Suikoden Series vs Final Fantasy Series...

With the upcoming release of Suikoden II, an old PlayStation One game, coming to the PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, I thought I'd just go ramble on about Suikoden versus Final Fantasy, two of my favorite Role Playing Game series.

Anyone who knew me as a younger and slightly smaller girl knew me as the sort of kid to stay up well past bedtime playing games on the PlayStation, or the Nintendo, or anything I could get away with staying up playing. It was truly an art-form back in the day, faking sleep while the music of the game still tinkled from the television and then finding oneself inexplicably exhausted the next day when it came time to go to school.

Chief among my favorite games were the Final Fantasy series by SquareSoft (now called SquareEnix in their attempt to be less effeminate, as if any fan from my age-grouping ever cared that their name was SquareSoft... I still struggle to remember that it's no longer SquareSoft, but rather SquareEnix) and the Suikoden series by Konami (who seems to have shifted their game from Role Playing Games to First Person Shooters).

Final Fantasy was created to be a literal Final Fantasy for a game developer about to flop in 1987. The story followed four characters, but you could pick their job class out of six options (white, red, or black mage, thief, fighter, and black belt). This game became so popular, it revived the developer and brought on Final Fantasy II, which was not a sequel but instead referred more as if it was volume two and became a hit, featuring new storyline and characters and world. 

Now, SquareEnix has made it to Final Fantasy XV which was announced in 2006 at E3 but has yet to be given an official release date. Additionally, Final Fantasy has a couple dozen spin-offs and sequels to their main games ranging from games about Chocobos (imagine a giant war-chicken) to mobile phone games to prequels focusing on characters intended to be side-characters in the main series. Final Fantasy has become a cash cow for SquareEnix, and for better or worse, they're milking it. At least they're fixing their mistakes, of course! Final Fantasy XIV was an apparent disaster, but Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn supposedly makes up for that and even soothed the angry, bitter souls of the fans. 

Konami began Suikoden in 1995. They modeled the game after a Chinese book by Shi Naian titled "Water Margin", although the interpretation of the book is loose. The series follows non-linear chronological order... which is weird. So if you want to play them in order, the main series would go like this: 

Suikoden 4

Suikoden 5

Suikoden 1

Suikoden 2

Suikoden 3

There are spin-offs and graphic novels that enhance the series, too, but there certainly are not quite as many spinoffs as the Final Fantasy series has. 

Both of the series of RPGs are fun, however, Suikoden tends to grip the gamer a little stronger than Final Fantasy does, and part of that is because of how the game is designed. Throughout Suikoden, decisions begin to impact the eventual ending. Politics, war or civil unrest, betrayal, love, death, tactics and strategy battles, one on one duels, building an army, building a castle or headquarters, and of course not dying... These are all things that are relatively important aspects of the Suikoden game. It's also important to know that in some battles if your character dies, they're dead for the rest of the game - so... you know... don't die. 

There are 108 characters in each game that you can collect, although you do get a bonus character or two if you load a completed (perfect ending) game from the previous game (example: you complete Suikoden, load the perfect ending save with Suikoden II and you can get a bonus character). 

You don't even have to play other Suikoden games to understand one or another. You can pick it up from the beginning and it handles well as a standalone game. All of the games can be played without prior knowledge, though it certainly doesn't hurt to play them all. Of course... since the goal is to get that perfect ending, you may find yourself vexed and lobbing your game paddle (or game controller, if you prefer to call it) across the room when you realize you made it through hours of game play, got to the end, and found out you missed one of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Unlike Final Fantasy, the Stars in Suikoden can move at times. Sometimes you can't get them when they're in one place or another. Some won't join you until you reach a certain level or certain size of army. Other Stars are key story-line characters who join you based on where you're at. And other Stars can become missed opportunities if you don't get them to join you by a certain key point in your gameplay. 

Final Fantasy typically revolves around a select number of characters who join based on the story-line and it doesn't get any more complex than that. Unless you count Yuffie the ninja (Final Fantasy VII) who you have to seek out in the forest and beat before she joins your party.

Of course, if you played Final Fantasy or Suikoden, you know that both series managed to similarly get one thing right: vexing, nearly impossible to beat boss baddies. 

A couple for Final Fantasy include:

•  Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII) - (SPOILER) he kills a character right in front of you. After traveling that far, going through everything, and he just runs her through and smiles about it. I cried, I screamed, I couldn't play the game for days... I was so upset! I can't recall the actual battle against Sephiroth, because this scene plays so prominently in my head every time I remember him.
• Kuja (Final Fantasy IX) - I don't actually know what the heck he's wearing but it sure doesn't look like pants. Did you have trouble beating him? I did. I think it was because his clothing distracted me. I couldn't figure out whether he was a male or a female. 

 A couple of Suikoden villains include:

• Neclord (Suikoden I and Suikoden II) - Specifically in Suikoden I, this guy was a pain in the butt. You had to save outside his castle, make it through the castle to him, and then battle him without dying or using too many potions or healing spells. Why? Because you couldn't save after his battle, and you still had to survive getting out of the castle. (SPOILER!CHEAT!) In the room with the coffins, there's a spot in the upper right side of the room where you can click on a coffin and "sleep" to regain health. Power level and keep sleeping instead of wasting potions or rune uses. He's strong and can wipe you out. Don't let yourself get to the point where all of your characters have to heal at once. 
• Luca Blight (Suikoden II) - most evil villain ever. Luca Blight is a murderous psychopath mad prince who lived through trauma as a young boy and now commits horrible acts as an adult. He's the main protagonist and your best friend betrays you to join Luca in his horrid conquest of the world. You fight Luca and his armies many times, but to this day I've been stuck at a point where you fight Luca in a three pronged attack after a strategy fight, and follow it up with a one-on-one duel.

I apologize ahead if I get anything of this wrong, dates or details. I'm going off of memories of the games, and it has been a long time since I played!

But Suikoden II is finally coming to the PlayStation Network on 12/09/14!! Are you going to be getting it? 

So, in light of all this information, please let me know what you think in the comments. Which is your favorite series?  Why do you favor that one? Have you tried the other one? I hope to hear from you in the comments!

Something Strange chapter 3

Thanks for reading this and I hope you are enjoying it so far. 

Newbies, read it all from the beginning here

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter 

            Something Strange

A Story Through Blog Posts

Chapter 3

Cecelia was decidedly not calm when she found someone looming over her bed in the morning. She let out a high pitched scream that was designed by nature to inform her father of something foul being afoot—and that he better come immediately because Cecelia was not against shattering glass in her terror.

The dim light from the window illuminated the screaming child in the bed and Red Hood knew she had to quickly silence the girl. However, the strange situation meant that she did not want to do anything too drastic. There Red was, standing over the bed of some young girl when not moments before, Red had been comfortably at home in the woods.

Cecelia scrambled away from the red woman when she reached for her. Her father wasn’t coming in, which certainly was not comforting. Of course, then Cecelia remembered that her father was away at his one-weekend-per-month with the National Guard. Cecelia’s mother wasn’t coming in because of who-knew-why. When all this was over, Cecelia determined she would have to figure out why her mother hadn’t come to investigate.

Red said hastily, “Please, child, hush! I am Red, and I am lost! Strange magicks have brought me here, and I fear for my safety if I am discovered.”

Cecelia let her screaming die down. The strange red woman had an even stranger accent. “There’s no such thing as magic. What’re you suggesting? You broke into my house and attacked me!” Cecelia wondered if there really was such a thing as magic… Tristan was always saying magic had to be real otherwise how would so many people from different corners of the globe be able to think so similarly that they could create many stories on the same subjects?

Red resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She really had not even come close to attacking the girl. However, she decided it was best to utilize every tool available to placate the child. “I am sorry, but you scared me as much as I startled you… Forgive me…”

Cecelia nervously bit her lip. This was all such a bad idea. Strange women didn’t appear in her bedroom via magic. How could they? Magic wasn’t a real thing! “Who are you? Like, who’re you supposed to be, I mean? You sound like a princess. Well, you sound like what Tristan says princesses sound like, if that even makes sense.”

“My mother called me Little Red, for she was Mama Red,” Red explained. “And this is not my world.” She added. “I no longer know where I am. Can you tell me where this is?”

“Oh… This is Rose Chocoo. It’s a private, gated community in Wisconsin. My father founded it when I was still in my mother’s stomach, and he gathered the best and brightest, to create a future against the impending zombie apocalypse. We’ll all be safe here inside the gates, as long as we don’t make any mistakes like in Resident Evil, or World War Z. But it really all depends on what the zombies are like—if they’re the fast kind, or the slow kind…” Cecelia was more than happy to have something to talk about that could bring things back to normal! Stranger or not, Red didn’t seem truly like she wanted to hurt Cecelia… right?

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter  

~~~~~

Feel free to comment below! 

Something Strange  chapter 3 © 2014 Jaimie Gross

Something Strange chapter 2

Hello and welcome back. Thank you for reading! Not sure when I'll update again, but so far the story is fun... and a challenge for me. Enjoy chapter 2!

Newbies, please start here: Something Strange

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

 

Something Strange

A Story Through Blog Posts

Chapter 2

Tristan hovered over the knight as he woke up the next morning, slurping his orange juice noisily through his favorite blue swizzle straw. He had done his research and figured out who the knight was. Of course, that wasn’t too hard… Fairies, witches, princes, princesses, and all manner of crazy things had appeared in the neighborhood the night before. It was a memorable event, and so Tristan’s research amounted to grabbing the book from under his sheets and aiming the beam from his flashlight back and forth between the knight and the picture of the knight in the book he’d been reading until he determined that the knight could only be Black, a knight known more than anything for his many acts of getting in the way of various other knights and citizens on their quests.

Black, on the other hand, felt groggy and his vision swam as he struggled to focus on the odd shape above his face. He supposed it could be any of the women he’d gone to bed with the night before. Being labeled as evil certainly had its perks, because he was a hit with the ladies! But then, he also had a strange recollection of standing over a child’s bed for a moment. His vision finally cleared and he was quite disappointed to find it was indeed a child. The noise from the child’s mug of odd potion was as noisy as one of Merlin’s spells if it went wrong. The smell of it was worse than the noise.

“Hullo!” Tristan let his straw drop all the way to the bottom of the glass. If Black hadn’t woken sooner, Tristan had felt ready to go grab a stick of some sort and start poking him. “Do you speak my language? If you speak another language, there’s some really cute girls on my block that are bilingual.”

Black rolled to his front and pushed himself onto his knees, feeling dizzy with his hangover. He’d feel better as soon as he had a fat mug of ale. That always perked up his mornings. “In ordinary cases, I’d be all over stammering a few words of another language to meet those girls, but considering your age and use of the word cute, I’m left to think those girls aren’t my age.” Just Black’s luck, too.

“My mother is your age!” Tristan offered. “She’s single, too. Sort of.” Tristan had always wanted a father! How cool would it be if Black was his father?

Black wished the boy hadn’t offered up a puzzling comment like that. How could one be single—sort of? It was one of those things that made his hangover decide to point out a big, fat soft spot on the inside of his head, and then hammer on it a few times just to be sure it was really soft. “What do you mean?”

“You could call her a bar wench from one of your stories!” Tristan said. “Except you don’t want to actually call her that. That’d be a pretty big mistake. Just call her Elizabeth Quicksilver, or Miss Quicksilver. She’s always getting real mad if you use the wrong form of address. My teacher always uses the wrong form of address… so they don’t get along well, my mother and my teacher.” Tristan couldn’t even begin to describe how excited he was for this to happen. He felt like with the explosion of story-book characters, suddenly he might have that adventure he always dreamed about.

Black just wanted his headache to go away. “Do you have ale, kid?”

“It’s Tristan. My name. I don’t have ale, but I saw a magic hangover cure recipe on the television… Come on. I’ll make it for you.” Tristan thought for a moment and then decided, “But maybe take the armor off here. I’ll get you some clothes from Cecelia’s house and fill the bath-tub for you.”

Well, the situation could be worse, Black thought. If the kid had a magic cure to the headache, that would help. Of course slamming the door to the room shut as he ran out on feet that pounded the floor like drums didn’t help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Please feel free to leave your thoughts below!

Something Strange chapter 2 © 2014 Jaimie Gross

Something Strange - A Story Through Blog Posts

"Something Strange" is a tale written through blog posts about book characters who find themselves no longer within the pages of their book. With strange people and creatures suddenly appearing in Rose Chocoo with powers beyond imagination, it seems the little gated community would be soon finding itself on government radars. It may be up to Tristan Quicksilver to get the characters back home safely before the original story becomes naught but a blank journal. 

Hello everybody! No idea how this will work, or how often I will write on it... but I thought it would be fun to try out. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Each blog post will be considered one chapter. 

Newbies, please start here: Something Strange

NEXT CHAPTER

Something Strange

A Story Through Blog Posts

Chapter 1

What would happen if one moment you were doing everything you were supposed to and the next moment you found yourself suddenly nowhere near where you had been? What would happen if that place you ended up turned out to be right next to a child's bed? Exactly what sort of protocol was there in dealing with someone attacking you with a broom, a bat, a strange and unusual weapon as they screamed bloody murder and called you a burglar?

What would happen if the same exact scenario (with minor alterations) happened in multiple households at the stroke of midnight in one quiet little street?

Well, for Tristan Quicksilver, sitting in house number 13 and completely awake when he shouldn't be that was the exact kind of disturbance he saw in the force that fateful night. To be fair, though... in his case, he wasn't the one standing next to a child's bed. Tristan was that child in bed. One minute he was pretending to be asleep and the next he heard a thud. When he turned his light on, he found out there was a real live knight on the floor in his room.

Outside his window, he began hearing loud noises coming from all the neighbors' houses. He glanced at the knight. The guy was out like a burnt bulb and smelled like dog poo. Tristan looked out the window and gaped rather openly at what he saw. Various odd things were being chased out of the other houses on the block.

A witch flew out a window on a broom. A variety of sparkling lights flew out of a chimney. A few came back down only to spiral around and zip past Tristan's window leaving glitter and visions of fairies dancing in his head. "Wow..." Tristan gasped.

This was... going to be so cool! He had a knight on his floor. Sure, the guy smelled like stale beer and too much ladies' perfume, but there were fairies flying by his window and he could still hear the cackling of witches. And, okay, the neighbors seemed pretty upset - but this was awesome anyway.

NEXT CHAPTER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please feel free to leave your thoughts below!

Something Strange chapter 1 © 2014 Jaimie Gross

Go to Chapter 2




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please feel free to leave your thoughts below! 
Something Strange chapter 1 © 2014 Jaimie Gross

Day five of NaNoWriMo challenges

Day five Nano Challenges

#1

Cupid's Shotgun has Exploding Buckshot

You know those teen dramas that crop up everywhere? They’ve begun to invade books… Or maybe they were there in books before, I just never noticed. Yep, this is another way to do romance.

Mary had a little lamb, but Bo Peep, well… she’s got a flock of sheep. So Mary got jealous of Bo Peep and there were cat fights over sheep and lambs and wool was flying everywhere, and BaBa Blacksheep just decided to use his three bags full of wool to make yarn and turn it into sweaters and sell it at the farmer’s market.

The above little story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but sometimes teen dramas don’t. That would be because teen drama is the equivalent of watching a train wreck in slow motion. You just can’t turn your eyes away. But it can be fun to write, fun to read, and fun to watch on TV. For instance, the TV show “The 100” is all of the following: dystopia meets Lord of the Flies meets teen drama meets “Sixteen, Soon to be Pregnant, and HAVING ALL THE LOVERS”.

If you want to write romance in the teen drama style, it will involve over-complicated geometry. Decide if that’s what you want for your story and if so, go ahead and start popping out characters. You’re going to need a lot of them. Just remember if you go this route to make sure your plot is solid.

#

Day five Nano challenge #2

Cupid's Latest Upgrade: Proximity Mines

BROMANCE.

SHIPPING.

You know it’s a thing now, right? And the verdict is in on it, and people love it. Canon pairings are awesome, but readers are going to do this thing called shipping other pairings. They’re going to be like, “THESE GUYS ARE SO AWESOME!!!” And in some cases, fans are going to find pairings that are complete opposites and have never done anything but try to kill each other and they’re going to be like, “THESE GUYS ARE SO AWESOME!” So no matter how hard you try to get Jane and Peter together, you’re going to find that Peter and Megra (who never ever met and are not even in the same fandom) are getting paired together.

Be aware of who is in your book, and what the relationship between them is. It can’t hurt to spend a few minutes crafting their relationship (whether it’s Matt trying to kill Robbin, or Robbin and Jane having some witty banter).

#

Day five Nano Challenge #3

Cupid Goes Nuclear

No, seriously. Completely nuclear. I mean full on radioactive, face burning off, mutations, two-headed deer, apocalyptic nuclear fallout. These are the type of relationships in which everyone gets hurt. Jackie loves Frank but Frank has been having an affair with Regina and Regina is refusing to admit that she’s a lesbian. No one is admitting to themselves or each other that they’re all having problems and everything keeps spiraling worse out of control until Johnny, the next door neighbor, gets mistaken for Frank and is shot as a result. Innocent people are hurt because of the romance problems in this situation, and it doesn’t always mean that person is involved in the situation. Definitely keep in mind the pain and suffering that revolves out of a nuclear relationship.

Day four of NaNoWriMo challenges

Day four Nano challenges

#1

Butterfly Ripples / The Butterfly Tsunami

"I'm just really not in the mood to date," Wendy said to her friend Mary. "After my last boyfriend Peter kidnapped and isolated me from my family, getting me hooked on pixie dust and turning me into some mother figure for dozens of kidnapped children like he had some oedipus complex, I'm pretty sure I've sworn off men for an eternity."

Like Wendy in the above statement, we all know or have been through something rather traumatic before, so we're usually well aware of the psychological damages that may occur after an event. Unfortunately, as writers, sometimes its easier to avoid the drama and pretend things didn't happen. You see it in TV shows all the time: someone dies, but everything is hunky dory in the next episode. But people aren't that simple in reality. Think about your character's past, present, and future. Where has she been, where is she now, and what is she doing later? Has she suffered the loss of a loved one, and every time she sees crayons begins to weep? You're writing a story, but every story has back-story. Give your character some history that will shape her future. Or his, if you have a male character... I'd best not go eliminating the hairy-er sex.

#

#2

Cupid’s First Kill

Romance is a complication in books, but you know we all love and desire the inclusion of it. Sometimes our happily ever after ends not so happily. Things can go wrong. One or both get into an accident. Someone gets murdered. Someone gets cancer. Romance is not just for the happy ever after book about the shut-in princess who wears a glass slipper and just happens to have tiny feet and a fairy godmother. It’s a mood setter, too. Romance can make the entire book comical, or heart-rending. Decide whether you want romance in your book, and if you do, what type of mood it should set.

#

#3

The Therapist

“Something crazy this way comes.” Edward told his friend Jacob as Bella approached.

There comes a time in every book when you have to decide whether you want to keep going down the path of destruction your characters are insisting upon, or install a mega rewrite that would give a character more personality than cringe-worthy neediness and lip-biting. Whichever option you choose, it’s up to you to make it work. However, I want to recommend a few reasons to introduce some kind of therapist character to your story.

-One of your characters is a drug addict and they’re dating crack

-Your main character is a damsel in distress

-A character decides to throw herself off a cliff because her boyfriend broke up with her

The first one isn’t quite so bad. You’ve got a vampire and a human. Okay. The second one is starting to rock the foundations a bit. I’m the sort of reader who likes strong female protagonists and even stronger evil villainesses. The third one gets me wondering what book burning is like. Seek help for your characters if necessary...

#

#4

Cupid Traded the Bow for a Gun

Romance… ah, the spice of life. Now consider who you want to romance your main character. Great, you have an idea… Now cut that character out. Does the story still stand on its feet? Unless the story is a romance genre novel, the main character should still be able to solve the murder of the last king AND take over the throne without that pesky lover. That being said, romance is fun and we like it. So put the lover back in. I know, I’m a pain. Do this, no wait, undo that.

Why am I getting all crazed about romance, you ask? Because as a reader, I don’t want safe. I want a romance complete with all the crazy. Plus, the titles I came up with for the romance series of nano things make me giggle so I’m writing it. Anyway, you’ve got two characters. Stryker likes Nimberly, and Nimberly likes Stryker. Fantastic. Write a short story and I’ll read it. I don’t want to read such a safe relationship in a novel. I want drama and difficulty. That’s not to say I want teen drama (that’s for a future post) where everyone is in love with everyone. I just want complications. You’ve got like 450 pages to fill, so if you’re going to fill them with references to how everything is perfect, you won’t get many people past page one.

So for your novel, think about your characters. Think about Nimberly and what annoys her. I’m sure Stryker is all good and well. He’s the epitome of happily ever after Prince Charmings. But instead, try crafting a character for Nimberly that creates friction and tension in her life. You want sparks to fly, right?

#

Day three of NaNoWriMo challenges

Day Three Nano Challenges

#1

Opinions Count

People, as you know from looking at yourself, usually have strong opinions and not everyone is wishy-washy and about to change opinions on very large issues. If your character is a career politician, they're probably going to be the sort to form opinions based on either what will get them further ahead in the game. If your character is a no-name nothing of a creature from the back-woods of Oz who didn't get even a passing mention, it's likely that they will form their own opinion and not change. Try considering your characters stance on large topics related to your plot (or even not related to the plot). For instance, someone getting unjustly murdered and the police just want to find a culprit so they choose the most obvious person. An injustice followed by another. Opinions can be part of the driving factor that gets your character to do what you want them to do which is solve the plot.

#

#2

A Surprise For The Writer

When I finish a book, one of the factors that figure in to how content I am afterward is directly related to whether or not the book ever surprised me and how many surprises it managed to whip out. I like twists that sucker punch me in the face, so that when they occur I'm left gasping and recalling how I should have known that would happen because x, y, and z were total lead ins and--AND HOW DID I MISS THIS?! But not every surprise can have a lead in. At the start of the book where we're at, you have the chance to shock the reader and yourself like we all went to an electroshock therapy session gone wrong. It's easy to shock readers now without lead ins because you then have the rest of the book to ease the reader out of the shock and tie it into the plot. Try shocking yourself with something plot-like.

#

#3

Suspected Killer

The only black and white book that grabs my attention is non-fiction. There's no gray area to a book of recipes. Fiction has a lot of gray area. There's a murder in a mystery, and unless you do something unique with the butler (such as have him abducted and stuff him in the closet of some other criminal's bedroom so that criminal can assume his identity for the purpose of kidnapping the heroine who happens to be the criminal's best friend back to a city full of criminals--don't worry, I changed my killer just now) then it's safe to assume he's too obvious. And the more obvious the possible killer is, the less you're going to want him to be the real killer. Craft your villain, if not on paper, at least in your mind. As a reader, I love (and hate) when the villain ended up being likable.

#

#4

Changing Leaves

Setting is very important, but what is more important is changing it. Every novel becomes a visual novel in my head. I want to see what the characters look like, and the place around them. I want realistic people interaction. Remember to keep devoting time to describing what the character sees, hears, feels, and tastes. Not only will it fill your word count, it will also help the reader envision the world you want them to see.

#

Day two of NaNoWriMo challenges

Day Two Nano Challenges

#1:

Borrowing Traits

You know all those things about the people around us that make us unique and individual from one another? For instance... the cold never bothered Queen Elsa anyway (whips off crown and throws it). Think about the people you know and the things that make them unique and pick one of their traits. As you write, give that borrowed trait to a character whether it is your main character or some sidekick that gets or was already bumped off in the next 1,000 words.

#

#2:

Diverse Worlds part one

Take a good look at the world around you. They're everywhere... People... You can't escape them all! Chances are at some point in your life, you will have met, are meeting, or will meet someone of a different nationality than you are. If you can, try to introduce a character whether they're dead, alive, or in a portrait on the wall that is of a different race than your main character. Bonus points if your new character is of another species--for fantasy, that's easy to do. For non-fantasy, there's always Halloween or cosplay! (It's not someone who has to stay in the story unless you want to.)

#

#3

Diverse Worlds part two

We've covered the introduction of a diverse character (somewhat--let's face it, it's NaNo, so we don't have time for life, much less complete coverage!). Now let's chug some drink of choice and consider how the diversity affected our main character. How does this alter his/her point of view? Do they regularly meet wild Doctors who spout Timey-Wimey nonsense yet save the world from impending doom? Is it the first time they've seen a vampire--even if it is just on a painting? What are your character's thoughts?

#

#4

Forgotten Occurrences

One of the biggest pet peeves I have with books is when books never mention things every living creature (and zombies) have to do. My best example of this is actually a zombie example. All zombies do is bite people and eat them, right? Well, wouldn't it be weird to read a zombie novel and there's no mention of people getting eaten, or the fear of getting eaten, or running away from getting eaten? It doesn't annoy me enough to put a book down, but when I write, I probably overcompensate with dramatic food scenes or overemphasize a character's need to pee. Your task is to write your character doing or thinking about something natural. Snacking on trail mix, snapping their gum, realizing they haven't peed in thirty hours and there's a werewolf coming at them...

#

Day one of NaNoWriMo Challenges

Day One Nano Challenges

#1

The Count of Time

Pick a set amount of time (10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes... 1 hour? Your choice!) Set a timer on your phone or writing program of choice and just write.

#

#2

A Sight To See

Be inspired by an image and add scenery to your book! Describe a room, a window view, a landscape on the journey to whatever your book's goal is.

#

#3:

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

You've added description ... now let's get a feel for your character! Did you pick a male or female? What do they look like?

#

#4:

Getting To Know You

You described some scenery. You described your character. Does all of that make your character feel anything? What do they think of that tower in the distance that juts out of a forest like some random piece of grass out of a farmer's mouth? What about the - oh my! DEAD BODIES! Run away, run away...! Write how your character feels. Write some of their thoughts.

#

The Doll in the Window

It's here - It's here! Whee! Sorry it took so long... It's been a busy time for me.

Cover image differs here a little bit from what it is on the official cover of the book - sorry!

The Doll in the Window written by yours truly (me) and the wonderful Australian illustrator Jeff Chen. See Jeff's deviant art page where he is accepting commission work. He clearly lists out what he charges for work. He's easy to work with, too, and very nice. Even though there's a time difference, I haven't had any problem with working with him... so go get on his commissions list! Ha ha ha.

Here are a few details about the story that kind of go around the story of its creation...

When writing this story, it began as an attempt at a 4 line poem which was supposed to test my illustrator's ability to interpret my writing into an image. Two hours later, it ended up being somewhere around 1,700 words long... and very little of it managed to be at all poem-like. The above picture was Jeff's test interpretation based on the story I provided. Something I really loved about that picture was the little girl peeking in the window, and the fact that you can see the doll's face reflecting in the window. It's little details that stick out.

The summary of the story is that it is written from the perspective of the doll. Over time, she is changed. The owner of the shop repairs her shoes, sews her new clothes, fixes her hair...

The back of the book blurb: A doll is meant to be played with. She brings joy and inspires imagination. Day after day she waits in a out of the way shop for the one special child who will take her home. Days pass and seasons pass, but the people pass by, too. Will she ever find her special child?

As the author, if I analyze my own writing (I try to do that sometimes to figure out where I got something right - or in most cases, where I went wrong) I find that the doll story can reflect a number of different themes... These analyses may infer slight spoilers ~~ be warned.

• Acceptance - Changing who we are to try to be accepted doesn't mean we will be accepted. There are those out there who will like us exactly how we are, and there are those who like us how we are and will help us better ourselves... there are those who will take us from where we are collecting dust and ensure we are not alone in life as we struggle through those life altering changes - and help us accept that we can't change everything.
• Modern trends - The doll goes through different clothes through the story, implying that by giving something old a newer appearance, it will become more appealing to the eye and may be more likely to be taken in by someone. This is both true, and not true. Over time, fashion trends and even household trends change. The color bisque (a weird off-white-yellow-tan) used to be very popular for washing machines, but it is no longer a prominent color.
• Loss of a loved one - (This is a back-story spoiler...) This was something that was not outright stated in the book, but I left a line in the book that suggested the doll was only in the shop window because the shop owner's granddaughter had passed away at a young age. The shop owner believed the doll was very special, and that his granddaughter and the doll went on many adventures together.

This story is written for ages 3 and up. My niece had some awesome interpretations of the pictures (she's three years old) and honestly her story was far more enjoyable and adventurous. But on the other hand, if you like your stories following a more natural order of thinking this might just be a great book for you.

Let me know what you think of this. Comment below. :)

Sex and Fairy Tales

Your cursor is hovering over the link to this blog post, isn't it? You're sitting there at your computer or on your phone and contemplating whether or not reading my blog post would benefit you at all, aren't you?

"Is it about sex?" You wonder, as your mind places up censorship blackout lines over such scenes of intimacy. Then you think about me and my personality and you're like, "Wait, this is Jaimie... It must be about gender and books and such." And you wipe your brow, laugh a bit at your own silly thinking. I mean, what were you thinking, right? Is it about sex...really... HA HA HA. That's hysterical.

Except this blog post actually is kind of about sex. And fairy tales.

And your mind does one of three things: (Feel free to comment below if your mind did something not listed here!)
1. It pulls to a screeching halt, does a physically impossible u-turn, and you x-out of the window.
2. You grow curious. Sex and fairy tales? You wonder about this for a brief second before deciding it might be worth scanning the blog a bit more just to see what I come up with.
3. I've already grown too long winded, you've grown bored, and you closed out of this blog before making it to this point. Attention span? What is that?

Anyway, more importantly, since you made it this far, let me give this blog post a bit of a subtitle:

Sex and Fairy Tales: Or why Cinderella got a fairly large settlement.

Cue the trumpets. You know why...

Because once upon a time there was a young girl who cried a bit to the right person and got an expensive make-over for a masquerade ball. She went to a fancy party, hooked up with a guy there, and then realized she had to be elsewhere. In her haste, she lost a shoe on the stairwell.

Well, the guy was determined to believe he'd fallen in love with her, so he took the shoe and made thousands of women try it on. It made a huge difference because those shoes were custom made glass slippers that formed the girl's foot perfectly, so only two people fit into the shoe.

One was a rather heinous looking woman who spent time volunteering at the local Wishes Do Come True building. She liked seeing the gratitude of the people she was helping, and there was nothing more satisfying to her than a day she could come home after volunteering. 

The other was a beautiful maiden who liked to shop until her credit cards were maxed out as if to fill a missing void. Her days were filled with gossip magazines, and her nights were spent trying on shoes she got in the mail before sending angry emails to customer service representatives about packages that she never received and getting refunds. 

The guy had to choose between both girls who fit his shoe found in the stairwell. So he chose the one whose looks didn't displease him.

In the end, they fought and argued and some expensive vases were broken. He realized his mistake and went to divorce the woman, but she ended up going along with a vast amount of his hard earned money, including forcing him to pay alimony afterward. 

For her, it was like getting a free paycheck after the fact. 

Fast forward to the modern world and you'll see that just like my little story above, relationships have become much similar. Why do I talk about this? Because recently there was a little bit of a blow-up in my life, and you know how us writers are... We have a tendency to jot these things down. 

Part of the drama in my life has revolved around settling down with, or settling for, whatever comes my way. I'd like to raise my hand and call bullshit on that one. Strong language, I know. Cover your ears. 

I don't believe that anyone needs to settle for anything less than what they want. So here's my little response to that: 

Five Important Things In Relationships

1. Attraction - I'm not saying that a person must be attracting. We're all beautiful people. I'm merely saying that if there's no spark between you and your significantly different person, then what are you doing? You've got to remember that if you're attracted to someone as well, you have to be the type of person they are attracted to. With billions of people in the world, don't bother trying to change yourself to please a single person. If you were attracted to one person, odds are you'll find another to be attracted to.

2. Common interests - You have to have something in common, or you're not going to make it past day one. It kind of goes along with what I said about being the person that attracts the person you want to attract. While I don't mean you should change who you are, I do have to say that some compromises are going to be required. You have to meet half-way.

3. Uncommon interests - Also referred to as personal space. "This is my thing. Go away." If you can't get away from someone... if they're there ALL THE TIME... If they need a constant string of direction to make them do things... It's a good bet to say they won't be a match for you. You're not looking to be their mother or father. 

4. Background checks - I cannot stress this enough. Does it feel like prying? Does it feel like, "If they wanted me to know, they would have told me." Well, too bad. It should feel like, "If they have something to hide, they should have brought it up already." I'm terrible, right? But how many Burning Beds (reference: The Burning Bed by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes) could be avoided if a person just looked up their upcoming spouse's criminal history? You can find quite a bit of people's records for free in Wisconsin on CCAP very easily, so there's no reason you shouldn't give it a glance. Still uncertain? Save yourself a world of pain and hire a private investigator. Or, you know, just do the smart thing and if the person refuses to tell you their history, turn them into history (figuratively speaking).

5. Sex - Lastly, but not least at all, is sex. I don't refer to gender. I really do mean sex as in sexual intercourse. If you're an adult, and you're looking to be in a relationship, the odds are that you and your significant will be progressing toward intimacy. Can you picture yourself ever having sex with this person? As time progresses, so should your willingness to be close. If time goes by and you still can't picture yourself being intimate with the other person, perhaps its time for a change. This isn't a fairy tale, and life won't end with a happily ever after, so you're damn well going to have to figure out what you want. It's not easy, it takes time, and it requires not simply settling for whatever hops around the corner.

And that's only five things that I've listed. Can you think of any others? Comment below on any part of the blog, or even just on WHATEVER.

Cover Letters - They're Just That Important

UGH!! Job hunting... Those things can be the worst thing ever, can't they? (At least until something even worse comes rolling by in a manner akin to Steam's sale train.) There are many important things one must know about job hunting, should they wish to--you know--actually be employed...

Now, I'm not claiming to be an expert in the job hunting business. I, sadly, don't have enough motivation to make it my full-time life, so I do that thing called getting in and advancing within. I swear to you, that's a real thing. My mum's all like, *GLARE* GET A JOB YOU BUM if I don't have a job (that is really me extremely paraphrasing for your entertainment...there's usually a lengthy discussion on the values of employment) so I get a job. And the Gross family has this whole don't give up thing, so giving up isn't my thing by nature (although adopting the lifestyle and maintaining it are two entirely different stories). And I'm not a job expert who learned to be a job expert so that they could help others get jobs either...

But I have had my fair share of job hunts in the past, and over the years I feel I have a little bit of insight to share. Additionally, I had to learn a few things when I was previously working in management so that I could hire people to work for me.

Here are a few things, listed in a nice bulleted manner, for your perusal that may help you should you need to find a home in that shady alley known as the Work Force.

• Proper attire - comes in handy when displaying the fact that you're ready to join the work force. It is true that some places don't actually care what you wear, however, being properly attired can speak volumes of you without you trying. 

• For a factory job interview working on the factory side of the business, try considering a more casual yet still somewhat dressy appeal such as a polo shirt and black slacks. Yes, you may end up in torn jeans (or being interviewed by that person who just wants to stuff you at an assembly line as soon as they can, like I was) but you may also end up interviewing with a person from the office who is looking for those subtle hints that you're ready to work. 
• For an office job or something in customer service, try considering a dressier bit of attire. You don't need to wear a tuxedo (unless you're applying as a tuxedo wearing mannequin) but it's better to wear a blouse and skirt or pants, or a dress shirt, tie, and slacks and then inquire on the dress code after you have the job. 
• And for the sake of your job hunt, try caring what you look like as you pick up, fill out, and drop off your application. If you see a receptionist or clerk, don't be a jerk to them. They will remember your attitude, and luckily for those in the hiring business, it is frequently a good excuse not to hire someone because, "They don't have the right fit for the team." It is more than acceptable to refuse to hire someone because there is someone out there that will suit the company more than you, should you fail to remember your manners. These people are ones you want to be your coworkers, and if you can't play well in the sandbox, then you're not going to get to play in it.
• PLEASE CLEAN YOURSELF. I can't say this enough. Good hygiene practices are all kinds of promoted. From the government, to doctors, to big vaccine companies, it is so promoted. Here's an example guide to help you get started on which practices to put in your daily routine.

• Attitude - This is incredibly important. Always remember to bring your manners with you when you push back the sheets and crawl out of bed onto the chilly floor in the morning. Always remember to smile like you mean it, and when job hunting especially, do not rely on, "Oh, sometimes I get a bit cynical," to pull you through the day. When your attitude turns to baditude, it's going to bring everyone around you down. 

• Resume - Yes, you need this. Yes, it must look good no matter what job you apply for. No, you cannot expect to be taken seriously if you use the wrong font, or think its cute to do your resume in crayon and then drench your resume in some kind of eu de cologne because you won't be taken seriously and it isn't cute. Yes, it is worth mentioning. No, not everyone knows these things. I've had all manner of crazy resumes during my time in management, from ones that used a new font for every single line to the aforementioned crayon resume. The resume is just as important, if not more so, than your attire. It should be edited far more than I have done this blog post. For a place where you can find editors, visit oDesk. You will have to do some weeding to find the person to edit for you, but I highly recommend trying to get someone with actual schooling on editing. There are people there who claim to be, "As good as anyone with traditional schooling experience" but if you don't want an editor with a background, then you might as well edit it yourself. In order to hire, you need to sign up to be a client but it's very easy to do. 

• THE Application - I really emphasize the right there, and for good reason. Many times I had people come in and give me applications that weren't even from my place of employment. Don't you think that showed me how attentive to details they were? It's also important to completely, accurately, and legibly fill the application out. The application is your second step in the door, with the first being picking up the application and being not-a-jerk to the clerk. If you can't pay attention to details to fill out one form, will your prospective employer buy into that stuff you're selling about how good you are with details or how you're always completing what you started before moving on to the next task? Do yourself a favor and take your time with the application. Try to avoid having to ask for a second application. It costs the company money to get applications printed, and it displays your nervous propensity for making mistakes. Even if you don't always make mistakes, that is what it might look like. If you fill your application out online, you still want to take your time. And always, always, be accurate on this form. Inaccuracies will get you stuck at the bottom of the pile. If you don't have all the information on the application either, you will go to the bottom of the pile because typically you won't find an employer with a stack of 50 to 500 applications bothering to give you a call just so they can get the important information they already asked for.

• Cover letter - Some jobs don't require these, but just in case, why not assume that they do and just put one together? Ask A Manager blogger Alison Green provides an article here showing an inspirational example of a cover letter. Note, she apparently has found out that people took bits and pieces of it as their own already and were disqualified for the job because of this. Why? Because that person showed a unique skill not desired in the work force: plagiarism. A hard word to spell, but an easy thing to do. Take the hard road and do your own cover letter. And if the company didn't really require it but you did it anyway, that will show them that you take initiative, and can--if done right--really put you ahead of the pile.

So, I hope all of this has inspired you. Now, I will write a cover letter myself.
↓ See below. By the way, it is not a recommended cover letter. But if you choose to plagiarize it, could you at least source your material? It might help me increase my readership. ↓

Dear Mr Regional Manager,

I will not bore you with the impressive details of how I work all the jobs available in my current town. Somehow that would feel very narcissistic, and much akin to bragging. I will instead sum up the resume recap by saying, "If the pen truly is mightier than the sword, then the smartphone calendar is the greatest time manipulation device since the TARDIS." 

I could also make a hilarious joke that I manage all my jobs by having 3 arms, four legs, and a clone who sleeps for me, however lying is not recommended in a cover letter so I will admit we never sleep.

Instead, I would like the chance to address the more important question undoubtedly on your mind, regarding my expanse outside the book industry. Let me just say that the closing of the bookstore I managed was felt greatly by the entire community of my town. However, I personally went as far from the book industry as any other addict at your local Book-Aholics Anonymous Meetings. When the bookstore announced it would be closing, I began informing my regular customers to let me know if they needed books. Most of these regulars were older ladies and gents who still thought the internet and credit/debit cards were a trend that would die out and when it did the bookstore would return. Little did they know...

So I have become the go-to-girl for book dealing in my town like a drug addict with business sense may join the dealing trade. Without a bookstore here, it's almost like it's black market, isn't it? 

Apart from that, I also joined that much loved, yet oh-so-mysterious world of publishers and writers. So, I do not think I would not be up to the task of becoming an asset to your business. The truth is that my previous company owner offered me the opportunity to find other work with them, but my town is one of those that grows on you, like fungus on feet, or mold on bread. You have no idea what's going on until suddenly you do. 

Bearing the above mentioned in mind, I will concur that I would--in fact--be an asset to your business should you take me on. My hours would be very limited to occasional factory holidays and shut-downs. On the plus side, perhaps having an In-House Author who frequently shows up to work would be a great promotional tool to draw people into your store?

I am always full of ideas. One thing my previous boss said when she was informing me the store would close was that she wished I had come sooner as many of my ideas would have not only extended the life of the business, but also saved it from having to close at all. Granted, this could have all been said in a very placating manner, as an apology of sorts, for me being weeks away from the lengthy unemployment lines. 

That being said, I am not out to horn in on Miss Manager's job. I am merely trying to paint a verbal selfie of my usefulness. So to further detail the image, please view the neatly bulleted list below on my skills. 

→Fully trained in computers, including but not limited to clicking, double clicking, mice, e-mail, internet, inserting cute symbols like arrows when an ordinary bullet would suffice... I could go on...

→changing the die on a Verson Punch Press... this gives me a load of empathy toward my fellow blue collar workers and allows me to seem more human than your ordinary customer service person. 

→Speech... this skill, when properly employed, allows the user to ingratiate themselves into the good graces of customers in a number of situations including but not limited to: helping find a desired product, or diffusing a particularly bad situation expediently and retaining customers after the fact.

→handing change back... this rare and effusive skill does exist in nature. Anyone can learn cash handling but many decide to leave it at that. I believe I have perfected the art of handing change back by giving customers coin first followed by paper money, which effectively lowers the percentage of inefficient line delays due to dropped money. 

→a +9 to my register skill... Customer service is difficult to master and even just level up in. This is because of the many different stats that must level within the field before a proper level is achieved. A +9 means I know how to avoid cash fraud from customers.

→Wisdom... My wisdom is also quite high, allowing me to know when to take action and when not to. While I cannot claim to be near the level of the Fortune Cookie, I do know my way around some retail situations. Luckily my Intelligence and Wisdom stats work well in tandem, allowing me to always attend an occasion appropriately equipped. Unfortunately with such high stats in all these other areas, my Luck stat has remained slightly low. Not to worry, as we all need areas to improve upon. 

In conclusion, I would like to say that all the above mentioned should be taken as a very high indication that I would suit your company very well. I hope you will consider my impeccable application and resume, appropriate attire and hairstyle, and my friendly attitude to fill your needed position on the team. 

 Thank you for your time and consideration,
Jaimie Gross

©2014 Jaimie Gross ☺