"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'" ~ C. S. Lewis

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Attempting Astronomically Ample Activities

All right...

Apparently April is going to be a busy month for me. And I'm kinda wondering if I may have too much on my plate. But I'll just go with the flow and see where it takes me :)

You're welcome to join me in my insanity ...

(Oh, and if you linked over to see my Alternate Version post, you are allowed to scroll past the insane ramblings to that part of the post at the bottom :)


  • Lee over at Tossing it Out has issued a blogging challenge - to write a blog a day (except for Sundays) for the entire month of April - each day representing a consecutive letter of the alphabet. Today is (obviously) A. Hence my alliterative post title :) This should be fun. Challenging, but fun. I usually post about 3 times a week. 6 is double that (see I can do math). Well, this first one will be out of the way soon. I need to start writing down ideas for other letters as they come to me. But if you link over to his blog, then you can get added to the list and check out other people who are also doing the challenge. Some are poets doing themed poems, some are just people working in the letter of the day. Anyhoo it looks to be a hoot. You can join all through the weekend (I think he said) so go! Do! be insane like me!
  • On top of that, as I have mentioned a couple of times (and as you can see with the icon on the sidebar) I am also doing Script Frenzy. You DO NOT have to know how to write a script in order to do this. They give you all the tools you need. All you have to know how to do is develop a story. and write dialogue, which if you write fiction, you probably do. Anyways, I think it will be a fun challenge and for that I have to write about 3 1/3 pages a day. I'm hoping it will be as easy as it sounds. (Yeah, right)
  • I also have an interview for grad school coming up as well as getting all of my other stuff in place like my schedule for the fall and financial issues cared for. Blah. School fun, that kind of stuff icky.
  • And I don't want to lose track of the blogs I'm following and the friends I'm making here because you all are awesomesauce. But if I'm not commenting as much, you will know why. You will see my return in May.
  • Then I discovered through Simon at Constant Revision a bunch of blog fests. I've never done a blog fest, but they look really fun. So I kinda want to do some of those too. (have I lost my mind? Yes, yes I have)
  • On top of that, I have now hit 40 followers and I can feel a contest coming on soon... don't know exactly what or when yet, but think books and, of course, owls. hehehe
  • Then there's the business of life - full time job, church involvement, family stuff, laundry - you know, all that jazz.
  • And I absolutely must get started on The Stand. I FINALLY got my hands on a copy and I have yet to start it, but it's being referenced every week by friends at Nikki's blog and I hate having to skip over the comments to avoid book spoilers. Besides, I've had SO many people tell me it's a must read. And I WANT to read it. NOW.
  • Not to mention the TV I absolutely MUST keep up on. Lost being #1 and Castle being #2. Beyond that, I can wait until April is over to catch up on things like FlashForward and Vampire Diaries.
Psshhttt.... what was I worried about? This should be easy. I just eliminate sleeping and eating, dictate my script as I drive to work and - presto! Instant mental breakdown! (should not be attempted at home, above results may vary, course traveled by a professional nutjob)

To start off the fun and to continue with the "A" theme of the day, I am now going to post my Alternate Version blogfest entry here.

Original: Historical Christian Romance (working title Unexpected Miracles)

"Hello?" she said, her voice rising slightly to make it a question. The figure moved forward into the moonlight and Kristy was unnerved to see it was Brandon. She cleared her throat nervously and tried to step around him, but he reached out and held her arm. Kristy jerked back out of his grasp.
Brandon dropped his hand and they stood there for a moment. The silence grew thicker until Kristy couldn't stand it any longer.
"What do you want?" she asked. "Why can't you just be happy we're friends? That's all we've ever been."
"No, that's all you've ever thought we were," Brandon said.

Alternate: Contemporary Mystery

"Hello?" Kristy's voice wavered. The menacing shadow moved forward and she gasped as Brandon stepped into the light of the lone streetlamp. She cleared her throat nervously and tried to step around him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Kristy jerked away, her heart pounding. He had never seemed so dangerous.
She waited for him to say something, to explain why he had waited out here for her, but the silence stretched between them.
"What do you want?" she asked. "Why can't you just be happy we're friends?"
His eyes darkened and he stepped toward her again. "No, that's all you've ever thought we were." His smile was sinister as he reached for her again.


Whew - that was fun. I don't know if that's exactly how this thing is supposed to work, but that is a totally different scene. Even the characters came out different.

If you want to join in, click here and have some fun :)

16 comments:

Sarah Ahiers said...

OOOOOOH!!! I'm so excited for you to start The Stand!
*does a happy dance*
Did i tell you it's in my top 3 favorite books of all time? (i probably have...)

Rebecca T. said...

Falen: you are the reason it is on my to do list. Otherwise I would NEVER attempt it this month. Well, that and all the Lost people.

Now I must get off of here and get some other work done!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Oh my, so much going on for April. Good luck witr your grad school interview. Thankfully, all I had to do was write an essay and take the GREs. Easy peasy. I do not do well with interviews. My tongue swellsand my brain splatters inside my school, I think.

Nice jow with the alternate version. The mood of it changed quite evidently.

Unknown said...

have I lost my mind? Yes, yes I have I think you lost your mind a long time ago ;)

Just kiddin'

Ooh.. I like that idea of writing a scene differently. Very itnersting.

Ah! Have to go to class bye!

Raquel Byrnes said...

Interesting twist on the last line of your second entry. Great how you went from wholesome to horror with a few tweaks. Great Job.

Joan Crawford said...

I can't wait to read all the stuff you create this month!


VW: Herrow?

Heheheheh, if you have seen Team America: World Police, you'll get this one.

Grammy said...

Dear Rebecca,
A really interesting posting! I look forward to reading more. My best to you. Haven't read "The Stand" but have heard of it somewhere. I will look it up online.
Best regards to you.
Ruby

Jemi Fraser said...

I'm eliminating sleep pretty much all the time too. It's about the only way to cope with it all :)

Amalia Dillin said...

These were great! I love how you kept the dialogue the same but still managed a totally different feel.

JennM said...

Busy woman! I enjoyed the writing a lot! Well done!

I am really excited to start seeing posts about how your progress is going regarding the Master's program. I am actually pretty psyched:P

Any idea what you'll focus on?

Oh, and best of luck with the "to-do" list!

Rebecca T. said...

@Carolina: Yeah, I'm pretty nervous about the interview, but my Mom keeps saying to relax and just be myself *deep cleansing breaths*

@Aching Hope: It takes one to know one!

@Raquel: Thanks! Fun to see new faces :)

@Joan: I have not seen it, but I think this is how I will greet everyone tomorrow.

@Grammy: Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed dropping in at your blog and I'll be back :)

@Jemi: Unfortunately I have to get at least 6 hours of sleep or I get sick. Think of all the time I could add if that were not the case! le sigh.

@Amalia: Glad you liked it. Yeah, my goal was to try to keep the basics and I was impressed how easy it was to give it such a sinister feel. Creepy. I don't know if I'll ever see Brandon the same way again!

@Jenn: Oh grad school - it excites me so and then terrifies me in the next moment. I'll be an English major (obviously) but haven't thought much about a focus yet. My three candidates for a major project some day are: A. A. Milne, L. M. Montgomery and Lewis Carroll.

Jen said...

I think this is definitely how the challenge is supposed to work: there is a lot more ominousness in the latter scene, which is impressive because even your original had a pretty strong sense of "Oh no..." Little things like changing the figure moving forward to the shadow moving forward are perfect. Nicely done!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

This was fantastic, and this is only day 1. looking forward to more.
Good luck.
Yvonne.

Unknown said...

Hooboy, darker and creepier in the second version. It gave me the shivers.

Rebecca T. said...

@Jen B.: thanks so much. It was challenging to pick a scene that could sorta kinda stand alone.

@Poetry: Glad you enjoyed it :) Gotta go write "B" now.

@maybe genius: YES! shivers! thanks for stopping by :)

Livia Blackburne said...

Oooh, I like this. Subtle changes, but very different effect. Thanks for participating!