"meet me at the fair"

"meet me at the fair." his words haunted her.

she was here, but where was he? she was tired of waiting for him. she'd waited for him all her life. waited for him to notice her. waited for him to realize that she wanted to marry him some day. waited for him to realize that he really loved her back.

she was tired of waiting. she didn't want it anymore.

then why, after five years, was she again waiting for him?

she glanced around, trying to see through the throng of people. she promised herself that if he didn't show up in the next ten minutes, that she would leave. never look back. never wait for him again, only to have it result in heartbreak once more. she wasn't going to wait for that. she was tired of waiting. she wanted somebody who she didn't have to wait for, somebody who would just realize who she was, what she thought, what she loved, and why. somebody who just loved her for her, instead of something that everybody else said about her. she wasn't shallow. she was full of depth. but he probably didn't even know that. probably didn't even care.

she waited ten minutes.

then twenty.

then thirty.

she couldn't bring herself to leave, not without knowing what he wanted. every time she thought about going, she got this feeling in her heart--a stab. she didn't want to leave. she wanted to believe that he would come and apologize for the waiting. to come and tell her what she really wanted to hear.

he loved her for her.

"cara?"

a hand was placed gently on her arm.

she turned around.

it was him.

"rick."

he smiled. "cara, you look great."

she couldn't manage a smile, even for his sake. she felt tears come to her eyes, but she pushed them back. "thanks."

"i...cara, i know this is sudden..." he trailed off, looking away. "just do it," he whispered to himself. he turned to cara and before she could protest got down on one knee. "cara smith, will you marry me?"

her voice caught in her throat. she thought of all the waiting she had ever gone through. she thought about everything that this man had done to her... ignored her for five years, asked her to wait, then rejected her for someone else. this was the person who had pursued shallow girls, after knowing her depth. this was the same man.

her eyes flickered. she had to make a choice. what was it going to be? she was tired of waiting. what if he made her wait again?

"no." the coldness in her voice surprised herself.

rick's face fell. "no? why not?"

"because of every single time you made me wait," she spat. "every single time you ignored me and went for somebody else. i don't want you because you lost your fortune and no other girl will have you. i want you because you love me--me for me." she couldn't believe that she'd brought up his loss of fortune at a time like this. "i don't want to wait any longer. i'm tired of being treated like i don't matter."

she walked off.

and, surprisingly, she felt free.

Happy in a rather sad way...

Story Sneak Peek: Rain

Princess Rain has always felt second best to her sister, Snow. Snow has always acted the role of the future ruler, despite the fact that Rain is two years older. When Rain is framed for an act of felony that she didn't commit, she is forced to flee her father's kingdom or be sent to the dungeons by her evil younger sister. Confused, angry, and full of sadness to be apart from her beloved father, she wanders into the Lost Forests, where she encounters a strange group of characters. Upon finding out that Snow has a plot to kill their father on the kingdom's anniversary, the same night that Snow will be crowned the ruler, Rain goes into action and, along with a motley band of dwarves, elves, and an angry huntsman, they go to save him. But will they be in time? And can they save the kingdom from utter despair?

This... is just a little synopsis of my newest story idea. Yeah, yeah, I decided to redo the Snow White story in a way that's totally not Snow Whitey. Well, first off, it's not a totally random idea--I was just randomly reading this book at the library and on the back it said, "How to mix up a fairytale--make the hero the villain and make the villain the hero." And I was like, "That is such a good idea!" Then I was going through fairytales, and I realized that one that doesn't get redone that often, but it still one of the more famous ones, was Snow White.

And come on. Admit it. The idea of having the gorgeous Snow White as a cruel and ruthless younger sister princess is pretty scary, right?

It took awhile to get it all through my brain--so Snow White's the bad guy, so who on earth is the hero? Um, the huntsman? No, it has to be a girl. Obviously. But then who? The Evil Queen? And that's when  I realized I wanted her to be the good guy. And then I was like, "Wait. Whoa. That makes my main character like... wow... ancient. I don't want that!" Then I got a great idea, "Why not make her the older sister, but she looks old enough to be Snow White's mother?" Of course, I was feeling pretty stoked at that idea. So I grabbed my notebook and started writing down ideas.

Which... is when I got to the dwarf part. And I was like, "Now, how on earth am I going to make the dwarves totally characters of my own?" And I was thinking, "First off, there can't be seven. There has to be more." That's why I decided it was two groups of feuding outlaw dwarves. Oh yeah. I was on a roll by then, and I was, "Whatever! Let's add in some elves! Everybody likes elves!" (at this point I will mention that these aren't cute little elves. These are LOTR-Legolas-kill-the-orcs-with-huge-bows elves.) And then I was like, "Wait a sec. What about the poor Huntsman?" So of course he hates Snow and wants to join Rain's side. :)

Now, about Rain's name. I was trying to think of a really good name for her. And I just couldn't help but think, "Man, Snow White's really a stupid name. Why on earth would you name your princess in your story Snow?" And then it was just like BINGO. Lightbulb in the brain. What if their father was like this huge weather scientist dude? That's why he would've named Snow Snow. And that's why I picked Rain for Rain's name.

I still haven't decided if there's going to be a prince/love interest for poor Rain. I mean, she's going to be seventeen about to turn eighteen. But still. Mushy gushy books are not what I like. I like having the guy in there, so that you can go and imagine what happens in the future (they get married? She ditches him? Who cares!) but I don't like having to go in on that in detail. (um... eww) Anyway, so, if there was one, I'm just saying, I think it should be an elf. Or maybe the huntsman! Wait, no, I made him old and he already has a family. Nevermind. =P

(if you can't tell, I'm still figuring some of these things out. Like... as I write this)

Anyway, so that's kind of a sneak peek of an upcoming story that I'm writing and hopefully going to be posting on here right before I go and get it published. :) Talk to ya'll later. ;)

Wordless yet full of Words

Customized Fonts for Blogger Blogs

Hey, guys!! :)

So, Autumn asked me how I got customized fonts on my blog. You will NOT believe how long I searched for this code on google, until I just ended up making my own code. (that was after I found out how to build it. Anyway) This code seriously needs to get out there, which is why I decided that I would make my next post (this post) about that.

First off, you're going to need to pick a font or two that you want, right? So hop on over to the Google Fonts that are offered and just pick one, for this tutorial. Got one? OK, good, let's go.

The font I'm going to pick is called Shadows Into Light.

1. See that blue button where it says "add to collection"? Click it.
2. In the right corner you'll see three buttons. Click the one that says "use".
3. Scroll down until it says "add this code to your website". Copy that code and put it somewhere safe. (sticky notes or like wordpad or something like that works amazing)
4. This is an example of the code, real quick:
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Shadows+Into+Light' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>
5. Got it somewhere safe? Good. Now, you're going to add a / right before the last >, so that the code looks like this:
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Shadows+Into+Light' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>
(I put the / in red so that you would notice it better. ;))
6. Log in to your blogger account and click on the blog that you want to edit.
7. Go to "template".
8. Click "Edit HTML".
9. First off, don't freak out about going into the HTML. I understand, I was TOTALLY freaked when I first had to try this. It's no biggie. I would suggest that when you first try something like this out, get a test blog, just to make you lest wary of using your own HTML and more comfortable with it. It's highly unlikely that you're really going to hurt anything.
10. OK, see this line?
<b:skin>...<b:skin/>
(it should be like right towards the top)
Paste that code up there^ right ABOVE it.
Good job. :)
11. Now, click on the arrow beside those words.
12. Scroll down to the body where the blue words end and you again see the <b:skin/>.
13. This is what it should look like:
]]></b:skin>
What you're going to do next is RIGHT ABOVE that HTML, OK? :)
14. These are the codes that you're going to be using:

h3.post-title { font-family: 'FONT NAME HERE', cursive !important;}

.sidebar .widget h2 { font-family: 'FONT NAME HERE', cursive !important;}

Put the name of your font--in my case, Shadows Into Light, where it says "FONT NAME HERE". Don't erase any part of the code except for FONT NAME HERE (not even the ' '), because otherwise the code will go void. (that means it doesn't work) So it should look like this:

h3.post-title { font-family: 'Shadows Into Light', cursive !important;}

.sidebar .widget h2 { font-family: 'Shadows Into Light', cursive !important;}

15. Now, what do these two codes do, first off? The one that says "h3.post-title" is the one that controls the font of your post title, as it would suggest. This will change your post title to whatever font you just embedded into your template. (you know when I asked you to paste it into the code? Yup, you embedded it!) And the second code ".sidebar .widget h2"? That's talking about the widget/gadget titles.
16. Now you're going to paste both of those codes, WITH THE NAME OF THE FONT THAT YOU EMBEDDED, right above the ]]></b:skin>.
16. Now click the "preview template" button at the top.
17. You will be shown a preview of your template. If the post titles and widget/gadget titles are changed to the font that you went, it worked!
18. Viola! Your fonts are changed. :)

I'm still working on getting the right code for the date title, but I'll keep you updated. ;)

Hope this helped!

A Magical Poem

sometimes you just feel

deep inside your heart

maybe not all the way, but you'll feel it someday

at least it's a start

it's something magical

just a small little spark

something's different here, everything's crystal clear

you think you've hit the mark

it's something special

the way you can feel it

you hold it tight, the stars alight

so that none can steal it

you get that feeling

that this has never happened before

you feel a little tremor, that'll make you remember

it shakes you to the core

you know that something will happen

something very soon

you'll be swept away, to the stars someday

or maybe a quiet lagoon

there's a spark

in the stars tonight

sparkling mystery, i just wish i could see

past the quiet moonlight

i know that something will happen

soon, quicker then light

i can't wait until then, to leave this world of men

and find that magic place, what a sight

and now i smile and wave

flying away up high

i know you'll miss me, look for the magic key

i'm flying away in the sky

The Surface

Nope, I don't just randomly start posting Owl City CD covers. Nope, this post isn't about how much I love Owl City. Nope, Owl City doesn't really even come into it. (OK, but just a little bit...) Nope, this post isn't even about music.

OK, so what on earth is this post about?!

Stories.

Like most of my posts.

In one way or another.

Anywayyyyyyy.....

What story am I going to be talking about?

Remember that post about that song about Owl City?

Anyway, if you don't, go check it out again real quick. ;)

OK, whoa, whoa, wait.

You guys know the Generation Gazette blog (whose authors I really need to talk about posting more regularly, like, maybe, oh,  I don't know, every day)?

Well, you know Danielle and the rest of them? Well, I'm writing a story about them. It's called The Surface. And, frankly, I think it's one of my best works. If not THE best. Mostly because I worked so hard on making it... right. Not just skimming through it. Doing it the right way. Staying in the spots as long as I needed to, to make it real. To actually have my character go through physical hardship, as well as emotional hardship. To get Danielle to the place where... where she actually seems... real.

And guess what? I'm already at 300-some pages, and still going! That's what's so exciting for me.

Of course... there's always the thought that you guys won't like it, and that nobody else will like it, and I'll never get it published... Man, sometimes I just feel like such a failure. =P

Anyway, I got inspired by Mr. Owl City's cover up there^.

(actually, the guy's name is Adam Young, but anyway...)

It's kind of like a world like that... magical and yet so real to our own. If it was like our own, though, it would definitely be in the future. (it's not called Earth, it's called Aerth, I believe, so it kind of could be Earth in the future, but I don't want to think of it as that bleak...) I want to make the books a trilogy, of just three books of around 300/400 pages each. I'm thinking the second book might be named The Underground (you'd understand if you read the book) or maybe The Equinox, and the third would be something like The Beginning. I'm not sure yet. Any ideas? :)

Anyway, I'll be posting it on here as soon as possible. :) I hope you guys will like it!! I'm feeling a little nervous about it... ;)

P.S. Rubberboot Girl publishing update: my query letter still has to be read by my "editor"... so, yeah, hopefully it will get sent off to the publishers we picked out!! Please keep praying. If I could get a book published... that would be my dream come true. <3

The Cooking Disaster

Dear Readers,

Hi, this is Jessie.

Today was the first day of my summer cooking class.

And let's just say it didn't go so hot.

So, when we got there, Noah and I found ourselves sitting at this table in the middle school's cooking team's kitchen by the science labs. Ladasha, Maya, Summer, and Maurice all arrived. Maya was grumpily listening to Summer and Ladasha argue over shoe brands while Maurice sat nearby, looking bored. Each girl was used to being the most popular, but they'd had to settle for being in a popular group together.

Maurice was still the most popular guy.

Other then like Noah.

Yeah.

*awkward*

Several other kids came in, but I didn't really recognize any of them. They all had that "sort of familiar" look that I knew was because I'd seen them in the hallways at school.

Anyway, so we were just sitting there obediently (Me: I'm bored. Noah: I bet I'm more bored. Me: Don't count on it.) when all of a sudden a voice boomed from behind us, "HELLO, KIDS! WELCOME TO YOUR SUMMER COOKING CLASS! I'M MRS. KARP!"

We all turned, a little bit horrified by her loud voice. In front of us was the dread huge, fat, and ugly sixth grade history teacher that was rumored to have put the mayor to sleep in class as a kid. (and he makes the most boring speeches) She looked like a decaying dinosaur, except not quite as pretty. Her hair should've been white, but it was dyed a violent red, teased up into a huge beehive hairdo. Large black glasses sat like a block on her Roman nose. She wore old ucky eighties clothes that would've made us die if our mothers had even tried it on.

Oh my gosh.

This couldn't be real!

"We're going to die," groaned Noah under his breath.

"I HOPE YOU'RE ALL COMFY," she went on, "BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE IN MY CLASS! AND IN MY CLASS, 'COMFY' ISN'T IN OUR VOCABULARY! NOW, WHO WANTS TO START COOKING?!"

Nobody raised their hands.

"EXCELLENT! LET'S START WITH THE BAKED POTATO!"

Baked potato? What kind of a cooking class was this?!

"I'M BREAKING YOU INT GROUPS! YOU, YOU, YOU, AND YOU, TOGETHER! YOU, YOU, YOU, AND YOU, TOGETHER! YOU, YOU, YOU, AND YOU, TOGETHER! AND YOU?!" I was the last kid left, and she was giving me the evil eye. "YOU'LL BE COOKING WITH ME, YOUNG LADY!"

I was definitely going to die.

Noah was off with some kids that we didn't know, and the popular kids were all split up. Mrs. Karp grabbed my arm and hauled me over to another table so that it was just the two of us.

"WELL, GET COOKING!" she yelled, sitting down and putting her feet up on the table. She grabbed a book with a name that didn't look so great and started to read.

I stared at the table. A potato, fork, and plate were in front of me. I got to work, and placed the ready potato into the microwave when I was done, putting it on for... I glanced over my shoulder at Mrs. Karp. How long was I supposed to cook just one potato? At home, we always made four. (one for each of my parents and two for me, because I was always starving) So how long did you just cook one potato?

"Um, Mrs. Karp...?" I started.

"DON'T TALK, JUST COOK!" she shouted back at me.

I cringed, and put the potato in, my finger hesitating over the quick-cook numbers. Finally, I clicked the five. I was cooking it for five minutes. Yeah. That was right. Right?

I sat down awkwardly at the table, starting to twiddle my thumbs. Was that potato done yet? I avoided looking at Mrs. Karp, looking all around the room. I closed my eyes for a few moments.

What woke me up sounded like a hand grenade.

Someone screamed.

I jumped out of my chair and turned around.

My potato was exploding in the microwave!

"YEEK!" I cried, jumping over and turning it off.

I yanked open the door. The fizzled potato looked like garbage. A few more pops, and then it was only the smoke.

"THERE'S A FIRE!" one of the girls screamed.

Well... let's just say the fire alarm went off and we all got rushed out of there. I didn't want to go back the next week, but Mom made me.

So, yeah.

Could it get any worse?!

Love,
Jessie

*fictional