Let's Celebrate! {Tag} {Picture} {Snippets}

You may be wondering what we're celebrating, and that would be a very good question.

We are celebrating the new blog makeover.

So in this post, I will be doing the Get To Know Me Tag, post an actual picture of myself (hahahaha), and give you all several snippets.

It was only supposed to be the tag but then I was like, "WHY NOT" and added on a bunch of things.

Enjoy

Rules

1. Link back to the person who created the tag (Savannah @ Inspiring Writers)
2. Thank the person who tagged you (Danielle @ Snapper and Andrea @ Spaceships, Vampires, and Very Secret Agents)
3. Share the tag graphic (optional) (see ^^)
4. Tag 11 bloggers

Yeah, so many people have done this that consider  yourself tagged if you haven't done this xD


Vital Stats and Appearance


Name: Caecilia Maria Dominic of the Rosary E. (yes I included my confirmation name but not my last name :P I also spelled my name in Latin xD)

Nicknames: Ceci, Cici (just not Sassy or Sisi), Coach Cecilia, Checco, Chicka, CECI *in a baby's scream*

Birthday: Towards the end of the year

Hair color and length: It's mostly black with brown in it depending on where the light hits it. And hold on just a sec while I measure my hair. . .

it's about seventeen inches. I want to grow it to my waist.

Eye color: Brown

Braces/piercing: I have braces currently and I got my ears pierced when I was six months

Righty or lefty: Righty all the way (much to the relief of my dad xD)

Ethnicity: Hispanic. More specifically half Cuban half Mexican. More specifically three-fourths Spaniard (my mom's parents and my dad's mom) and one-fourth Mexican Indian (my dad's dad). I am very, very proud of my heritage :)


Firsts:


First novel written: I think it was about this Italian girl (it was historical fiction) who took ballet and who's parents got scarlet fever so she was sent to her mom's siblings house (it was sort of an Anne of Green Gables ripoff) and yeah, drama. I never got past the 10th page xD

First novel completed: A Tale of Two Friend's: Ariella's Perspective. Which was locked up in a dungeon until I gave the plot life-saving surgery and changed A LOT of stuff.

Award for writing: Um......well I did will an M4M writing contest. You can find the story here. It actually inspired me to link several story ideas together and basically birthed the Kingdoms of Ilia

First Publication: See above xD But I do post my work on the various forums I'm on

Conference: Do writing workshops at the library count??? Because that's it :P

Query/Pitch: I'm actually going to finish a decent story before I even think of that xD


Favorite:


Novel (that you wrote): ACH THIS IS REALLY HARD. . . I'm going to have to go with Colm though because it's turning out a lot better than I thought it was going too (gotta resolve that cliffhanger for my poor Alpha tho xD)

Genre: Historical fiction. I ADORE THIS GENRE BECAUSE I WAS BORN IN THE WRONG CENTURY (except I need AC and Spotify so I guess I was born in the right one :P)

Author: Regina Doman, Shannon Hale, Melanie Dickerson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, JRR Tolkien, and the list goes on for forever

Writing Music: IT DEPENDS REALLY. Mostly I'm listening to my playlist with my favorite songs but sometimes I listen to a playlist I made for the book. So for like Colm, I listen to like Irish music but for this Victorian novella I'm working on I listen to my Period Drama playlist

Time to Write: Whenever I can xD

Writing Snack/Drink: Um......I normally don't eat while I write but I like drinking La Croix when I write

Movie: UGH. THIS. IS. SO. HARD. But I'm going to say.......

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DID IT HAVE TO BE MOVIE
UGASSIDBHFD VAADSUIHJFKDNFBCDVGKXZ
Either LotR or Star Wars

Writing Memory: This is actually pretty funny. So I had just finished writing my first novel (it was like 10 o'clock at night) and so my sister (who we'll just call N) is reading and I'm like, "N! N! GUESS WHAT?" And she's like, "What?" (in a super bored voice). Then I said, "I JUST FINISHED MY FIRST BOOK!!!" And she replies, "Oh cool." She wasn't even paying attention and I was so mad but it's my favorite writing memory xD

Childhood Book: Probably Black Beauty. I used to looooove that book and movie


Currently:


Reading: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. I NEED TO READ NORTH & SOUTH GUYS MY LIBRARY DON'T HAVE IT AND I'M SOOOO MAD

Writing: I've taken a smol break from Colm but I'm going to work more on it. I'm also working on a novella that's going pretty well and prepping for Nano

Listening to: My favorites playlist. More specifically, Castle by Halsey (but I think I'm going to skip to I Like Me Better by Lauv which I'm IN LOVE WITH RN)(yep, just switched xDD)

Watching: Well my baby sister is watching The Secret Life of Pets on the floor next to me (AND GUYS IT'S THE CUTEST THING EVER. SHE HAS THIS BABY VOICE AND SHE'S SEEN THE MOVIE SO MANY TIMES THAT SHE SAYS THE MOVIES LINES WITH THE MOVIE AND I'M OVER HERE DEAD WITH HER ADORABLENESS). But I'm watching The Crown in my spare time (ha, what's that). Just finished watching Death Comes to Pemberley and <3333333

Learning: Finding Percentages. The downfall of the Visigoths. A general intro to Holy Scripture. Measuring in chemistry. The Hortatory Subjunctive. That Plato and Aristotle overthink things. Irish. Bruch. Bach. Bartok. Hahahahahah *dies*


Future:


Want to be published: YES IS THAT A QUESTION?? I wouldn't mind being either indie or traditional

Wildest Goal: To just roam around Europe writing in aesthetically pleasing cafes

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SO NO

IT WASN'T CLICKBAIT

I am going to finally give you guys a picture of me

Yay

This is probably my favorite picture that I have of myself but I apologize in advanced....
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almost there lol
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*screaming and mass destruction*

:P

NOW

SNIPPETS BECAUSE YAY

What Time We Have Left

“I do so love the wind, don’t you?” Ava asked, tilting her head and squinting her eyes to look at Jameson, who was stretched out on the blanket beside her.
“There is something strangely comforting about it,” he agreed, taking a bite out of an apple.
“When I was younger, and we used to live in Derbyshire, I used to pretend that the wind was my mother’s spirit. Whenever I was especially lonely or upset, I would go outside and let the wind embrace me.”
Jameson looked up at her. “Was your childhood terribly lonely?”
“N - No. I have my papa, and I love him dearly. But there were times when he would go to London for business and he would be gone for weeks. Those were the worst times. It was I who finally convinced him to move to London with me, even though he wanted to stay in Derbyshire because of my, because of my health.”
He noticed the way that the light in Ava’s eyes dimmed a little as she spoke of her health. He hated seeing that look of numb pain on her face and would give his own life if he could take all her pain.
Sensing that a change of topic was the best route of action, Jameson said, “Are you excited to see your father again?”
Ava’s face lit up again. “Oh! Yes! I missed dear Papa so much! That is,” she laughed merrily, “not to say that I am unhappy here. But I do miss my father, and letters aren’t quite the same as talking to a person in the flesh.”
“I’ll say,” Jameson chuckled. 

Colm 

“Oi, Colm!” Shane plopped down in front of him. “We’re going to a dance, do ya want to come?”
“Um,” Colm began.
“No!” Mrs. Russo barged out of the door, hand’s on her hips giving Shane the death look.
“Surely that’s Colm’s decision,” Shane glared right back. Colm had discovered that Mrs. Russo and Shane appeared to hate each other on the surface, but that they really loved each.
“But he’s only sixteen, and I’m-”
“-His fill-in mother, you’ve told us a million times.”
“Yes, I am his fill-in mother. He’s told me that his mother and I would be the best of friends if we knew each other, and I’m sure she would agree with me that it wouldn’t be appropriate for a sixteen-year-old boy to go the type of dances you young men frequent.”
“It’s still Colm’s decision,” Shane grumbled.
“I think I’ll stay with Mrs. Russo,” Colm said, shrinking back into his seat.
Mrs. Russo gave him an approving glance as the rest of the Rover Boys left the building.
Colm also got up but sat down when Mrs. Russo called out to him.
“Yes, Mrs. Russo?” he asked.
“I just wanted to give you a word of motherly advice,” she smiled at him kindly, “Be careful when it comes to money and other worldly things. I’m sure your mother would thank me for that.”
“She would,” Colm kissed her cheek gratefully.”

“Mamma mia,” she blushed, “You could make my grandmother blush.”

The Crown of Light

“It looks like all this fresh air is doing you good,” Rilan observed the next day. Awyeria flashed him a grin.
“It is!” she called, running ahead.
“Don’t run!” he reminded her, “You still need to be careful.”
“Oh, yes, sorry. It’s just so hard to not run in these beautiful woods! When I read about the Forest, all the books made it seem like this extremely ugly, dark, and dangerous place!”
“It’s still dangerous,” Rilan said, “But beautiful.”
“Do you know why?”
“I doubt anyone does. But, it is said that the woodmen used to live in these woods, before they left.”
“I think they did,” Awyeria laughed, “That must be why it’s so beautiful.”
Rilan grinned again. He couldn’t fathom how Awyeria could carry so much, and yet, be such a happy person. It did seem like every now and then the weight would get very heavy, and she would crack a little. But she always recovered.
Rilan frowned at his analogy. He didn’t like to think of Awyeria cracking. And yet, it seemed to fit perfectly. He shuddered to think of what would happen if Awyeria cracked in half. Hopefully, her mission would be over before it happened.

The Moon

“Hurry up, J! We’re going to be late!” Gerald yelled from downstairs.
“Almost!” Joanna paused to give her eyeliner the finishing touch, “Done!”
Uncapping her mascara, she ran the brush over her top eyelashes. And then did the same for the bottom ones. Studying her reflection in the mirror, Joanna deemed herself ready to go.
“Let’s go,” she sang out as she sat in the passenger seat of her brother’s car. Gerald rolled his eyes and started the engine.
“What do you think about Emilie?” Joanna asked as they drove down the street.
“She’s pretty-”
“Is that all you guys think about?”
“No!” Gerald gave her a sharp look, “You didn’t let me finish! She’s pretty and she looks really talented. She’s a great addition to the team.”
“Well, with Stanley and Janice Stanton as her parents, of course she’s going to be an amazing addition!” she gasped, “Do you think she’ll tell us of some of her parent’s missions?!”
“You can ask her.”
Joanna squealed. “I will! I don’t have her in any of my classes but I’ll ask her at lunch or at band practice.”
“She’s part of The Outcasts?”
“Yeah. Today is our first practice with her.”
As they pulled into the school parking lot, Joanna spotted Emilie’s car already there. A few cars down, Jack leaned against his car and laughed alongside her.
“Is it me,” Gerald said slyly, shutting the car door, “Or is Jack totally into her?”
Joanna studied the pair. “Oh yeah,” she confirmed, “He’s into her.”
“Finally!
“What?” she whipped her head to look at her brother.
“Jack hasn’t liked a girl in forever. I can finally tease him.”
“You are such a,” Joanna searched for the right adjective to describe her brother.
“A what?” Gerald prompted.
“A boy!”
“No way!” he feigned mock horror, “I would have never guessed!”
“But I have bad news.”
“What?! We ran out of ice cream!”
Joanna punched him playfully. “I think Christopher likes her too.”
Gerald cackled evilly. Giving him a concerned look, she said, “What is it? Something bad is going on if you use your Darth Sidious laugh.”
“This is going to be so much fun to watch.”
The sibling duo had reached Jack and Emilie at that point, so Joanna wasn’t able to ask him what he meant.
“Hey guys!” Gerald said, giving Jack a fist-bump, “What’s up?”
“Eh,” Jack shrugged, Joanna hugged Emilie, “Nothing much. Em and I were just talking about how hilarious Mr. Ortega is.”
“Oh my gosh,” Joanna laughed, “I have him in my third period, he cracks the best jokes!”
“Did he tell you guys the toe one?” Emilie asked.
“No! Tell!”
“Okay,” Emilie laughed and cleared her throat, “So it went like this: What did one cell say to his sister cell when she stepped on his toe? Ouch, Mitosis!”
There was a brief pause before everyone burst out into laughter.
“Oh, gosh,” Gerald wiped away a tear in the corner of his eye, “That’s one of the jokes that’s so bad it’s good.”
“Mr. Ortega is the best,” Joanna laughed. Then something Jack had said a few minutes ago snagged her attention.
“Wait,” she said, “Jack, what did you call Emilie?”
“Um,” he looked extremely confused, “I called her Em. Why?”
“You nicknamed her?”
“Yes.”
She pressed her hands to her face and gave a soundless scream. Both Jack and Emilie turned red.
“J,” Gerald said in mock-sternness, “leave them alone.”
“But it’s begging me to tease them!”
“I’m going to class,” Emilie began to inch away once the first bell rang. Joanna hooked her arm around Emilie's.
“We’re going to have a girl-chat,” Joanna announced. Emilie shot the boys a look that clearly said, ‘I’m being kidnapped. HELP!!!’ as Joanna dragged her away.
“I am allowed to be slightly panicked?” she asked.
“Yes,” Joanna replied immediately.
“So what did you want to ‘girl-chat’ about?”
“Do you like Jack?”
“Um, of course I do.”
Joanna gave her a hard stare and Emilie spluttered.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, “You mean like him, like him?”
“Duh! Do you?”
“No!”
“Do you like Christopher?”
The tops of Emily's ears went red.
“Maybe,” was all she said. Joanna squealed.
“I am so happy! Christopher needs a good girlfriend. His last one was awful.”
“Hold your horses!” Emilie stopped walking and held her hands up in protest, “No one said anything about dating he-who-shall-not-be-named. I just said that I might, - hear that? MIGHT - like him.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Joanna waved her hand, “It always starts like that. You’ll see.”

Well, that's enough of my secrets revealed xD

What did you think of this long post? Did you enjoy the snippets? Which were your favorites? And which one would you be most interested in hearing more about? 

Introducing...........

COLM

Guys, I am sooooooooo excited about this book! I think (think being the key word) that it is going to be really good! Now, let's introduce it!

Cover:

Blurb: (even though it is on the back cover but oh well) (I'll give you the longer blurb as a treat cause I wove y'all :D)

Colm McNulty is fine with the life he has, roaming the land, playing his fiddle, and looking into Rose Kelly's eyes. But his abusive father doesn't feel that way. He forces Colm to America, making him leave everything dear to him behind.

In America, Colm faces hardship and prejudice. When the riots against the Irish workers in New York grow, Colm disappears to the farms in Maine. Even in a rural town, there are still prejudices. Only one farmer offers Colm a job, Brendan Elson. Colm soon finds out that there are a lot of Elson children, and finds himself attracted to the middle girl, Felicity. Felicity has fire in her blood and Colm wonders if he will ever prove himself to her, and everyone else. 

Fun, no?

Genre: Historical Fiction

Time Period: Second Industrial Revolution/End of the 19th century (1891-1896 are the exact years)

Setting: 50 miles north of Dublin; New York; Murray (fictional town) Maine

Characters: 

So Colm is the MC and everything is in his perspective. This is actually going to be something new for me because I tend to switch POV's. 

OH

I FOUND COLM YESTERDAY

I was scrolling for pictures that I did not need for the cover when I found THIS and was like "COLMMMMM"

PRESENTING!

COLM

I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH MY OWN CHARACTER ALRIGHT???

*thinks what else she can say without giving everything away*

YOU KNOW WHAT

LET'S INTRODUCE ANOTHER BOOK OKAY?

So for this one, I've been mostly world-building. And I think I have you give you guys some background info before we continue.

So I've mentioned The Crown of Light and Courage For Those Who Have None. Turns out, they're in a series. WHO KNEW RIGHT??

(ugh *facepalm*)

No judging, Lina. 

Anywho, the names of the books in the series are

1. The Scroll of Wisdom

2. Courage For Those Who Have None

3. The Crown of Light

4. To Those Who Are Faithful

5.  Finding Honor

You don't actually have read them in order (except for The Crown of Light and To Those Who Are Faithful, you have to read those two in order). They mostly give background info on each other. 

Anywho

The one I'm introducing today is The Scroll of Wisdom. This is about how Ilia Coragis became Myragi and Zirrith. 

(like I said, I have basically no plotting done for this because I've been worlding building)

HOLD ON

HOLD YOUR HORSES

THERE'S ONE MORE THING I NEED TO EXPLAIN OR ELSE THERE WILL BE SOME CONFUZZLED PEOPLES

Okay *coughs* so, there were originally 5 kingdoms: Ilia Scriptura, Ilia Corona (previously known as Qiliopie-Doijsu), Ilia Fidelitis, Ilia Coragis, and Ilia Honoribus. They each have one magical item. 

Ilia Scriptura = The Scroll of Wisdom

Ilia Corona = The Crown of Light

Ilia Fidelitis = The Ring of Faith

Ilia Coragis = The Courage Stone

Ilia Honoribus = The Key of Honor

NOW WE CAN GO ON

Blurb: 

Prince Kile of Ilia Scriptura knows that he won't be king, that boring job is left to his older brother. He leads a life of frivolity. But when his brother can't read the Scroll of Wisdom, and he can, everything changes. Suddenly, Kile is expected to sit in councils and be responsible. When he accidentally stops Ilia Fidelitis from plunging into a civil war, Ilia Coragis asks for his help. But they have a different type of unrest.

Characters:

Yeah

I can't tell you much about these characters yet.

BUT

BUT

BUT

I MADE THOSE CHARACTER AVATAR THINGIES THAT CATHERINE DOES

OF COURSE I WILL SHARE THEM

Cipta and Kile

Delia and Alem

Lilia and Xander

Masca and Yohn

Nadine, Zyne, and Jacus

Natha and Rowan

 Qilia and Rothan 

(PRETEND ROTHAN HAS HUGE, GORGEOUS WINGS OKAY??)

Yulia and Zephr

Zelia and Zoe

AND YES I WILL EXPLAIN WHO EVERYONE IS

Cipta = The original Crown Prince of Ilia Scriptura

Kile = The new Crown Prince of Ilia Scriptura

Delia = The ambassador from Ilia Fidelitis

Alem = The other ambassador from Ilia Fidelitis

Lilia =  One of the revolution leaders (which revolution? I will not say) (I HAVE TO WITHHOLD SOME INFO FROM Y'ALL)

Xander = The other revolution leader, Lilia's brother

Masca = The Woodwoman advisor to Ilia Scriptura

Yohn = The Crown Prince of Ilia Coragis

Nadine = One of Kile's friends when he leads a life of frivolity

Zyne = One of Kile's friends when he leads a life of frivolity

Jacus = One of Kile's friends when he leads a life of frivolity

Natha = Queen of Ilia Scriptura

Rowan = King of Ilia Scriptura

Qilia = The "Queen" of the Sprites

Rothan = The Fairy advisor to Ilia Scriptura 

Yulia = Queen of Ilia Coragis

Zephr = King of Ilia Coragis 

Zelia = One of the twin princesses of Ilia Coragis

Zoe = The other twin princess of Ilia Coragis

So, I hope you all enjoyed all the goodies I gave you guys today! See you soon!!

~ Ceci <3

I finally tell you what I wrote for Nano + My official word count (oh gosh) + New story idea???

That was totally not a long title.

SORRY

I'm in a sarcastic mode because of SOMETHING (*glares at geometry and biology books*)

No joke y'all, those are my two biggest school books. But let's move on.

I worked on my fantasy story (that I had already started) The Crown of Light (dun dun dun). And guys, I was calculating approximately how big this was going to be....and it will be like 93k words O_O But I guess I'll give you more info on it without spoilers and you tell me if you like it. And! An excerpt at the end of this post!

(I SEE YOU! DON'T SCROLL DOWN AND NOT READ THE REST OF THIS!!!)

*pushes Lina out of sight of the camera*

He, he.....

Name: The Crown of Light

Genre: Fantasy

Summary: The crown is stolen. A princess is sent out into hiding, she must regain her crown and kingdom. She goes on a quest, making friends and enemies. What happens when the enemy isn't who everyone expects it to be?

Characters:

Awyeria: My FMC. She's the princess that is sent into hiding

Queen Ia'sayi: Awyeria's mom

King Torhonvor: Awyeria's dad

Princess Inaess: Awyeria sister who thought that Awyeria was dead

Lord Tiadan: He raised Awyeria and trained her

Lady Taia: Lord Tiadan's wife, she taught Awyeria courtly things (much to Tiadan's disapproval)

Lerrise: Taidan and Taia's only child. She is Awyeria's best friend

Xocade: Awyeria's other best friend. He might feel something for her....

Arageo: Xocade's brother. There is something between him and Lerrise.

Nyall: The town librarian

Margie: Awyeria meets her along the way to the capitol

Skelrold: He's the captain of the royal archer's assistant. When did Margie have such pretty eyes???

Ver'dar: The Captain of the Royal Archers. He knows everything

Rilban: No one (who knows Awyeria's secret) really trusts him....There's something fishy.....

Dellertia: Immature. Has an obsession with Rilban. 'Nuff said. 

Rilan: Ahh...here's were spoilers get tricky. Let's just say that he helped [blank] get to [blank]. Also, he's my MMC (I think...)

Jeina and Adess: Two sisters who run an in where [blank] stays after [blank and blank] have to stop at a [blank] for the winter

Sokea and Banriona (I think I spelled her name right...): A mother a daughter. [blank] helps her out when she stops at [blank]

Trebutch: He and Sokea were lovers before Sokea's dad married her off to someone else. True love holds out through thick and thin.

(NOTE: Okay, so, before y'all start getting panicked at the thought of Sokea - a married woman - and Trebutch, I can safely say that Sokea's husband died :P)

And I think that's all the characters....Some more might appear out on a whim, so who knows.

Nano Word Count: 33770

Total Novel Word Count: 40319

So I didn't make it to 50k. Am I disappointed with myself? No. And, if you didn't make it to 50k, know that you're not the only one. See, the thing is, I don't look at Nano as "getting to 50k words", I look at it as "something to motivate me to write".

So, like I said, the Crown of Light is going to be about 93k words. That's loooong, and I'm only on chapter 19! So I still have a loooong way ahead of me! But, I got this idea for a book series that I want to know if you guys think it's flip or flop. 

I'm thinking (after I finish the Crown of Light - Yes, I still have Courage for Those Who Have None, but I write that one on paper) of writing a series of short books (Like, maybe 25-30k, NOT 93K) called, "Stereotypical Stories".

Basically, every story is going to be about stuff people have written a gazillion and three books about. Ya know, the typical "finding yourself books". But I thought it might be fun, so I really want to know if you guys (okay, I say guys a lot when I talk to a bunch of people. I NEVER SAY Y'ALL IN REAL LIFE. #northerngirlmoveddownsouth) think that I should aim for it.

Welp, that's for listening xD

How did your Nano go? Did you finish a novel? Planning a new one? I would love to hear about it!

Excerpt:

"

Nyall, the old town librarian, poured over a book about the wingspans of different dragons.

“Most interesting,” he remarked to nobody.

Then the door creaked open and the town archer walked in.

“Xocade!” Nyall exclaimed, “How are you today?”

“I'm doing pretty well,” Xocade replied.

“Looking for another book on the aerodynamics of an arrow?”

            Xocade laughed, thinking of how he impressed Awyeria with his archery the other day

. Thinking of Awyeria reminded him of his purpose of coming to the library.

“Actually,” Xocade cleared his throat, “I was wondering if you had any

books on the meanings of birthmarks. Or of ancient signs.”

“Those, my lad, and things that go hand in hand.”

“So you have some?”

“Some?” Nyall scoffed.

He led Xocade to a room with shelves crammed with books. There were

several tables in the room and they were piled to the breaking points with even more parchments and books. And the floor was littered with loose pieces of paper.

“Here are all the books on that subject,” Nyall patted the younger man on

the back as if to say ‘good luck’.

Not deterred by the mass of reading materials, Xocade thanked the old librarian with a nod.

He was going to find out what that mark meant, no matter how long it took.

"