#I have no idea what phoebe does at school I haven’t gotten that far but believe me that’s its deeply weird and deeply unwarranted | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

toogoodmusic · 4 years ago

Audio

THE TOO GOOD TEN with Hand Made House

Los Angeles pop band Hand Made House - made up of life-long friends Tucker Click (lead vocals) and Josh Nardine (drums) with Maison Thomas-Eudy (guitar/vocals) and Amin Mortada (guitar/vocals) - celebrate the release of their latest single, “Like The Weather” which follows up the seven song project Honestly, Honesty that released late last year. “Like The Weather” gives fans a taste of an edgier side of pop for the four-piece band and one that they’re excited to explore. Get to know know about the new song and the guys of Hand Made House by checking out their Too Good Ten interview below:

1. Hand Made House was originally started and created while pursuing degrees at Berklee College of Music. What aspects/techniques/advice from your time there do you still implement in your music or personal lives?

TUCKER: I think we learned to time manage well. We were working, going to school, and trying to start a band from the ground up. I personally took a lot of inspiration out of being surrounded by such talented people all the time as well. I had some professors that really believed in me and the band and I think that set me on fire with direction and drive.

JOSH: Obviously many of us have direct skill sets that we learned from being at Berklee whether that be production, songwriting, or music business. But one of the best things I feel we learned at Berklee was how to be in a band. Berklee gave us the opportunity to mess up and learn as we go without major consequence. We learned how to build our business and write with people. I attribute a lot of our growth to that community whether we knew it or not.

2. Hand Made House is such an interesting and cool name for a band. What’s the story behind it?

TUCKER: I was writing a song about my friend who was going through a really difficult time and was feeling very alone. The last verse of the song had the lines:

“If hand made house / And heart makes home / You’ve got what it takes / To build one of your very own”

I felt like we had built a home within our band and it felt like we had built it from the ground up. I remember telling the other guys I wanted that to be our “thing” we bring to the music industry. I want our fans to want to feel like a community when they come to ours shows. So, we pulled that line and named the band!

3. Being in a band can feel more like being in a family which can have its benefits and challenges. What’s each member’s strongest contribution to the band? How do you guys normally sort out creative differences?

MAISON: Yeah, I feel like we can identify as a family more than most since most of us live together and have lived together for years. We always talk about just how crazy it is that it just works. I mean, we obviously have our moments but we usually sort everything out when it comes up. I don’t think we ever leave a room still dwelling on a problem - we always just talk it out until everyone is back to messing around again. As far as strengths, I think Tucker and Josh have a really good sense of organization. They are the ones to make sure projects get done. Tucker always pushes people to be their best selves and do everything they need to. Josh is always right there with him doing the fun nitty gritty behind the scenes stuff. Amin is the most creatively driven, he always wants to write new stuff and sends new ideas to our group chat every week. I’ll throw my strengths to comic relief.

AMIN: Generally, all our songs are collaborations within the entire band. Usually, Josh and I are heavily involved in the early stages of a song. We’ll workshop an instrumental track a few times before its picked up by Tucker and Maison to be developed even further. When it comes to dealing with creative differences I take the approach of thinking about what’s best for the song rather than what I think is right for me. I think it’s important to separate your emotional attachment from an idea and look at the bigger picture. Generally when the band is running things that way we come to an agreement/compromise much faster.

4. Congrats on the release of “Like The Weather” which you guys have described as your “edgy comeback” after last year’s pop-driven EP, Honestly, Honesty. What was the inspiration behind this one? Why did you feel inclined to comeback “edgy” than straight pop-focused?

TUCKER: I remember writing this on our drive to LA, while we were still releasing Honestly, Honesty. I think I had a lot of bitterness from being stuck inside due to quarantine and was generally upset with the direction of the music industry at the time. I also had a conversation with Amin and Josh about how I was getting serious imposter syndrome about our last EP, because they’re generally happy songs, and I simply wasn’t happy. I feel like “Like the Weather” is my first touch on a slightly different lyrical style I’ve always wanted to do, and pushes us in a direction I’ve always wanted to try.

JOSH: You know, for the most part we all come from Rock/Punk backgrounds. It’s what we all grew up on and pulling from that felt right for us. About a year ago we had a pretty strong realization while writing Honestly, Honesty about what our identity and sound as a band would be and could be. Back then we struggled to know what the right move was when we were writing those “pop” songs that made it on that EP. We didn’t know how we could possibly transition to that sound and It was a bit of an identity crisis for us as a band. I think we all realized the nature of modern music is very Genre-Fluid and that’s been the approach we’ve taken ever since. “Like The Weather” I feel is the culmination of all those things. I think it’s the beginning of Hand Made House working to create music without restraint.

5. One of the lyrics in "Like The Weather” is “I get drunk / I go and get tattoos” What’s every members go-to drink order when out at a bar? Have you guys drunkenly gotten tattoos before?

TUCKER: It depends on the bar, but I have to say - I love a margarita. And funny enough, the first month of quarantine I gave myself a stick and poke tattoo at like 5 AM after a night of multiple spicy margaritas. It turned out surprisingly good.

MAISON: Well, I’m definitely allergic to alcohol. So, probably water. However, I do wish I could drunkenly get tattoos. One time I had a dream I got a tattoo, and I still want that tattoo.

AMIN: If it’s the afternoon, definitely a Bloody Mary. Night time, I’ll take a nice IPA. Yup...I don’t wanna talk about it.

JOSH: I’m not a big drinker, in fact I barely ever. However margaritas are really wonderful mostly for the salt rim.

6. You guys recently played the Music Lives 2021 Live Stream festival. What was the experience like? What’s one of the biggest learnings from putting together a performance for a massive live stream like that?

AMIN: Honestly, it was just like any rehearsal. You guys got a sneak peak of what rehearsal looks like during that show. It was super fun and its a great feeling being part of such a great line up.

JOSH: It was a ton of fun! I think it was cathartic for all of us knowing we haven’t played a show in over a year. Playing that set was one of the first times in a while I felt like I was really performing for someone even though it was over a computer screen.

7. How was it finding out your single “In Bloom” had gained traction without much promotion? Does it make you rethink promotion strategies each release?

TUCKER: It was really interesting to see “In Bloom” grow the way it did. “Through You” had been our biggest song for over a year, and “In Bloom” slowly grew until it popped up to our #1 spot. I think it goes to show that - even if we promote a song a ton, the people will always listen to what they want to listen to. Especially with indie artists like us who don’t have the means to promote a song like major label artists do.

8. What’s one piece of advice or quote – related to career or life – that you wish you would’ve known sooner?

TUCKER: Success is all a mentality. I know there are people who wish they could be in my shoes, just as much as I wish I could be in other people’s. I think it’s important to realize where you’re at currently, respect that spot and continue to try and grow.

MAISON: As far as career advise, growing up with family in the industry and spending so much time with people working at the top of their career paths. I’ve learned that just being a good person and fun to be with will get you far. Other than that, my dad told me once, “be better” not meaning that I was doing bad or that I wasn’t “reaching expectations”. He just wanted me to be better than my own expectations or limitations that I put on myself. As small and simple as it was, I think about it everyday.

9. For each member, if you could only listen to (5) artists for the rest of your life who would they be?

MAISON:

Kings of Leon

Young The Giant

Nothing But Thieves

Foo Fighters

The Band CAMINO

TUCKER:

Nothing But Thieves

Lil Peep

Phoebe Bridgers

The 1975

Frank Ocean

AMIN:

A Tribe Called Quest

Stevie Wonder

Children of Bodom

Steel Pulse

Iron Maiden

JOSH:

Elton John

Jesse McCartney

Frank Sinatra

The Fray

James Taylor

10. What’s the rest of 2021 look like for Hand Made House?

TUCKER: It’s hard to tell for sure with the state of everything that’s going on, but I think we’ll start playing shows again once we feel it’s responsible. I think we’ll be releasing new music that’s outside the box for us, and continue doing what we do best - playing shows and writing music!

Stay up to date with everything Hand Made House and be on the look out for new music releases and possible tour dates by following along below:

Facebook

Instagram

Spotify

Twitter

Website

The Too Good Ten interview series is dedicated to giving you a quick glimpse at some of the freshest voices in music. Ten Questions. One Artist. Too Good. Let’s go.

0 notes

talesofphoebe · 7 years ago

Text

Part Four

You may recognise this as being similar to a piece from my blog @themclbird. And that’s because it is. So...Yeah. This is me calling myself out on reusing the same piece of writing for a different blog with a few minor changes.

It was a common occurrence in Phoebe’s life; being dragged out of her home by Dominic to go somewhere new that he found or heard about. It wasn’t even remotely a surprise when it happened on this night as Phoebe had asked him to do it. What wasn’t common and very much a surprise was the fact that he’d lead her onto a bus. Typically, he only ever took them to places that they could walk to. Never did they take public transport.

With Dominic’s dislike of being too close to strangers and Phoebe’s general dislike of things that have a questionable cleanliness, public transport wasn’t a friend of theirs. So when they could avoid it, they would. The fact that Dominic had decided the place was still worth going to after learning of the need of a bus left Phoebe believing that wherever they were going was sure to be a sight to behold.

While Phoebe was contemplating this she was also working away at the wrapper on a lollipop that just refused to budge for Dominic. She had been working on it for well over ten minutes and had long since given up on trying to open it with her hands and had moved to trying to rip it open with her teeth… And she still wasn’t haven’t much luck.

Through her busy teeth she asked, “Where are you taking me?” It was a useless question to ask, she knew that. Whenever Dominic was taking her somewhere new, he worked to keep it a secret until the very last moment.

And Dominic answered exactly how she expected him to, “On a trip.” Maybe it was the frustration that yet again Dominic was keeping his plans a secret from her, but Phoebe finally ripped the lollipop free of it’s wrapper confinements. “Hey, you did it!” Dominic exclaimed a little louder than was considered appropriate while on a bus.

Laughing at Dominic’s miniature celebration, she scrunched up the wrapper in her hand and threw it in his lap, “Yep that’s why you love me, because I help you with lollipops. Open.” Pointing the lollipop towards Dominic, he leant forward and she popped it in his mouth. “A trip to…” She attempted once more to get him to tell her where they were going.

His words muffled by the lollipop that was now in his mouth, he answered, “A memory.”

Sighing, Phoebe dropped her head onto Dominic’s shoulder, “Why are you always so cryptic?”

As was Dominic’s favourite way of responding to her questions, he asked her another question, “Why do you always have to know what’s happening?” It was rhetorical, but there were two ways that Phoebe could have answered that question.

First, there was the fact that when Phoebe is faced with surprises a bubble of stress builds within her that’s just waiting to explode. It definitely wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that she hated them with a burning passion. In fact, that was exactly what she called her relationship with surprises.

Second, there was her pessimistic tendencies. When told she’s going somewhere new, try something new, or meet someone new she typically expected to be faced with disappointment. She may have trusted Dominic with her life, but that didn’t stop the thoughts of doubt that snuck into her mind every time he told her there was something new he wanted to show her.

Dominic knew both of these things. Phoebe had told him about both of them on numerous occasions, and yet he never stopped.

Over the years she had slowly gotten used to Dominic’s tendency to show up unannounced at her house and tell her to get ready because he’s whisking her away to some unknown place. That isn’t to say that she’s completely comfortable with it, but she does feel more comfortable when it’s Dominic compared to anybody else.

“Am I at least dressed appropriately for this place?” She asked, still using Dominic’s shoulder as a pillow.

Fashion was one thing that always seemed to stand in Phoebe’s way when Dominic planned something for them. Her clothes weren’t always exactly the most practical things in the world. That was particularly the case when wearing a pair of high heels that were sure to be taken off her feet in a few hours as she gets a piggyback ride from Dominic like she was wearing right now. It was one of the downsides of not knowing where you were going; you have no idea what sort of clothing would be appropriate.

She could’ve stayed in the workout gear that she’d been wearing all day, but for some reason she couldn’t. It felt odd wearing workout clothes once the sun went down. Like it was something that you weren’t supposed to be doing. So instead, she’d gotten changed into the clothes that she had intended to wear to school that morning but never got around to putting on after giving up on her morning jog.

Dominic took a little longer than a moment to look her up and down, putting on a concerned look when he reached her shoes before looking back up with a grin, “You’ll be fine.”

Removing herself from Dominic’s shoulder, she looked at him with a sceptical glint in her eyes. “Why don’t I trust you?” It wouldn’t be the first time that Dominic lied about how appropriate her clothes were.

The lying was one of the ways in which he kept their upcoming location a secret from her. After all, if she was unsure about the practicality of her clothes then it made it just that little bit harder to guess where he was taking her.

Reaching forward, Dominic’s hand hovered over one of the bus’ stop buttons. “I swear you’ll be fine.” He looked over at Phoebe at he spoke, pressing the button as the last word left his lips.

Phoebe wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that he knew what he was talking about and that he understood exactly what sort of clothes would work with wear he was taking them. After all, he was one individual who took great pride in his appearance and took almost as long as Phoebe in the mornings to get ready. Yet on more than one occasion he’d been either lying, or thinking that he was genuinely correct and ended up being wrong.

But despite the doubt that sat on the surface of her mind, she left it at that. Whether Dominic believed he was telling the truth or he was lying, he wasn’t going to go changing his answer no matter how many times Phoebe asked him the question. His stubbornness was something that Phoebe equally loved and hated about him.

The two of them sat in silence as they waited for the bus to slow and pull over. Their silence continued as they got up from their seats and hopped off the bus onto the sidewalk. “Okay, what way are we heading?” Phoebe looked around in every possible direction. So far she wasn’t seeing anything that seemed even remotely impressive that Dominic would want to show her. Then again, they had only just gotten off the bus.

“Follow me.” Dominic gave her a wave of his hand and started walking down the street, trusting that she would be following behind him in less than a second.

And he was right. Of course. Phoebe quickly caught up to him and matched his pace so they could walk side-by-side. “You aren’t even going to tell me what way we’re going?” Phoebe asked him as she tried to look through the dark into the distance for absolutely anything that could be their destination.

Following her gaze, Dominic knew that she wouldn’t be able to find their destination. Not yet anyway. “No, I’m showing you.” What was the point in telling her which way to go when she could just follow him?

Sighing, Phoebe tried again to get some sort of answer out of Dominic, “Could you please just give me a hint?”

And once again it didn’t even remotely work, “That would ruin the surprise.” Sometimes Phoebe wished Dominic would just tell her what was going on. But that didn’t seem to be something that would happen any time soon.

After walking for a few dozen more minutes and taking a handful of turns around corners, Dominic eventually came to a stop. “We’re here.” A proud smile sat on his face as he looking around them.

Stretching her arms out at the scenery in front of them Phoebe almost yelled, “What the hell is this?”

Dominic checked the time on his phone as he answered, “A skate park.”

“I can see that. Why are we here?” If Dominic even thought about saying that they were here to skate then Phoebe was going to smack the side of his head. They could’ve gone to any skate park, there were plenty of them much closer to their homes than this one and there was no way that this one was remarkably different from the others in any way.

Not only was there nothing special about the skate park, there also wasn’t another living soul in sight. Although that was something that Phoebe would take in stride and even see as a bonus to being there. Yet this time it made her a little nervous. They were completely alone in a town that Phoebe had never been to in the middle of the night at a skate park which were notorious for having some sketchy individuals lurking about.

“Climb and trust.” Dominic said as he began to make his way up to the top of the largest ramp. Still not revealing any part of his plan to Phoebe despite them already being at their destination.

Reluctantly, Phoebe did as Dominic said and followed his lead. Taking extra caution in her heels she climbed her way up the same ramp as him. Soon they were both sitting atop the structure, looking over the town that stretched out in front of them.

“Okay, this view is pretty nice.” Phoebe admitted. The street lights of the town were like man-made stars resting underneath the real stars of the night sky. She wasn’t sure what it was about the night, but Phoebe loved watching it in all of it’s silent glory. A sense of peace washed over her. One that she hadn’t felt since realising that in less than a year she’d be thrown out into the ‘real’ world with no idea as to exactly how that worked.

Dominic leaned over and whispered, “Just wait. It’s going to get better.” Then pointed up at the night sky and the two of them watched and waited for whatever it was that he promised would come.

But Phoebe didn’t need anything more from Dominic. This was more than enough for her to at least briefly forget about the stressors that had been overwhelming her mind earlier. The sky was beautiful, she was there with her best friend, and there wasn’t a single sound other than their own breathing.

After a few minutes of them staring silently into the night a whistling sound soared up into the sky, followed by a display of light and a loud crash. Fireworks. One after another they exploded into a gorgeous spray of colour, bringing life to the peaceful starry sky.

Phoebe watched wide-eyed at the sight, “Oh my gosh.” This wasn’t the first time Dominic had planned a fireworks display for her. In fact it seemed to be turning into somewhat of a tradition of his. Whenever he noticed Phoebe falling into a slump or twisting and wrapping her mind into a spin of negativity he’d take her out to watch fireworks. Although this was the first time that Phoebe hadn’t known about it beforehand. “How did you do this?” She asked Dominic, never letting her eyes leave their place on the sky.

If there was going to be fireworks in any of their neighbouring towns then Phoebe would’ve known about it. The fact that she knew nothing about these meant one thing. This was entirely Dominic’s doing and the fireworks were definitely not approved by the city council.

“I have friends in low places.” Dominic answered as he wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. “Are you feeling better?” He asked her, resting his head on top of hers.

“Thank you.” Phoebe whispered as she let herself sink into Dominic’s touch. How did she get so lucky? Why was her best friend so perfect?

#tales #phoebe #dominic #it's a relevant piece #i couldn't not use it #especially not when this was it's initial purpose #my candy

5 notes · View notes

that-bat-blog · 6 years ago

Text

@sleepysupersnuggles tagged me in w/ my art blog but I’m tryna keep it strictly art so here we go-

LAST

Drink: 7up free (because the can is much cuter than regular 7up)

Phone call: Probably my mum asking what time I was coming home

Text message (I’m gonna go with general messages because I never get texts): Basically my friend talking to me about how hot my OC Kai is, and me very much agreeing with him

Song: Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande

Time you cried: Friday, I threw up and I always cry when I’m sick

EVER

Dated someone twice: The only person I’ve ever dated is my current boyfriend and we’ve been together since we were fifteen (five years in February)

Kissed someone and regretted it: Not that I can think of??

Been cheated on: I sure hope not

Lost someone special: My Grandma passed away last year but we weren’t very close or anything. I do have friends from high school I wish I could’ve kept contact with more I suppose

Been depressed: yea boi

Gotten drunk and thrown up: Never been drunk so nope

Fave colours: Red. Its just a good colour

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU

Made new friends: Absolutely! I joined my boyfriends D&D game and everyones become really quick friends with me, its great

Fallen out of love: Nope and I don’t imagine I will any time soon

Laughed until you cried: Who hasn’t??

Found out someone was talking about you: In highschool it wasn’t really behind my back it was more snidey comments and such

Met someone who changed you: I used to hate puns and bad jokes, now I make them too often. Thanks Danny

Found out who your friends are: There was this one particular friend in primary/high school that I recently found some stuff about and I knew she was kinda shitty but had no idea how shitty she actually was

Kissed someone on your Facebook friends list: yes

GENERAL

How many of your Facebook friends do you know irl: All of them, I’ve never friended anyone I haven’t known

Do you have any pets: I have two lovely ladies. An Alaskan Malamute called Koda and a half jack russell, half staff called Lola

Do you want to change your name: I hate that my name has a million spellings but I still like it. The only time I can imagine changing it is if I get married

What did you do for your last birthday: I’m not much of a partygoer so I just stayed in and ordered takeaway

What were you doing at midnight last night: Listening to music full blast and staring at the ceiling for hours as per usual

What is something you can’t wait for: My top to get delivered, I’ve been eyeing it for a while and finally got around to ordering it

What are you listening to you right now: My boyfriends rendition of the MII menu song

Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: I went to school with about six Toms so I’ve definitely spoken to one of them

Something that gets on your nerves: All my brothers

Most visited website: Tumblr most likely or Youtube I guess

Hair colour: It was half white and black not long ago but now its all black

Long or short hair: I had very short hair over a year ago and now I’m actually trying to see how long I can get it to grow, so both really. Also my boyfriend has very long golden flowing hair and I’m a little jealous

Do you have a crush on someone: Dick Grayson, its been a crush since I was like six and it hasn’t gone away

What do you like about yourself: Body wise, I have a nice torso??? Personality wise, I like to think I’m creative and hopefully approachable?

Want any piercings: I would love piercings but I hate being stabbed so thats a no-no. If I manged to though, I would love more ear piercings, my septum piercing and my nips cos that shit hot

Blood type: I actually have no idea

Nicknames: Kate, Katie, Kit Kat, Chicken Pie, Monkey Pud, BItch etc

Relationship status: If you haven’t gathered I’m very not single

Zodiac: Aquarius, and apparently Aquarius’ are very aloof which is very me

Pronouns: She’s a WoMaN

Fave TV shows: I’m currently on an Avatar: the last airbender rewatch, one of my childhood faves and totally looking forward to season 3 of Young Justice. Not that into live action shows or anything

Tattoos: If it involves needles, thats a nope

Right or left handed: Right handed

Ever had surgery: Dental sorta shit but thats about it

Piercings: Ears when I was 10ish and I nearly passed out afterwards

Sport: HAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahaha

Vacation: I haven’t got any plans any time soon but I have been to Barcelona, Brisbane and Bulgaria

MORE GENERAL

Eating: Was eating Skips earlier

Drinking: Still in that pretty 7up free

About to watch: Probably some crappy action movie

Waiting for: Me to get the confidence to open commissions and finish some artwork

Want: To move out, I would really like to get a place with my boyfriend and I’m sure my brother who’s going to college and is 6ft odd would appreciate having a bigger bedroom

Get married: Maybe in the not so far future??

Career: I really want to get myself out there and just start making some good art. I love drawing for people because I know it makes them happy so it makes me happy too; they always say do something that you enjoy

WHICH IS BETTER

Hugs or kisses: A mixture of both is always good

Lips or eyes: Eyes, they’re so pretty and no pair is really the same

Shorter or taller: Taller, I want people to sweep me off my feet and make me feel dainty

Older or younger: Older I guess?

Nice arms or stomach: Gimme those beefy arms

Hookup or relationship: Relationship, never really understood the enjoyment behind a hookup

Troublemaker or hesitant: God please hesitant, my anxiety can’t take troublemaker

HAVE YOU EVER

Kissed a stranger: Again like the hookups, never really appealed to me. The idea of just kissing someone you don’t know if gross

Drunk hard liquor: Does a large glass of coke with the tiniest bit of vodka count

Lost glasses: My pair now are the first ones I’ve had and I haven’t lost them just yet

Turned someone down: The guy who introduced me to my boyfriend in high school....yeah

Sex on first date: Only had one first date, we were 15, he was 3 hours late and we went to see Transformers 3 so that should tell you all you need to know

Broken someones heart: Highly doubt it

Had your heart broken: nah

Been arrested: I’ve been in a police van and car but never been arrested

Cried when someone died: I didn’t cry my Grandma died, at her funeral and I still haven’t

Fallen for a friend: Well Danny was a friend before we went out so I guess??

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

Yourself: I wouldn’t trust me with an egg

Miracles: Nope

Love at first sight: Nope, love is hard af

Santa Claus: Not anymore like

Kiss on a first date: I mean if you’re both up for it, sure!

Angels: Atheist so nah

OTHERS

Best friend’s name: Phoebe, we’ve been friends for 8 years now, the first thing she ever said to me was “your cake looks like its on crack” and we’ve been friends ever since

Eye colour: Steely blue, I’m the only one of my dads six kids to get his eye colour, everyone else has their mothers

Fave movie: I don’t really have a favourite, I spend more time watching Youtube videos than anything else really

Fave actors: Never really had a favourite, just generally anyone who is a sweetheart

Thanks for tagging me in Nina!! I’m gonna tag @izzy-cat and @cattwomannn and really anyone else can have a go!!

#personal #long post

0 notes

theproseccopalace · 7 years ago

Text

Introducing... Grace Anderson

I’m a writer.

Not in the whole - “i have a book deal” - kind of writer. But I’m a writer in the same sense that Whoopi Goldberg’s character Sister Mary Clarence says in Sister Act [paraphrased for me, of course]. “If you wake up in the morning and all you can think about is writing... then you’re a writer girl!”

I have been writing ever since I was 14 years old. It was summer. June. I opened up my wire bound notebook (wide-ruled) and out spilled a 400 page story in two days that spanned several of these notebooks. I wrote as if I had a fever. I didn’t stop. The more I wrote the more fuel was thrown on that fire inside. I could see my characters. Hear how the spoke in my head. How conflict was thrown in their path, and how they navigated it. How they grew from it. How they suffered. My character I had created, I had intended to kill off at the end of the book.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to that intentional murder. The character took over. Her voice in my head was strong. Her tone. She wasn’t ready to die by my hand. Oh contraire. She was going to survive. No matter the scarring to her psyche, she was going to overcome.

I learned a lot about myself while writing that first story. I realized there was a stronger story in me. The fact this character was going to survive to take on even greater challenges in her arc. So I wrote another.

And another.

Aaaaand another.

Before I knew it, I had a four novel arc on my hands, hundreds of hand written pages, a dent in my right index finger that hurt like hell, and a character that wouldn’t die. So I kept writing. I love exploring, and I wanted to see where this character was going to go.

Thirty (!) novels later, her story arc was finally ended. She finally lost her ability to survive my and other evil characters’ (I created and threw at her) attempts to end her storied life. And the story only ended because I had run out of ideas to test her.

Those stories now lie in a box in my attic. I can’t bring myself to throw them away. I have no idea what I will actually do with them. I don’t even read them, and I haven’t in over a decade. But still... I can’t just get rid of all that hard work, and countless hours daydreaming, and plotting, and revising...

I started other stories. I have a three novel arc that I never finished. Another in a totally different genre... then... I started writing with my first character again.

Same character. She had been alive in my mind this whole time. Just being quiet, unless I sense her and try to kill her off again I guess. She’s clever that way. But now, my medium is my computer. Gone is that painful dent in my index finger, that previously had gotten a permanent status as well as permanently numb. And now I type like a madwoman on my keyboard.

Her name is Grace. She grew up in Riverbend, a city to the north that is not far from the Canadian border. She went to boarding school. Her parents are divorced, and her mother just recently passed away from breast cancer. Grace looks no different from others around her. She likes to work out. She’s intelligent. She sometimes sees a therapist. She keeps mostly to herself and doesn’t try to attract too much attention. But she lives in a near future, a shade off from ours. Her future has magnetic trains for mass-transit. Various types of craft that hover, either on magnetic tracks or self piloted. Cities are huge and multi-leveled. She lives in the United States, but a recent skirmish in Europe has just happened, though she was in Asia at the time and it didn’t affect her too much. She is single. Has the occasional date. Drinks coffee. Takes care of herself.

She’s a city Protector. A leader of Streetwalkers, people that work in tandem with the police, but are separate. They have carved the city into subdivisions and are patrolled by them to keep their own worlds turning. It’s not always done legally. It is wrong, and it is right. It is a lawless and unforgiving existence. A usually short one.

She never set out to be a leader. She set out to force her chaotic world to make sense. Because the secrets she carries, she doesn’t know she carries them. Her memories are broken and scattered in her mind. She is angry. Not at anyone. She’s angry for existing. Because every day she fights... the other Streetwalkers, the agents that work for the Society, the various gangs of the city, the skintraders, the rapists, the murderers... She’s angry because she is tired. And she’s angry because she can’t stop.

Riverbend is her home. Her trainee Brion is probably the only person who knows her best, and he would confess he didn’t know her at all. She plays everything close to her chest, and does the right thing, even if it isn’t the popular thing. Friends are a luxury. As gifted with her ability to lead as she is with directing her unrequited rage, she has murdered and destroyed lives. She doesn’t waste one day on regret. She is virtually unstoppable.

She makes mistakes. She is sometimes wrong. She pisses everyone off that comes into contact with her. But her capacity to care, to love, is deep and unexplored. She tries to repel everyone she meets to keep her life simpler.

Brion idolizes her. Phoebe despises her. Jake admires her. These people are regularly in her orbit, and they are all terrified of her.

And then there is David, who is both repulsed and fascinated by her. She wishes she could just get rid of him. But when his fascination turns to obsession, she has a decision to make. Kill him, or use him. He is his own breed of human monster, a sociopath with a love of people, and zero ability to rein in his killer instincts. But he has his uses. And she knows it. So does he, and he will use his talents of manipulation to use her for his nefarious purposes as well.

What’s a girl to do?

My first book. Self-published in 2007.

#novel author goodreads

0 notes