Some day, I am going to be rich and famous (well, at least published) and someone is going to try to write my biography. I say "try," because when they do they are going to have to track down all of my diaries and blogs ... and there are a lot of them. If this does not drive them crazy, the fact that 499 out of every 500 posts says absolutely nothing at all will. This will cause my biographer to want to track me down and stab me with a spoon.
Can you imagine writing that?
Then, when Miss Larson was 32 years of age, she was brutally murdered by her irate biographer, namely, me.
That felt good, and the kind judge let me off with only a warning because he felt I was justified in killing her.

This weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Life, the Universe & Everything writing convention (LTUE). My friend M and I went down together. It was SOOOOOOOO much fun! I learned loads, and it was a great way to refresh my excitement for writing. I feel that this is the biggest reason for writing cons, groups, clubs, and even classes. Forget learning from the pros. Forget being critiqued. Forget getting together with other geeks who have watched Doctor Who and read Harry Potter. The most important reason to get together with other writers is to feed off of one another's enthusiasm. It is just good to know that I am not the only geek out there.
One of the classes I went to was about writing a good blog. This class was actually so boring that I began writing this blog post in the middle of it. However, it did make me want to start taking my blog writing seriously -- especially if I wanted to get published within the next couple of years. I also really like what Sandra Taylor, one of the panelists, said about blogging: "The world is full of little stories, and I am like a small child, who wants to catch them, like moths, and show them off to people: 'See, look what I found!'" (mind you, I am totally paraphrasing.)
Few of the LTUE classes were as dull as the blogging one (though I must admit that during one of them I was writing the same notes that I used to write during math class: Kill me! Just kill me now!!!) In fact, most classes were quite informative, and some were downright hilarious. We talked about the Mentor character, and how to create a wizard that is not Gandalf, Merlin, or Dumbledore. The class on strong female characters was pleasantly surprising -- I had been expecting a feminests' rant, but instead we talked about having a strong character who is still feminine. I loved the class on how we should stop killing dogs and mothers -- why are our heroes always orphans whose dog dies half-way through the story? The list of great classes goes on and on.
Probably my favourite thing about LTUE, however, was the chance to hear Brandon Sanderson speak. (He is the author of the Alcatraz books, Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy, and the one who was chosen to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.) Sanderson is my new hero -- seriously, I want to be him when I grow up! During the panel on Mormons in Fantasy, Brandon Sanderson asked why Sci-Fi and Fantasy sell an inordinate amount in Utah, whereas these genres hardly sell at all along the "Bible Belt." Why do Mormons love Fantasy, whereas so many other Christian religions go so far as to say it is sacrilegious and even satanic? Someone, who was probably LDS and totally joking, called out: "Because Mormons aren't Christian!" This is at BYU, mind, and most of the audience laughed. Brandon Sanderson, however, was completely serious when he said: "We shouldn't say that, even in jest. I am a Christian, and I am sick of people saying otherwise." M and I had to cheer for him when he said that. Brandon Sanderson writes Epic Fantasy for a national market, but, unlike some people I could mention, does not feel he has to drop his standards to write a good book. His writing is free from cursing and immorality and, basically, everything that keeps me from reading adult fantasy and certain books about sparkly vampires.
Okay, really, I am not being paid to promote Brandon Sanderson -- though I do highly suggest you check out Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (which was written in sixteen days, and apparently dictated to a plant).
As I say, LTUE greatly encouraged my own writing. I got some brilliant ideas for beginnings and for characters and for how to create a story by starting out with nothing but a basic setting, general character, and sketchy problem. I also learned a bit about NaNoWriMo, and plan on participating in it this year. For those of you who do not know, NaNoWriMo is where writers all over the country (possibly all over the world) write 50,000 words during the month of November. That's 50,000 words in 30 days. That's 1,667 words a day. I will write more about this in October. I am WAY excited!

As many of you (okay, two ... three if my mother happens to be reading this) of you know, I have started a club for teen writers: The Society Of Literacy And Bananas! Association (SOLAB!A). We are just a group of amateur writers who meet in my basement to eat snacks, obsess over Doctor Who, and talk about writing.
Our first meeting was last month, and went, I think, really well. Everyone wrote from the writing prompt: Death was last seen at the auction house, looking worried. This was a ton of fun, because we got so many personifications of Death. Death was a man, a woman, or an event. Death was evil, kind, or flirty. It was really brilliant.
This week, the members are each supposed to bring their notes about observations they made while People Watching. Then, we will do a five-minute writing on each "character." I really hope this goes well.
LTUE gave me a MILLION ideas for activities to do at SOLAB!A. I'm going to have no trouble plotting the next several meetings.

I guess that for those of you who are new to my blogs, I should tell you a bit about myself and my plans for future blogging.
For one, feel free to check out my old blog: http://www.donteatthecat.blogspot.com/. However, be warned: The Hot Girl in the Comic Shop is not responsible for any loss of IQ points or injuries sustained by banging one's head against the desk caused by reading donteatthecat. You read at your own risk.
Anyways, apart from that, I'm just a random teen who spends all her time either doing school through Utah Virtual Academy (UTVA) or writing. Mostly writing. Oh, and watching Doctor Who.
It is my goal to put up a blog post every Monday, and post a piece of writing (either answering a prompt, writing flash fiction, or a poem I wrote at a ridiculous time of night) on Tuesday-Saturday. I hope you enjoy my blog. PLEASE comment, even if it is just to say: "I read this. It was stupid."

Always bring a banana to a party!