Monday 10 November 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WORDS ARE ARROWS!

Well, yes, you have read correctly. It is this blog's 1st birthday! It has been a whole year since I first
got the idea (and confidence) to create a place to share my thoughts about the things I love most- books. So to celebrate, I am going to give you a snippet of my NaNoWriMo project- something very few people have seen.

I'm very busy this month with NaNoWriMo so if you enjoy this please let me know, and I can post more snippets! Check here to see the synopsis first (also feel free to add me as a writing buddy, I'd love to chat!) and to check my progress through this month.

Basically the story is about these teenagers living in this really odd town, where the police seem to be in control of everything, including what times the residents are allowed out of their houses and where they can go. Something catastrophic happens within these teenagers' friendship group, and everything falls apart. And they start to realise something isn't quite right with where they live...

**********

   “Did the police call you as well?” I murmured, trying not to talk too loudly.

“Yeah. Suicide. Seems unlikely but I suppose they must be right, they’re the police,” he sighed.

He won’t believe you. He won’t believe you, just like Sebastian didn’t.

“I don’t think it was suicide,” I said, much too casually for what I was suggesting.

Gabe’s eyes flicked up from the table. “What?”

“I don’t think it was suicide. I think the police are wrong.”

Gabe continued to fidget with the salt and pepper shakers, growing visibly more nervous. “Ellie. You have to realise the seriousness of that accusation.”

I looked towards the door as the bell rung and a group of kids from school walked in, laughing and joking.

I sighed. The waiter came over with our hot chocolates and muffins.

“Blueberry muffins are my favourite,” Gabe said, poking the muffin with his plastic fork.

I shrugged. “I know. We’ve been friends since we were five, remember?”

He scooped up some of his muffin. “Of course. Everything feels different. Different and wrong.”

I nodded. “I know.”

I glanced at my watch. “We’re going to be late for school,” I muttered.

“You want to go?” Gabe said, looking up at me, his eyes big and innocent, just like they had been the day I first met him. He’d been playing in the sandpit in the preschool, and Tilly and I decided it would be funny to tip a bucket of water on the new boy. And so we did, and then, unexpectedly, Gabe smiled cheekily and begun chasing us with mini water pistols, which ended in Tilly falling into a small ditch and grazing her knee. We were all in uncontrollable laughter as we were rushed into the nurse’s office. We’d been best friends since that very day.

“I really don’t,” I admitted, violently stabbing my raspberry muffin, but not eating it.

“Then let’s not go.”

I just nodded. I never wanted to go back there, never back to the picnic area, never wanted to see anyone again.

“Have you met up with anyone?” I asked.

He nodded. “You and Rena. Rena and I walked back from school together on the day the police told us.”

“Seb and I went back to his place, too,” I thought out loud. There were already divides in the group. 

Previously, we’d never have been alone in a crisis, it would always be all of us in it together.

My problems were theirs, their problems were mine.

But having all four of us together now felt incomplete, broken, just plain sad. Like all of us individually, just amplified.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. “It’s the police station,” I breathed, and Gabe shuffled next to me in my seat so he could hear. I flicked it onto speaker phone.

“Hello, this is Elendra Parker speaking,” I said cautiously.

“Miss Parker. We are sure you know that this is the police station. Could you please come to the police station for further questioning at one o’clock this afternoon?” the gravelly voice on the other end answered.

I tried to slow down my breathing. “That should be fine.”

“Oh and Miss Parker? Please let your friend Gabriel know.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” I replied, anxious to get them off the phone.

“We know. He’s sitting right next to you.”

And then a long, soulless beep.

**********

So I hope that interested you, and that you want to read more! I love feedback, so if you want to contact me through any of my various social media sites, feel free to!

So happy birthday to My Words Are Arrows, and I hope there are plenty more years we can celebrate November 10 :)

Have a lovely day!

Lily xoxo

Wednesday 5 November 2014

NaNoWriMo 2014


First of all, I am so sorry I've been so absent lately, but I actually have a real reason. This year, I am participating in NaNoWriMo 2014. For those of you who do not know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and every November, writers all around the world take on the challenge of writing a 50,000 (give or take) word novel.

This year, as it is my first year, I am doing the Young Writer's Program so I don't get overwhelmed (I'm still getting the hang of this thing). You can see my account here, where you can check out the synopsis of my novel and even an excerpt. You would also be able to see the title, but as you know (if you know me and my writing habits), I'm terrible with titles and can never come up with them. If you read the synopsis and think of something that may work, please do not hesitate to send me a tumblr ask to my tumblr, a tweet to @lilypherondale, a comment on this post or even a message via the NaNoWriMo site. I'd be ever so grateful and I'd love to have your opinions!

So I just wanted to fill you in on where I've been over the last month and why I'll be inactive during this month. I hope you'll check out my page, maybe let me know via comments or my various social media sites if you're doing NaNoWriMo as well and then we can be writing buddies.

Have a lovely few weeks and I hope to be back with you soon to celebrate the one year anniversary of my blog, the end of my yearly reading challenge and book-mas!