Writing Stories

After completing the task Mr. Thurlow gave me (writing story based on picture), I actually liked creating stories because I have a feeling of being God and able to control how my characters behave, their personalities, what happens to them etc. I don't know but there's just something that interests me in writing stories. 

Learning About Authors

Each author's website are very colourful and with cool, original designs and they place each paragraph carefully on their websites in order for people to read all the information on the webpage. They also tell the readers who they are, what they do and sometimes, how they become authors. These would appeal to readers and some amateur writers might gain tips as to how to become a successful author.




James Roy has always been interested in writing, even as a kid but he started to do some serious writing when he was older because he was sick of the job that he was currently doing. James's inspiration for writing probably came from his favourite authors. Some of them were Roald Dahl, CS Lewis, Arthur Ransome and William Price. 


Michael Gerard Bauer had gotten his writing career by making stories during his regular breaks from his job as a teacher. Like James Roy, Michael has always been interested in being an author and his skills improved over time by writing his experiences into his diary. He started writing at around the year 2000 and he had no inspiration from anyone in becoming a novelist.


Steph Bowe's debut novel, Girl Saves Boy, was the book that started her career as an author..................and she's only 17 years old! I couldn't locate any other information about her on the blog but it is recommended she should.


From Lauren Fuge to Michael Hyde, their writing inspirations are all very unique (I love that word :D) but how they started writing is basically the same but they are all good Australian authors although Lauren Fuge has impressed me by getting her book  published when she was only 14.


The two authors I am going to compare are Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling, two of my favourite authors. I love both of their writing styles and have an ability to make me want to read and finish their books. Dan has a awesome style of writing- mixing the real world with his fictional stories- to create a realistic novel with realistic characters and environments and incorporate controversial subjects into his plots that his fans commonly see in his books. J.K. Rowling, on the other hand, creates intriguing characters, designs stories with many twists and turns, makes her books suit the age of their readers (e.g. Harry Potter 1-4, Ages 11-14, Harry Potter 5-7,  Ages 15-17), and appeals to readers with her amazing imagination.


The author of the novel "The House of the Scorpion" is named Nancy Farmer.


(http://www.nancyfarmerwebsite.com)

Nancy was born in Phoenix in 1941. She joined the Peace Corps after finishing college instead of actually getting a regular job and was eventually sent to India in 1963. She came back to America in 1965, went to Africa in 1966/1967 and started writing in 1981 (40 years old) but she had experience as a child using a typewriter. She improved her skills by reading Tarzan books and novels by Stephen King and Edgar Rice Burroughs, studying their styles of writing. At one point in her life, Nancy became a professional author and had no more career plans/options for life although she trained to be an explorer, something she wanted to become as a kid. She doesn't read much fiction and has a common theme in her books- self-reliance and beating every problem or issue that is thrown at you. Nancy prefers to write books with heroes/heroines instead of "victim" books.

The Design of a Novel's Cover

Havoc (title of book)

The design of the novel's cover was very interesting and attracted me quite a bit. For a background, it was green with pictures of arcs behind the villain, who is on the cover. The cover design was like any other novel I have read which is- Title, Picture, Author- but, I still liked it. The illustration of the villain on the cover was somewhat smooth but also gritty and looked very sinister. There wasn't any imagery except for the arcs on the novel's front cover but the title's font and illustrations made up for it. The font used on Havoc's front cover was tall, wide and white which was used effectively to make me see the book and made me curious to read it.  

The illustration on the cover had won me over and I wanted to read it seeing how cool and evil it looked. I may be over exaggerating but without the illustration, I may have not picked the book at all although the blurb would've still worked on me.

There are many things to making a good front cover. First of all, the cover needs to stand out so it should be colourful and the title needs to be big for everyone to see. As stated before, illustrations help me which books I should choose so all books should have a very impressive and original illustration on their covers. Unappealing front covers are exactly the opposite which have little to no colour, small titles and very poor or no illustrations at all. But after all, this is just my personal opinion.

My classmate (and friend :D) is reading a book called "Ostrich Boys". The front cover has many illustrations on it like roads and coffins and cars. Looking at the cover, my mind would form an impression that the book was about ostriches but when I saw the coffins, I thought to myself, why is that there? The coffins were very small and the eye can pass over it easily but for me, it changed my perspectives about the story. Maybe it was about death ( or dead ostriches) but I couldn't tell. Anyway, the design of the cover was very unique and was overall effective and together with the blurb, most people may want to take a look at it.

Write about an image you've found on the web (Part II) "Hidden Danger"

The cleaner, Leonardo, came into the president's office in the White House, looking around and observing the furniture the president had placed there. As usual, Leonardo turned on the vacuum he had brought along with him and started brushing the carpet. The loud droning noise that vacuums make has always annoyed Leonardo but picking between earning money and going homeless, he'd pick the money. Soon, Leonardo got out his "all-purpose" spray and a clean rag to clean the president's desk. Every week he would wipe all over the desk, taking away every speck of dust. But today, something caught his eye.


"Huh? What's this?" muttered Leonardo curiously. He had seen an iron latch underneath the president's desk. He checked his digital watch, checking when he was supposed to finish cleaning up. "It's 10:30 now so that means I've only got 20 minutes." he said to himself. Slowly, Leonardo undid the latch. Suddenly, he heard a loud knock and looked to his right. It was a compartment. The compartment was very dusty and as it was opened, a huge spray of dust had covered Leonardo's face and made him sneeze loudly. 


Cautiously, he felt inside the compartment and seemed to pick up a piece of papyrus. Excited, he took it out and discovered it was actually a scroll. There was a little red velvet bow delicately tied around it. Leonardo curiously undid the bow and the scroll unrolled itself. Leonardo read the title and felt his eyes go wide open. "Oh-Oh my God!" stuttered Leonardo. Quickly, he grabbed all his equipment and rushed outside the door, scared and afraid of what he just saw.

Electronic Literature

The "Inanimate Alice" project is a great, original idea but I have little appeal for it as I like traditional reading (novels) better :). I have actually tried out one of the episodes but personally, I don't find it that interesting.


"Inanimate Alice" has many features including being interactive with the character Alice, containing use of multimedia, the story is spilt by episodes and kids get to grow with Alice. I think these features will be attractive to young readers.


E-literature has many possible disadvantages with it.
Some include:
- Making kids become addicted to using their computers due too much online reading.
- Needing the internet to read online
- May stop avid readers from reading novels


Reading online wouldn't really be that different from traditional reading as you're still actually reading and taking in information, e-literature is still a form of reading, people can still enjoy online reading as much as normal reading and both can make a person a casual reader.
.
Besides "Inanimate Alice", I have never come across any other form of digital literature but I might see more in the near future as technology becomes more and more advanced.


Personally, I think there is absolutely no difference "e-reading" and normal reading except for the fact that e-reading is on a computer while normal reading is in books. As stated before, people can still be enticed by reading, online or not and you're still actually reading

Write about an image you've found on the web "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"

Robert, John and Andrew trudged through the deadly mountains only equipped with combat knifes and their guns but luckily came out without a scratch. "Delta Squad? Can you read me? Over!" shouted Robert desperately into his walkie-talkie but all he could hear was crackling in the receiver. "They're gone." said Andrew harshly. On the verge of tears, Robert dropped to the ground, dirt floating around him. "Why did they have to die?!" screamed Robert into the sky. John, concerned, walked over to Robert, crouched down and patted him on the back. "They did a great job protecting the General's base. Without them, General Redburn wouldn't have escaped." John said calmly.


Suddenly, a loud whoosh went right past John's head. "SNIPER!" shouted Andrew. His heart beating very fast, Robert dived behind a large rock while John, unscathed, and Andrew went prone and dragged themselves into cover. "Give me some ammunition!" asked Robert to his squad mates. Andrew reached into one of his vest pockets, felt for a magazine among other items, grabbed one and threw it over to Robert. Unfortunately, Andrew panicked and threw it 2 metres away from where Robert was. "No!" exclaimed Andrew, sweat pouring down his  rough face. In an act of desperation, Robert dived over to the magazine, jammed it into his gun and started firing into the mountain ranges. Seeing what he was doing, Robert and Andrew reluctantly did the same and started firing where Robert was.


The sniper chuckled while inserting a .50 caliber bullet into his gun, saying in a thick Russian accent "Stupid Americans, there's no way to get past me..............". 

My Reading Experiences

I have a long history with books. As a child, I was only interested in non-fiction books as I could learn more and more facts. As I grew older, I started reading novels and that was when my vocabulary had increased dramatically. My bed is heaven when I read books because with my neck elevated, I feel so comfortable that it causes me to sleep while I read.


Reading at night particularly appeals to me and is my favourite time to read because everything is so quiet and peaceful and I never get interrupted so it is very easy to complete a novel in a short amount of time but I am also capable of reading at day outdoors although it takes me longer to finish the novel. :)


J.K Rowling's "Harry Potter Books" were the books that reeled me into reading novels. I liked the books because the story, the engaging characters and the unrivalled settings that came from Rowling's imagination just pulled me in. Although I have only read 2 of his amazing books, Dan Brown has appealed to me with his ability to  incorporate his story with real life to create a seemingly realistic novel. So much information just filled me up after reading his books as they were like fiction and non-fiction somehow mixed together. The conspiracies included in his stories also interest me.


This may sound sad but I don't rely on anyone to recommend me books (except my mum but she hasn't given me any). I heavily rely on natural instinct to pick my books and most of the time it never fails me which is a talent I use a lot for other things.


The author of "The House of the Scorpion" (Nancy Farmer) and another book I read this semester "In the Sea there are Crocodiles" (Fabio Geda) have very similar styles of writing. They both realistically write about how a person grows up and what they will face throughout their lives although "In the Sea there are Crocodiles" is actually half novel, half-biography.


There aren't many similarities between Fabio Geda and Nancy Farmer. Nancy was born in 1941 (Birthplace: Arizona) and Fabio was born in 1972 (Birthplace: Turin). I guess the only way there are similar in are in the ways they depict growing up from a child to a man (or woman).

The "Blurb" on the Back Cover

"Matteo Alacran was not born. He was harvested. His DNA came from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri-dish. then he was placed in the womb of the cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.

As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patron's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacran Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect."
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That was the blurb on the book "The House of the Scorpion". It had enticed me to read this book because of how it had sounded. "Matteo Alacran was not born. He was harvested". That line caught me completely me by surprise because out of all the blurbs that I have read, no sentence had ever been that unique! That just made me want to borrow the book IMMEDIATELY! 


"Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri-dish. then he was placed in the womb of the cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby". Another sentence that had interested me . I imagined it was a science-fiction novel but there was actually a bit of realism in the story. Strangely enough, the sentence "placed in the womb of the cow" also made me want to read the novel.

My initial response to the novel was excitement, longing (to read the book) and curiosity (because of the blurb). After I had finished "The House of the Scorpion", I was overall satisfied with the book but the ending didn't really meet my expectation but I still loved the book (8/10 :D).


The novel had caught my eye because of the deep red cover that had a bright red scorpion that seemed to be on a grainy wall. My first impression to the back cover was that it looked very sinister and dark (type of novels I like) so it actually appealed to me very much. It was also dimensioned like a normal book and how the black font of the blurb mixed with the red background really made it it unique for me.


How I would've written the blurb:


Matteo Alacran. The clone of the powerful druglord El Patron. Neglected by El Patron's family and almost everyone else, he tries to understand how he came to be while being faced with violence, prejudice, love and adolescence. El Patron loves Matt, but does he? What does Matt really know about the ones around him? Should they be trusted? What Matt discovers about his existence will ultimately change his perspectives about his life. 


Together with the one's closest to him, Matt will try to survive in his sinister world and his life will be never ever be the same again.

What's in a title?

What's in a title? I personally think the title of the book will help sell the story. The title, most of the time, will relate to the story the book contains, add to the flavour of the read or will capture a certain audience. For example, a book named "When the Bombs Fell" would usually relate to a book about war and most likely capture an audience aged over 18. It could also appeal to war veterans but it could remind them of "certain" memories. Sometimes a book's title won't "seem" to relate to the story. "Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief " (Rick Riordan) is a good example. The book is about a boy who is half-human, half-god (Greek) who has supposedly stolen Zeus's Lightning  Bolt and now Percy is being chased by mythological monsters. Although the front cover shows a lot of references to Greek mythology, if you were to only read the title, you would think "Lightning Thief" meant a really fast person.

The title of my book is "The House of the Scorpion". If I were to consider 2 alternate titles, I would either name it "The Scorpion's Lair" or "The Vampiric Scorpion".


If  "The House of the Scorpion" was a 1st book in a series, I would name the 2nd book "The Journey of the Scorpion" which would be about the main character Matteo, embarking on a journey to control the country he now controls after the events of the first book  and the chapters would be split chronologically from the ages 14-21 and include some flashbacks not included in the first book. It will also include his life involving Maria, his love interest and how life will go on with her. The book would be 430 pages long. The 3rd book will be named "The Bleeding Scorpion" and this would be the final book in the series and in the story Matt is married to Maria and is happily still controlling his country at the age of 30 but in the book El Patron, the man who he loved during his childhood but tried to take all his organs in order for El Patron to live forever but supposedly died, comes back and tries to take away Matt from his former throne. How will Matt cope with this major problem?

The House of the Scorpion

This book is a very interesting read. The book is about a boy named Matteo, a clone, who is neglected and ignored by nearly everyone except a handful of people. Different sections of the book are split chronologically by Matteo's age as he grows up. I still yet have to finish the book which will probably in 1-2 days (I am up to page 198 out of 380 pages). I wonder what happens in the end :D