had to get to water, I had to get—

Suddenly, strong arms had wrapped around me and gently pulled me off the chair and across the room to the condiments table. Not five seconds later, someone was blotting my face with napkins, which instantly helped my hyper breathing to subside and I began to relax, unsure why a dry face would have helped so much.

Turning around, I had found before me the tallest eighth grader I’d ever met. With bright blue eyes and messy blond hair and a tall skinny frame that must have been nearly six-feet, he smiled down at me gently.

“Hi, I’m Aaron.”

“And I’m still really wet,” I had whispered.

The reason we got married is a long story in itself, but needless to say, despite the three year age difference we were best friends all through middle and high school.

He likes to joke that we met when he saved me from the half-cup of water that had tried to kill me while I saved him from a life of being normal.

Aaron’s class council at the University of Toledo was holding a beginning of the semester picnic (Aaron had been unintentionally voted in as treasurer this year). I wouldn’t normally want to go to his council get-together, but they had encouraged bringing dates and my day at work had not been pretty. Don had dictated seven pages of power grid lingo over the phone for me to type up and email to the staff. But I misspelled “pipeline” three times and the computer decided I was trying to say “porcupine.” It had ended up in the email and I probably would not hear the end of it until I retired or crawled out in abject humiliation.

I ran to catch up with Aaron, glancing to my left and estimating the distance to the creek. Probably would take less than a minute to reach it. No big deal if an episode came over me and I had to make it there in a hurry. I shook away the thought. There would be no episode tonight.

At the tables I noticed several college students I knew already mingling around a table filled with appetizers and drinks. There was Elaine, the junior class president; Jake, the vice president and his girlfriend; and Ashley, the secretary.

“Kirsten!” Aaron called out, motioning with his hands. “There’s a girl I want you to meet.”

I grinned and jogged the last few feet to stand beside him. Aaron had such long legs he should have learned over the past six years of our friendship that I would never be able to keep up with him.

Aaron put his arm around my shoulders. “Kirsten, this is Valerie, our junior class representative, and her fiancé, Marshall,” he said, nudging me toward the couple. During the past year I had been more hesitant about shaking hands (the skin around my fingers makes me self-conscious) but snubbing people is even worse than having webbed fingers that draw attention.

The girl was probably only a year or two older than I am—perhaps not even legal age. Contrary to my dark auburn hair and oddly lavender eyes, she had long blond curls and rich brown eyes. Her white smile lit up her entire face as she reached out a perfectly tanned arm to shake my hand. I shook it and then left my hand hanging stupidly in mid-air as I noticed for the first time the guy standing next to her.

I’m not sure what struck me first—his dark skin that reminded me of the milk chocolate candy bars Aaron used to smuggle me during English class or his impossibly turquoise eyes that seemed so out of place and so right at the same time. But something about him threw a dozen questions into my head. Had I seen him before? Was there something strange on his neck or was it just the light? The longer I stared, the more I was sure his mouth betrayed some sort of amusing secret that was too insane to be told aloud.

That’s when I realized I was still frozen like a Michelangelo statue with my right hand in mid-air and a sort of smirk-slash-dazed expression on my face. “Nice to meet you, Marshall,” I said. It came out in a weird whisper and I suddenly wished I had a glass of water to pour down my—no, wait, that was the episode coming on and I had to stop thinking about it while I had the chance.

He smiled. “Nice to meet you, too. It seems like we’ve met before,” he added, looking at me carefully. I noticed that his accent seemed a bit odd, but I was more concerned with resisting the urge to check his fingers for weird skin.

“I don’t think I’d forget you,” I said before blushing at the way it sounded like something I would have said in second grade (“Oh, Marshall, I won’t ever forget you; you will totally be at my birthday party”). I bit my lip.

Marshall kindly ignored the dumb statement and smiled again; but something told me he was still uncertain there was nothing going on. As he let go of my hand, both of his went immediately into his jean pockets and he looked around as if trying to distract himself.

Glancing to my right, I found Valerie and Aaron already engaged in what they seemed to think was a highly interesting discussion about the spring social. And although I knew that the verdict between playing “Leave Out All the Rest” or “We Are the Champions” during the Junior-Senior Banquet slideshow was a life and death decision, it was not a good enough distraction.

Scanning the tables, I was suddenly grateful to whoever had been ambitious enough to bring the coconut shrimp. I sat at the table, dunking shrimp in pineapple sauce and eating them like it was New Year’s Eve and I was only ten minutes away from my midnight weight-loss resolution. But I still couldn’t get Marshall off my mind. Something about him bugged me just like when I tried to remember the contents of a dream after Aaron had forced me out of bed in the morning. A familiar story lurking in the back of my mind refusing to become clear.

After a few minutes, Elaine seemed to think it was time for a little group gathering. We all stood around, staring at each other, while she explained some new policies about class outings and announced the upcoming junior class 5K marathon. I watched the ground, counting ants as they carried pieces of cornbread back to an ant hill near Jake’s feet.

Five minutes into the talk, someone spoke up over Elaine’s drone. “Kirsten, can you hear me?”

Surprised—and slightly embarrassed—I looked up quickly. Everyone was still staring at Elaine, paying no attention to me or the person who had tried to get my attention. It was as if I had imagined the voice. So I shrugged it off as a symptom of severe boredom. Besides, I have a tendency to imagine that animals can talk to me. So I looked back down at the ants.

“You heard that, didn’t you?”

This time, I bit my lip. I had heard that and I could feel my heart begin to race. Something was definitely not right.

Trying to act casual, I looked up slowly and glanced at each face in the circle. Ashley was standing next to me, listening intently to Elaine’s explanation of the prizes they would use in this competition. Standing next to her was Jake, shuffling his feet a little too close to the ant hill for my—and the ants’—comfort. Two other guys stood beside them, both trying to act interested, although I could see them glancing at Valerie a little too often. She was quite attractive.

Hesitantly, I began the shift toward Marshall, whom I’d been avoiding ever since our meeting. Please don’t be looking at me, I thought hopefully.

My eyes lighted on him. Yep, Marshall was staring right at me, with lips pursed in a smile, his turquoise eyes flashing excitedly. “Hi. You found me.”

I think my heart actually stopped briefly and then jumpstarted again a minute later. Working hard to breathe again, I let the reality of the situation hit me: it had been Marshall trying to get my attention. I instantly knew exactly how I’d heard him and why no one else had. And I knew that my world had just been turned upside down.

You see, Marshall wasn’t talking aloud at all. I was hearing his thoughts.

So…my best friend, Susie, came to visit two weeks ago. She and I have been friends since we were 9 years old and have been bosom buddies since high school. We both read books (check out our www.bffbookreviewers.blogspot.com for reviews we write), we love the same music (she got me into Muse and all my other favs) and we both love to break our “I’m FINALLY going to DO this diet” diets together. So, this past two weeks I took a hiatus from writing to spend time with her. And because someone out there cares (haha), I’m going to tell you a bit about it, just for kicks.

MUSIC
This past Tuesday, Susie and I ditched the kids and drove to Chicago (a 4 hour trip from Swanton, the little village in which I live and in which my mermaid book will take place). Why did we go? A little hint….Grace Kelly, Lollipops, and Blue Eyes. Still no? Okay, fine. MIKA!!!!!!!!!! Mika was my first real concert and I loved it! We were in the front, jumping dancing and screaming just like the best of them. I was thrilled to finally see in person the man who inspired the scene I will be writing in Book 2 of my series. (The song? Grace Kelly).

MOVIES
A girl in one of the schools I visited in Louisville a few weeks ago asked during class if I had read “Cirque Du Freak” books. Although I am intrigued by vampires, I am a bit sick of them (too many pages of vegetarian sparkly ones to keep me loving them). However, I saw that Cirque Du Freak had become a movie, and thought I’d check it out. And …. I LOVED it!!!! Susie and I both thought it was fun (and this is a big deal because we are both picky!). The characters were intriguing (not to mention funny and adorable). The plot was interesting and edgy. The vampires, well, didn’t sparkle (yay!). And the main girl was just so NORMAL looking (which I much much better than being insanely hot, because, let’s face it: most of us ARE normal looking!). And now, girl-in-the-middle-row-at-Brown-School, I will go read the books. Thanks for the recommendation!

So, where am I now? I am in Hackensack, New Jersey, dropping Susie off at her house. I will be back in Swanton tomorrow and plan to begin finishing up my mermaid book immediately. Expect a good exciting update next week.

thanks for the read. And thanks for the suggestions on names from commenters here, on Twitter, and on facebook! Love you guys!

-christina

Okay everyone, I know I said I would write every Wednesday, but let me tell you something…. Its REALLLLLLLLY hard to write a blog when one spends 3-4 hours a day writing stories! I’ve already typed my fingers numb and by the time I remember to write a blog post my brain has turned into green jello and is globbing all over the place. The only cure for that is bed, so by the time I hit the sheets and remember that it’s Wednesday and I’m supposed to write something about my week, there’s no hope that my blogging will be legible at all.

But if you will forgive me and if you will keep listening to me blabber on and on, I’ll tell you a little about my last 2 weeks.

First, Muse came out with a new album, The Resistance. This is the best music that has ever been created in the history of mankind. If you disagree, that’s okay (but you are wrong, nonetheless). Anyhow, I was very inspired by “The Resistance” the second song on the album, and it helped me writing my mermaid story that should be finished within the next week.

My new book? I have 55,000 words so far and I’m aiming for 70,000. If anyone is counting, that’s about 2500 words a day if I want to write this book in 4 weeks. And yes, that takes about 3 hours. So no TV, movies, coffee shop outings, mall trips or game nights for me this month! But at the end I’ll have a book I’m super excited about! It’s not named at this point. I have a few names I’ve thrown around, but I’m not sure of which I like. SO, I thought this would be a good QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Without knowing much about this book, which title stands out to you?

A Mermaid Love Story

That Little Thing Called Destiny

That Little Evil

Never Leave You

When You Have Fins

If I Leave You: A Love Story

When I Leave: A Love Story

Now that I’m staring at them, I almost hate all of them! BUT THAT’S OKAY! Because we have some time! I just wanted to know what everyone thinks about these titles and I’d love to hear what thoughts come from reading through the name.

Okay, I have to run. I’m speaking at a high school book club in a few minutes! Thanks for your patience and sorry this because Writer’s Thursday rather than Writer’s Wednesday!

Cheers!
Christina

Okay, so last Saturday (as in 1 1/2 weeks ago), I decided to write another book on the side. That’s right, I was writing Book 2 of the GreenEarth Series and suddenly this inspiration came over me and I start blurting out a book. Or, as my brother says about me, “I input water and output books,” because that’s really what I do (I drink about a half gallon of water while writing in the evenings. and it really just disappears down my throat and evaporates with the words that come out!). Thankfully, this book is all about water, so the analogy works great!

I can’t tell you all what I’m writing exactly because this book won’t be made public until it’s published, which could be a while. But I will say that the main girl is a . . . mermaid!!!!! I’ve never written about a mermaid before and I’m excited to do so now.

So, how far along am I?

Well, I started that Saturday with a huge outline of the chapters and have not looked back. And to date I have 31,000 words. That’s about 1/2 a Young Adult Novel. And that means, that if you give me 2 more weeks to write rather than read your posts on the forum and answer emails, I will have a book finished!!!!

Before I get back to writing (I’m in the middle of the book climax!!!), I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all you guys who are writing on this forum. Despite the fact that I have not answered your posts lately, I still read them whenever I get a chance, and I’m loving the stories posted on here! Keep up the good work! And if you are one of those who wrote a longer piece, I would be thrilled to have you email me the entire thing instead of writing it all in pieces on the forum. That way, I can read it all at once and give you critiques (if you want that).

Alright, the fish-girl is calling me back to the story! She wants to know if she runs away with the guy she was born to be with or shuns destiny and keeps her promises to the ones she loves. Hmmm, we’ll have to see!

Have a wonderful week, and keep on writing and loving writers!
Christina

MY WEEK, in a VERY small nutshell:

This week was kinda crazy. Productive, but crazy. Let’s see . . .

Labor Day Weekend (Relaxed and wrote like 20 pages. By the way, those go hand in hand for me). BOY reveals important info to GIRL. GIRL speculates about important info that BOY doesn’t pick up on until . . . what on earth???? She was RIGHT?!? (in other words, BOY didn’t believe GIRL until, well, it came true).

Tuesday – Wrote a little. Went to bed. Couldn’t sleep. Got back up and wrote the rest of Part 1. Read below to get a TINY taste of the ending of part 1, currently entitled “Thirst.”

Wednesday – My brother brought his wii up and bought me EA Sports, which I immediately had to try out. No writing.

So, for today’s WRITER’S WEDNESDAY, let me just share some last lines from Part 1 of Book 2.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

“GIRL, are you going to say anything? Please, I need you to be my friend. I mean, now more than ever, I think our destinies must be bound together: you representing me, since at least from the looks of things I’m stuck here—”

“This can’t be happening. This is all wrong,” GIRL whispered, panic creeping into her voice.

“Sorry, I don’t think I have much of a choice about this. . .”

“No, BOY. I’m sorry, but my destiny will not be bound up in this.”

She stood up, glancing one last time at BOY as if he were a monster, coming to take her away from her life and all she loved and dashing her dreams to the ground. “I’m sorry, BOY, but I can’t except this destiny. I can’t.”

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

COMPETITION!!!!

AND NOW, I just want to say that I’ve had so many people ask about a competition that I do want to start one up again. However, before we can do a full fledge competition, I need to see that people are actually showing interest. So here’s what I need YOU (yes, you. No not the guy behind you) to do:

1. Read at least chapter 1 of Behind Every Illusion

2. Draw, sketch, photograph, paint, create SOMETHING that has to do with Behind Every Illusion in some way.

3. Go to the Facebook Behind Every Illusion page and upload your work of art.

4. Get your friends to comment on your works.

When I see that people are starting to add things, I’ll instigate a new competition. Don’t worry! What you submit now will automatically be submitted into the competition!

Did I make it by Wednesday??? Dang it!

Well, it’s now Thursday morning (12:01am to be exact), but I wanted to get in my WRITER’S WEDNESDAY anyhow.

I actually wrote some chapters this week! Book 2 is coming along great now! I wrote one of my first scenes that I’ve had in my head for a while. It came out all at once and I got 15 pages done in one evening, which I will tell you now is A LOT for a writer! I’m going to give you part of that story, just for fun. Now, I can’t tell names and things like that because I cannot do ANY spoilers at this point, but just think of BOY and GIRL for now). And just so you know, if you haven’t read Behind Every Illusion, it won’t hurt to read this.

BOOK 2, Chapter 5!!!!!!

(Note: BOY ran up to GIRL’s bedroom while she’s downstairs eating dinner because he needed water really bad)

His need for water grew. He looked around again, this time with such a frenzied desperation that suddenly the toilet seemed like a nice place to take a swim. Resisting the urge, he rushed over to the bathtub and turned it on, plugging the drain so it would fill and hoping that the insulation in the house would keep the family from hearing what was going on upstairs.

Before the tub had time to even finish filling, BOY climbed in—clothes and all, which he immediately regretted since he would have to get back out and dry them off afterwards.

He wondered if the know-it-all BOY would always disappear when the need for water overtook him.

As the water rushed over his parched skin, he breathed deeply and relaxed, closing his eyes to forget everything except the beautiful feeling of being wet. The water reached his neck. He turned it off and lay under the surface of the water in silence with his eyes closed.

A few minutes later, the door creaked in the other room. “BOY?”

BOY sat up instantly, trying desperately to grab the curtain, which was unfortunately tied to the other side of the wall. The footsteps grew nearer.

“BOY, where are y—Omigod!” GIRL stopped dead in her tracks as she entered the bathroom. “What the heck are you doing in my bathtub?!?”

And that’s all for now folks! Enjoy!
Christina

This week, I’ve been speaking in schools in Louisville, Kentucky, and let me just say that it’s been a BLAST!!!! Every time I get discouraged or tired of promoting, I speak in a school and remember that that’s why I’m doing this! I LOVE TEENS!!!

So, thanks to all you teens out there who listened intensively as I rambled on about writing. Thanks to those who actually bought Behind Every Illusions! I really hope you enjoy it and remember to never give up reading Fairy Tales! And a special shoutout to about 5 of you who sat on the edge of your seats the entire time as though I were really an interesting author! I hope to hear your poems and books and stories very soon!

Finally, I want to thank Jaclyn Whoberry for writing a beautiful poem for my book. I’m going include here the part that I used. It was so wonderful to meet you again! I expect a copy of that picture very soon.

Here it is:

I’m lost.
Lost in your beautiful, breathtaking eyes.
They stun me for a while.
You bring the bright sun
Through the blackness of day.
When I walk with you flowers grow all around

I took a break from writing this week, but expect a full report of writing next Wednesday!