Official Pics

Okay. So, here are the "official" character pics for Psychic.

Carrie:

Cody:
Steph:

Alison:

Benson Twins:

(Eugene)
(...and Jasper. And no, this did not have anything to do with the whole Twilight thing.)

The Professor:
Alexandria:
Cynthia:
Holly-Elizabeth:
Oliver:
Alexander:
Cassandra:
Bridge:
Well, here's what I've got right now. Tell me what you think, I can't read your minds. I leave that to Steph.

For Those of You Who Want to Read it...

Wow! I just installed a map for the blog, to see where you guys are all coming from. There's Germany, Slovenia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Finland--that's pretty darn cool.

So anyway, I'm about 52 pages (MicrosoftWord) into Psychic, and the plot bunnies are biting me in the butt. One word for you guys: plot. It's a serious pain in the buttinsky, believe you me. If you want to read it, then go to my LiveJournal page; it's on there.

In the meantime, more boring banners, because I can't seem to stop making them:

(TAPS: When 'home just isn't good enough.--cheesy, I know, but it was like 1 in the morning; I got bored.)

(T.A.P.S. Transylvanian Academy of Psychic Senses)

(She just doesn't LOOK homicidal--Carrie.)

Psychic Update/Covers

Another update. The first 5,000 words have been written. So far it's all about Bridge at the IPS (International Police Squadron), but it's turning out much better than expected. I even have a great bomb-diffusing scene. I finished the book cover (early draft, anyway) and I'm waiting for it to get to the good part. Here's some more posters (since you're all sick to death of them by now):

(No. 1: my first draft; not using this one much)
(No. 2: not using this one much either. It looks like the cover to a museum guidebook.)
(No. 3: yeah, I'm using this one.)

Up 'N Running

Psychic has a go!

I just finished writing the first 1300 words for Psychic, and it's going great. If you remember, I'm writing this for NaNoWriMo, and I've been on partial brainfreeze for the past six months. Oh, and here are a few banners I made; just to give you a feel for the characters (nudge, nudge; wink, wink).

(Never trust a teenage Welsh DJ/Auto mechanic with telepathic powers. Steph Thompson: Pink Sector Rep.)


(NaNoWriMo '08. When the dead won't stay dead...grab some unruly teenagers with supernatural powers living in a remote academy in Transylvania. Psychic.)
(When faced with a British acting prodegee whose hobbies include Shakespeare and quoting Douglas Adams...RUN. James Manson: Yellow Sector Rep.)
(As leader, I promise to: defend the academy...save the world...and keep James out of the cupcakes. Cody Parkani: Red Sector Rep.)
(If you think your life is a pain...try being a teenaged psychic who sees dead people. Carrie Blake: Grey Sector Rep.)
(Psychic...mechanic...brilliant...hungry. Bridge Carson: Green Sector Rep.)
(When you've an eye for watercolors, a famed muffin stash, and telekenetic powers...you've got just about everything. Alison Hollox: Blue Sector Rep.)

Use the banners; support Psychic!

Sarah Palin Disney Trailer

I've posted this before, but it got deleted, so here it is again--my opinion of Palin.

Twilight Trailer Spoof

For those of you who read my "Breaking Dawn" post, this is now my opinion of the series...but I like this one better. This is the kind of stuff I write in my fanfics...sort of.

NaNoWriMo

My amazing cousin emailed me this. It looks incredibly cool! I'm definitely doing it; you guys should check it out:

NaNoWriMo

Define "Geek"

Okay. So, it's come to my attention that I am a fairly odd girl. Yes, I know; oh the shock! I take three foreign languages, I'm not good with kids, I think the mass majority of guys are about as intriguing as bricks (not that intriguing), and a abhor cell phones. In fact, I've never sent a text message in my life. I like books more than people, and computers more than phones. For Christmas I asked for a food processor. I don't give a broken toaster about who's on American Idol, but I'd sooner eat glue than miss the newest episode of Stargate Atlantis (I never liked Star Trek that much, but Stargate is as good as it gets, believe me. If you don't, just go to GateWorld; then you will.) I believe I can be summed up in one word:

Geek.

I hear you cry; a geek?! Inconceivable! Not so. In fact, being a geek is way cool. You know more about computers than most of your peers, you're smarter than most of your peers, and know how to spell...or maybe that's just me.

Anyway, a lot of geeks are very into scifi; but what some of you don't know, is that not all of us go to Star Trek conventions, or go around spouting lines from Obi Wan. No, we come in groups. My group? I'm a GateGeek--or Gater, as some would have it. (English Translation: GateGeek/Gater: someone is absurdly obsessed with all things Stargate. Possess a certain knowledge of space, technobabble, and wormhole physics.)

We're also pretty darn loyal. For example: Amanda Tapping (known to all Gaters as the lovely Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, from SG-1) just got her own TV show, Sanctuary. Now, all of us are pretty proud of Amanda, and have been following all the news about the show, watching the behind-the-scenes stuff, and being over-all supportive fans. When the show premiers on Oct. 3, I can pretty much guarantee that about 70-80% of the viewers will be GateGeeks.

Now, despite what many, many people may thing, Stargate has an actual science to it. For example: all of us Gaters have a basic understanding of wormhole physics (even me, the one who sucks really badly at all things scientific and mathematical), such facts as:

1. The purpose of a Stargate is to maintain a stable wormhole for galactic travel, providing almost instantaneous transport from one 'gate to another.2. A wormhole can only be maintained for 38 minutes, unless powered by an almost unlimited power source, such as a black hole or, in some cases, a fully-charged ZPM (zero-point module).
3. The wormhole is powered on one side only, and can transmit matter from that side only. It does not act as a two-way transport, it is unidirectional. You can, however, communicate through radios, or video, such as a VHF band.4. The way that a Stargate transmits matter is by breaking it down (or, demolecularizing) and transmitting the matter through the wormhole to the other side of the 'gate. As Peter Grodin--a tech on Atlantis--put it, when a puddle jumper (ship) was stuck in the Stargate: 'The Stargate transmits matter in discrete units. The front half of the ship cannot rematerialize until the whole ship has crossed into the event horizon. The Stargate is essentially waiting for the contiguous components -- meaning the Jumper and everyone inside -- to enter completely before it can transport them.'

In English: the 'gate will only transport things in one piece.

5. Solar flares are one of the things that will screw will 'gate travel. A solar flare is capable of interfering with the wormhole, sometimes causing accidental time travel, whether it be thirty years into the past, or 47,000 years into the future. It can be reversed, however, by going through the 'gate at the time of another solar flare, but the calculations are extremely delicate, and it has to be a certain solar flare.
There you go, a crash course. There are a few 'sites to learn a few more tidbits, such as the wonderful and amazing GateWorld, as well as a Wikipedia article on the Stargate itself. Oh, and one more thing: there are two galaxies that Stargate has shown to have 'gates--the Milky Way Galaxy (yes, that's us) and the Pegasus Galaxy (where Atlantis is located). The 'gates look different, even though they were built by the same race (the Ancients). Here's a look:

A Pegasus 'Gate......and a Milky Way 'Gate.

I'll be preaching about it again sometime soon.

Breaking Dawn

Last night I went to the Breaking Dawn midnight release party--and I've gotta say, I prefer the Harry Potter ones. When it comes to HP, Borders really knows how to throw a party, but for Stephenie Meyer books? I'm wishing I'd just gone to WalMart or something...

Out of habit, I stayed up all night (of course; what else is the point of going to the midnight party?) and I wish I had just gone to bed and read later. Of course, I was so out of it that I only got about 530 pages in TEN HOURS. Usually, I could've gotten at least another hundred in there, but, there you go. Still got another two hundred to go, so... I'll take a break. I'm leaving it for another day or two. Just thought I'd complain and mention that I'm not looking forward to the two-week break until the next SGA episode (SG geek that I am).

Cat and Mouse

Well, I got a LOT of editing done at Girl's Camp this week. I printed out every story of mine (no FF) but one and edited all of it. Three times. I guess that's what happens when you have too much time on your hands.

Anyway, I got a nasty little homecoming present yesterday.

When Dad picked me up from the Stake Center, he told me that he was late picking me up because he was busy cleaning up a mess in the living room. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Starlight? [meaning our near-Bulimic cat]
Dad: Yeah, but not the usual mess. This one was in two halves with some guts in between.
Me:...he caught a mouse?
Dad: Yup. Sometime during the night, and it was a real mess.

So, I get home, and I'm there for a little while when I look up at the stairs and Chris is there, at the end of the hallway, and he says, "Oh, wow. There's another mouse in here!" So, we grab the two cats, and Tigerlily, our fat n' lazy brown tabby, grabs the mouse by the tail and runs into the kitchen with it. Only, I get a good look at the 'mouse' when she does.

It's not a mouse--It's my hamster, Fisk.

So, I ran after the cat and yelled upstairs, "Somebody check my hamster cage, NOW!" I'm already cornering Lily by the time Mom says, "Oh, crap. The cage is empty!" So I move the chair Lily is hiding under and try to grab her. She let's go of Fisk and tries to grab him again, but I swat her over to my sister, who grabs her. Fisk runs off, but, after a little game of cat and mouse (bad choice of words, sorry) I grab him and put him back in the hamster cage.

I don't think it's necessary to say what had happened to poor Michael the night before.

Book List 2

Okay, here's the latest from the Writer's Desk:

Stargate Atlantis: Halcyon ***
When it comes to the people of the alien world Halcyon, might makes right in every situation. But the government is corrupted and falling apart. Colonel Sheppard is given the green light from Atlantis to run negotiations on his own--but dismantling the planet's monarchy system isn't really what anyone had in mind. To add to the 'weirdness,' on Halcyon, the Wraith aren't feared--they're hunted.
Stargate Atlantis: Casualties of War ****
Colonel Sheppard and his team head to a new world, populated by two peoples: the Nistra, and the Falnori, who are fighting over the Stargate and the mines. Dr. Weir offers to help them negotiate a treaty, but things aren't running very smoothly--and to add to an already-rough day, the Great Hall has been raided--again. Both people suspect each other, but Sheppard and the team have other ideas.
Stargate Atlantis: Blood Ties ***
Sheppard and the team head to the SGC back on Earth for an emergency meeting: the possibility of a Wraith on Earth. Sheppard teams up with FBI agent Rebecca Larance, and SG-1's Dr. Daniel Jackson, and the three of them head to war-torn Iraq to check out a few leads, which lead them to startling and disturbing discoveries.
Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary ***
Major John Sheppard & co. head to a lab--possibly Ancient (gasp!)--and discover a possible Ancient who may be able to help them on Atlantis. But before they leave, strange things begin to happen, and Sheppard's people begin to attack each other. Leaving Sheppard and McKay to rot in the lab, the evil not-so-Ancient takes the brainwashed Lanteans and their 'jumper (puddlejumper, a ship) back to Atlantis. Sheppard and McKay have to get back to Atlantis and rescue the city--preferably before Sheppard drops dead of a DNA-mutating virus Dr. Evil gave him.
Outcast by Michelle Paver ****
[BOOK 4 OF THE 'WOLF BROTHER'/CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS SERIES]
Torak's Soul Eater mark is discovered and he is cast out of Raven Clan, made an outcast and hunted by all the clans. But he has a more pressing problem: the Viper Mage is out to get him and the Fire Opal, and he needs to stop her...at all costs.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder ***
Yelena, convicted [and guilty, mind you] of 1st degree murder, is given a choice: execution, or a position as the Commander's food taster in a land of deceit ad treason. She chooses food taster [no, really?!] and is trained by Valek, the Commander's top assassin. Of course, there just has to be romance [of all the genres, why?] but all in all, a good book. Lots of plotting and conspiracy. Warning, though; Yelena's memories and flashbacks are violent/somewhat disturbing.
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder **
Not as compelling as Poison Study. Yelena goes to Sitia, the land of her birth, to meet her family for the first time and to learn magic. But as she learns, everything is put in danger, and she must be careful not to slip up--or she, and countless others, will lose their lives and be snuffed. (See? Aren't my sumeries fun? I could get a job like this...)
Mangler of Malibu Canyon by Jennifer Colt ***
Twin sisters and PI's Kerry and Terry McAfee are at it again. Their freakish Aunt Reba calls them to inform them that she's found a decapitated body in her Turkish rug, and when the girls show up--along with the police--so does Cousin Robert...with the head belonging to the body and no knowledge of what happened. Language, and a sort-of romance scene at the end.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Cello

So, on Monday I started Summer Orchestra, over at school. Being an Orc Dork (Orchestra Dork) is pretty sweet, and I was actually met there by four people I knew from Concert Orch. on the way in, Madison, Erica, Caitie, and McKenna (nicknamed the 'Lone Cello' for being the only cello player in concert orchestra.) On Thursday, I had a brilliant idea while my friend Maddie (Madison, my stand partner for the summer) and I were tuning. See, one of the pieces we're playing this summer is the 'Raiders March' from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Yeah, yeah, we've all seen the movie.) Well, the day before, when we were packing up our violins, we were teasing (friendly) McKenna for the whole 'Lone Cello' thing, and Maddie and I were saying:

Me: That should be the next Indiana Jones movie, 'Indiana Jones and the Lone Cello.'
Maddie: Yeah, we should write that!
(Maddie and I are both writers)

So, the next day, I thought up this: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Cello, an Orc Dork Production. Followed by Indiana Jones and the Viola of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Bass, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Violins.

I've already written the first scene.