2011!!

In about an hour, it will be New Years Eve... almost the end of 2010. I love New Years. It's a chance for a new beginning, but where would we be without all the chaos that happened over the past year? Here's a little year-in-review... song in the tune of the Can-Can rhythm...

2010, this is farewell...
About to ring a brand new bell!
We will miss you, yes we will
But what about those crazy times?

Iran has a bombing threat,
Our country cannot pay it's debt!
I wonder what will happen next!
In 2011!............

This has been a crazy year, year!
With friends we hold dear, dear!
So let us begin! (la la la la la la la!)

There was an oil spill, spill!
Healthcare= no pills, pills!
And people can't pay bills! (No, no, no, no!)

With nuclear threats, threats!
We cannot pay our debts, debts!
2010, you brought us such bad luck!

And now we are about to start all over,
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver!
Hopefully a solution is getting closer!

I know... I'm not a song writer... but that's not bad... ish! So have a safe New Year... and blah blah blah.... :)

Congrats!

I am proud to say that my bud on a website called KidPub.com was published!! I'm so proud of her (and a little jealous!) that she managed to get herself on FoxNews in Oklahoma and in the newspaper. Her book, Addy Love is available on Amazon.com and the KidPub bookstore. To get to that, you just have to go to the KidPub website and go to the bookstore option at the top of the page. Good job, Kay!

Well, as I was sitting here with the family, watching Shrek Forever After, I was awakened at how my vacation time is running out. I mean... I love school. Who wouldn't like being around friends and learn things about the world you live in? (Except Algebra. It can go to Hades and I would be celebrating like it was New Years Day if that happened.) But I mean... after a while, you snap into a routine.
Wake up super early and get dressed and ready to go.
Go to the school. Depending on the way you get there depends on how much fun you have.
With my case, I have to face the school officer before I go into school, and she gets on my nerves. If you don't have your school ID, you're sentenced to an awkward interrogation of "Well why don't you have it?"
"Uh... I just forgot it. I had a long night and a lot of homework and chores and-"
"Well why didn't you put it in your backpack?"
"Uh... well, I normally do, but-"
"You owe me a dollar for a temporary one."
When I walk into school, that's always the first thing I hear.
Then you have to go through your periods. Science- Meh. Algebra- bleh. Social Studies- fun, but hard. Band- we go through the same thing every day. High School band will be so much better. Health- don't know yet. New class. I had to take careers before taking Health. I'm not looking forward to it. L.A: Seriously? I have a 98 in that class!! :) And then there's athletics.
D:
That's all I have to say about that.
But anyway, that's my schedule every day. And when you go through that every single day except weekends, you want to pull your hair out. But if you go through the motions and just say Yes Ma'm and No sir and such, you're willing to be able to suffer through it.
Aw, who am I kidding? It's always the misbehaved people who make history.

Peace, Love, Write
~Shelby Becker

I'm sitting in my bed, a dolphin pillow pet behind my back. My brothers and sister are asleep and I should be too, but... I'm not one for sleeping. I mean, I'll go to sleep, but not naturally. I know, I know... when I get older and if I want to be a writer, I'm going to look back at these days and regret staying up so late for no real reason. But I guess I'm preparing myself for that. It's not going to be easy. The road's going to be rough and the people who love me are going to have to put up with the due dates and the sixty billion cups of coffee.
I have the same problem as always. I want to write, but there's that concrete wall with graffiti that reads "No writing here". I hate author's block. It makes me want to rip my hair out. Could you blame me?
Well, it's really late... and there's rustling in the room beside me. Within the next thirty seconds, I'm probably going to hear a little voice say, "She-ie?". I better fake being asleep.
Peace, Love, Write
~Shelby Becker

Practice

First of all, Merry Christmas! I hope that whoever's reading this had a good holiday.
Okay, so I was just sorta bored, and I decided to take a break from writing and read some of my work from 6th and 7th grade. I hate to admit that I laughed... a lot. It was pathetic... I misspelled so many words, the font was so big that my grandmother wouldn't have trouble reading it and the plot continued to change.
That was only two years ago. Maybe even one.
But something that I realized about my writing now: my vocabulary has expanded. My characters have their own personalities. My font's a lot smaller and more clean. And the plot is a lot (a lot!) more along the lines of the road map.
I guess what I'm trying to say is... practice really does make perfect. Sure, the moment you walk out on a basketball court, you can easily put the ball in the basket, or maybe the first time you have a song and a list of moves, you may be able to snap right into it and dance. But that doesn't mean it's good. Trust me, I speak from experience. But after you practice... it gets a lot better, believe me.
Here's a few paragraphs of my hopeless work:

The next morning, I opened my eyes. I must’ve fallen asleep, as well as Tiffany.

Tiffany was standing up, looking down at me. “Good morning, sleepy head.”

“Did I fall asleep last night?” I asked.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.” She said, placing her hand over her cell phone, well, it wasn’t really a cell phone. It was her sword, disguised as a cell phone.

“Come on, Maria and Chris are probably wondering what’s taking us so long.” Tiffany said, grabbing the rope. She swung herself over it and made her way down the oak tree.

Last night, we were the lookouts, and that didn’t go too well. My worse enemy dropped in for a visit, and, bottom line, he tried to kill me and Tiffany.

I climbed down from the tree house without using the rope. I guess that was my monkey instinct working there, since I was the god of nature.

As soon as I landed on the ground next to Tiffany, she grunted and mused, “Ape.”

“Hey, apes don’t climb!” I exclaimed.

Tiffany chuckled and glared at me. “Race you to the Athena home?”

“You’re on.” I said. “No flying.” I reminded her. She grunted, but promised not to fly. Tiffany was the goddess of flight, but to me, she was still a daughter of Apollo.

Tiffany got ready and said, “Go!”

We sprinted to the bricked houses in the far distance. From the air, Tree House Island looked like a mere speck, but if you’re on the island, it’s huge. Or at least big enough to train the children of the gods.

------------------------------------------------

So yeah... compared with the other pieces of what I have written... this isn't good.

Right now, I'm listening to Celtic Women singing "You Raise Me Up" on YouTube. It's what I'm going to start doing every Christmas. They have such beautiful voices- something you don't see anymore. If you've never heard them, then go and look them up.

Well, that's pretty much it!

Peace, Love, Write

~Shelby Becker

Texas Bound!

Tomorrow my dad, his girlfriend and I embark on the crazy nine-hour road trip from Owasso, Oklahoma to Houston, Texas, which is where I live most of the time. I'm so excited. I guess you can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the girl.
Watching the Polar Express right now, for what seems to be the fiftiest time. I had it on continuous rerun last night while I was sleeping. I would wake up to the beautiful song "When Christmas Comes Around". I would smile to myself and go back to sleep to the lullaby.
But when I wake up to that know-it-all kid... I have to restrain myself from tossing a pillow across the room at my TV. I can't stand his voice. Oh, the thoughts that would race through my mind if the Polar Express came by my house! I wouldn't hesitate a heartbeat. Tom Hanks wouldn't even have time to give me the introduction.
My dad surprised me by cleaning up my room while I was in the shower tonight. Is it sad that I didn't notice until I was hanging up my bathrobe and realize that I wasn't tripping over dirty socks? I was able to see my floor. I had no idea it was tan carpet.
I'm thirteen. Don't judge me.
Well, I'm off to write some more of The Lost God. I might have to delete some of it, again. It's getting a little overwhelming for the reader and for the main character. I don't want everything to be revealed to him the first day of godlyhood (is that a word? No? Godlyhood is now a word, then).
Peace, Love, Write
~Shelby Becker

The Lost God Summary/History

So here's the first book that I ever finished. Oddly, over the past two years, it's pieced together like a two-hundred piece jig-jaw puzzle.
Here's some interesting facts about it:

• It's my first book ever
• It's been rewritten seven times and counting
• It takes me only a few months to finish one, which is probably the reason why I have rewritten it so many times!
• Yes, I'm not going to dodge around it: it's based off of the Percy Jackson series. But I have my own twists and turns. I'm not a non-creative person. Percy Jackson is merely the thing that sparked ideas and gave me lists of monsters and gods.
  
• I plan on publishing it, but maybe when I'm older. Publishing is just so expensive! It may be my dream, but it's an expensive dream.
• Out of the seven re-writes, I have changed the plot approximately three times.
  
• Out of the seven re-writes, I have written two sequals and a trilogy. But the first book was not to my satisfaction.
  
• Out of the seven re-writes, I have had three titles: The Wilting Plants; Change; and The Lost God.
  

• And no, the title that it has now is not concerning Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero.

So here's the first few paragraphs:

The man looked out the window, at his wife, who was pregnant. He sighed and looked back at the woman in front of him.

“How? How can it be?”

The woman looked at him with knowing, kind green and yellow eyes. They flashed with gold and silver. “She will give birth to the child in three hours. The child she bears now is the girl. Then, the boy shall come. When the boy turns to the age of eighteen, he shall take over your seat of power with the gods.”

The man took a shaky breath and glanced at the floor. “Is there anyway I can prevent this from happening?”

Scared of his reaction, the woman slightly shook her head. Thunder shook in the distance and another figure formed in the corner. The man stood from the chair to walk to the figure. “Thor. This is a bad time. We need to talk later.”

“I summoned him,” the woman said. The man looked at her with confused eyes.

“Why?”

The woman sighed and stood up. “Thor, Norse God of Thunder. You will have a daughter in the future. She will be skillful at archery and fighting. She is going to look like you- bless her heart. But she is going to be dangerous. She will be vital to the future of the gods. And her decision will rely on Zeus's son's actions.”

She was referring to the other man. The man that had appeared- Thor- looked worriedly at the two in front of him. “Very well.” Thor looked out the window at Zeus's wife. “She is coming near to giving birth to her child, Zeus.”

Zeus looked at the woman. “Oracle,” he whispered. “I will stop this boy from overpowering my throne. Somehow.”

The oracle Delphi shrugged and sat back down in her chair, her dress changing colors. Thor looked at her and squinted his eyes. “You said that my daughter's decision will reflect off of his son's actions? Need I remind you that I am a Norse god. He is a Greek god. It would never work peacefully.”

“No. One of you have to convert. Or there will be war.”

Happy Holidays!

I'm sitting in my room, watching Phineas and Ferb. Hey, you're never too old! I'm really waiting for Beauty and the Beast to come on. I can totally relate to Bell. She always has her nose in a book and her independence is always buzzing.
I want to write, but my motivation is nonexistent right now. Even music won't get me in that writing mood. Maybe Christmas will make it better. But I'm not in the Christmas spirit either. Oh, woe is me!!
I hear my dad's truck pulling into the driveway. His moter is so loud. I have to sleep through it on Wednesday. D: Oh, well. That's fine. I honestly don't mind. Next to me and his girlfriend, his truck is his top priority. :)
We're scheduled to have a movie night tonight. Anything to get me in the writing mode!! A Christmas movie, perhaps? Yep, I think so.
I don't know what to do. I hardly do up here. It's times like these when I look forward to getting my drivers license. Only three more years! Two if you count the permit! :) Really, one, since my birthday is coming up in February. Oh, I'm getting so impatient for 8th grade to just end! I have a lot of life to live!

My dad's suggesting that I choose some of the things that I don't touch anymore to take to my brothers and sister. I think that's a great idea, but other than my karaoke machine I got three billion years ago, I can't think of what my brothers would like! It's going to take me a while to pick what they would enjoy for Christmas.... hm.

Okay, I suppose I have to go and watch a movie now...

Peace, Love, Write
~Shelby Becker