Absence

Hey all!

I'd like to publicly apologize for not posting anything in forever. I've been caught up querying the newly written version of Blue Moon. Unfortunately, I've gotten over 50 rejections, but one full manuscript response. Although the latter still turned Blue Moon down, he gave me encouraging words and urged me to keep querying.

So keep querying (and editing) I shall!

In the meanwhile, I'm almost done with the first, very rough, draft of Revenge, the sixth book in the series- only five chapters left! I've decided to write a sequel trilogy called "The Crimson Chronicles", which follows the niece of Videl, my favorite character from "The Emerald Chronicles". I'm planning the three books right now (as well as continuing to make improvements on Blue Moon, re-writing the second draft of Three Tasks, and finishing the first draft of Revenge), and hope to actually start writing the first book, Blood Eyes, in August.

Also, I haven't been blogging because I made a website for my author self, complete with in-character biographies and book summaries, but sadly... it crashed. I'm trying to get it back up, but the provider of the site hasn't been working, which is probably translating.

:) Have a lovely day!
Aspen

Trailer for Revenge (Book #6)

Trailer- Revenge (Book 6)

The time has come. When I start a new book, I usually make a video/trailer to start it off, to get me into the general mood to write. As Book 6, Revenge, started to roll around, I made a trailer a few months ago. But it was over-long, and the videos and dialogue didn't really tell the story of what Revenge is going to be.

So I made a new one.

The second trailer is half as short as the first one, but it packs more of a punch.  I found an actress that fit perfectly with Thea and her final character development, and used a lot of her scenes for Thea in the trailer. The dialogue is more constant and fits more with the chaotic, life-or-death atmosphere Revenge perpetuates, and its quicker pace allows the viewer more of an intense blood-pumping viewing of how the story will carry out.

The trailer contained scenes and dialogue from the following movies/TV shows:

• The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
• Dracula: The Dark Prince (2013)
• Camelot  (TV show)
• Only Lovers Left Alive 
• Game of Thrones (briefly)
• Teen Wolf (briefly)
• Vikings (TV show) (briefly)
• Vampire Diaries (briefly)
• Once Upon a Time (TV show) (briefly)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (briefly)
• Crimson Peak (briefly)
• Thor: The Dark World 

The trailer also finalizes Thea's (the main character's) final transition from a dependent 13 year-old child to a fierce 17 year-old warrior. 

This first video is the trailer for the first book (although it includes characters from the third and fourth books accidentally), and Thea's character in it juxtaposes with the second video, the trailer for Revenge. 

Re-Inventing the Characters: Rani Marahn

Rani Marahn

Statistics
Full Name: Rani Marahn  

Age: 803 when the series starts 

Gender: male

Affiliation: Good (temporarily bad in Book 4 under Neidra's influence)

Birthday: January 1210
Best Friends: Roath Marahn and Lee Brigham 

Love Interests: Annabelle Campbell; Eala 

Hair:black

Eyes:bright green
Height:6'3''

Orientation:straight
Notable Quotes: 

Book 1: [talking to Eala]“I have not yet decided if I can be her father...I have a kingdom that is

falling into chaos. My daughter knows not who I am, and that may be for the best. Already, she has become prey to the supernatural forces that crawl after her in jealousy. It is no accident the Imeldi attacking her family and killing her mother.”
Book 2: [talking to Thea] "I cannot always promise your safety, I cannot always promise your happiness, and I cannot promise that you will always like my actions. But this I can promise you: I am not going to abandon you, kitten. I may leave for long periods of time, but never will I forever leave you." 
Book 3: [talking to Thea] "If you allow this hurt and this pain and this anger to fester inside you, you will destroy yourself....But Thea, my darling, I don't want you to go down that particular path... I don't want you to end up like me." 
Book 4: [talking to Neidra] "I am no man, witch...I am a father." 
Book 5: [talking to Thea] "There is strength in family and strength in friendship. There is strength together. But when you feel lost, you can't rely on others to help find you. When you feel lost, it's time to go find yourself."  

*This post contains spoilers for "The Emerald Chronicles". Read with caution.* 

The Inspirations for Rani

When "The Emerald Chronicles" were an Avengers fan fiction I wrote for fun, Rani was originally the figure of Loki, the god of mischief. He has gone completely in another direction now, and his personality is almost the negative image of Loki's so that only the basest "skeleton" features of Loki's are the same as Rani's now. I was inspired by other characters to help me create Rani, and all were portrayed by Tom Hiddletson, who I have for some reason always seen as the complete embodiment of Rani.



3. Loki (from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) 

Loki in The Avengers (2012)

Because everything about Rani, including his name, was Loki, there are certainly some aspects of the god of mischief left behind in Rani. These are mostly things I could not take out without changing giant plots from "The Emerald Chronicles. 
Here are some of the "skeletal" things that Rani has kept from his original namesake: 

• Tiny bits of his magic: Rani can influence minds, change his change his appearance like Loki, as well as possess powers with ice. But Rani's ice powers are joined by other powers Loki does not, namely telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and the ability to slightly shift the wind. Rani can also see things that are normally protected with invisible magic and draw in strength from others around him, but unlike Loki, he cannot make doubles of himself.
• His dagger: Both Rani and Loki use a dagger to fight. But Rani's arsenal also includes a slender sword, a long knife, and a set of Niriketian pistols.
• His relationship with his father: Loki and Odin have a strained relationship, as do Rani and Gunther, but for very different reasons. Loki's hatred for his father is because of past mistruths and the shadow of an older brother, but Rani's stems from Gunther's tyrannical overpowering of and infidelity toward his mother. 

Here are some of the characteristics I change the most from Loki (these certainly aren't all of them). 

• Sarcasm: Loki is extremely sarcastic (it's one of the reasons he's so awesome) and is often the comic relief in the Thor films. Rani is extremely not so. He is rarely sarcastic, and usually only when he's angry- he states what he means and leaves it at that. 
• Smiling: Rani doesn't smile. Like really, he scarcely shows his teeth. When I edited Blue Moon at about the fifth time I literally went through and deleted places where he smiled, laughed, or otherwise found humor in any situation
• Rani is actually a good character. Unlike Loki, who is either the actual villain of the MCU movies or a dubious ally, Rani is actually totally on the side of the angels. He doesn't always have the exact same moral code as his friends, but he's definitely an actual good-intentions character than Loki. 

2. Thomas Sharpe (from Crimson Peak)

It was about the same time that I was changing Niriket from fantasy-medieval to more gothic-steampunk when I watched Crimson Peak, a gothic romance directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, and (naturally) Tom Hiddleston. I was deeply inspired by Thomas Sharpe, Hiddleston's character, for re-developing Rani. Unlike Hiddleston's other characters, Thomas had an innocence about him, and although Rani is less than innocent in basically every aspect, it brought a new light to a character that had always been thought of as dark. 
I was inspired by the gothicism of the movie and its characters too. I used a lot of character design and costume design from Crimson Peak to Niriket, including architecture. Allerdale Hall, the main setting in the movie, was a huge inspiration for Neidra's gothic mansion, since the Niriketian palace more borders medieval than Neidra. 


1. Adam (from Only Lovers Left Alive)

If there was a fictional character that inspired me most for Rani, it's Adam, the depressed musician (and vampire) from Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive. I haven't actually seen the entirety of the movie, but I've been exposed to enough of it to know that Adam and Rani share a lot of characteristics. 
It was Adam's general aura that drew me to him as a character and model for Rani. Adam has a blunt, foreboding, and stealthily silent attitude about him that I took and applied to Rani. Adam is also rather quiet, choosing more to listen that to be listened to, and although Rani has more leadership qualities about him, Rani's quietness stemmed from Adam. I modeled much of Rani's dialogue after Adam's way of speaking, but kept Rani's more fiery interior that bubbles up when pushed too far- while Adam is stoically still and silent when furious, Rani tends to lose his temper more readily. 
But Adam's appearance is perhaps what influenced me the most. Originally, Rani looked precisely like Loki, but when I was exposed to Adam's character, I saw the opportunity and inspiration to change it up. While Loki's hair is greased back and never in his face, Adam's (and Rani's) hair is a wild mane of thick black hair that often covers his eyes. I thought this suited Rani's personality more, as well as his less-pale complexion and aura of a "silent hunter" more than Loki. 

Re-Inventing the Characters: Thea Marahn

Thea Marahn

Thea in Blue Moon

Statistics
Full Name: Theodora Athena Marahn 

Age: 13 (Books 1-3); 14 (Book 4); 15 (Book 5); 16-17 (Book 6)

Gender: female

Affiliation: Good

Birthday: October 13, 2000

Best Friends: Jack Brigham; Videl Mansarson; Andrew Riddle; Dara Osahan

Love Interests: Jack Brigham; Daietri

Hair:Dirty blonde (Books 1-3); black (Books 4-6)

Eyes:bright green
Height:starts 4'10''; ends 5'3''

Orientation:straight
Notable Quotes: 

Thea in Book 2

Book 1: [talking to Max] “'My mom was killed by monsters, my sister and I were dragged into this crap, I’ve been tortured, apparently temporarily killed, chased after by anything from cops to monsters, watched the people I love be hurt too and… and…and I just want out of this!'” 
Book 2: [talking to Rani] "Promise not to leave me." 
Book 3: "My mother named me Theodora after the Byzantine empress. She also named me Athena after the goddess of wisdom. Apparently, I'm not Thea Fossil. But I'm definitely not Thea Marahn." 
Book 4: [talking to Neidra] "You don't tell the truth. You never tell the truth. You're a lying harlot who killed your husband just so you could get a little bit of power." 
Book 5: [talking to Rani] "Give me revenge."

*This post contains spoilers for "The Emerald Chronicles". Read with caution.* 

The Inspirations for Thea: 

Thea is one of my most original characters, but I was still inspired by quite a few characters/actresses I've come across, mostly while making my "trailers" for "The Emerald Chronicles", in particular, three. Here they are. 

3. Cassie (Dakota Fanning) from the film Push (2009)

Dakota Fanning in Push, a
huge inspiration for Thea in
the fourth book of "The
 Emerald Chronicles"

Cassie, the clairvoyant thirteen-year old from the superhero movie Push gave me inspiration for an older Thea, especially and specifically for the fourth book, when Thea is realizing her growing independence. Cassie's wardrobe also inspired some of Thea's clothing choices that would match her rebellious personality. 

Cassie also introduced me to the idea of changing Thea's hair color. When I started writing the first drafts for "The Emerald Chronicles", Thea and Rani were not related, and the fact that their eyes were the same color was pure coincidence. Thea had blonde hair then, but when I made the decision to make Rani Thea's father, I thought it strange that he would have black hair and she would have light hair. When I was making the trailer for the fourth book, when I was about halfway through the third (at the end of this one, Thea finds out that Rani is her father), I used a lot of clips from Push. Cassie's pink hair pushed me along with the idea that Thea's hair color is actually black. The idea shifted into its own backstory relating to Rani and Thea's mother, Annabelle, and those two's passionate, impossible, brief, and cataclysmic relationship. 

2. Gilsa (Ruby O'Leary) from the TV show Vikings

Gilsa inspired the Thea from the third book. In this book, Thea is slowly recovering from a physiological and physical tragedy that took place at the end of the second book. She spends most of

Thea in Book 3, portrayed
by Ruby O'Leary 

her time in Niriket, bonding with Rani and learning the ways of the world that are unknowingly part of her ancestry. During this time, Thea acts much more shy, quiet, and dependent than she will in any of the other books. For such a timid Thea, I took inspiration from Gilsa, the shy, gentle daughter of a chieftain that would eventually die from disease at a tragic young age. Gilda had such an innocent persona about her, I immediately connected with her for Thea. Her appearance was shockingly like what I'd imagined Thea looking like, particularly her facial shape and upturned nose. It is between Gilsa and Lizzie Samuels (see below) that I got the most physical inspiration for Thea. 

Gilsa not only gave me an idea for Thea's personality and physiognomy, but she also gave me a look at some of the clothing that would inspire Niriket, particularly dark shades. Although I eventually changed Niriket from a medieval atmosphere that reminded me too much of Asgard to a gothic-steampunk parallel world, Gilsa's appearance continuously affected how I wrote Thea. The scene in which Rani braids Thea's hair was influenced by Gilsa's blonde plaits, and Gilsa's long, long hair inspired Thea's, which would eventually be cruelly cut off in the fourth book. 

1. Lizzie Samuels (Brighton Sharbino) from The Walking Dead

Brighton Sharbino from The Walking Dead
(also the black and white gif above)

I came across Lizzie Samuels after I wrote the first four and a half books, when I was starting to make a trailer for the entire "The Emerald Chronicles". As soon as I found her, a zing of happiness hit me, because I felt like I was looking at and listening to exactly what I had imagined as Thea. Brighton, who plays Lizzie, even has bright green eyes. When I began to edit the first book, Blue Moon, I began to use Lizzie the most for inspiration. In The Walking Dead, Lizzie has a tragic backstory and really a tragic story in general, which could relate to Thea's-- Lizzie is also slightly crazy and wild, which paralleled to how Thea acted at the beginning of Blue Moon. Brighton gave a powerful performance to Lizzie, and everywhere from her voice to her actions gave me a strong basis to go on for when I was editing Thea. 

Several of the Lizzie scenes in The Walking Dead helped me re-write Thea in the editing process for Blue Moon. In one scene, Lizzie is yelling at Carol for killing a zombie, and screams over and over, "What if it was me? What if I had died instead?" This scene inspired the one in which a severely injured Thea is screaming at Rani, "What if I had died?", when she is realizing that he hadn't died when they'd been both taken prisoner for the Imeldi. Another scene I used for inspiration happens which Lizzie accidentally calls Carol "mom", and Carol tells her never to call her that. In a similar encounter in the second book, Thea accidentally calls Rani "daddy". Rani, trying to pull away from Thea in order to fend away Neidra and Myrinea's suspicions, rebukes her for saying that and orders her to never do so again. 

Changing Thea: The Editing Process for Blue Moon

Unlike Rani and Videl, Thea stayed much the same during the re-writing process. Her character wasn't originally an Avengers character or a psychopathic murderer, or any other hard aspects to overcome. The challenge in re-writing Thea came more in her voice. "The Emerald Chronicles" take place either third person, or in first person perspective of Thea. I tend to have a huge vocabulary, and considering that I'm currently almost five years older than Blue Moon, I realized how much I needed to change Thea's voice. I had to go from an older teenager's vocabulary and reactions to diving back

deep and remembering how I acted and sounded as a thirteen-year old. 

But Thea's personality wasn't at all like me, so I had to completely create her at the same time as creating her voice. I had to re-create her temper, her wildness, and her original dependability on Rani. I think the thing I had to change the most was Thea's vulnerability and her innocence. Thea breaks down a lot in Blue Moon, because I tried to reflect how damaged she's become from the onset of her mother's death, and the tortures she has to live through in the course of the novel (and novels). Instead of standing up to Rani, like she did in the original draft of Blue Moon (and certainly does in the proceeding novels), she often quails to him quicker than she learns to, but at the same time, turns to him as a sort of protector. There are two potent scenes from Blue Moon that reflect this aspect of Thea's personality the most. One takes place in Chapter 13, when Rani's purposeful goading reduces Thea to an almost crazed fit of tears as she deals with the loss of her mother:

“Thea, look at me,” says Rani in an extraordinarily gentle voice, hardly more than a whisper.  I begin to pull away, hard, but he keeps his hand on my shoulder. 

“Let go of me!” I exclaim, trying to get his arms away from me, but he just holds onto me tighter, putting a hand on top of my head. I’m still crying, taking hoarse deep breaths,

trying to stop. “I won’t cry,” I sob, “I won’t, I won’t, I won’t! 

“You have been dreaming of your mother again, haven’t you?” he murmurs, looking down at me. I want to look away, but I can’t. His eyes are warm and kind. 

“No, I won’t tell you! I won’t tell you!” I scream, and begin to beat on his chest. “Go away, go away!” 

“Finally,” he says, not letting go, “Finally, you are acting like a child instead up putting up a shield in front of your emotions." 

“RANI!” I scream, and tear away from him. But then, I lose my balance, and fall to the ground. My head strikes the wood plank so hard, I see stars. For a few minutes, I just lie there, crying, closing my eyes tightly and curling up. I feel the heat of the jungle on my face, and hear the agents and fighting and tropical birds. But I don’t want to feel or hear anything. “I...I want to go home!”

The other takes place in chapter 35, when Thea thinks that Rani doesn't care about her, and that the one person she'd counted on to be there for her isn't there at all: 

“Fools need a knight to lead them to court, and you are the biggest fool I've had the misfortune to meet...Don’t mistake necessity for caring,” he says, “And don’t make the even greater mistake of playing with power when you have yet to understand it.” 

With a flick, he turns the doorknob that she had tried and failed to open.   

“R-Rani!”  

He turns around, and when he stalks back to her, she instinctively backs up. “And give me back my dagger, little girl,” he growls.   

“Then wh-what will I fight with?” she asks as he viciously wrenches the misericorde from her trembling hands.   

“I’m sure you’re powerful enough to fight the monsters with your bare hands,” he snaps back, “Now go back with the others and make a fool of yourself. It’s the only thing you seem to be successful at.” 

He bangs the door behind him. Thea breaks down and cries again. 

Both depict Thea as a childish, almost weak character, which is certainly what she seems to be in Blue Moon. But this was purposeful, because Thea's character development will change dramatically in the third and fourth books as she matures and becomes more independent and learns to fight for herself instead of relying on others to fight for her.

Editing: Round 2

Editing Round 2 consists of going into the story with a red pen and shaving off every bit of information that isn't necessary. I'm removing all the extraneous "that" and "as"that crop up a lot in my writing, and taking out entire chapters or sections that I don't need.

Editing Round 2 also consists of heavily editing Rani's character, and Thea's voice, constituting the two main characters in The Emerald Chronicles. When breezing through, I literally look for places Rani had previously smiled and deleted them. I also have to really invent Rani's character, making important decisions as to how I think he would react to certain events. His character has changed the most during the editing process for Blue Moon. As for Thea, when editing her 1st person perspective, I have to substitute some "harder" or more mature words for words I think a 13 year old girl would use in her head.

Quotes of the Day

The Emerald Chronicles, Book 3, Part 12

Quotes of the Day

The Emerald Chronicles, Book 4, Chapter 39 "End of the Dream"