Continue reading »]]> So, I’m working on a project . . . a dragon field guide. And for it I’ve got to design 30 dragons. Some of them are pretty easy. Everyone knows what a Mountain Dragon looks like. But some are harder . . . for instance, ever seen a River Skimmer? Probably not because it’s one of those I made up.

So I was designing the Sea Dragon today and came up with this:

(Sorry about the “watermark”).

Imagine it with bright, tropical fish-like colors. Oooh, I think it’s pretty.

So far I’ve designed five dragons:

River Skimmer
Frost Dragon
Swamp Dragon
Lake Dragon
Sea Dragon

5 dragons down; 25 to go.

Yeah . . . That’s all.

-M.R. Anglin

Continue reading »]]> The following is a semiautobiographical story about the life of a writer. Please pay attention to the times as they are part of the joke.

DISCLAIMER: As of the day of this being written, none of the links are functional. That could change in the future, and I cannot and will not guarantee where you will end up if you follow them. So please don’t try.

Enjoy!

A Writer’s Day in Twitter Format
By: M.R. Anglin

5:43 am Good morning, world! #amawake #goodmorning

5:58 am Wake up, Hubby! #sleepyhead #time2getup

6:30 am Devotions done. Time 2 take on world #gearedup #godblessmyday

6:35 am Wake up, kids #morningbattle

7:03 am Time 4 breakfast #wakeupkids

7:16 am Where R kids? #wakeupkids #breakfasttime

7:43 am Kids awake and dressed #notime2eat #badmom #morningbattle

7:45 am Bye, Hubby! #workingman #officejob

7:59 am Missed bus; taking kids 2 school #eatincar #Iskipbreakfast #driving

8:32 am Children @ school #traffic #hateschoolzones

8:58 am Home again. Shower 4 me! #cleanyay #shower

9:31 am Morning checks #dA #email #facebook #webcomicupdates #writingblogs

10:12 am Ooo . . . comment on my facebook writer’s page #amreplying #interactions

10:37 am Great article! RT @writinggenius53: Scheduling your writing time http://ob.ly37by6 #writingschedule #timemanagement #inspired

10:38 am Ready 2 work on novel #amwriting #writing #gotnotebook #gotpen #gotcomputer

10:39 am Can’t write on empty stomach #amhungry #goodeats #skippedbreakfast

11:00 am Grilled cheese and oranges. Breakfast of champions #eating #lovecheese

11:29 am Ready 2 write #amwriting #writing

11:31 am Lost pen #cantwrite #lostpen

11:32 am Pen found. Was sitting on it #ready2write #amwriting #writing

11:52 am Break 4 research #google #realisticwriting

12:19 pm Awwww . . . see cute puppy? http://ob.ly489r2 #researchisfun

12:30 pm Back 2 writing #amwriting #writing #nomoredistractions

12:42 pm Great idea 4 short story #novelbreak #inspiration

1:59 pm Outlined short story idea. Back 2 novel writing #amwriting #writing

2:42 pm Kids home. Snacks for all! #lovemykids #schoolsout #missedlunch

2:56 pm Project with 7 year old #science #homework

3:33pm Researching 9 year old’s homework. When did math change? #researching #newmath #homeworkhelp

4:15 pm Have 2 start dinner. #yumyum #kidsfaves

5:23 pm Hubby home! Time 4 dinner. #chicken #macncheese #broccoli

6:35 pm Shower 4 munchkin. Water running. Will not get in. #bathing #wastedwater #mommychores

7:01 pm Hubby cleaned kitchen 4 me! #sweetman #amlucky

7:28 pm Family prayer time #spirituallyminded #lovemyfamily #godblessmyhouse

8:07 pm Bedtime 4 7 year old. Hubby watching football. 9 year old in shower #nightimebattle #brushteeth #singinginshower

8:57 pm Bedtime 4 9 year old #nightimebattle #brushteeth

9:13 pm Snuggle time with boo. *rolls eyes* #football #Ihatefootball

10:08 pm Team losing *badly* Hubby in bed. #poorhubby #dolphinssuck

10:32 pm Hubby sleeping. Time 2 redo kitchen #lovemyhubby #cantcleanalick

11:00 pm Nighttime writing #amwriting #writing

11:15 pm Too tired. Calculating word count then bed #cantwrite #tootired

11:17 pm Final daily word count: 200 =( #failure #badwriter #turningin

***Next Day***

10:38 am My morning blog: Why can’t I find time 2 write? http://ob.ly75j6 #notime2write

© 2013 M.R. Anglin.  Do not copy or redistribute without this entire copyright notice.

Continue reading »]]> Got tagged with this writing meme. Thanks a lot, Netraptor! =)

1. What is the title of your next book/work?

I’ve got three going at the moment. Two are “finished” and one I’m actively working on. 1. Amaela’s Quest 2. Dragon’s Wish 3. Prince of the Sun, Princess of the Moon.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book/work?

Amaela’s Quest was an unfinished work floating around in my head/computer for years. I liked the premise but just could never figure out what happens. Then recently, it hit me. So short answer: I don’t remember.

For Dragon’s Wish, I love fairy tales/medieval fantasies so I wanted to write one.

For Prince of the Sun, Princess of the Moon—my niece and nephew plus, I have this strange fascination with the moon . . .

3. What genre does your book/work fall under?

Middle grade and/or YA anthro fantasy/YA medieval fantasy/ YA fantasy, in that order

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I don’t know that many celebrities, so I’ll do the best I can.

Since Amaela’s Quest is about mice, they’d have to be voice actors.

Amaela/CornHusk/Arasia: Courtney Lancaster
SunCheep: Rhys Finnick
Vernon: Noel Johansen (start with “She rode like the wind” to right before “I am Kat”)
Duchess (a cat): Carol Alexander
Midnight (a cat): Ron Halder

I couldn’t find one for Virin who is a main character. Poor Virin. He’s probably mad now; he’s a bit of a conceited mouse.

Dragon’s Wish: (These may change)
Sevrin: Nathan Kress (he’d need brown hair, tho . . . and to shave)
Princess Desimone: Unfortunately, I found the perfect actress/model for her but lost the picture. I don’t even know her name. Instead, here’s a drawing: (sketch curtesy of Tazia Hall)
Sir Gallaway: Again, I found the perfect picture but then lost it. I don’t even have a drawing to show you.

Prince of the Sun, Princess of the Moon:
Deborah: Kylee Russell
Joshua: Denzell Whitaker (not quite, but closest I could find so far . . .)

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book/work?

Amaela’s Quest: The heartstone has been stolen, and only Amaela find the thief, clear her mother’s name, and save the mouse-world from a cat invasion.

Dragon’s Wish: When Sevrin saves the life of a dragon, he has to stop the creature from its misguided attempts to repay him before it destroys the city and the princess he loves.

Prince of the Sun, Princess of the Moon: Joshua and Deborah must untangle a web of lies and deceit to uncover the secret of who they really are and save their world from an imminent disaster brewing in the heavens.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Amaela’s Quest and Dragon’s Wish are fun projects. I’m in the process of uploading them to dA and may release them as free titles on Kindle. I would like Prince of the Sun, Princess of the Moon to be represented by someone, but as yet it is not.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

AQ: I started it years ago, but abandoned it. Recently, I came up with an idea so I’m working on it now . . .

DW: It started as a comic script. I wrote it (revisions and all) in maybe a month or two. Years later, it was just sitting on my computer so I decided to “novelize” it. That took about 1-3 weeks (revisions and all).

Prince/Princess: Usually it takes about 1-2 months to write a rough, so I’ll say 1.5 months.

8. What other books would you compare this story within your genre?

AQ: Since it’s about mice I’d say the Secret of NIMH (which is the movie version; I’ve never read the book) or probably closer to Redwall since it is devoid of magical items.

DW: Can’t say . . . unfortunately, I don’t read many dragon books (I know; that realization surprised me too). I suppose you could compare it to Aladdin, since it’s a peasant boy who is in love with a princess.

Prince/Princess: I don’t know . . . I guess I don’t read as much as I should . . . or I don’t remember the books I read. The planets have guardians, so it’s a little like Sailor Moon meets the last part of That Hideous Strength (where Venus and the rest of the “planet angels” come down to earth), but not really. Specific, I know.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

AQ: I don’t remember.

DW: Dragons and princesses; what could be more inspiring about that?

Prince/Princess: My niece and nephew, who lend their names to the main characters. Also the moon.

10. What else about the book might pique your readers’ interest?

AQ: Adventure; Overcoming fear; Secrets, secrets, and more secrets; Stories about mice are fun

DW: A conceited, book-loving dragon; A romance; Action; Evil, psycho, possessive, handsome knights; A princess with freckles; An “everyman” who overcomes his social status

Prince/Princess: Space; Brother and sister protagonists; The moon; Adventure; Night people who fall asleep when the sun hits them, and day people who fall asleep when the moon hits them; Portals; Supernatural, planet guardians who love to mess with humans (one of whom wants to take over the sun while in the process tearing a populated planet apart).

So who’s next? How about Beverly Nault?

-M.R. Anglin

Continue reading »]]>

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Lucas: Guardian of Truth

by M.R. Anglin

Giveaway ends December 01, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The picture of the book is looking a bit wonky on my computer, so if you’re also having trouble and you want to see the cover, click on one of the goodreads links above or just go to the Juvenile Books section of this site.

-M.R. Anglin

Continue reading »]]> Today’s post comes to you courtesy of Author Nathan Bradsford who apparently believes (as I do) there are no true “original ideas.” Read his post here: http://blog.nathanbransford.com.

I remember once someone commented on one of my pictures on deviantart (dA): “Um, sorry but they are looks like my characters Oo. There is very big concurrence in colours too=/” So I looked and low and behold, it did.

Artists and writers are protective of their characters and works, and at one point they should be. These works are our babies. We put our heart and soul in them. We don’t want them stolen. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that no one could ever come up with your idea. There will always be wizards, there will always be vampires, there will always be fantasy creatures walking around on an epic adventure, there will always be someone one out there with an idea similar to yours. Don’t stress so much.

Don’t believe me? Take the most original idea you have and run a search. Chances are you’ll see tons of people who had the same idea. I do it with character names I think are oh so original, just to see. Example? I ran a search on dA: the name “Desimone” comes up with 227 responses. “Sevrin”–218. And those are names I had created myself.

So what do you think? Do you believe the “original idea” exists? If so, why? If not, why not? What would you do if someone created a character/work similar to yours? What would you do if someone stole your character/work? What’s the difference between the two? Has anyone ever accused you of stealing a character/work? What was your response?

Think about that for a moment.

-M.R. Anglin

Oh, in case you’re wondering how I handled that comment I mentioned:

I responded: “So they do! What a coincidence! Yours are super cute! What are they? Foxes or cats? Mine are foxes. If you’re interested, we should do an art trade. I’d like to see how my characters look in your style.”

He/she then responded that they thought I stole the characters. So I politely pointed out that mine were uploaded first so I couldn’t copy anything from him/her. I also pointed out that many people came up with similar characters that have never seen his/her work. In any case, I started watching him/her because I thought his/her style was cute. X3

Continue reading »]]> So, I changed some things around on the site . . . nothing major. I added a page to show off my online writing projects.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! Seriously, it’s my birthday. And I’m spending it doing marketing stuff. =( But I’m hoping they’ll be a Carvel ice-cream cake with my name on it later! YUM!

And I made a pumpkin cheesecake on Monday (recipe curtesy Paula Deen)–mostly because I saw the pie pumkins in the store last week. I should have taken a picture before I tore into it. It’s such a delicious and easy recipe. I roast my own pumpkins for it . . . so much better than canned. So now whenever I see them in the store, I get all excited to make it.

See my pinterest page for the recipe.

The pumpkin roasting process is so easy. I learned it curtesy of Alton Brown. Cut your *pie* pumpkins in half (not jack-o’-lantern ones), sprinkle some salt, roast at 400 in the oven until done. Then cool and puree (see the process in detail here. It’s at the bottom of Alton’s pumpkin pie recipe).

-M.R. Anglin

Continue reading »]]> Okay, so this week, I have three questions for you:

1. I’ve been watching Dr. Who lately (I know . . . I’m late jumping on the bandwagon). For those who don’t know, Dr. Who is a British series about a time lord (basically an advanced alien) who travels the universe in a blue phone box called the Tardis solving mysteries and saving the earth, other planets, and alien species. Generally, he gets a young woman to accompany him. (BTW: am I the only one who can’t take the Daleks seriously? I mean, they remind me of that robot from Lost in Space).

The doctor’s companions fascinate me. They jump into danger, follow the doctor anywhere, and generally love the mayhem that ensues. I figure not everyone is up for the task; it takes a certain personality. So question #1 is this, if a strange man came to you in phone box and offered you the chance to go anywhere in time or space, (a.) Would you go? (b.) Where would you want to go? (c.) If you are a writer, which one of your characters would go and why?

2. If you’ve watched enough Sci-Fi, you’ve probably noticed that aliens want to take over or destroy the earth a lot. They all seem to have an issue with this backwards planet teeming with primitive life forms. And some of the time, they just hate humans.

So question #2 is this, Why do aliens seem to want to conquer earth? What is the fascination? (Now I understand that these stories are fiction written by humans, but use your imagination and get into those aliens’ heads.)

3. This one is more of a standard writing question. I read a blog recently that claimed that revisions were the hardest part of writing, and that writing the rough draft was easy. I emphatically disagree. To me the rough draft is the hardest, and the revisions are the easiest part of writing. So question #3 is, What is more difficult for you: the rough draft or the revisions?

Can’t wait to hear your answers.

-M.R. Anglin

Continue reading »]]> Hey, all!

Before I start on this, let me disclaim it. This is my opinion. If you don’t agree, please comment and say so. Just be respectful . . . not to say this is a controversial topic. I just think that there are different opinions out there, and I want to hear them–especially since I don’t watch horror often . . . it’s too scary. And I know there are horror writers out there. I’d like to hear what you all think.

***

Horror is a smart genre. Now, I’m not talking about the horrific, gory, messy kind of horror or the type with evil creatures that suck on human souls. The type of horror I’m thinking of is the kind that worms its way into your brain while you’re watching or reading it, causing you to jump at every sound and making you look over your shoulder long after you’ve finished it. That sort of horror may or may not have violence, gore, or evil creatures.

Why do I think it’s smart? Think about it. When you break down the storyline and think about it logically, it’s really silly. Take these three examples,

A flock of birds descends on a house and pecks the living daylights out of everyone who ventures forth. (The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock)

Statues of crying angels move when a person’s not looking and zaps him into the past when they touch him. (Dr. Who Episode 3.10 “Blink”)

Watching a video of random images causes the television to turn on, after which a small child to climbs out of it to murder the watcher. (The Ring)

To an ordinary, thinking person these scenarios are ridiculous. They shouldn’t cause you to turn and look over your shoulder or stay up at night in fear. Yet, these three shows scared the living daylights out of me, and I’d like to think I’m an intelligent person.

Now, there’s a lot to be said about word choice, color choice, music, etc. that create an ambiance that scares you further. (The Ring wasn’t filmed in subdued colors for nothing.) But why do some movies and books haunt the audience more than others?

In my opinion, the key is simple. They take an innocent or normal object and make it behave unnaturally. Why else do you think kids are so scary? Children are the epitome of innocence. When you’ve got a child being a heartless killing machine, it’s more frightening. And (and perhaps I’m being gender biased) it’s worse when it’s a little girl.

Same with birds. Pretty birds fill the air with song and beauty. Take those birds and make them swarm and rampage, and you get a horror filled nightmare. Don’t think the movie could have had as much punch if they used a bunch of hawks.

As for the Dr. Who episode . . . it has a double-punch. Not only are angels supposed to be creatures of good, but statues aren’t supposed to move. Yet these angel statues are covering their eyes, moving, and are planning evil for the main characters. Combine all that together and you turn the creep factor all the way up to 10.

While I don’t enjoy the genre, I do think horror is smart. How else can you take such ridiculous storylines and make intelligent people believe it enough to scare them? Take that into account the next time you write or read.

What about you?

Do you agree/disagree? What else adds to a scary or suspenseful story? What is the appeal to being scared out of your skull?