I’ve moved!

Hello everyone! Some splendid news for all my lovely little readers out there. I have switched hosts on WordPress from .com to wordpress.org.

Go ahead and check out all the amazing happenings over at www.jenstayrook.com

I know you want to click.

You might want to update your RSS feeds as well!

Thanks for sticking with me and I promise you we’ll be bringing bigger and better things in the upcoming months. And by “we” I mean and all the voices in my head.

Blizzard 2010 through pictures

Let me start by saying that I think the phrase “Blizzard 2010″ sounds incredibly dramatic. Yes, the east coast and DC region were hit hard by the storms, but after witnessing the storm I have a hard time calling it a blizzard. That being said, driving in the heart of the storm was not….the smartest of ideas. You see, Joe and I had to travel to Pittsburgh last Friday for a funeral in his family and drove back Saturday afternoon. We stayed in a hotel and when we woke up Saturday morning, we were greeted with this:

(This was after a plow had gone through the parking lot  about an hour or so beforehand mind you.) After spending the better part of two hours digging the car out, we decided to try to make the trek back home. The snow was still falling quite heavily but even with our front wheel drive Saturn Sedan, Joe was confident that we would be alright to drive in over two feet of snow.

At least there wouldn’t be any traffic.

And we left.

Sure enough there wasn’t any traffic on the turnpike except a few truckers. And for the most part the roads weren’t THAT bad. They weren’t good and I wouldn’t have recommended driving, but Joe did well. (If I were driving we would have ended up in a ditch or off one of those lovely cliffs in the Pennsylvania mountains.)

I should clarify that the roads weren’t bad in Pennsylvania.

But the moment we crossed over the state line into Maryland we were greeted with roads like this:

There were trucks parked on the side of the road and cars that had slid off and been abandoned. Route 70 had become a graveyard for those stupid enough to drive in the weather.

And still we kept going.

Joe loved it. He loved that he was passing 4 wheel drive trucks and SUVs on the roads with ease. He got cocky and starting taunting them (not that they could hear, but he taunted nonetheless).

When we first left PA, we made a deal that if we got on the road we wouldn’t stop. Driving the roads wasn’t bad, especially the interstates, but the town roads? I’d rather not thank you very much. Stopping and starting is not exactly easy in that kind of weather, but eventually we had been on the road for a few hours and well, fatties gotta eat. So we stopped.

Most places were closed, which we expected, except for gas stations. Therefore, on this trip I broke my cardinal traveling rule about eating food from gas stations. I don’t know what it is about people from PA, especially rural PA who think it’s completely acceptable to order a pizza from a gas station. Mostly, I blame Sheetz for that one. Lo and behold, the gas station we stopped at was, duh duh dah! A pizza place. I shied away from the pizza, but I figured, how bad could a sub really be? My stomach was barking at me to eat something substantial so I took a risk and ordered a Philly cheese steak….from a gas station in the middle of nowhere Maryland.

I wish I had taken a picture of this thing. It was gross looking and all over the place, but I didn’t. Why not you ask?

Because it was fucking amazing. It was so good that I didn’t have time to snap a photo. I scarfed it down so quickly my brain didn’t have time to realize the flavor probably came from the fact that is was FROM a gas station. Best philly cheese steak ever. Oh em gee. I wish I had ordered 6 of the damn things.

With food in our bellies we continued our perilous journey southward. To the heart of the storm. To Washington DC.

Slowly we made our way to DC and after a lovely fist waving fight between Joe and a four-toothed man in a plow truck (which he WASN’T using), we were getting close to home. It is here in the story that I will interrupt our travels for my own thought on plow trucks. I understand that there are jurisdictions on who can plow what road.  I don’t understand it, but whatever. Yet, when I see MD plow truck drivers, riding along 270, on a cell phone, or texting, and NOT PLOWING, I get angry.

As you can see from the photos above, PA did a pretty damn good job at keeping the roads clear even while it was snowing cats and dogs. MD….well I think they pretty much gave up before they even started. Also, when I see cars stuck on the side of the road, you know mini vans slamming into guard rails and then plow trucks just driving by without care, I get pissed.

If you’re going to call this storm into a blizzard, have the news stations transform it into a dangerous natural disaster then I think those stupid laws about plow truck jurisdictions need to go out the damn window. You have a plow on the front of your truck, AND YOUR STUPID OBNOXIOUS FLASHY LIGHTS ARE ON, then your plow better damn well be hitting pavement.

This didn’t need to be a “blizzard.” The roads didn’t have to be so treacherous that the mail was delayed for a week.

That being said, Joe and I were lucky. Those roads were horrible. It was our stupid fault for driving in the middle of the storm and had we wrecked, I still would have said that. We knew the risks of driving and still we did. We got home without a scratch, without spinning out, and without getting stuck in the snow once.

And now, for an account from someone who loves the snow:

The magic in writing – where is it?

Last night, instead of popping in a movie like we had originally planned, Joe and I decided to read to each other.

Yes, you read that correctly. We sat on the the couch and took turns reading chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone a loud. And you know what? It was brilliant. Was it because we are particularly fantastic readers of literature? Heavens no. Are we good at crafting interesting voices or acting out scenes? Well, our living room isn’t nearly big enough for that kind of rendition.

It was because it was simple. We started out reading and as we went along we became more enthralled in the story. Both Joe and I are big Harry Potter fans, but even though we have read through the series a few times (one of  us a lot more than the other), this was a different kind of reading. It was…well, to put it simply, magical. I know how the story goes. I know more details about HP than I care to admit and still while Joe was reading I gasped in all the right places, I laughed at funny dialogue, and I definitely wanted to kick the Dursleys for everything mean they had ever done to poor Harry.

Then I asked myself, why don’t I feel this kind of magic in other things? Why is it that when I live my day to day life it is much better to be seen as a Dursley than a witch or wizard? If a kid runs around with a stick in hand pretending to be fighting off Dementors, it’s completely okay. Yet, when adults do it, it’s better to lock them up for the crazies they are.

Now I’m not advocating for everyone to run around shouting Unforgivable Curses, or attempting to fly around on broomsticks, as fun as all that sounds (I’d like to be able to shout a few UCs myself on the metro), but I’m asking why we shy away from such things? Harry Potter was a series that was originally written for children, but as the books went on, it became obvious that adults loved The Boy Who Lived just as much (if not more). Why? Because we crave magic. We crave irregularity. Our lives are so Dursley-ish that when we find something like Hogwarts we dive right in.

The same goes for main characters in stories. How boring would novels be if every main character was like that popular guy who never made a mistake, always got the girl, and scored every winning touchdown? You would hate his stinking guts and probably not finish the story. It’s this principle that makes me angry at the Twilight series. I can’t relate to Bella who apparently smells so delicious she attracts the David-esque perfect handsome iloveyousomuchiwatchyouwhileyousleep vampire. Her “relatable” flaw is her clumsiness. But other than that, she’s perfect. Perfect and bland. But I digress…

We like the oddballs as MCs. We like quirky. We like goofy and misunderstood. Why? Because no matter how cool we might “think” we are, we have the same fears. We make the same mistakes. We’re all secretly rebels like Holden Caulfield dying to get out. These traits are acceptable in books, movies, and other forms of popular culture, but don’t you dare try to emulate them in real life.

Since we are so dictated by societal norms to “act like adults” and I doubt these trends will fade, there is something I DO want to advocate. Make your stories magical. I’m not saying every novel needs to take place in castles with moving stairs and house elves, but make it something that is so believable and real that even on the 2138th read through, your readers will still gasp and laugh and cry. I want to feel magic in the true anguish of The Good Earth or the pitter-patter of my heart when Elizabeth finally realizes her love for Mr. Darcy; magic in the horror of the Hunger Games and those creepy muttations or the happiness in the first time Harry Potter catches the snitch. These are magical moments that completely leap off the pages of the book into my mind, into my life.

But these are magical stories because the authors took chances. They didn’t let what was popular or what was “allowed” dictate what went into their stories. They threw the stupid rule book out the window and just wrote what was real to them. Sure, they have a sense of realism because they write about real characters and some of them about real places, but it’s the heart and soul that goes into them that makes them real. Their warts and flawed characters make them much more likable.

So the next time you’re worrying about your story and your characters, maybe ask yourself how enthralled you are in your own world. What draws you into it? Would you like your MC as a friend? As an enemy? Does it feel magical to you?

This is what I want for my readers. This is what I want for myself.

Why I hate resolutions and updates!

I’m lame at this whole “I need to update a blog” thing. I apologize dedicated readers. But in light of my lack of dedication, I wish you all a belated Happy New Year! Yippee! It’s a new year! A new day! This year will be the year that everything changes in my life! Yessiree, I am going to make a difference in the world this year! 2010 might as well be called The Year of Jen because it’s going to be fantastic!

Except there’s one problem: I hate the new year. Yea yea clean slate and all that. All lies. I’ve never been one for resolutions. We hear constantly that a person makes a resolution and then after two weeks of dedication, they fall off the map. Buh-bye resolutions! Why? We are who we are. If I have spent my entire life being a couch potato, it’s going to be pretty hard for me to make a resolution to work out six days a week. And there’s no shame in that.

For example, I’ve been trying desperately to become a morning person. I work well in the morning and would love nothing more than to not feel rushed before heading off to a day of work. Except it’s pretty hard to be a morning person when I don’t go to bed until well after midnight. 6am rolls around quickly when you keep night hours. Old habits die hard and I’m a prime example. I’m not saying change can’t or won’t happen, I’m just saying it’s likely not to happen. Ah, pessimism.

Instead, I believe in setting goals. Goals tend to be much more realistic and they revolve around who you are as a person. And the great thing about goals is that you can set them whenever you decide to! I know I know, this entire post is really just being technical with words, but don’t fret, there’s a reason for this post and I’m sure it will excite you more than a steaming cup of hot cocoa and a brand new Red Rider BB Gun.

My thing is that, if you want to change, why wait until the New Year to do it? It seems like a lousy excuse to me. I’m the Queen of Procrastination, so I know how it goes. Oh I want to do this or that, but I don’t have time now. Oh, I’ll do it next year! Yea! Except next year you have even less time and so on and so forth.

I advocate changing now. You want to do something with yourself, why not today? Why not wake up this morning and “be the change you want to see in this world.” Why wait until January 1st to change?

Therefore, I’ve set a goal for myself. I started writing Spring of Innocents in September and I want to have most of it done by May and I definitely want the entire thing to be finished come September 2010. Ambitious for a full time worker and grad student? You betcha? But you better also believe I want this. I expect I’ll be writing the final pages of the story by the end of this week, then it’s time to go through and fill in all of the gaps and make the story more full of life. I’m quite excited about how things are going. I really like the feel of this story but of course I’m biased. It’s mine.

Finally, I have a question for everyone. I’m sure that many writers know of the site Authonomy and maybe a couple other sites just like it. However, what are your thoughts on them? Do you think they are actually helpful for those that dare to dream like myself? I’ve had experience with sites like that in the past and most of it has never turned out to be fruitful. The responses were always “Omg it’s good! I love it!” Which yea, thanks for boosting my ego, but I want really good, fantastically good. I wouldn’t post things on Authonomy for the chance to have my story read by editors. Instead, I want it for the critiques, the harsh feedback that lets me know where my story falls short. I’ve read that many writers on sites like Authonomy don’t really grant that type of critique and instead give glowing reviews in the hopes of having the favor returned so that they might be plucked by Harper Collins. Is this right?

I suppose if nothing else, its good for networking right?

Thoughts?

I’ll be sure to let everyone know when I finish the rough draft of Spring of Innocents!

Happy Holidays and a Writer’s Meme

Happy Holidays all you lovely little readers! While I’m off celebrating all the wonders a holiday has to offer, I decided I should leave you with a little bit of light reading.

I stole this meme from Angela Ackerman over at The Bookshelf Muse and thought it might something fun to fill out since I don’t have any exciting news to share. I hope I don’t bore you too much.

What’s the last thing you wrote?
This morning I wrote a couple pages for a short story I began a few days ago. Nothing really to start squealing about yet.

Was it any good?
You know, I liked it. This may be a fun little project. A window into my wacky brain, if you will.

What’s the first thing you ever wrote that you still have?
Oh I have a bunch of poems, some of which are terrible. I don’t think I ever wrote stories as a child. I didn’t even write poetry until after what? 16? 17?

Write poetry?
I used to. Not so much these days.

Angsty poetry?
I wrote it mostly when I was a teenager, so yes, loads of angst. Angst that would put Harry Potter to shame.

Favourite genre of writing?
This is a really hard question for me to answer because I like a lot of genres. Can I just answer fiction? When I say I’ll read anything, I really mean it. I suppose I have a soft spot for fantasy novels and novels that revolve around history. I don’t care for straight romance novels. Or boring books. Does that help?

Most fun character you ever wrote?
I love writing villains. The villain in Spring of Innocents is quite delicious to write. Villains are so intelligent and calculating and more often than not, they’re the gorgeous bad boy or girl. It’s just so FUN to be evil. Not that I know…or anything…

I also really love Cale. To me, he’s a semi-villain in his own right. Evil. I love evil. Mwhahahahaha.

Most annoying character you ever wrote?
What? This is a preposterous question! I don’t write annoying characters! Never! Okay, I think Brynn is a little annoying but I tend to hate main characters and I’m really quite brutal to my own gender.

How often do you get writer’s block?
You know what? I really don’t. I get distracted easily, but I write easily enough. It sounds arrogant, but when I actually sit down to write, I really write. However, there are times when my self-loathing gets in the way and makes me feel like I don’t want to write.

How do you fix it?
I skip whatever I’m writing. Either I’ll write something new or move on to another scene. It’s the lame way out, I know. I never said I was good at this.

Music helps too.

Write fan fiction?
No. I’ve thought about it, but thankfully I never put those ideas to paper.

Do you type or write by hand?
Both. Writing by hand seems to make my mind flow a little better, but the convenience of typing sometimes outweighs the creativity in the former. I like to mix it up. Keep my brain on its toes!

Do you save everything you write?
Pretty much, yes. However, I’ve been known to lose things that I write by hand because I’ll sometimes write on loose bits of paper and well, those get lost.

Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
It’s kinda what I did with Spring of Innocents. Only very very slightly. I took one thing and ran with it.

What’s your favourite thing that you’ve written?
Any scene with Elie in SoI. Goodness I love that little girl. There are few scenes where Cale redeems himself and I like those. Oh and the particularly evil scenes. Mwhahaha.

What’s everyone else’s favourite thing that you’ve written?
I don’t know. Anyone care to share in the comments? I haven’t written that much for people to know.

What’s your favourite setting for your characters?
Well I seem to have an obsession with the UK, and most of my stories or ideas take place there. I was born on the wrong continent.

What’s one genre you have never written, and probably never will?
I would have to say something really science fictiony. Like my impeccable knowledge of the English language? I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to science and writing about the future and space and physics and chemistry and doctors and hygiene just really isn’t my thing.

How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Two. Spring of Innocents and one that is still untitled.

Do you want to write for a living?
That’s the dream.

Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
My poetry ended up in books and stuff for high school and in the IUP paper a few times for competitions and stuff. Never any of my stories.

Have you ever won an award for your writing?
The poetry won me quite a few things. I think all told I’ve won like $100 for my poetry. Sweeeeet.

Ever written something in script or play format?
I tried at one point in my life, you know during that Shakespeare obsession phase that all teenage girls go through. It didn’t end well. What? Most teenage girls don’t fantasize about Shakespeare and his plays? Ughhhhhh.

What are your five favourite words?
Names. I repeat people’s names a lot. “And” that’s a good word. “Brilliant” Dunno why I like that word. Reminds me of me I suppose. “Passion” And…..uhm…You guys fill in another one.

What character that you’ve written most resembles yourself?
There’s a character that I have named Rilna that is definitely all me. She’s a little more brave than I am, but yea, all me. I think as a writer you incorporate yourself in most of the characters you create. You know the inner workings of your brain the best so it’s the easiest experience to draw upon when writing.

Where do you get ideas for your other characters?
Usually they come to me out of just a sentence or two. I suppose it starts with one adjective that represents what I want that character to be and out of that they are molded into human beings. Sometimes I base them loosely off of people that I know.

Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Well, my dreams are what made me start writing a few months ago so I’d have to say yes. I don’t know if I write ABOUT my dreams, but sometimes things in dreams are so wonky (I use this word a lot, maybe it’s a favorite) that it’s hard not to use them. I think dreams infiltrate (like an army!) your brain in a way you can’t even begin to understand and in that respect give you ideas that you yourself would have never thought of. Does that make sense or am I just rambling now?

Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
I like all of the above. It depends on the story for me. I like endings that leave the characters and the reader better off for having read the story. I don’t particularly care for “And they all lived happily ever after” but I think in some cases that is justified.

Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Obviously not. I try to make everything grammatically correct but sometimes perfect grammar detracts from a story and it makes characters sound…well, robotic. I think you need to inject a little realism into your grammar. Let’s be clear though, my mistakes are on purpose. For the most part.

Does music help you write?
I have to have music when I write. There are two things in this world I cannot live without, books and music (and the obvious things like food, sleep, and pizza). Music sparks my ideas. It puts me in the mood to write. I have certain themes for characters and sometimes certain songs will help me write a difficult scene.

Quote something you’ve written. The first thing to pop into your mind.

This is still first draft stuff. No judging. This is something I wrote for SoI a few days ago:

“There is one fact that most educated people know in this world: History is written by the victor. Even today when it is common for the average man to know how to read and write, we still lack the loser’s story.

Maybe because I am a woman I see the tides of history differently. I see the greatest civilizations as being nothing but groups of ruthless cowards who would kill to get ahead in life. Take first and ask later.

It is all under the guise of a “greater good,” but I’m afraid I only see greater good as their own good, a means to excuse their own wants and needs. No, not needs. Only wants.

I’m not naive enough to think the world will ever change. Thousands of years could pass and the world could be filled with many more advanced things than my mind can possibly fathom. Yet, there will still be greed. There will still be those that thirst for more. More power. More money. More everything.

I don’t doubt that while the world may look different, humanity will remain the same. Oddly enough, it isn’t even this thought that depresses me. Selfishly, I linger on my own ordeals.

Unfortunately The Red and his Wolves are just such men. Creatures rather. Heartless beings we read about that make all that I do and all that I have done nothing, not even a page in history.

Scientists will applaud his discovery, even at it’s cost. I will be one of the “savages” that stood in the way of human growth and failed in my attempt to thwart the “greater good.”

In essence, I have already lost. The history books and mankind are against me.

You would think that being a descendant of a god would put you on a pedestal and that life would be grand beyond measure. Yet, it brings me only the opposite – an eternity bound in shackles.

If it were me, only me to face this wretched fate, I would end it. Without my bloodline he would fail and die the same as me and every man before him. No more tests. No more torture.

But in my moments of passion I have created my greatest weakness – Elie.

Even if I ended my life, hers would be worse than I dare imagine. I stop the tears in my eyes as I will myself not to think on it any longer.

I must find another way. History may repeat itself but I’ll be damned if I let my daughter become a pawn in the throes of time. “