FML

Okay so some bad news (for me at least). I had plans for a story to put on FictionPress, and all of the plots and short stories I had written for it (including the original story and such) was on my flashdrive and only my flashdrive. I only had it on there because we had gotten our computer a new hard drive and it erased all of my memory on the desktop. I was going to put all my stories on the desktop again but I kept forgetting. Earlier today, I tried to do that, but it seems my flashdrive has pooped out. I don't know, it just won't load up on any of my computers. It's really making me mad and I'm really pissed and about to cry because I have like two years worth of stuff on that flashdrive. I'm trying not to worry too much about it because I can ask my sister who is like a computer/tech genius, but I'm afraid that it's finally dead after like three years. Pray for my flashdrive!

--Akatsuki Child

Slow

Just a quick note to my readers on Fanfiction: updates for stories will be slower now. I just finished a soccer tournament and I am sore as hell. I'm so tired and just loopy that I think it would be bad if I wrote anything right now. But more importantly, I'm going through a tough stage with my emotions right now. I'm having some guy trouble, but it's mostly just me trying to figure out what my feelings are for this guy. I've been having mixed feelings about him, and even though I absolutely loathe him sometimes, I can't help but like him a few days later. It's kind of pissing me off because of how confusing and frustrating this all is. Anyways, I don't want to bore people anymore. Basically, I'm just trying to sort things out within myself, and I think that if I started writing right now, especially for Only a Dream, some bad things would happen to me. Thanks for all of your guys' support on Fanfiction and to my seven followers! :)

--Akatsuki Child

Status

I thought that today I would just kind of bring my Fanfiction readers to my current status story wise.

Currently, I'm working on Only a Dream and the Persistence of Memory.

My story Contentions is going to be on hiatus for while, mainly because I don't want to have to keep stopping work on it. I'm so busy right now in my life that once I start writing for it, I get distracted or something else needs my attention first. I thought it would be best to just hold it off until things slow down. Unfortunately, that might not be until summer time.

My other unfinished story, Death is Life, I will also try to work on, but my inspiration for that story is slowly dying. I still like the idea, I'm just having a hard time continuing it. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to take it.

Lastly, for the sequel to Artificial Engagement...I've thought of a new solution to the sequel, but it's not official and set in stone. I'm going to go over it and see if it will be able to hold up. I have a good feeling about this plot though. The only bad thing about this is it pushes the publish date to definitely summer. I guess we'll have to see.

Pet Peeves

Now, I'm not too picky when it comes to reading stories on Fanfiction. I've learned to ignore the mistakes and try to continue through a story. I'm not talking about a few mistakes, I'm talking about the stories that have multiple errors, misspelling, bad grammar...stuff like that that happens frequently. When stories are like that, they become hard to read despite them possibly having a good idea.

Pet Peeve Number 1: Misspelling

Granted, not all word processors have spell check, but that's what dictionaries are for! If you're not sure about a word, look it up on dictionary.com.

Pet Peeve Number 2: Bad Grammar

English grammar is hard. I get it. Sometimes what is grammatically correct doesn't sound right and so you write it the wrong way. I know what that's like. That doesn't really bother me. It's stuff like "We was going that way," or "Them were heading to the store." Incorrectly using singular and plural pronouns, nouns, and verbs really gets my goat.

Pet Peeve Number 3: Punctuation

Sometimes our pinkies accidentally hit a period instead of a comma, or we forget to hit the shift key before hitting the quote key. But when it repeatedly happens or they don't even use periods and commas, it starts to get hard, and not to mention confusing, to read. Also, knowing when to use single and double quotations, and how to use apostrophes correctly.

Pet Peeve Number 4: The Chatting Language

Tlkin lke thees gets rlly annoying. 'Lol' is okay if you don't use it like 'lolololol' and after every sentence. I have when people use this because it just shows laziness. It gives off the impression that they don't care when they say "U was gonna see tht movie cuz it is awsm."

That's all I can think of right now, but for those who are also Fanfiction-ers, a few words of advice: if you're not sure something sounds right, Dictionary.com it. Or option B) get a beta. Yes, it can be kind of painful to find one who will take the time to read over your work, but it's worth it in the end. Don't like that idea? Then just go back yourself and reread it. Trust me, it works and it helps you become a better writer.

The whole moral of this rant is to REVIEW your WORK! It'll help get you more readers and reviewers while also upping your ability to write.

New Story!

I have a new story posted on Fanfiction! It's called Only A Dream, and it's supposed to be a dark story. I only have the Prologue posted. It's going to be a tough story to write because it deals with a lot of dark things that have been happening around me (one happening to a close friend of mine). The stuff that I'm going to be writing I have never experienced or never really thought of so it's going to be difficult to think about the situations and to write it like it might be. I'm going way out of my comfort zone by writing this story, but I'm hoping it will expand my writing style horizons and bring a whole new idea/creation to PJO Fanfiction. So wish me luck and if you read my stories, let me know how I'm doing!

--Akatsuki Child

Contentions--Story

This is just a quick little note for Fanfiction. If you've read my last post, you'll know that I've been busy and stressed out a bit. I've realized that some of my stress is coming from the fact that I haven't written for Contentions in a long time because I've temporarily lost my muse for that story. So, I'm going to take a short hiatus on that story and work on other stories until more inspiration has struck me.

--AC

Writer's Block...Again.

This is for my Fanfiction readers: I am having a writer's block :( Tis very sad. I was really pumped for Contentions and I pumped out like four chapters in a month and now....bleh. Nothing. I hate saying that I've been busy but I literally have been busy. My birthday was on Wednesday, then on the weekend I went out of town and didn't get home til midnight on Sunday. We've had a few snow days so the teachers are piling on homework and I have a major paper due tomorrow. Oh, and I've finally gotten a job, and that's going to take more time out of my schedule to write. Don't fret, though, because I WILL find time to write. It's just that updates are going to be a little slower.

In other news, I've been stewing some new ideas that will eventually become stories. I'm also working on editing Artificial Engagement, though I'm thinking of putting the sequel on hold for now. It probably won't be out for a while. I just can't put together a strong enough plot that will hold through. Also, I'm working on getting a FictionPress account. Last year, I started an original series and I've been writing little stories for it for over a year now. I'm thinking of refining that story line and publishing it on FictionPress along with the short stories I wrote for it.

So once again, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I'm just busy as hell. But I AM trying for you guys! Thanks for being patient!