Update and "rose novella"

I apologize to y'all for the absence of posts recently...my life has been really busy (whose isn't?).  This week is performance week for my dance school, and what with mother's day and all...plus I'm trying to keep up with schoolwork and still find time to work on my novella.  About that!  I guess it's high time I told you guys a little about it.  =D


My novella is based on a concept of my dance teachers' for one of our pieces this year.  The main theme is about sacrifice, and it involves some (hopefully non-cheesy) time travel elements.  The main character is a girl whose story is loosely based on Rachel Scott of Columbine.  Her family is having trouble, and she doesn't know what to do about it.  She keeps seeing this motif of a rose with long thorns on the stem, but she doesn't know what it means until she learns from God that she is going to die very soon.  She also learns that if she dies like she is now, without her heart being in the right place, her family will fall apart.  Then she is taken to two different places in history where she is shown things that prepare her for what she has to face, and hopefully the ending will be as cool as I'm imagining it to be.


At any rate, I have about 3,500 words done at the moment out of about 12-15 K (hopefully that'll be my ending word count).  I've finished the first of four major scenes - it needs a lot of editing, but hopefully I can get this thing taken care of in a pretty reasonable amount of time.  For me.  At this point I have no idea how long that is.  (Hang on, that's not funny...)

Here's an excerpt:

“What?” Alex blurted under her breath, suddenly apprehensive. “I don't know what to do!”


You don't have to – I do. But I need you to trust me, Alex. I'm calling out to you now, all you have to do is obey.

The rose snatched Alex's attention in the corner of her eye. The surface of its petals seemed to be dripping a dark, red liquid, like ice slowly drips water. It looked like the rose was bleeding. Fascinated, Alex couldn't tear her eyes away from the strangely morbid sight.

“What do you mean?” she breathed. “What's happening?”

You will be killed on Friday morning.

At first, Alex didn't really believe what she was hearing. But as the feeling grew on her, the force of the unspoken words grew stronger, and she knew it to be true. She'd be a fool to not understand.

If you do this without me, the tragedy will destroy your family.

A doubt crept into her mind, a doubt that suggested she was being forced into what was about to happen. What kind of a choice did that leave her, if this feeling rang true? But she knew that it did, and pushed the doubt away, struggling to maintain her bearings. What did this mean? What options did she have?

“Is there any way I can survive?” Alex found herself pleading with reality, panicking, trying to find a way out of the future. “I don't want to die!”

They have made their choice. I won't stop them – I gave them free will, just like I gave you free will. I gave it to all humans alike.

“How -” she faltered, “how do I save my family? How can I fit the rest of my life into one night?” The impact of what she knew to be true was rushing at her like the full force of a freight train. Her mind was spinning out of control, and she clutched the sides of her head with white fingers.

Put your trust in me, Alex. I can turn your death into something greater than you could ever imagine – perhaps even stop another tragedy like the one that will kill you. And it will bring your family together – trust me, Alex. I don't want you to go down without me. You will be lost without me.
 
 
~Madeline alias *the Bedouin*

Project Dance

Now I shall do my overdue post on my trip to Project Dance.  =D  It was at Times Square, New York City, and the dancing lasted all day long on a stage set up right in front of the Millenium Hotel.  Our dance, set to Josh Groban's My Confession, went very well, and I think we were all very pleased with the result.  =D

It was a total blast the whole time, besides sore feet from walking all over the place.  Friday night we had an awesome time of worship and prayer - God really touched my heart.  On Saturday night we went to see Wicked on Broadway - that was really good, especially the costumes.  My favorite character was Glinda.  If you'd seen it you'd know what I mean...*laughs at self*

Between shopping, dancing, and sightseeing, we practically ran around the entire time.  But it was probably the most fun I've ever had.  It wouldn't have happened without my amazing teacher!!

Watch the recap video here!

My group is exactly 23 seconds into the video - with the black shawls.  The song playing in the background is the song for the group dance we all learned - the people with white T-shirts in the video are doing the *super fun* group dance.  Doing the group dance in the middle of the Times Square intersection was such an experience - the passers-by stopped to look and cheer us on.  Some even started dancing with us!  Also in the video are scenes from Friday night's worship service at a nearby high school.

I had such an amazing time and am already praying that I'll be able to go next year!

A new project in the works

First off I'm going to admit that I believed the Google article that said they changed their name to Topeka.  (Yes, I clicked on the name, yes, I read the article, yes, I was incredulous...yes, I believed it.  How embarrassing.)  *phew*  Glad that's out of the way... (I didn't realize it was April 1st, all right?  Geez.)

Okay, now I have to announce a project I've started work on - I'm doing a novella based on the theme of one of the dances my class is doing.  I haven't started wrtiting yet, but I'm gathering ideas in a notebook and outlining a little (if you can believe it, I've never outlined anything in my life, but I have this sneaking feeling that it's going to help me tremendously).  I really can't wait to get started - the main theme is about sacrifice, and it's going to have parts set during a few different times in history (it may sound cheesy, but yes, the main character *does* time travel - it's just different than you're imagining, I expect).  The only trouble I am currently having is pinpointing the identity of the MC.  I know it's going to be a girl, and I think I might base her off of Rachel Scott of Columbine (or someone like her) but I'm not quite sure yet.

Anyway, so far I'm excited about it, and I'll expect it to be probably about 15,000 words when finished, perhaps less.  I'll keep you updated - please pray for me, if you can!  I know I can't do this by myself, and I need all the help I can get.

Oh yes, and - I just got a haircut!  Now my hair is a grand total of two inches long!!  I LOVE IT!

jk....(you weren't fooled, were you?)

Read about some of Google's best April Fool's jokes.

I'm going to be really sore tomorrow

I went back to dance for the first time today!!!  lol   I am so happy.  I had to take a semester off because we were moving, and I missed it so much.  I've known all my classmates there pretty much since I was four, and it was awesome and amazing to get to see them again and see my teacher again.  =D  I'm only doing two days a week as opposed to five, what I used to do, but it's still great to be back.  It's a wonderful, family-like feeling with the people there...and I'm so glad as I'm probably going to be able to go with them to perform at Project Dance in New York City this year.  That would be my first time...ahhh I have to vent my happiness to you guys I hope you don't mind!!  lol

But anyway it's a great, small Christian school, and I'm so happy I get to be a part of it.  =D