hello 2k16

     I did it. I can't believe it, but I submitted my entry for the Five Magic Spindles contest yesterday at 10:26 p.m., with an hour and a half to spare! And then I blasted Taylor Swift and danced around my room in celebration... but that is neither here nor there.      
      This story has been one of the funnest, craziest, most terrifying projects I've ever had the privilege of working on. Since the announcement of this contest in June, it's been sitting on my shoulder like "hey, Julia. You're going out with friends. You should be writing me." and "hey, Julia. I know it's 2:30 a.m., but I'm gonna keep you awake with all of the ideas you have about me." and "hey, Julia. You have three more days until December 31, and you are going to actually die if you don't finish working on me." Well, guess WHAT, you pestering story-voice-guilt-creature? I WROTE YOU AND SUBMITTED YOU AND YOU'RE DONE AND I'M GONNA GO WATCH NETFLIX NOW     
     No, for real - I've been stressed out over this story since forever. It feels amazing to have the weight of it off my chest, and I spent the past three days working harder on it than I've worked on anything all semester in order to have it done in time. Even if it doesn't win the contest, I'm so glad I wrote it - I learned a lot about myself and my writing throughout the process. For example: Julia and deadlines do not do well together. For another, less surprising example: Julia does not like to persist.       I have always known this about me - I have trouble sticking to long-term projects. As someone who claims that she writes novels, I spend a very small amount of time writing novels. I kind of quit digital art a few years ago, even though I enjoyed it, because I didn't think I was good at it. And the truth is, i haven't been writing very much recently because I stopped thinking about it the right way - I got a little overwhelmed by the voices in my head that told me I wasn't a good writer. It was so easy to stop fighting them and to just not write instead. I was afraid of not succeeding, so I didn't try at all.
     But that ends now! It's 2016, and I'm not going to let my fears get in the way of my favorite thing - writing. I'm going to write more this year. I'm also going to draw more, because I've been keeping myself from making art for far too long. So here's to a new year and to not holding myself back.

in which i fangirl over my favorite band and update you on my 5 magic spindles progress

Hello, Blogspot. Long time no see! Does anyone actually read this blog? I think it might just be me. In any case, I'm long overdue for a post. Let me begin with some updates.

1. I'm at university! I'm surprised at myself for not writing about this sooner, but... yeah. It was a big transition at first, being so far away from all my friends, but I love living closer to my extended family. And I'm so much enjoying the city, and all of my classes, and all of the new friends I've made. I really do love it here! If you're a high school senior who's currently trying to get into college, I wish you the best of luck. I never thought I'd end up at the school I'm at. 
     My classes are really interesting!... well, mostly. I'm not a big fan of philosophy, even though the professor is cool, and even though I loved the subject when I took it in my senior year. Ah well. What has really taken me by surprise is how much I'm loving astronomy! I've always been fascinated by space, but being in this class has made me realize how little I truly know about the universe I'm living in. I didn't know that the moon orbits the earth on a tilted plane, which is why there isn't a solar/lunar eclipse every month. I didn't know that the reason you can't see certain constellations year-round is because the whole earth gets in the way. I didn't know that Venus rotates backwards or that Uranus is tipped over on its side and rotates north to south. I love the class so much that I'm considering a minor in Astronomy and Astrophysics in addition to my English major - but that would involve some epic math, which scares me...
     Outside of school, things here are amazing. The night before classes started I actually got to see my favorite band, Twenty One Pilots. They were incredible and sometimes I just can't believe how much their music has brightened my life and given me hope even in the darkest days. My life has been so much impacted by these two dorks from Ohio. Here's a photo or two, because I can't seem to upload videos.

Tyler Joseph!!!

Josh Dun!!!! (it's so blurry i weep but WORTH IT)

2. I got bangs. I love them. I've never felt more like me. Plus, people tell me that I look like Taylor Swift, who is QUEEN OF MY HEART. 

3. I'm working furiously to finish my Five Magic Spindles story contest entry by the deadline! There is so much work to be done on it that it sometimes feels a little overwhelming. But I really believe in this story, and I'm hoping and praying that I'll be able to make it the best it can be before December 31 arrives. I'm about 11,000 words in and that count is rapidly increasing... but the editing I'll have to undertake already feels daunting.
    I realize that I've never written about my story on this blog, so... let me fix that!
    My story is set in Ancient Greece. The protagonist is a dreamer of a princess named Eos who loves swordsmanship, the ocean, her best friend, Signy, and being right. She's coming of age, so her father - the king - throws a massive celebration. What he's trying to ignore is that years ago, the oracle warned him that on the night before her 18th birthday, his daughter would prick her finger on spindle and be swallowed by the sea. Enter a young man named Kelenaeus, a patron of the birthday festival who also happens to love skirmishes of the verbal and physical kind. He and Eos meet; a friendship is born. But forces conspire to keep the two apart... and the day of reckoning draws near.
    I'll write more about the story later, but I'm very much in love with it... even though it is a tiny, fragile bird whose wings are barely big enough to carry it. Hopefully I will be able to coax it into flight within the next two months! If you like, check out the story's Pinterest board. 
    Now, tell me what you're up to, O Humble Readers of My Blog!

here is a blurb about the future

As of today, this blog officially becomes my author blog! A lot of people who like to write have those. I figured I'd just leap into the fray - as if this blog I've been keeping for the past 3 years hasn't been an author blog this whole time. No, I just figured I'd start attempting to make it a little more formal. I'll be posting regularly (GASP) and maybe even promoting it a little on my other forms of social media. Also, it'll be less of a journal and more of a place for me to grow in my fiction writing abilities. I'm also gonna post book reviews and things. So... stay tuned! *finger guns*

the summer of ending things

     Today was my penultimate day at NC State's Teen Writer's Workshop. I have cherished being part of this program for the past two weeks, and I can't believe that it'll be over tomorrow. 
     When I went to choose my two classes in this year's program, I first went with my go-to: fiction. I am a fiction writer first and foremost - being a novelist is my biggest dream. So obviously I was taking fiction. I had a difficult time choosing my next class, though - should I go with poetry, a class I took last year and loved, or dramatic writing, a new realm of creativity that I was not particularly interested in? Figuring that I needed to branch out and try new things, I went with dramatic writing. I wasn't expecting to like it, but I recalled the eccentric instructor of last year's dramatic writing class and the hilarious craft talk he gave about plot structure and decided that I wanted him to teach me. I guess I'm curious about eccentric people. Like calls to like.
     Now here I am with two weeks of writing classes under my belt, amazed at all I've learned and all the friendships I've made. Dramatic writing turned out to be an extremely beneficial choice. Not only was the class fun and hilarious, but it taught me so many new things that I would never have considered hearing about otherwise. I have such an appreciation now for plays and screenplays and the efforts that go into material for movies and TV shows. During the class, I wrote a screenplay about some hot chocolate that falls in love with a marshmallow, and I also wrote an incredibly stupid play about a proper English Regency-era family who get into a bit of a kerfuffle over who put too much sugar in the tea. It's called "Tea Time with the Huntzbergs", and I'm quite proud of it. I'm super excited to see it performed tomorrow in our reading! The friends of mine who practiced it today did a perfect job and it was all silly and absurd and wow, I just love writing camp and how am I ever going to let it go?
      I'm so aware of how a lot of things are ending this summer. My writing camp. My summer camp. My high school career. I'm so excited to start at university, but all I can think about is this song from the Paper Towns movie and these lines that say "i'll meet you in the evening, i'll meet you in the evening, we'll do it all again", and the lyrics land on this one chord that just makes me want to cry a lot. I won't get to do it all again. This is my last year of writing camp. I wish I could freeze time and live in these summer days forever. 

i am capable of bringing dead things (this blog) back to life

Hello, anyone and everyone who might still be reading this blog! Today is your lucky day, because today is the day when dragonsdancinginstarlitskies.blogspot.com gets a resurrection (and possibly a shorter url)! 

Back when I was in high school (I can say that now!), this blog was a really important thing to me. Forcing myself to regularly post my writing on here really helped me develop as a writer. I want to continue posting stories, but I'd also like to start straying away from some of the more journal-ish posts. I'm not sure how I feel about having my random personal thoughts out on the internet. So from now on, I'll be revamping this blog to focus less on my personal life and incoherent ramblings and more on making myself into a better author. I'll also be posting book reviews, because I've been looking for somewhere to do that, and this blog is as good as any. 

So that's it, I guess. Get ready for things around here to get a lot more timely.

so this blog still exists

Did I last post on here in November? That's a shame, because senior year is so memorable and I'm letting all the important things be forgotten because I'm too busy to write them down.

It has been eighty years since I last sat down to write. I miss it. Maybe I'll continue the story about Sparrow and Cas, but if I really had my way, I'd go back and edit the first few parts - change the plot around a little, and make Sparrow less of a victim and Cas more shy.

You know how the text on this blog used to always be purple? I can't seem to do that anymore. I also have problems using the font I want to, since it's not technically available on Blogger.

I'm just going to list some facts that are relevant to life right now. I mean, so much has changed since November.

- I'm officially attending the University of Toronto next year, which I'm really excited about!
- I've been thinking of starting a youtube channel about book reviews. Maybe I'll figure it out when summer comes.
- Remember my zombie novel? I'm trying to finish the first draft (which I'm still working on) by January. Heh, we'll see how that goes.
- I'm seriously not okay with this font. It feels so unfamiliar.
- I've begun writing book reviews and posting them on my tumblr because I want to reach that level where publishers just send me free books to review. That would be super cool.
- There's this band called Twenty One Pilots and I love them so much that it's almost a problem.
- I kinda wanna start collecting vinyls.

So that's life, I guess. I'll keep writing soon - I promise.

anatomy

Hands:

I am a creator.

My hands are blades that carve words into wood,

brushes that splatter color on snow.

I am a healer.

My hands are solid, and they are warm, and they are the light

To take hold of when only darkness fills your grasp,

The glue that wants to hold together the cracks in your skin.

But in the seat next to you

They become alien things and I can't remember

If I've ever had hands before,

Or if they go in my pockets or in my lap or...

Eyes:

Windows to the soul?

Most seem to want their soul

To look shuttered, cold. Masked. Hidden.

No trespassing, stay out.

My mother always taught me

To look people in the eye, to find

What dwells behind. But you.

Your eyes are so sharp that my gaze glances off.

Too bright to be looked at directly.

Too real to fall on a girl who is immaterial.

Too deep to fall into with any hope of survival.

What if I want to drown?

Heart:

Excuse you. How dare you!

That thing is labeled.

I wrote my name across it in glitter glue.

And that scar down the side?

That happened in high school.

What makes you think you can just,

I don't know, swipe it?

Without my permission? And no,

The overzealous thrumming it performs whenever you're around

Does not count as permission.

Even if I were to give it to you,

Why should I subject you

To my awful gift-wrapping skills?