Hiatus
Mood:  spacey

As most of you probably noticed, Beauty and the Beast is on hiatus. This was unintentional on my part; it just sort of...happened. Life craziness, and all that sappy stuff.

In the meantime, I've taken some time to begin typing up all kinds of other stories that I started in junior high and high school and forgot about. Back then, I mostly wrote down such stories only to catalog the many story ideas that were popping into my head. Some were rather redundant, but some were...interesting. It's always hard to pick back up that train of thought that you had when writing a decade ago with a childlike mentality, but some (if not most) of those stories are salvageable. However, that is a process I am not sure I want to begin without finishing my current project first.

That being said, I've noticed that my story has gained a few new readers who really like it. So encouraging!

I always hope to use summer as a time to catch up in writing my book, but sadly, it rarely seems to work that way. Still, with all the emotional stuff going on right now in my life, I probably WILL end up writing more, if only to keep myself from going insane. We'll see what fruit comes of it.

Chapter 2 Complete
Mood:  amorous
Now Playing: Flyleaf: Memento Mori: Circle
Topic: Preview

That's right folks, as of 10/26/10 chapter 2 is FINALLY FINISHED!!!!! Hooray! Hooray! Now I can add in one more childhood chapter in place of chapter 3 to connect the dots, and I'll move on to play around with the teenage years. That should be fun.....

Feel free to suggest topics and mini-conflicts that you would like to see in the teen years.

(I'm assuming that you know when I say "teen years," I am referring to those years Rome and Bre grew up together during which they were both teenagers.)

Chapter 3 will be completely reconstructed, as planned.

 

ALSO:

THE TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED.
Beauty and the Beast will remain the title of the trilogy, at least for now. But the title of the first volume of the trilogy has now been renamed "To Belong to a Beast." This may be subject to change in the future.

MY PEN NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED.
My pen name now appears as "S. Black Sheep" rather than Seriah Black. This is only a slight variation.

writing style change
Mood:  suave

I realized after working on finishing chapter 2, and then jumping back to work on chapter 10, that my writing style has changed again. ... Drat. This is a problem. I went from uber broad, to social-centered, and now to super detailed.

Given that the prologue isn't supposed to fit style-wise with anything...except maybe some future "interludes" to give dramatic insight (foreshadowing) into some not-so-closely-followed characters. Or maybe ultimately I'll just end up making the prologue read like the rest of the novel. I don't know at this point.

But the problem I'm having that chapters 1 & 2 don't read like 4 & 5, and 6 & 7 stand out above the rest like a monument--which is finally being overshadowed by the not-so-eventful chapter 10. And somewhere roundabout the scourge on my writing abilities/conscience that is chapter 8, my writing style tried to mutate once again. So I went back and added more detail to chapters 1 & 2...only to discover that my writing style has mutated AGAIN, and this time it's so detail-oriented that I either have to scrap what I've rewritten and go back to the original, or revert the whole thing (all 10 chapters) to detail.

And, well, sorry to those of you that like a simple or easygoing read, but...I think detail is gonna win out on this one. The story just...READS better with the details; the emotion comes across more vividly. And really, the emotion is what this story is all about. If this story reads in monotone for you, you have every reason to call it trash. So at the risk of sensory overload (which is how my dad reacted when I read him the first couple lines of the dream sequence in chapters 1&2), I will be converting the story.

No worries. Basic plotline stays the same. No new plotline "events," I think; just more social interactions (aka dialogues), and loads more description where there isn't dialogue. ...We'll see about how much description ends up framing the dialogue.

Working on Chapter 10
Mood:  amorous
Sooo.... Now I'm working on chapter 10. Skipping around, I know. But I just started having all kinds of emotional whatevers for chapter 10, and so now I'm spittin' them out. Chapter 2 is still close to being done, it's just...blah I might just post what I have at this point, and worry about it later.

editing
Reviewing prologue and chapters 1 & 2. Hoping to finish up revisions to chapter 2 tonight, then move on!

Homework Becomes an Excuse to Write
Mood:  accident prone

I am now taking a Freelance Writing class! This means I have a legitimate excuse to work on my story! Especially since I declared Beauty and the Beast one of my 2 projects for the class for the semester. So...yes. As soon as I finish catching up on my reading homework, expect new material for Beauty and the Beast! I have to write at least 15 new pages in the next month or two, which means 1-2 chapters. I will finish the end revision/addition to chapter 2 before I continue on to the new material.

This means that, unless immediately necessary, revisions will have to take a backseat for now...which kinda sucks for me, since chapter 8 is hanging around my head like an annoying mosquito that I haven't gotten to yet.  -_-#

Updating my LiveJournal
Mood:  bright

I just finished adding my 2 maps of Rome's mansion to my Scrapbook on my LiveJournal. Yay, 1 step closer!

I am officially picking Beauty and the Beast back up again. My summer college class is over, and I have a month before I'm back in school again, so I intend to make good use of my time. Hopefully during that time I will also be gradually shifting my story updates over to my LiveJournal blog--which should help you all avoid popups, as well as give you a better way to connect with me if you have any questions or suggestions.

 

Also, since Beauty and the Beast is indeed a triology, I believe I will be naming the first volume "Of Roses." Following this pattern, the title of each of the three volumes will start with "Of..." and then the rest of the title shall follow. So far I'm going with "Of Roses" for the first volume, and maybe "Of the Ties that Bind Us" for the second one...but that is highly experimental and may be subject to change. I haven't decided on even a tentative title for the third volume yet.

Return of the Story Ideas
Mood:  amorous

Yes, I know, it's been awhile. My philosophy final is tomorrow, and after that I am done with school for the summer. Then I shall take up the story once again...seeing as the bulk of the writer's block has passed and the story ideas are coming back (due to an unlikely source of inspiration which triggered thoughts of the 3rd volume).

 

I look forward to writing again. It has been far too long. And it always helps when certain circumstances remind one what it means to love someone, and have it be complicated (and largely one-sided).

Life puts things on hold
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: Relient K: Five Score and Seven Years Ago: Bite My Tongue

School has been attacking me again, so I haven't had a chance to finish my editing/combo project yet for Beauty and the Beast. Yes, I know it's summer, but I am taking summer classes: philosophy, and government. Happy about the first one, not so happy about the second. Anyway, the semester ends mid-July, and my free time will be pretty hit-and-miss until then. So, seems like the story has to be put on hold again. I'll try to do some more editing next weekend, but I certainly won't be able to do anything before then.

 

Sorry guys.

Beauty and the Beast Summary
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Media

Okay, here's the deal. I'm seriously considering just abandoning this site and exclusively using my LiveJournal one. That way, you (as my readers) can just become my LiveJournal friend if you want to contact me. Also, that way I shouldn't have to worry so much about plagiarism in posting on a not-so-protected site.

So...Please become my LiveJournal friend! That way, you can see my updates and ask me questions and leave comments and stuff. It seems alot of you from FictionPress have LiveJournal accounts anyway, so it shouldn't be much of an inconvenience...since it's free and all. You know you want to!

Once you join, you can see my Beauty and the Beast Summary--I wrote out a generalized version of my plans for the trilogy. Feel free to check it out! It may help you to know where the story is going.