Rose & Thorn Coming Soon!

    Back when I started this blog, I was working on a novel that was supposed to be part of a trilogy. That novel was called Rose. It was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty set in modern-day France because I love France.
    Unfortunately, the story didn't end up panning out. There wasn't enough content to it to fill up a whole novel. I decided that since it was going to be part of a trilogy where the characters interact, that I would combine all three of my story ideas as novellas into one novel. But I put it off because something wasn't right.

    My other ideas, my retellings of Cinderella and Snow White, also were not panning out. The stories didn't quite make sense and their plots were also seriously lacking in depth. Eventually, I was inspired with other ideas for retellings for both those tales, but they didn't fit along with Rose, because they both took place in medieval times and were set up to be more traditional fantasy stories. So what was I going to do?

The Middle

    I'm hitting that point in the middle of my writing where I usually get bored and pitter off. You know, that almost halfway chapter of Rose where I realized that there wasn't enough to the story and so many things needed to change before I could finish, so I stopped and moved on to the next thing?
    Except I'm not getting bored. I'm getting more and more excited to write. So much is happening and I cannot wait to put everything into words. Usually I only get dragged into this kind of suspense when I'm reading, but the fact that my own writing is pulling me in proves to me that not only is this story is worth telling, but it's also ready to be told.

Another Update

    I went back to Physical Therapy yesterday.  There's good news and bad news.  My left leg has improved tremendously.  My right leg has not improved at all.  This means I'm still restricted mostly to the couch.  I've burned through almost everything on Netflix and Hulu.  I watched every Avengers movie over the weekend (minus Thor because his story is not well presented).  I'm halfway through the Star Wars Saga (because Husband of Mine is never free to watch them with me).  
    The only thing I haven't done is write.  I've been making excuses like this:

    After posting my revamped Ch. 1 of Powerful on Scribophile, it received some amazing feedback.  The concept of the story seems to capture a lot more attention than Rose did.  This is what someone said about it-

NaNoWriMo 2014 The End

    Today is December 1st, 2014. NaNoWriMo is officially over. It ended at 11:59 pm last night. My word count for November is 20,226. That's right, I hit made it to my 20,000 word goal. Here's the official week by week tally:

    Week 1- 6,255 words - 20,372 words total
    Week 2- 9,273 words - 15,528 words so far - 29,645 words total
    Week 3- 4,435 words - 19,963 words so far - 34,080 words total
    Week 4- 263 words - 20,226 words so far - 34,343 words total

    Yeah, this past week wasn't very awesome. I was crazy busy with my family here, and I only focused on my writing on Monday.  I didn't even get another chapter written, so technically I still can't claim that I'm halfway through my novel.  The only reason I hit my goal was because when I rewrote chapter 14 from first person, I cut out a lot of Phillippe's thoughts and forgot to put them back in.  So I added them into chapter 15 because they were really important to the story line and his part was only a few lines.

NaNoWriMo 2014 Week 4

    So this week was not as successful as last week.  My NaNoWriMo so far look like this:

    Week 1- 6,255 words - 20,372 words total
    Week 2- 9,273 words - 15,528 words so far - 29,645 words total
    Week 3- 4,435 words - 19,963 words so far - 34,080 words total

    I am 37 words away from hitting my goal.  Now most of you will look at that and think how easy that is and how I'll definitely reach my goal.
    I get to spend my week cleaning, organizing, and prepping for my family to come for Thanksgiving.  They come on Thursday and leave on Monday.  That means if I don't want to spend all my time with my family writing, then I have two days to get it done.  I just have one chapter to write.  That one chapter (chapter 17) is the official halfway point of Rose.  

    I'm starting to feel a lot of panic and pressure, and with panic and pressure comes writer's block.

NaNoWriMo 2014 Week 3

    It has been 14 days since I set a goal for myself to write 5,000 words a week (20,000 words by the end of the month).  If you take a look at the word counter off to the right, you'll see that I'm now at 29,645 words for Rose.  14 days ago I had only 14,117 words written.  Sticking exactly to my goal, that would mean I should be at 24,117 words today.  Well, I'm a little past that.
    I've officially written 15,528 words in 14 days.  At the end of week 1, I had 6,255 words written.  That means I wrote 9,273 words during week 2.  I can't believe how much I've written.
    I've got 14 days left to write 5,000 more words and to reach my goal.  Remember how I thought I could never write this much in a month?  It's amazing how much harder I've worked with goals in mind.

    Now, for another announcement about Rose-  I posted what I thought would be the halfway point of Rose on August 12 (3 months and 4 days ago).  Since then, I used Scrivener to plan out the entire novel (which will be 34 chapters, so it wasn't exactly halfway), and I used the super awesome dual screen mode to rewrite the first 14 chapters in first person.  That's right, I've finished all my rewrites (as of yesterday!) and now I'm back to the pen and notebook to write chapter 15 (and the other 19 chapters that remain).

NaNoWriMo 2014 Week 2

    Since my last post, I've been doing some major writing.  In case you didn't see the new word counter I added a few days ago (it's underneath the Subscribe and Share buttons on the right), I'm here to give a brief update on my work with Rose.  

    When I did my first NaNoWriMo post, seven days ago, I noted my goals.  By 11:59 pm on November 30th, I wanted to have written 20,000 words of Rose.  Dividing that up into the four weeks I had left, that meant I had to write 5,000 words a week.
    I started at 14,117 words.  And yes, the counter on the right is accurate.  I updated it last night after I wrote my third (yes THIRD) chapter for the week.  I'm now at 20,372 words.  And for those of you playing at home, that means I wrote 6,255 words this week!  Whoo-hoo!
    The last time I've written three chapters in one week has to be back when I was in middle school and I was writing a book for my friend.  I was actually really close to finishing that book.  The thing that stopped me was the fact that I went into high school and no longer had any free time to write.  And that is exactly why I love NaNoWriMo.  It's forcing me to make writing a high priority.

Perspective Prompt

    Yes, the day has finally come.  I will finally show you the reaction that came from the perspective prompt.  
    This prompt is the one that started the craze of writing I have been battling with for the past 45 days.  I have made major modifications to Rose because this prompt sparked an idea, something that has seriously changed my book.  Here's a link to my original blog post to see some of my thoughts on perspective-
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/08/perspective.html?m=0#.VDridb7uXp4

    After thinking heavily about perspective and POV in writing, I realized the the POV in Rose is convoluted and unclear.  It randomly and unnecessarily switches from person to person, distracting the reader from what is happening in the story.  It also lent me a writing crutch of telling what people are thinking, rather than using body language to communicate.  So, I reevaluated what I was writing, and now I'm ready to show what perspective does to a story.

Rose Ch. 1 (Rewritten)

    I know, all my readers are like, "What?  You've already posted the first chapter of Rose, silly Alyson."  But this is not the old first chapter of Rose.  This is a much better version of the first chapter.  I love the new perspective much better.  It adds so much more than the old one had.  I've had a lot of struggles with perspective in writing Rose, so I'm trying to sort those out before I get any farther in the writing.  Yes, perspective, just like that double perspective prompt I promised I'd write like two weeks ago.  Don't worry, that's coming very soon.

Rose

Chapter 1

     For a while after it was all over, Rose struggled to cope with her new life.  Everything she ever thought she knew about her family, her life, and herself was shaken up and tossed around.  It took almost a year for the nightmares to stop.  She would scream in her sleep until I woke her.  Then she would cry until the morning light streaked through the embroidered curtains and burned away the image of those haunting green eyes.

     I tried to be there for her as best I could.  I didn’t sleep well either, so it was easy for me to stay up in one of the large red chairs next to her bed, and rub her back while she slept.  I was plagued with nightmares too, but they weren’t of malicious green eyes and never waking up.  They were of losing her.  I stayed awake and rubbed her back while she slept because I needed to know she was still breathing and that she would wake up again.  It was my fault she had these nightmares.  I was the one who dragged her out of ignorant bliss in Domfront because I was stupid and in love, so selfishly in love.

Rose Ch. 14

    This is officially the last time I will post a chapter of Rose here.  I have hit the halfway point in the plot.  This chapter is a huge turning point for both characters.  Phillippe has already admitted to himself that he is in love with Rose, but she refuses to let herself have feelings for him.  In this chapter she has to make a decision about whether to put herself or her family first.  
    In other random news, it has officially been three months since I started this blog.  So far, I have written 24,332 words of Rose.  A novel is typically 50,000-100,000 words.  If this chapter is the halfway point, then I am right where I want to be for my novel.  But 24,332 words in just three months?  That is insane.
    I can't wait to continue with this book.  It has been so fun to share my writing with you.  I'll keep you readers updated on how my writing is going, and where I am with the book.  
    I also thought you might enjoy seeing how I worked on my descriptions for Rose and Phillippe's trip this chapter.  Now, for this chapter I had previously written a rough draft to get some help with some legality questions I had, and when everything got unofficially approved, I knew this chapter would need much more to give it the effect I wanted.  Then, I found this in my wonderful book 642 Things to Write About.

    Seriously, this book is amazing.  It has so many creativity boosting prompts.  If I can find the first draft of this chapter, I'll post it on here so you can spot the differences and understand why description is so vital to writing.  It made such a huge difference.  Anyway, here's the chapter.

Rose Ch. 13

    I am so excited to post this chapter because it means I can write the next one.  The next one is going to be AWESOME and it'll be the last chapter I post on here.  I hope my readers enjoy it because I am SO excited to write it.  I have been waiting for this chapter since I started the book almost three months ago.  I can't wait.  Although, I do feel bad that it will be the last chapter I post.  Anyway, you can all look forward to this chapter and the next.  Enjoy!

Forgot the translations link again!  Here it is!
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U-bO61ZcMpA

Rose

Chapter 13

     As the wineries eased their way into a brisk December, temperaments dropped with the temperature.  Attempting to relieve some tension, Phillippe had called up his fencing instructor so he finally had a reason to stay out of the house.  He was sweaty and exhausted.  Everything was becoming too much.  How had it all escalated so quickly?  Oh yeah, apparently it was his fault. 

     Then he got jabbed in the chest.

“Phillippe, are you even trying anymore?  I know you’re tired, but you need to focus!”

“I’m trying, Gilles.”

Rose Ch. 12

    It has been quite a while since I've written a chapter for Rose.  I don't know why this chapter was so difficult to write, but I finally finished and I am very happy with how it turned out.  I hope you guys enjoy it too.  The next two chapters will be the last I post until the book is finished.  That is where I'm assuming the halfway point is, but I won't know that until the book is finished. I will post updates about the book as it gets written, but hopefully it will get finished and published soon for those who want to know what happens to Phillippe and Rose.  For now, here's the next chapter.

Here's the link to the translations!
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U97yAVZcMpA

Rose

Chapter 12

After an uneventful Wednesday, Rose was laying in bed reading Le Collier de la Reine when her cell phone rang.  Because she rarely used it, she had to dig it out of her purse.  When she found it, she didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway.  “Allô?”

“Excusez-moi, mademoiselle, but can you tell me what happened on 6 Juin, 1944?”

“Phillippe?”

“Just answer the question.”

She couldn’t hold back a laugh.  “Je suis désolée.  C’est le jour J.  Pourquoi?”

Rose Ch. 11

    Yes, I know, it's been a while since I posted a chapter.  All I can really say about this chapter is that this is so not what I intended to happen in this chapter.  The picnic was supposed to be just the beginning, and then they were supposed to go someplace, but as I wrote the story developed in a way I didn't expect.  I guess my plans will have to wait a chapter.  Also, I am about two chapters away from what I am predicting to be the middle of the book, unless what happened while I was writing today happens more often.  This is pretty exciting for me.  I've never been this motivated to write.  Hopefully I can keep focused on Rose and get the second half of this book written as fast as I am writing the first half!

**Yet again I completely forgot to update the French to English translations.  Here's the link! 

http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U73_-lZcMpA

Rose

Chapter 11

The following week consisted primarily of dark clouds and rain that barely relented enough for le marché.  Rose never minded the rain, but she did mind how frizzy her hair got because of the humidity.  In order to avoid the annoyance, she had braided her hair down her back.  She tread through the puddles with groceries in hand until she saw Dahlia just outside La Mine, waving her arm to catch her attention.

“Vite!  Inside, out of the rain.”  She pulled Rose inside.

“Dahlia, quoi...”

“Surprise?”  She giggled while Rose’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion at the scene in front of her.  After a moment, she pulled Rose down, maybe a bit to aggressively, onto the blanket spread out in the middle of the shop floor.

“Qu’est-ce que c’est?”

Rose Ch. 10

    I know, I know.  Finally, right?  I'm sorry it took so long to write, but I wasn't sure what was going to happen in this chapter.  If there's anything I've learned as a writer, it's that I don't get to decide what happens.  Sometimes the book moves forward without me and I have to catch up to know what's going to happen.  I hope you enjoy it!


Almost forgot to include the updated French to English translations! Here you go!  http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U6834BZcMpA

Rose

Chapter 10

Phillippe was infuriated with Vi.  The date they had the night before was the worst one yet.  She had left him in the restaurant humiliated and enraged.  He had wanted so badly to be understanding and friendly, but she had purposely set out to make him as upset as possible.  He was only certain of it because she had said so to his face before leaving with Jean.

Before that, she had told him how she wanted to avoid the winery business because it was a declining market and would inevitably fail, knowing just how much the family businesses meant to him and should mean to her.  When he tried to compliment her appearance, she just laughed in his face loud enough to bring all eyes in the restaurant to his flushed face.  Later when he was struggling to strike up a conversation with her, she just sat in her chair using her portable and ignored him until he finally asked her what she was trying to do.  It was that point she brought up how rude he had been at her fête by only talking to Dai and how hypocritical he was of her.  Then, she “accidentally” spilled her drink on him and left with her actual date, Jean.  When Hubert found out, he was enraged enough to confront Stéfan, and both men proceeded to argue until long after Phillipe had fallen asleep.

Rose Ch. 9

Phillippe celebrates Toussant with Dai and Vi, while Rose gets to know Dahlia more and Florian stops by for a visit.

As always, here is the link to the updated French to English translations: http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U50j3hZcMpD

Rose

Chapter 9

As a new month dawned, the change in season was completed.  The vineyards seemed to have a beautiful orange and yellow glow to them that matched the chrysanthemums they carried as they walked to the family cemetery for Toussaint.

The morning had been just as awkward as Phillippe had expected.  He hadn’t encountered either De La Fontaine sister since he left Vi’s birthday party.  When he arrived, Dai was sitting and painting in her usual window seat tucked behind the giant spiral staircase that took up half of the sitting room, while Vi was nowhere to be seen.  He watched Dai’s brush strokes in quiet awe until she put down her brush and wiped her hands clean.  “It looks très belle.”  He finally broke the silence that had been echoing off the stone walls.

Rose Ch. 8

This chapter was especially fun to write because I got to introduce a new character, Dahlia Germain.  Although her personality is very different from Rose's, they will eventually find they have more in common than they originally realized.  While she does play an important role in Rose's story, she has her own story that will be told eventually.  Any guesses as to who she might be?

French to English Translations :
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U5klHhZcMpB

Rose

Chapter 8

The morning had gotten off to a rough start for Rose.  She had slept in and gotten a late start to shopping, limiting her grocery selection au marché.  On top of the numerous changes to her shopping list, she was having a terrible hair day and ended up pulling her hair back into a ponytail, but her bangs kept falling into her eyes.  Despite all her frustration, she was determined to keep a positive outlook for the rest of the day.  After stopping à la fromagerie and having to make yet another switch on her list, she headed to Remy’s to put a smile back on her face.

Rose Ch. 7

I apologize for how long it took to post this chapter.  My arm is finally better and I am able to write again!  Yay!  So this chapter is Vi's actual birthday, but it's what Phillippe thinks of everything.  Enjoy!

Oh, and as promised, here is the link to the updated French to English translations. http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U5YboBZcMpA

Rose

Chapter 7

He felt his head pounding along with the ridiculously loud bass that was blasting throughout the entire De La Fontaine mansion.  Vi had gone all out for her birthday.  Loud music, flashing lights, and alcohol abounded as frequently as the drunk jeunes he had never met before and wondered if Vi actually could name all these people.  After watching her down another shot of Glann ar Mor whiskey, he realized she probably didn’t even know her own name.

The party had only been going on for an hour and Phillippe was ready to go home.  He had to stay for at least another hour to satisfy his father, or more likely lessen the severity of the lecture he had surely planned.  It would not go over well when his father found out that Vi had refused to even acknowledge his presence.  Surrounded constantly by a wall of people, she danced away.  Tired of watching the drunk dancing, he crept out the back door onto the veranda for some air that didn’t reek of alcohol.

“Phillippe, I didn’t realize you were still here.”  Dai was seated on une chaise, overlooking the vineyard.

Writer's Sketchbook 4

    Still being contained to typing, I was not able to finish the next chapter tonight.  Instead, I started my character sketch on the next most important character in the story, Daisi De La Fontaine.  While minor, she still plays an important role in the book and I felt bad that she was excluded.  Plus, she is probably my favorite character in the book.

Dai-

-fears: bugs, confrontation, being unwanted or disliked, emotional pain

-constantly perky

-always smiling & giggling

-genuinely kind

Writer's Sketchbook 3

Over the weekend I discovered that one character is growing more and more important in the overall plot of the story, and I decided that it was increasingly more important for me to do a character sketch of her in order to aid me in my writing.  This is going to be a fun character to write about because the reader has a love-hate relationship with her because her personality is so torn and twisted.  So here I present, Violette De La Fontaine.

Vi-

-fears: being alone, rejection, intimacy

-confident with a disinterested air

-flirtatious

-resounding laugh

-easily irritated and offended

French to English translations

It occurred to me that I've started to include more and more french phrases in Rose and that not everyone reading speaks french.  As I have been writing, I have been typing up a French to English dictionary to include at the back of the book, but I haven't posted it online for anyone to see.  So this is my post that is going to have the translations on it.  I will link to it in all of my chapter posts to make it easy when reading.  It will be updated with every new chapter I post.

French to English translations:

• À la/au = at the
• À Vendredi = Until Friday
• Allô = Hello
• Allons-y = let’s go
• Ans = years old
• Arrête = stop
• Assieds-toi = sit down
• Au revoir = goodbye
• Auberge de la Mine = Inn of the Wealthy
• Auberge de la Peintres = Inn of the Painters
• Aussi = also
• Aux Jardins de la Mansonière = at The Gardens of the Mansion
• Beau = boyfriend
• Beaucoup = a lot
• Bien sûr = of course 
• Bienvenue = welcome
• Bonjour = hello
• Boutique = shop
• Brut = gross
• C'est = this is
• C'est bien? = is that okay?
• C'est bien = that's okay
• C’est le temps que tu a perdu pour ta Rose qui fait ta Rose si importante = It is the time you have wasted for your Rose that makes your Rose so important.
• Ça va = well
• Carrillons de vent = wind chimes
• Ce = this
• Ces = these
• Chaise = chair
• Chère = dear
• Chocolat chaud = hot chocolate
• Citronnade = lemonade
• Comme = like
• Comment ça va = how are you
• Coupe de Monde de Rugby League = Rugby League World Cup
• Cuisine = kitchen
• De rien = you’re welcome, it was nothing
• Demain = tomorrow
• Des = some (of)
• Déchets = garbage
• Déjeuner = lunch
• Deux = two
• Deuxième Guerre Mondiale = Second World War
• Disques = disks, records
• Domfront perry = a special pear drink made only in that region
• Doux = sweet
• École = school 
• Encore = again
• Et = and
• Étranger = stanger
• Excusez-moi = excuse me
• Fête = party
• Fils = son
• Fraises = strawberries
• Fromagerie = cheese shop
• Gâteau = cake
• Gentil = pleasant, kind
• Grenade = pomegranate
• Guillaume le Conquérant = William the conqueror 
• Heure = hour
• Ho = Hey
• Homme(s) = guy(s)
• Ici = Here
• Il est très beau = he’s very handsome
• Il y a = ago
• Incroyable = incredible, unbelievable
• Je m'appelle = my name is
• Je ne l’ai pas = I did not
• Je ne sais pas = I don't know
• Je pense que ça c’est bien = I think that’s good.
• Je promis = I promise
• Je sais = I know
• Je suis désolée = I am sorry
• Joie de vivre= joy to live
• Joyaux = jewels
• Jus = juice
• L’aide = the help
• La/Le/Les = the
• La Robe Rose = The Pink Dress
• La Tanière du Dragon = the Dragon’s Lair
• Le Collier de la Reine = The Queen’s Necklace
• Le jour J = D-day
• Le marché = farmer's market
• Les Mystères du Nautilus = the Mystery of the Nautilus, a walk-through attraction based on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• Limonade = lemon water
• Lycée = high school
• Ma/Mon = my
• Magasin de bijoux = jewelry store
• Mais = but
• Maladroit = awkward
• Malchance = bad luck
• Merci = thank you
• Mercredi = Wednesday
• Mère = mother
• Merveilleux = marvelous, heavenly
• Midi = noon
• Militaires = military
• Mineurs = miners
• Mois = months
• Mon = my
• Monsieur = sir
• Montre = watch
• Musée Mémorial de la Battaille de Normandy = Battle of Normandy Memorial Museum
• Nains = dwarves, midgets
• Ne t’inquiète pas = don’t worry
• Ne vous inquiètez pas = don’t worry
• Nos = our
• Nouveau = new
• Où = where
• Ouai = yeah
• Oui = Yes
• Pain au chocolat = chocolate drizzled sweet bread
• Paranoïde = paranoid
• Pâtisserie = pastry shop
• Pâtissier/pâtissière = pastry chef
• Père = father
• Portable = cell phone
• Pour = for
• Qu’est-ce que c’est? = what is this/that?
• Qu’est-ce qui se passe? = what happened?
• Qui est-ce? = who is that?
• Quinze minutes = fifteen minutes
• Roserie = rose garden
• Salon de thé = tea room
• Salut = hi
• S’il vous plaît = please
• Septembre = September
• Si tu veux = if you want
• Siècle = century
• Sous les Étoiles = Under the Stars
• Stupide(s) = stupid
• Sur un tourne-disque = on a record player
• Ta/ton = your
• Tais-toi = be quiet
• Tant pis = whatever, oh well
• Tante = aunt
• Tayez- vous = be quiet
• Toujours = always
• Toussaint = All Saints Day
• Tout le monde = everyone
• Très = very
• Un/une = a
• Univers = universe
• Viens = come
• Vite = quick
• Vraiment = really
• Zut = darn it