Sunday Soul Baring

So, this little semi-annual meme is something I concocted out of the need want desire to share (or at least vent about) what I'm working on with other aspiring writers, and hopefully get insight and/or see what others are working on.

This week I've done a tremendous amount of thinking about my characters and the depth at which I'd like them to be. In order to write realistic characters real people I realized I need to know them inside and out first. Their habits, beliefs, flaws, tendencies... everything.. before I can truly integrate them and make them an essential element to my story.

It's not easy putting yourself into someone else's shoes, especially someone with a personality that might differ from your own. Authors wear soooo many hats, I'm beginning to realize, and they have to have such an open mind to be able to see dozens of different points of view in regards to a single situation. It's a talent that I'm working on acquiring, and although it's not easy, it's definitely eye-opening and an invaluable learning tool.

Where is all this babbling leading to? I was trying to think of how my characters would relate to one another, how they would ultimately feel not only about other characters but about themselves in relation to others. As a result, I have a little thought bubble from one of my main characters ~ something that, in a way, kind of sums up this person's insecurities and inner-battles. Here*goes:

"I'd like to think I would have found a way to this person on my own. To the one that cuts through all the bull-shit to see what really matters. Someone I would have never recognized before to be my true self. 'Truth is, I don't think I would have even survived beyond minutes without having known him."

Ahhh, the sweet feeling of having your thoughts put into coherent sentences... Thanks for listening :)

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely `

Sunday Soul Baring

Been a really busy weekend.. Had friends and family over, so, of course, all things reading and writing have been put on hold in lieu of life. :) ... It is nice to sit down in front of my computer with Trapt blaring through my speakers for a little visit to my blog and my novel... I'm a little stuck on it ~ not sure where to go with it next ~ having too many moments of self doubt... I guess it's what they call writer's block. :)

Anyway, here's something I scrounged up from the deep recesses of thoughts plucked from my journal.

“There you go, hon. You probably should have stitches, but I don’t think looking pretty is a priority these days.” I heard him scoff as he shook his head. She handed him two aspirin.

“Now take these, grab a towel, and go clean up. You need a bath.” With that, Gwen abruptly got up and moved on to her next patient.

“Would you like some water for those?” I asked, encouraging him to turn around. When his eyes met mine, I froze.

Seeing him.. again.. was like breathing fresh air through stale lungs. How was he here? It was like my vault of old memories had opened and released its contents into this new world. I couldn’t speak past the lump in my throat and the adrenaline that was surging through my veins.

I finally blinked through my shock to see that he was just as surprised as I was. His mouth hung partially opened, and he was sitting at an awkward angle, as if he’d forgotten he was turning around to respond to my question. He cleared his throat.

“Sure, Rowan. I’d love some water.”

Join in if you'd like :)


Happy Reading and Writing Everyone :)

~ Keely ~

Sunday Soul Baring

Sunday Soul Baring is a tradition in the making ~ each Sunday I push myself into my novel, rereading, editing, and, of course, writing. I really like to start out by picking a random page and reading what I've already written ~ it seems to be the best inspiration to keep moving forward. I don't have a lot of time during the week, and some days I totally feel the overwhelming task I've undertaken here, but that's what Sundays are for :).


Here's a piece of what I'm rereading and editing today:

I could hear the echo of birds singing all around me, a soft breeze moving swiftly through the branches, allowing the trees to whisper to one another. It was peaceful. Serene. As if the horrors I had experienced had never happened.

I was vaguely aware of a throbbing in my knee and a dampness coating my cheeks. I opened my eyes to the sight of blue skies between the leaves of the protective canopy above me.

“Michael?.” I sat up, looked around. I was alone. “Michael!,” I sobbed as the memory that was hidden by my dreams came flooding back to me.

His eyes locked on mine. I could see the desperation as potently as I could feel it. Run, he mouthed. Then the gun, the sound, that atrocious bang that signaled the abrupt end of my entire world.

Feel free to join in :).

Happy Reading (and Writing) Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Sunday Soul Baring

So, it's been a few weeks since I've done one of these, and I think it's way overdue. Sunday Soul Baring is a tradition in the making for me, a meme if you want to call it that, where I put it *all out there* sharing an excerpt of what I'm working on in the sidelines. { That means if you are also an aspiring writer, please, go ahead and share if you're up to it. :) }

"She took the deepest of breaths and braced herself. Steeled her mind as she struggled to let go. She could do this. She could join the humanity she once knew so well.

A group of three stood along the edge of where the trees grew thick. She heard their voices, but through the pounding of blood in her ears, she couldn't make out their words.

She mustn't lose herself in this. Even now as she determinedly placed one foot in front of the other, she tried to ignore her screaming mind telling her to turn back as her broken heart urged her limbs forward. How she craved the soft sound of their voices only a few yards away. Human touch. She wasn't so lost in her grief and anger that she had forgotten those things.

Sometimes, hidden in the deep remnants of her shattered being, she remembered what it felt like to be human with such clarity that after the moment passed, all she felt was a deep void in the place where her heart had once thrived."

So there it is, folks. I really, really, really hope it makes you want to read the rest :).


Happy Reading (and Writing) Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday's question asks:

If you could write a book, what would it be about and why? 

One of my goals in life is to finish a novel. Whether it gets published or not is a different story, but the writing itself is fulfilling enough. I'm slowly chipping away at my first novel, and although I may not take it further than the four walls of my little office, it's probably one of the most rewarding things I'm doing these days.

My story about a women who loses the world she knows and the person she loves and how she finds the strength and the ability to survive her guilt. She becomes a completely different person, almost to the core of her being, except for those precious little moments she allows herself to remember. It isn't until she stumbles upon and watches from a distance a world similar to what she used to know ~ filled with trust, love, and companionship ~ that she even considers the fact that her life doesn't have to continue to be the way she's allowed it to become. Maybe she can be human again...forgive herself and love again...but at what cost?

As to why I would write about this, I don't know that I really have a solid answer. I suppose the essence of humanity is important to me, and all the silly stuff that we worry about makes me laugh sometimes. So, I wanted to write a story in which a person is stripped of everything, and I was curious about the struggles and triumphs she would experience in finding her way back to the reasons for being human.

Writing is both easier and harder than I expected it to be... just depends on the day, I guess. 

Happy Reading (and Writing) Everyone :)

~ Keely ~

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question is a tough one:

If you had to choose to live within a novel, which would it be? 

Probably the most difficult question I've had to answer next to choosing a favorite book. I'm sitting here at my computer, glancing over at my bookshelves... I'd say it would be between two series of novels. Either Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices or Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series. Two very different scenarios, I know, but I love them both!

Clare builds a world set in a time when men were (mostly) gentlemen and women were (mostly) ladies, a time I wish I could go back and witness for myself. As if that weren't enough, this world is also filled with impossibilities and a dark but magical world that coexists with the 'mundanes.' Of course, I wouldn't want to be a mundane. More like a Shadowhunter or a Downworlder like Tess. That would be awesome.

On the other hand, I wouldn't mind being sucked into the pages of Charlaine Harris's novels. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think it would be cool to live in a world where the legends we all thought were myths turned out to be real. Yeah, Sookie is put through the ringer a few times and had her life at risk by hanging out with everything and everyone that goes bump in the night, but she's not exactly human to the core either. Besides, if you had Eric Northman, would you really care about a little danger now and then?  ;)


Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Sunday Soul Baring (A Tradition in the Making)

It's no secret that I'm chipping away, slowly but surely, at my own novel. It's the most difficult, infuriating, and frustrating thing in the world, but it's also the most rewarding as I read and edit each week, amazed that I'm actually, finally, doing this. You know how life gets in the way ~ most welcomed ~ sometimes. Family, friends, pets, house, bills, job... I've stopped trying to plan when I'm going to sit down and write. Now, I just sit back, go one with my daily life and wait until the inspiration hits. It's always unexpected, that little jolt of creativity that whispers messages in my ear. Suddenly, I have a thought in my head that I have to write down or risk being driven to insanity.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm not a little crazy with all these imaginary characters running around inside my mind, doing what they will, living a story that I'm compelled to put into words. But you know what? It doesn't really matter, because I wouldn't have it any other way...

So where am I going with all this? I'm sure you've noticed the title of this post mentions 'soul baring,' and in a sense, that's what I'm going to be doing. I plan on posting excerpts, maybe a couple paragraphs, nothing too revealing, just to, hopefully, get some feedback, good or bad or whatever!

I hope this will be a weekly thing for me, and please, if you're a writer and want to help me start a tradition, a meme, whatever you want to call it.. create your own Sunday Soul Baring post. If you do, I hope you'll post a comment with a link :)

Here's a little piece of my passion:

I clenched my jaw in a feeble attempt at maintaining my fortitude. The incessant pounding of my heart betrayed my mind. I was fighting a losing battle within myself as he stood on the other side of the room, watching me intently, waiting for me to make the move that could change our lives forever. I glared at the floor, determined…to what? I didn’t even know why I was fighting him, fighting myself, anymore. I attempted to swallow the lump that was forming in my throat. How had it come to this? No matter what I did, I couldn’t outrun him.

After what felt like an eternity, I met his patient, darkening eyes. The look on my face must have resembled defeat, desire, desperation. He reacted instantly and before I could break our connection, he was standing in front of me, a complex combination of emotions flitting across his face. His brows drew together, and with a pained expression, he took my hands in his, concentrating on that touch rather than looking me in the eye. Suddenly, I was confused, almost amused, rather than conflicted. This arrogant man, this man with all the confidence in the world, was unsure of himself, afraid of rejection. What was happening to us?

Thanks for visiting! 

Happy Reading (and Writing) Everyone :)

~ Keely ~ 

Article 5

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. 

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes. 

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back. 

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different. 

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. 

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.

Article 5 is another of the increasingly popular novels of the apocalyptic variety ~ a genre that I've become obsessed with. The U.S. is no longer the 'land of the free,' but is oppressed by a government comparable to Puritan law. Ember, a regular girl trying to live as normal a life as she kind, finds her home and everything she knows ripped from her fingertips. It's only then she discovers how the world really is and who she needs to be to survive it. 

I'm not gunna lie, Ember had me ripping my hair out. She began as this completely naive little girl who thought any kind of violence was abhorrent even when the honorable Chase used it to keep her safe from trash who'd like nothing more than to rape and murder her. I wanted to slap her silly and throw her to the wolves if that's what she wanted. Her childish actions were, for lack of a better word, completely *annoying*, and I couldn't understand some of her ridiculous logic. However, to contradict my previous opinion, Ember grew as a character from a little girl blinded by the safety of her former life to a tough woman who stopped lying to herself and finally saw the world as it truly was. It was then I realized all her actions up until that point were based on the reality of her memories ~ she couldn't let go of her past until there was nothing left.

The relationship between Ember and Chase was...intense ~ but unlike a lot of novels I've read recently, it didn't feel forced or unbelievable. One of my favorite aspects were the triggered  flashbacks Ember experiences on her travels with Chase who, to Ember, seems like a completely different person. We get a chance to see how their relationship grew, how they were torn apart, and compare it to the tension between them now. It added that element of raw emotion that I can't get enough of, and in addition to the action, suspense, and horror, made for a very textured read.

This is obviously the first book in a series, and I have a feeling the next book is going to be even more exciting. As a debut novel, Kristen Simmons couldn't have done any better. Her writing style flows perfectly and I found myself unable to put it down. The storyline grows and evolves, taking you from one world to another, and the characters ~ big or small ~ are so believable and dynamic that it is impossible not to form a connection with them.

All in all ~ **Highly Recommend** 

Happy Reading Everyone :)