#epicwrite

[epicwrite]

What We’re Reading: The False Prince

I have been on such a fantasy kick lately, it’s so great. It’s because I’m on break now and can finally read for fun again!

The False Prince follows Sage, an orphan, who has been absconded with by Conner, a nobleman in the small country of Carthya. Carthya is on the very edge of a civil war and Conner is brewing a plan to install one of the boys as the long-lost Prince Jaron, presumed killed in a pirate attack. Sage, defiant and clever, knows that Conner’s motives are questionable at best and figures out pretty quickly that the boys who are not chosen to impersonate the prince will be killed.

He spends his free time climbing the walls of the estate, discovering layers and layers of treachery and lies. His rivals are alternately friendly and ruthless, swearing to help one moment and sabotaging him the next, and Sage’s prospects look nearly hopeless. Only by stringing together an impossible deception of his own can Sage even hope to survive his time with Conner.

For me, The False Prince was like taking a trip back in time. This is the sort of stuff I was reading when I was fourteen and fifteen, so coming back to it now is like coming home. This doesn’t mean it’s juvenile, in fact, it’s quite a complex plot. Sage is smart and fiery and such a sassmaster, I was immediately engaged by his personality.

The author has mastered the very difficult art of hiding things from the reader without letting you know that you don’t have the full truth. I only saw the last twist coming about a page before it hit, which is some sneaky plot-twisting. My only critique is that the first twist is a little bit predictable, and the main antagonist is pretty stereotypical (Veldergrath? Really?). But the novel makes up for it by making the last plot twist pretty startling, and Veldergrath is way less important than the prospect of public execution. Unlike a lot of books at this level, The False Prince doesn’t avoid death or make light of it. It’s very real.

The False Prince is the first book in the Ascendance trilogy, I believe the second one is called The Runaway King. (don’t quote me on that)

Four stars for Jennifer A. Nielsen and her scrappy orphan boy!

-Logan

[epicwrite]

What We’re Reading: Red Queen

In an indeterminate point in the future, the world is divided by blood: Reds and Silvers. Powerful blood flows in the veins of Silvers, giving them abilities not granted to the Reds. The Silvers live like gods, while lowly Reds are commoners.

In a small Red village lives Mare Barrow. She earns money and food for her family by being quite a prolific thief, while her sister Gisa does honorable work as an embroiderer. But when a simple plan to save Mare’s friend from being drafted into the army (a veritable death sentence for a Red) goes awry, Mare finds herself working as a servant in a Silver palace.

Here, she discovers that she has an ability of her own, deadly and very different from anything the Silvers have ever seen. Fearful of what her powers could mean, as the country balances carefully on the knife of war, the Silver royals declare her a long-lost princess and betroth her to a Silver prince, hoping to keep her under their thumb until they figure out what she is.

My teaser/summary here fails to mention the best things about this book, honestly. I loved it. It feels like a very appropriate book for the times, dealing with super relevant things like terrorism while still being a fantasy novel. Victoria Aveyard has seamlessly blended the courtly royal premise typical of medieval novels with more dystopia-like aspects, such as video cameras and DNA testing.

Mare is a wonderful female protagonist. She is strong without being a Mary Sue and very obviously works for herself, not to please a man. She does have a love interest, but the fact of her attraction to him has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, which is incredibly refreshing. And (without spoiling anything), Red Queen honestly has one of the best villains I have ever seen, especially for not really seeing him at all until the last third of the book.

The second book, Glass Sword, comes out in 2016. I am very excited.

Four and a half stars for Victoria Aveyard and her Silver royals.

-Logan

[epicwrite]

Are you struggling to come up with a character for your next LARP or novel? We've put together a character generator generator to spark some character ideas for you! The EpicWrite Character forge currently has over 4.1 trillion possible character variations, and is being actively added to. Give it a try!

[epicwrite]

Tip: The 22 Best Writing Tips (Via Writing Forward)

These writing tips cover the basics and the most important aspects of writing.

Do it. Write.

Read as much and as often as you can. Remember, every writer is a reader first.

Keep a journal or notebook handy at all times so you can jot down all of your brilliant ideas. If you’ve got a smartphone, make sure it’s loaded with a note-taking app. A voice-recording app also comes in handy for recording notes and ideas.

Make sure you have a dictionary and thesaurus available whenever you are writing.

Be observant. The people and activities that surround you will provide you with great inspiration for characters, plots, and themes.

Invest in a few valuable resources starting with The Chicago Manual of Style and The Elements of Style.

Grammar: learn the rules and then learn how to break them effectively.

Stop procrastinating. Turn off the TV, disconnect from the Internet, tune out the rest of the world, sit down, and write.

Read works by highly successful authors to learn what earns a loyal readership.

Read works by the canonical authors so you understand what constitutes a respectable literary achievement.

Join a writers’ group so you can gain support from the writing community and enjoy camaraderie in your craft.

Create a space in your home especially for writing.

Proofread everything at least three times before submitting your work for publication.

Write every single day.

Start a blog. Use it to talk about your own writing process, share your ideas and experiences, or publish your work to a reading audience.

Subscribe to writing blogs on the Internet. Read them, participate, learn, share, and enjoy!

Use writing exercises to improve your skills, strengthen your talent, and explore different genres, styles, and techniques.

Let go of your inner editor. When you sit down to write a draft, refrain from proofreading until that draft is complete.

Allow yourself to write poorly, to write a weak, uninteresting story or a boring, grammatically incorrect poem. You’ll never succeed if you don’t allow yourself a few failures along the way.

Make it your business to understand grammar and language. Do you know a noun from a verb, a predicate from a preposition? Do you understand tense and verb agreement? You should.

You are a writer so own it and say it out loud: “I am a writer.” Whether it’s a hobby or your profession, if you write, then you have the right to this title.

Write, write, write, and then write some more. Forget everything else and just write.

[mongrel-mage]

CALLING ALL WRITERS!

Most of you will probably just pass this up, but if you could reblog it so word gets around, or went so far as to actually donate, that would be better than words.

In Washington state, there is a writers' camp called TeenWrite. One of the things that TeenWrite offers is a program called EpicWrite, which is essentially a multi-day roleplay with you as your character, and it's barrels of insane fun. The problem is, EpicWrite has fallen into debt and is in serious danger of tanking. $3000-$5000 is needed to pull EpicWrite out of debt!

Even if you don't go to TeenWrite, have never heard of it, or are in my shoes and want desperately to go because your best friends have told you about it, please take two seconds to reblog this. If you want to donate, go to www.teenwrite.org and contact Katherine Grace Bond to figure out how to send in money to save EpicWrite.  

[dapperdragon]

Can you help us?

So, I'm in a writing/acting/improv group and we're in trouble. The last place we did one of our overnights screwed us over as far as bills and other complications, and we're really hurting. It's called EpicWrite and it's a place for young writers and actors to play and write and do improv with each other as the characters they're writing about, and it's fantastic. As one of my friends said, "I cannot express how much this deserves to exist."

I can't tell you how often this group has saved my life. I was lonely and had just moved and didn't have any friends, and they pulled me up from a very dark place. I've seen this happen with other kids too, loners and kids who are bullied and creative geniuses who are totally alone. EpicWrite is a place of support and love and I've never seen anyone have a bad time there.

So anything you can donate helps. $10, $5, $2. Anything. Anything to help keep this creative community going, because this program does nothing but good things. Please. If you can't help, reblog it anyway. I don't ever ask for money on the internet, but this is my life and I would be incredibly grateful if you could help.

Link to donate here, link to website here. And if you're in northwestern Washington, come play with us!