Soundtrack Sundays: Amy Pond's Theme (Doctor Who)

It's Soundtrack Sunday again! Recently I've been re-watching Doctor Who *cough, cough* for the third time *cough cough*. And I love the music from the show. My favorite companion is Amy Pond and I just love her theme. It's so cute and reminds me of a fairy tale. The vocals are so soothing and I love the piano at the end and the pensive parts. It's a great track I hope you enjoy! You can check out more cool music in my Soundtrack Sunday YouTube playlist.

Have you heard this piece before? What do you think of it? Have you seen Doctor Who?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's Soundtrack Sunday!

So Your Character is a Christian ...

Society tends to put sorts of people into stereotypes. Some of those are accurate, but oftentimes people groups are misrepresented in media because of this stereotype image. The stereotype is derived from true features of these groups, but usually the populace will believe all members of these people groups are like the stereotype. 

The dumb Southerner, the heartless hunter, and so on. When you're a writer and you need research for a character, it's sometimes hard to find people to interview to make sure you're portraying this character accurately. So I've decided to write a series of posts showing my personal experience about being part of some uncommon people groups in ten tips.

This is the second post in this series. You can check out my first post "So Your Character is Adopted" here.

Christians are probably one of the most misrepresented sorts of people in media. We are often portrayed as backwards, overzealous, goody-goodies, or sometimes even just plain evil. Shows such as Switched At Birth, Agents of SHIELD, and Revolution disappointed me as they represented my faith incorrectly featuring a flighty Christian, overzealous "Christians," and evil "Christians." Such misportrayals reflect ill on my faith. I'm a strong Christian, and I've grown up in a Christian home. I'm doing this not to preach, but to enlighten so hopefully more true Christians will be portrayed in media and less knock-offs.

Here are ten tips on the mannerisms of a true Christian:

1.) God is not the Boogeyman or a Push-Over - God is not a horrible, heartless being in the sky that just wants to strike us down if we do something wrong. Nor is He a happy, fluffy bunny God that just tells us that we can do what we want but as long as we believe in Heaven we're totally going there when we die.

God is a supreme being who is perfect and does not sin nor does He tolerate sin (1 Corinthians 6:10). But that doesn't mean He doesn't love and have compassion for us. He sent his perfect son to earth to atone for our sin (1 John 4:8-10). That is the foundation of Christianity. If your character has no understanding of this then your character isn't a Christian.

2.) The Bible - This book is the Christian's guide to Christianity. Everything about Christianity is

enclosed between those covers. If you're going to have Christian characters you need to read at least some of it. The Bible is the infallible Word of God. It was written by men but under God's guidance.

The Bible comes in many versions not just the "thee and thou" kind of language. The Bible is most often portrayed with this sort of language, but there are many translations that use modern language such as the New International Version and English Standard Version. The language is interpreted as truth as it was meant to be translated not out of context which is how many off spurt doctrines are created that aren't true Christianity.

3.) Morals - Christians believe in a set group of morals primarily stated in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) which are basically: No idols (that doesn't mean a little golden statue you bow to but anything that takes focus off of God such as money, power or even other people), no blasphemy ("Oh my God" is a form of blasphemy), remember Sunday which is the holy day of the week where we rest and spend time with our family and reading the Bible, honor your parents, you shall not commit murder (This includes the unborn. Christians are Pro-Life for this reason.), you shall not commit adultery (This doesn't mean just cheating on your spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend. This means Christians don't have sex outside of the bond of marriage.), you shall not steal, you shall not lie, and you shall not envy.

Other things which are important for Christians to follow is modesty (This doesn't mean we cover up every inch of our skin, but we try to keep private areas well covered.) for both men and women, not swearing (Ephesians 4:29) and we believe homosexuality is wrong which is pretty clearly told in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19).

This may sound like a lot of rules, but because I follow them I'm following the word of my God, and I've become a better person because of it. Your Christian character would strive to follow these also. This doesn't mean we don't love people who don't keep these rules. Though I don't agree with homosexual practices, it doesn't mean I hate homosexuals nor does any other true Christian.

4.) We Aren't Goody-Goodies - Sometimes we screw up. It is really hard to keep all those rules and sometimes we fail. One of the reasons God showed us these rules was to show us we can't do it all on our own. Without His son Jesus Christ it is impossible to keep all those commandments, but if we break one we are a sinner and not worthy of Heaven. But by accepting Jesus as our savior to wash away our sins and turning away from our sins we become clean and worthy of Heaven.

This doesn't mean we don't make mistakes, but because we are saved those sins are atoned. This also doesn't mean we make rampant "mistakes" because we're covered. When one becomes a Christian, one doesn't desire to sin anymore, they feel it's wrong in their hearts.

5.) Pastors - In most media pastors are portrayed like the one in picture: dressed in black with a white collar, always quoting scripture, mild mannered, and are usually addressed as "father." Though this particular one from Doctor Who was appropriate for period setting he was in, nowadays you often see preachers in blue jeans.

Some still keep the traditional, but from the many churches I have been to, most of them dress with a nice jacket and dress pants for their sermons. Many just a nice jacket and jeans.

Pastors aren't always mild-mannered. I know many that are fiery, hilarious, and passionate, but kind and generous. Pastors quote scripture a lot in their sermons (of course), but in conversation not as often as is often portrayed. And I've never addressed a pastor as "father." They're just Pastor Johnny or Pastor Mike and so on. Pastors are sometimes raised in the church and choose to devote their lives to preaching or sometimes they're plucked out of a tough situation and after they've become a Christian, God calls them to preach. Some go to seminary where they learn about preaching. Every pastor's story is different.

6.) Church - Often I see the stereotypical stained glass, Gothic church in media, and characters often complain how creepy it is. It's true some of those churches are creepy, but some are beautiful. The Notre Dame for one is an absolutely gorgeous church I had the privilege to go one my mission trip to France. But most of these churches were built decades ago at least.

Most modern churches don't have a pane of stained glass and are quite light and spacious. They have a large worship center where there are seats with a stage where the band plays and the pastor preaches from. In other parts of the church are Sunday school rooms, the nursery, and of course bathrooms. Larger churches include more different rooms. Or sometimes service is held not even in a church, but a hotel or a home or anywhere Christians can gather to worship the one true God. The church isn't essentially a building, but a body of Christ followers.

Services usually occur on Sundays and Wednesdays. They usually include music and sometimes baptisms at the beginning then have the actual sermons then music at the end. Though every church does their services a little different, that is a basic one. The music isn't always very old hymns, but modern Christian worship songs. Many churches offer a service with modern music and one with traditional hymns on Sundays.

7.) Praying - The Lord's Prayer is usually the default prayer in most movies. This prayer is a beautiful prayer, but typically Christians don't pray just this prayer or any set prayer for this matter. We pray what's on our hearts. We pray for healing for others, for safety, for a job, for direction and so many other things. In turn, we thank God for things for our houses, for something he did and sometimes things he didn't do. We pray over our meals and often in the morning and before bed. Just anytime we want.

A prayer usually starts with "Father" or "Dear Lord" or "Dear God" or something of that sort, but it can be any humble address to God. Prayers end with "amen" because it means "so be it" so we're asking let God's will be done at the end of each prayer. But there's no set way to do it. It's pouring our hearts to our Heavenly Father openly and earnestly.

Great movie that portrayed Christianity
correctly

8.) Involvement in the Community - Churches are often involved in the community. They conduct food drives, donations to impoverished children, promoters of fostering children, help people repair their homes, just anything to help people out.

The larger churches often have mission trips where a group of people willing to go travel to other parts of the country or other countries to minister people and do work with no pay. Some missionaries move out of the US and devote their entire lives to ministry of a country to bring the Word of God to others.

9.) Science - It seems to be a common misconception that because Christians don't believe Evolution is how the world came to be we don't believe in science or like technology. This is highly untrue. I love science. Many Christians love science. In fact there are some Christians who are scientists. Dr. Raymond Vahan Damadian invented the MRI, and he is a strong Christian.

10.) False Christians - There is a such thing as a person who pretends to be Christian. Throughout history people have used Christianity as a means to an end (the Inquisition for example) and have influenced and hurt people in "God's name." These are not Christians. That kind of behavior is in direct opposition to everything Christianity stands for.

 These sort of hypocrites seem to be portrayed more than an actual Christian. If a person who claims Christianity doesn't have the foundation of points 1-4, then they're not a Christian. Some people use Christianity as a Get Out of Hell free card and that is also wrong. Christianity is giving up one's self and using Christianity in those ways is the opposite. The act of becoming a Christian is relinquishing your life to God.

Summary - In this day and age, Christians are called bigots and backwards all across the news and in books, movies, shows, and every form of media. This is wrong. Because we stand up for our faith, we're ridiculed. What you write whether you're a novelist or screenwriter or whatever will influence others. That's why it's so important to get your facts straight. So I'm asking you if you write a Christian, write a real one.


Media that portrayed this right: 

Sergeant York - This is an old, black and white film starring Gary Cooper based on a true story of Sergeant Alvin York. In this movie, a very wayward man comes to Christianity. The church and pastor are portrayed genuinely.
Soul Surfer - This is recent film and shows a Christian girl's faith tested when a great tragedy befalls her. The church and music and tested faith is showed so well in this movie.
Dragons in Our Midst series by Bryan Davis - Since this book is Christian market it has many Christian characters particularly one named Bonnie Silver who is such an excellent Christian character, but a rare one.
Failstate by John W. Otte - In this book the main character shows youth group (church for middle schoolers and teens usually on Wednesdays). I have a review of it here.
The Safe Lands series by Jill Williamson - In this book, Christians are thrust in a very corrupt world so it has many good Christian characters. I have a review of the first book here and one of the second in the trilogy coming up soon.

Are you writing a Christian character? Are there any questions I didn't answer?*

*I know this is a controversial topic, but I stand by what I said so I'm asking if you have an opposing view in the comments that you please be respectful. Thank you.

You may also like:
So Your Character is Adopted ...
Hot n' Cold
Tone Down But Don't Water Down
Dear Christian Writers ...
Five Tips on Writing A Good Main Character

Wonderful Word Wednesday: Antediluvian

It's Wonderful Word Wednesdays! Here's this week's word!

antediluvian

adjective

1.) of or belonging to the period before the Flood. Gen. 7, 8.

2.) very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive: antediluvian ideas.

noun

3.) a person who lived before the Flood.

4.) a very old or old-fashioned person or thing.

Example Sentence: In the year 2123, door knobs are considered antediluvian since the installment of electric, genetic locks for all entryways. 

Have you seen or used this word before? What do you think of it?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's word!

Tea Tuesday: John Watson

I'm not really a coffee person. I prefer tea, and I know a lot of fellow writers love tea, too. But have you ever wanted to break out of the Early Grey or English Breakfast norm and try something new? Well, let me help you find some cool new teas! If you need a little hot and flavorful boost to help you reach your writing goal or you're just a lover of tea or you'd like to try some tea but aren't fond of the stereotypical types, these Tea Tuesday posts are for you.

This weeks tea is ...

*drum roll*

John Watson

Ho,w I found it: I found this tea on the Adagio tea website while browsing through their many fandom blends. This is same tea company I got the Aang, Katara, Zuko, Toph ,Iroh and Cactus Juice blends. They have so many spectacular teas! I stumbled upon BBC Sherlock teas, and I had to get them! The set also includes: Sherlock Holmes (of course ;) ), Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper, Greg Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson.

The Tea: I can certainly see John Watson drink this tea in the morning. As you drink it, the tea starts with an earl grey from the Earl Grey Green and an Irish Breakfast flavor with the hint of cinnamon and then ends with a green taste. It's a calming tea. It fits his fickle but loyal as a lapdog personality that doesn't take any crap from Sherlock. I bet Watson would drink this when Sherlock is getting on his nerves too much.

Watson's irritated face. XD

Serving Recommendations: I steeped it for four minutes and just added sugar because of the green tea.

How much is it and where can you get it? You can find this tea at the Adagio website. I bought this tea in a sample set which was about $22 including shipping and you get a goodly amount of tea since you only need about a teaspoon per cup.

So how good is it? This is a delightful tea. Though not one I'd drink regularly due to the unique flavor, I'll definitely drink it when the next season ... finally ... ever ... comes out ....

Have you tried this tea? What did you think of it? Have you seen Sherlock? Who's your favorite character?

Bonus! If you are a first-time Adagio customer I can send you a $5 giftcard! Ask in the comments for details! (This is no joke and no catch I seriously can. It's part of the amazingness of Adagio Teas)

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's tea!

Soundtrack Sunday: Vogel Im Kafig (Attack on Titan)

It's Soundtrack Sunday! I found this really amazing track from the Attack on Titan soundtrack. All the tracks from this album are awesome, but the vocals in "Vogel im Kafig" or "Bird in a Cage" is just amazing as is the journey of the song. It starts in this surreal tone then it turns into inspirational then intense and tragic. It's just gorgeous. The lyrics are in German. Below is the google translation of the lyrics. It missed some of the words, but you get the gist of the beauty of the song. If you'd like to listen to more cool tracks, check out my Soundtrack Sundays Playlist!

The inner wealth of the people is 

How to Light 

Stained by color glass 

Hereinzuscheinend. 

The angenehmne daily 

like a warm candle light 

The very wide green earth, 

The rich beautiful water, 

The grandiose nature still causes 

their children. 

Hopefully we can do it sometime 

Understanding. 

We fixed step. 

Everything living dies one day. 

Whether we are willing to die or not, 

The day will arrive safely. 

Is this the angel of twilight 

Himmerl flew down? 

If as the devil from the Felsenspaite 

Out crawled? 

Tears, anger, compassion, cruelty, 

Peace, chaos, faith, betrayal. 

We are against our fate 

Ankämpfer. 

We should not our destiny 

Submission. 

With sadness and decision in the heart 

Let's show the will to go on. 

No one may headstrong of his life 

Be deprived. 

Have you heard this piece before? What do you think of it? Have you seen Attack on Titan?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's Soundtrack Sunday!

Writing Lessons from Anime: Interior Monologue and Thoughts

Guilty Crown. Attack on Titan. Sword Art Online. These are some of my favorite animes. For years I couldn't put my finger on it, but something made animes stand apart from other shows or movies both animated or live action. I wrote a post on several tips about what you can learn from them, but the thing that sets these Japanese animated television programs apart is the use of thoughts.

Interior monologue and thoughts are used to show the point of view character's thought process in books. Both are essential to bringing the reader close to the character.

Thoughts are direct thoughts from the character always in present tense.
Example: I hate him! 

Interior monologue is without italics and from a third person perspective usually.
Example: He had to find a way out!

Like in books, animes use thoughts in the progression of the shows. Since thoughts are the genuine interior of the character, this brings the audience closer to the characters than just what they show on the outside or even in their private moments. Though many other forms of televised media use brief bits of narration or flashbacks, thoughts show the real character.

I'm going use video clips to help with this post. All of the designated sections are PG, and I'm going to keep them spoiler free. :) The clips will automatically start at a certain point but I can't figure out how to stop them  at a certain point so I will say where to stop. None of these clips are mine. I'm just using them for examples because they're great shows.

In this clip (that I had to delete because YouTube so kindly removed it -_-'), we see Naruto expressing his distress internally about the exam. His lips don't move so he is thinking this. It would be awkward if he expressed this out loud, and we wouldn't be as close to Naruto if we just saw the facial expression.

Anime put the thoughts/interior monologue in same places as in a book. By watching over five hundred episodes of anime over the years, I've noticed there are four different types of interior monologue: General Commentary, Solving, Reflection, and Internal Comment.

1.) General Commentary - This is the basic thought process of a character, including a bit of talking to oneself on the inside. This happens throughout books and animes on a regular basis.

For this type of interior monologue, I'll use a clip from Guilty Crown. There are several instances of interior monologue particularly at 0:41, 0:59, 1:24, 2:24 and 3:04.

In this clip, we get the hang of Shu's (the main character, guy with brown hair with white highlight) voice and how he thinks. We get that he's shy, introverted, and self conscious from hearing his thoughts. Your character's thoughts will define the personality of your character. So keep character voice in mind while writing out general thoughts. 

2.) Solving - This is when your character is working out a problem in their head. This usually happens during action sequences. Action as in not necessarily when the character's life is directly in danger but when something big is happening.

In many Naruto episodes the characters figure out their enemies attacks during battles. Thinking through their strategies and predicting moves. This is important so your readers are up to date with your character's thought process. If your character commences a plan and your readers don't know how he came up with it, they can feel out of sync with the characters, and it can take them out of a deep point of view.

3.) Reflection - This happens during rest periods or times between action sequences usually. Sometimes animes do them during a battle, but I wouldn't recommend that too often since it can dispel the tension you built up. The character can reflect on situations positively or negatively contemplating on what happened and sometimes what to do next or how it has/will change them.

I'll use a clip from Attack on Titan, clip one finishes at 0:30.

In this clip, Eren is reflecting on the past. Earlier in the show, the humans in the city were totally unprepared for any Titan (the enemy) attacks. But now that the humans have learned they have more of a chance. Have your characters take time to reflect during rest periods. Usually those are the best times to show character arcs coming along. 

4.) Internal Comment - This is a comment or reaction or opinion of a character that he could express out loud but wants to express internally. Usually this type of interior monologue happens during conversation.

For this type of interior monologue I'll use a clip from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. (Example clip ends at 6:53)

In this clip, Colonel Mustang (guy with black hair and bangs) is obviously annoyed with Maes Hughes (the dude that just barged in). Though this isn't a typical way that anime shows thoughts, it is still Colonel Mustang expressing his opinion of Maes inside because he doesn't want others to hear.

Your character may want to express an internal opinion be it positive or negative in interior monologue or thoughts. Including a bit of interior monologue like this lets us know what he's thinking about this person or situation. This is also effective to do when inserted between dialogue when the character says something but is thinking something else or lying.


On a final note, don't forget to put in your interior monologue and thoughts frequently to keep your reader in the head of the character. Interior monologue more so than thoughts. And if you've noticed when the character in each clip starts thinking, the camera zooms up on the character. Before you write the character's interior monologue include an action beat that will make the book's "camera" zoom up on the character.

Example: Suki put her hand over her mouth. Oh my goodness. Not Hiro.

Interior monologue is a great asset for your writing when you learn how to use it to its fullest and so fun when you finally tap into your character's voice. ^ ^ Ganbette ne (Good luck)!

Do you have any questions about interior monologue? Have you seen any of these animes? 

You may also like:
What Anime Can Teach Us About Writing
Five Tips on Writing A Good Main Character
How to Write a 3D Villain Part 1
How to Write a 3D Villain Part 2
MomoCon and Fans!

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Wonderful Word Wednesdays: Efface

It's Wonderful Word Wednesday again, and I found a really cool word for you all. ^ ^

efface

verb

1.) to wipe out; do away with; expunge: to efface one's unhappy memories.

2.) to rub out, erase, or obliterate (outlines, traces, inscriptions, etc.).

3.) to make (oneself) inconspicuous; withdraw (oneself) modestly or shyly.

Example Sentence: Rota struggled to efface an affiliation with the project.

A little wallpaper I made a while back for my sci-fi company Rota.

Have you seen or used this word before? What do you think of it?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's word!

Tea Tuesday: Sherlock Holmes

I'm not really a coffee person. I prefer tea, and I know a lot of fellow writers love tea, too. But have you ever wanted to break out of the Early Grey or English Breakfast norm and try something new? Well, let me help you find some cool new teas! If you need a little hot and flavorful boost to help you reach your writing goal or you're just a lover of tea or you'd like to try some tea but aren't fond of the stereotypical types, these Tea Tuesday posts are for you.

This weeks tea is ... 

*drum roll*

Sherlock Holmes

How I found it: I found this tea on the Adagio tea website while browsing through their many fandom blends. This is same tea company I got the Aang, Katara, Zuko, Toph, Iroh and Cactus Juice blends.They have so many spectacular teas! I stumbled upon BBC Sherlock teas, and I had to get them! The set also includes: John Watson, Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper, Greg Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson.

The Tea: This tea is definitely like no other. It has a smokey, manly, leathery (in a good way) taste which reminds me of pipe tobacco. To me, this tastes how I'd imagine Sherlock's trench coat smelling. Trench coats are awesome. The smokey flavor comes from the tea lapsang souchong inside the blend which is a special Chinese wood-smoked tea. The assam melody and the oriental spice in the blend give a slight sweet and spicy taste at the end.

The awesomeness that is Sherlock's trench coat.

Serving Recommendations: This tea is very strong. I wouldn't steep it longer than three minutes. If you really like the strong smokey smell then I wouldn't put anything in it. Sugar and cream dull the flavor. I like it a bit more mild myself so that's what I do.

How much is it and where can you get it? You can find this tea at the Adagio website. I bought this tea in a sample set which was about $22 including shipping and you get a goodly amount of tea since you only need about a teaspoon per cup.

So how good is it? This isn't a tea I wouldn't drink too often because of the unusual flavor, but it is a very good tea and totally fits Sherlock. Four stars! :)

Have you tried this tea? What did you think of it? Have you seen Sherlock? Who's your favorite character?

Bonus! If you are a first-time Adagio customer I can send you a $5 giftcard! Ask in the comments for details! (This is no joke and no catch I seriously can. It's part of the amazingness of Adagio Teas)

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's tea!

Soundtrack Sunday: Angels Will Rise (Twisted Jukebox)

It's Soundtrack Sundays again! A good friend of mine found this piece for me, and I've been listening to it like crazy. It's an epic track with piano throughout, awesome strings and even some choir. Check it out.  You can find more cool tracks like this in my Soundtrack Sundays YouTube playlist!

Have you heard this piece before? What do you think of it?

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Click here for last week's Soundtrack Sunday!

Beautiful People: Bryce

I've recently discovered that a member of the writer's group Go Teen Writers is hosting a blog link-up called Beautiful People. :) Questions to ask your character are posted on the fifth of each month and you link your blog to the host blog Paper Fury. Bryce hasn't come out of the woodwork in a while so he is forced to volunteers to be the character for this post. He is the main character of my science-fiction novel Subsapien Biomech. On to the questions!

1) What is their full name and is there a story behind why they got it? 

Bryce is his whole name. No last name. He named himself when he was seven years old after a kind lady told him that he could have a name instead of a number.

2) How old are they, and when were they born? 

Bryce is seventeen and he was born in the 22nd century on January 17th.

3) Describe their physical appearance. (Bonus questions: 1. What is their race/nationality/ethnicity? 2. Do you have a picture of them? If so, include it!) 

Bryce is six foot three inches with neck-length blonde hair and amber eyes. He has cheetah spots and scars all over his body. He has two tattoos: a MK one on his neck and a circular, green L.G.R. one on his upper left arm. He also has a mechanical left arm, metal legs, a cheetah tail tipped with pincers and claws. His ethnicity is Caucasian and pictures are included above and below.

An original drawing of Bryce by yours truly.

4) Describe your character's personality first in one word, and then elaborate with a few sentences. 

Determined. Bryce is bent on escaping from the lab he was raised in most of his life and now the new one he's been transported to. Though many tragic events have deterred him, he never stops trying to leave and protect the people he loves. 

5) What theme song(s) fit their personality and story arc? 

I have so many songs that fit him, but narrow it down to a non-ridiculous number. Animal I've Become by Three Days Grace describes the animal-side he's been forced to become by his captors to survive his hellish environment. Titanium by David Guetta describes his determination and his new metal appendages. Numb by Linkin' Park describes his relationship with the antagonist Judah Mitchell so well it's ridiculous. 

6) Which one of the seven deadly sins describes your character? 

Wrath. Bryce definitely has a tendency to get angry at most everyone, especially the people who have hurt him personally. Even people associated in anyway to those people.

7) If they were an element (fire, water, earth, air), which one would they be? 

Fire. Bryce is passionate, angry, and powerful.

8) What is their favorite word? 

Deadbrain. A word for "moron" he and his friends made up.

9) Who’s one person they really miss? (It could be someone who’s passed away, or someone they’re not close to anymore, or someone who’s moved away.) 

His little brother Matt. After the scientists transported him to the new lab, he hasn't seen his little brother, his only family, since.

10) What sights, sounds, and smells remind them of that person? 

Words, fish, bacon and music. Matt has always wanted to learn to read, his favorite foods are fish and bacon, and he loves music.

And that's a little about Bryce. If you'd like to know more about him, he has two character interviews to check out: Character Interview 1 and Character Interview 2. You can check out some pictures of him on my deviantART and his book's Pinterest board. Thanks for reading!

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

You may also like:

How to Write A Good Character Interview

Interview with Caleb Heagen (Subsapien)

Interview with Pro Jamerson (Subsapien)

Interview with Judah Mitchell (Subsapien)

Interview with Matt (Subsapien)