Camp NaNoWriMo

Okay, I'm a-gonna do it. 

Last November's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) was pretty disastrous. With a monthly goal of 50,000 words, I didn't even clear 12,000. Of course, I was homeschooling two teen boys, teaching two writing classes with our private school (homeschool co-op), and teaching a very extensive literary analysis class online. Those literary analysis classes suck the lifeblood out of me faster than the Volturi ever could; I often have to respond to 50-100 posts per day over four weeks!! So with that schedule, it wasn't surprising that my NaNoWriMo experience fell abysmally short.

But this month is Camp NaNoWriMo, and I've set my word goal at 30,000--that's 1,000 words/day. Totally do-able, right? Plus I only have one set of essays to grade for my writing classes through our private school (technically there are no home schools in California--we're all considered private schools--and our private school, Heritage Christian School, is the largest homeschool private study program in the whole state with nearly 500 families registered) as my students begin their MLA research essays. 

And while I am teaching an online class, it's a family workshop class (on Shakespeare--so fun!!) that's already prepared and will require minimal work from me--just checking in with the families as they do the various activities. And our own homeschool is taking the weeks off both before and after Easter, so that's half the month off from active homeschooling. 

So, in other words, I should have plenty of time to WRITE this month!! :)

Chapter 13 of Only by Moonlight was sent to my lovely and uber-talented pre-reader, ladylibre, last night, and I plan to start drafting Chapter 14 today. I spent this past weekend re-reading the whole book and jotting down ideas for future chapters, so now I feel more certain of the direction of the storyline. I've always known how I want Only by Moonlight to end; I just haven't been sure exactly how to get there. 

Plus, I have a few milestones to report on Wattpad. Only by Moonlight has just reached 25,000 reads!! Plus, Evening Star has topped 900,000 reads on Wattpad, and Pinned but Fluttering just passed 1.8 million reads there!! Thank you, Wattpad readers!! I have yet to check my Fan Fiction stats, but I'm so pleased with my readers on Wattpad. Thank you all for reading my novels and stories!! 

So I'm off to teach our morning homeschool lessons and then I have plans to write this afternoon!! :) I'll keep you posted on how Camp NaNoWriMo is going!!

Have a terrific April...which, BTW, is National Poetry Month, too!! Yay!!

Affectionately,
~Cassandra :) 
xxxooo

REMINDER! Last Week to Vote "Pinned but Fluttering" as Top 10 Twilight Fan Fic of 2013!!

Yes, we're in the final week of voting at Twi Fan Fiction Recs for the Top 10 Completed Fics of 2013, and voting closes February 28th!! 

Since Pinned but Fluttering came in #8 in the January 2013 voting, thanks to my amazing readers on Wattpad and FanFiction.net, it's among the 120 fan fics open for voting. Thank you!!

You may vote ONCE EVERY 24 HOURS THROUGH FEBRUARY 28TH at TwiFanFictionRecs-Top 10 of 2013. The works are listed alphabetically, so scroll on down to the P's to vote for Pinned but Fluttering!! Thank you!!! :D

~Cassandra :)
xxxooo

Done...and Plans

It's been a few weeks since I completed Pinned but Fluttering. The sense of accomplishment in completing Pinned but Fluttering is incredible; it's nearly twice as long as Evening Star, and it took me nearly a year and a half of posting almost weekly chapters to complete the story. 

Unlike most fan fiction writers, I make no outlines; I don't plan out my plots beyond a vague idea of how it's going to end. It's much more fun to write that way because I don't know what's going to happen, either. But there are also drawbacks to writing off-the-cuff as well: repetition, writing oneself into a corner, etc. Nevertheless, I enjoy writing this way too much to stop now. :) 

Readers on both Wattpad.com and FanFiction.net are requesting sequels to both of my novel-length stories, but I don't think I'm ready to write another epic-type novel at the moment.

The popularity of Pinned but Fluttering continues to astound me. Currently it's received almost 200,000 reads on FanFiction.net (adding the outtakes story to the original PbF) and 1,415,600 on Wattpad.com, for an overall total of over 1.6 million hits all together. Wattpad also shows nearly 9500 votes and 6700 comments while FanFiction.net has over 1500 reviews. I still can't wrap my mind around those numbers....  

Because I am currently teaching three classes in January (two online courses, one a family grammar workshop and the other a high school literary analysis class on Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest, and one IRL expository writing class that lasts all school year) plus homeschooling my three teen boys, I'm taking January off from writing. Between Evening Star and Pinned but Fluttering, not to mention my shorter stories/one shots, I've been posting weekly chapters for just over two years. So once I return my final essays from my online Literary Analysis Class in February, during which I"ll be teaching only one online course (a poetry workshop), plus the IRL writing class and homeschooling my boys, I'll probably work on two or three shorter stories I've started, a couple from which I've posted excerpts on this blog. 

I have an idea for a novel-length story, but I've been debating whether to write it as an original story or as a fan fiction story. I asked my readers on Wattpad which they'd prefer, and currently this is how the polling stands:

Original story: 9 votes
Fan Fiction story: 14 votes
Both/Either (no opinion): 5 votes

I'm still debating. I found myself excited when I received a vote for "Original" and kind of sad when I received one for "Fan Fiction," so my heart it telling me to write an original story which I would publish on Wattpad. But part of me is still drawn to the ease and comfort of writing fan fiction since it's what I know. It would be easy enough to revise the fan fiction story into an original story since this story idea is AH/AU (All Human and Alternate Universe); there won't be vampires or shape shifters/werewolves, but the story will still be a paranormal-type tale. I don't want to say much more, but I'm definitely letting the ideas bubble away on the back burner of my mind this month. 

Teaching two concurrent online classes this month is killing me; I had to take yesterday (Friday) off and just crawl into bed and rest because I am that worn out right now. So please be understanding if I don't get back into writing until March or so. My IRL class will be working on their research essays which means I won't be grading piles of essays as I usually have to do until May when their research projects are due, so I'll have 6-8 weeks of more free time. Plus, as far as I know, I'm not teaching any online classes in March although I have some big projects I need to be working on for my job, mostly revising and editing some of our online classes (those taught only once per year) into e-books that families can do at their own pace. I'm nearly done with the grammar class, so I'm thrilled about that! 

And I am so sorry that I haven't been able to respond to many of the wonderful reviews and comments that readers posted at the end of Pinned but Fluttering. I've saved them all and definitely treasure them, and I will respond when I have the time...which may not be until February. I hate having to postpone commenting until then, but that's just the way it has to be. :(

Oh, and I just found out yesterday that Breaking Dawn Part 2 is being released onto DVD here in the US on my birthday!! At least my kids will know what to get me, LOL! :) 

So that's where I am, writing-wise and life-wise. Thanks for being understanding about my need to take a break. My autoimmune illness has also been in flare-up mode because of my work schedule; when I overwork and don't sleep enough, the pain worsens, which makes it more difficult to sleep, which makes the pain worsen further, etc. It's a vicious circle. So thanks for your understanding and your amazing support; you're all the best readers ever!!

With much love,
Cassandra :)
xxxooo

Milestones, Writing, and Reading

Late last month I reached a major milestone: Pinned but Fluttering reached 1 MILLION READS on Wattpad!! It's absolutely crazy and wonderful and stunning and un-fricking-believable. Pinned but Fluttering does well enough on FanFiction.net where it's at 99,000 hits and 997 reviews (almost ready to break some records there as well!!), but over a million reads on Wattpad is just...wow. I am still wrapping my head around it. And the numbers keep on going--in the two weeks since passing the million mark, it's garnered another 80,000+ reads!! Wow. 

I just wish that I could enter Pinned but Fluttering in the Watty Awards, but I started it at the wrong time. All stories must have been written over the past year: between November 1, 2011 and October 31, 2012, and I started it in August 2011. Plus I seriously doubt I could complete it by October 31. Well, I COULD, but it wouldn't be easy. 

I think I'll enter a couple of poems in the Atty Awards contest, judged by Margaret Atwood. Having Atwood involved at Wattpad is a huge feather in their cap; she's one of the premier literary authors and poets of our time, and she's simply marvelous. Somewhat recently I attended a lecture on Atwood's work at University of San Diego (where I earned my Master's in English) and discovered that she had been acquainted with one of my former USD professors while at Harvard; they worked on their doctorates together. But having Atwood associated with Wattpad brings the site a whole new level of authenticity and respectability. Very cool! :) 

And although it's been complete for nearly a year, Evening Star continues to scrape up more reads as well; it's over 720,000 reads but never really caught on at FFN. I am constantly asked for a sequel on Wattpad, so perhaps that may be my next major fic. I have ideas for lots of EPOV one-shots, too. We'll see.

I know I've neglected this blog horribly, but all of my writing time has been devoted to new chapters for Pinned, plus I spent September up to my eyebrows in teaching an online discussion class of Jane Eyre for homeschoolers. I have been teaching online courses for over ten years, and now I'm helping to write curriculum as well, so when I'm not actively teaching, I have quite the to-do list. :) But that's where I disappeared to in September and why I spent two weeks posting each chapter of Pinned.

I've also read some great fics lately; scroll down my sidebar to "Fics I Have Read in 2012" and you'll see quite the list. A current fic I'm reading is "Letters from Corporal Masen" which is set during World War II, specifically the D-Day invasion of Normandy. The author, solostintwilight, is the author of one of my favorite stories of all time, "Our Yellow House" (which I happen to be re-reading on my Kindle right now). Anyway, solostintwilight listed some other war-based stories, and I've been making my way through them. And are they ever heartwrenching!! Last night I finished reading "Finding Home" (and outtakes "Finding Liberty") by jennde, and I don't think I've ever cried so much while reading a fan fic story (unless it was for "Our Yellow House" or SillyBella's "Peonies"). The story starts a couple of days before Pearl Harbor and goes through the war from there. A couple of other amazing war-based stories are "A Soldier's Homecoming" by morsus mihi (set during Vietnam) and  "The Wallflower and the Flyboy" by A Cullen Wannabe. All of these stories are incredible, and I eagerly await each update of solostintwilight's "Letters to Corporal Masen" (which has an incredible Facebook page with WWII photos; plus, her Bella is the lovely Gene Tierney) as we find out how Edward is faring after parachuting into the French countryside in advance of D-Day. 

So what have the rest of you been reading? I love recommendations, even though I have pages and pages of recs written down in my writing notebook. 

Well, I'm off to see Florence + the Machine tonight with my daughter, and I have a sizable pile of work to complete first, so off I go. 

Thanks for reading this blog and my stories!! I appreciate each and every one of you!! :) 

Take care!!

xxxooo,
Cassandra :) 

Twilight and Jane Eyre

Even though I've been wrapped up in teaching my fan fiction class and writing Pinned but Fluttering, I have had a few story ideas floating around.


I've written parts of some, and others remain stuck on a Post-It in my writing journal. 


But my first non-Twilight fan fic idea came to me the other night. Lately I've been reading some pretty darn angsty fan fics with Edward in some rather sad and anxiety-provoking situations (like The Blessing and the Curse by The Black Arrow, The Diva Diaries by KivaRaven, An Angry Man by katinki, etc.), I thought about his literary predecessors, including another angst-ridden Edward: Edward Fairfax Rochester. 


So I'm seriously considering expanding my Twilight fan fiction repertoire with a one-shot of Edward Rochester awaking to find Jane gone on the day after their almost-wedding. 


I can almost place a Robert Pattinson, aged by 15 years, in the role of this Edward, one equally haunted by his past sins and tied to a dark mystery in which he drags a young, innocent girl into because of the depth of his love. Only Edward Cullen leaves his Bella while Jane leaves Rochester...but both for what they believe is the "right" reason.


Jane and Bella, and their stories, definitely parallel each other. Both raised in unusual circumstances, Jane an orphan and Bella parenting her own parents, Jane and Bella are rather strong-minded in some ways, yet their teenaged romanticism colors their world greatly. They're young, innocent, trusting girls who are drawn to dark, angsty men who conceal dangerous secrets and checquered pasts. After a climatic event in the story line, a separation ensues during which both women discover another possible love interest, Jane with St. John Rivers and Bella with Jacob Black. Both women's lives are in danger because of this relationship as Jane could easily die on the missionary fields of India where St. John intends for her to join him while Bella learns to love a werewolf. 


Supernatural forces (Jane hearing Rochester call for her, and Bella learning of Alice's vision of Edward's suicide attempt with the Volturi) bring the couples back together, Jane to a blinded and contrite Rochester, Bella to a contrite and apologetic Edward. Choices must be made regarding which love interest the women will choose, and of course they choose their angsty guys, marry them, and live happily ever after, children and all. 


And the two Edwards are so similar. They both possess sinful pasts that they are reluctant to share with their innocent teenaged loves, and both have a deep-seated self-hatred based on those pasts and on their perceived danger to their women. Once restored to their loves, both are appropriate contrite although Rochester has truly changed during the separation from Jane while Edward Cullen changed more before the separation. 


Both men are loners to an extent, have past romantic interests in Blanche Ingram and Tanya in Denali, neither truly worthy of the angsty guys, who inspire jealousy in their teenaged loves. Both men are altered greatly by the introduction of these pure, idealistic women who look past the ugliness in the men's lives (Rochester's physical ugliness and the ugliness of who Edward is as a vampire) and love them not only despite the men's flaws but perhaps because of them.  


As many parallels exist between Jane Eyre and the Twilight Saga, it seems a natural place to go, fan fiction-wise, to write from Rochester's POV when he discovers Jane gone, the pearls and other valuables left behind, and "right to prevail." Angst will heavily color Edward Rochester's thoughts as he realizes that Jane, friendless in their world, has left with nothing. 


So let's see if I can clear the time to write this one-shot soon, shall we? And yes, I hope to keep writing the Twilight stories I've started or jotted down the basic plot ideas in my notebook. So keep your eyes peeled....


On another quick note, on Wattpad Pinned but Fluttering passed 700,000 reads this week, and Evening Star passed 650,000 reads; in addition, my vote count for all of my works on Wattpad has passed 8000! So thank you to my wonderful readers--you are the reason I write and keep writing!!


With love and thanks,
~Cassandra :)  

Real Life Interruptus....

I know.


I know, I know, I know. 


I've been dreadfully neglectful of you all. 


But it's been an incredibly busy semester, one that I shall be delighted to finish. Besides home schooling my three boys (grades 6, 9 and 11), I am teaching two classes at our twice-monthly home school co-op (high school expository writing and 4th-6th grade medieval history), plus since January I've taught five online courses in grammar, poetry, literary analysis, and Shakespeare. It's been truly crazy, and I've been fortunate to remain somewhat sane despite working until 2:00 a.m. or later to keep up with it all.


In addition, I've led three weekend workshops in journaling (and two on blogging) at the Pine Valley Bible Conference Center's Spring Women Conferences and Mother-Daughter Conference.  


So, as a result of this crazy schedule, I've had to curtail some of my postings for Pinned but Fluttering as I've just been too busy. 


However, the GOOD NEWS is that the reads/hits of my fan fic stories on Wattpad have topped ONE MILLION. Wow. Thank you to all my Wattpad readers--you're amazing!!  


So I offer my apologies for my neglect and once June rolls around, I'll have much more time to devote to you and to the writing of fan fics. 




Thanks for your kind patience,
Cassandra :)

Writing from Edward's POV

There's just something about Edward Cullen.


I'm not talking about Robert Pattinson...although he does a fair job of portraying Edward. And he's captured Edward's agony well, especially in New Moon.


No, I'm talking about the amalgam of literary heroes whom, rolled together, result in Edward Cullen.


I see Edward Cullen most clearly in the character of Edward Fairfax Rochester in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre: a man of principle twisted by "Fate"--by factors outside of his control--into a life of self-loathing and self-control, a self-control that he struggles with and then yields as he falls in love with his ward's quirky and plain governess. Mr. Rochester throws aside society's rules in order to pursue Jane, but when society catches up with him at the altar as he prepares to marry Jane, the lovers are separated, and Mr. Rochester goes out of his mind with grief. He sacrifices himself in attempting to rescue his mad wife who has set Thornfield, his home, on fire, and ends up blind and crippled. Once Jane is restored to him through supernatural means, he regains his sanity and his sight, finally becoming the man he was always supposed to be through the power of love and the grace of God.


I also see Edward Cullen, to a lesser extent, in the character of Heathcliff in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, an intrinsically evil character made so by forces mostly outside his control, yet becoming more human through his twisted love of the monstrous Catherine Earnshaw. Glimpses of Edward Cullen may also be seen in Mr. Darcy of Austen's Pride and Prejudice and in the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.


And let's not forget the Byronic hero, the handsome, tortured soul saved from himself through the power of love. Dictionary.com defines the Byronic hero as "A kind of hero found in several of the works of Lord Byron. Like Byron himself, a Byronic hero is a melancholy and rebellious young man, distressed by a terrible wrong he committed in the past." Sounds a bit like our Edward, doesn't he?


Currently I'm reading the third novel by Syrie James (author of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen and The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte) entitled Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker which explores the Dracula story in a mixture of fictional story wrapped around established fact. I haven't read Stoker's Dracula since college, and I must confess to remembering little of it. Besides the enjoyment of getting lost in Syrie James' wonderful literary worlds, I'm intrigued by how the character of Count Dracula relates to Edward Cullen. We shall see, I suppose....


So why do I enjoy writing from Edward's point-of-view so much? I find his character infinitely fascinating. He's flawed, but beautifully so. He's alone in his own hell of self-loathing, but then he's slowly raised out of this hell to live, for the first time in his miserable existence, by the love of a pure woman. Edward's agonized struggle between loving Bella and protecting Bella places him in a nearly impossible situation, one that requires him to further develop his humanity while suppressing his vampiric nature.


Last night I published an EPOV Outtake for Pinned but Fluttering which begins with Edward storming out of the Cullen home after seeing Downton Abbey splayed across the widescreen, his own time period on display as Bella watches with fascination. He runs, and as he runs, he recalls his first encounter with Bella, and we gain a glimpse into Edward's mind and heart as he struggles with his intense feelings for Bella. Here's a short excerpt from the third outtake from Pinned but Fluttering:

As soon as I was out of human sight, I was running with a speed and energy that surprised even me. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't know how long I'd be running. But the repetitious motion of the running brought me a the merest beginnings of peace...a peace I hadn't felt since first catching the irresistible scent of one Isabella Swan.
My demon.
My angel.
During the drive, I had not allowed my mind to think about her. But for all my decades of careful self-control of body and mind, she had somehow become the focus of my every thought. I knew, without a doubt, that this situation would have to stop. Or change somehow.
I could not think about her.
I could not allow her into my world.
My world was simply too dangerous for such a delicate girl.
I had to protect her. Somehow. Someway.
I had to protect her...from myself.
As the miles disappeared beneath my feet, I thought back to the television program that had startled me and prompted my dramatic exit. To see splayed across the widescreen the elements of my own human era, the halcyon days before the horrors of The Great War (the war which was later named World War I after another global war began in the 30s and 40s), gripped the earth, was unnerving to say the least. The clothing, the manners, the cadence of speech, even the gentility of that time was all too familiar to me.
I could not believe that Alice had exposed Bella to my own human time. It was dangerous...and unspeakably reckless. And worse, my sister had done it on purpose, and I was not sure that I would be forgiving her any time soon....
I suppose that my reaction was a bit much, but it was Alice's smug grin of satisfaction that sent me “over the top”--another phrase from the foxholes of The Great War.
I sighed as I ran, knowing that I'd have to apologize to Esme and Alice when I got home.
That is, if I ever went home....
As usually happened in this particular damp location in the US, it began to rain, slowly at first, then in an increasingly powerful downpour. Despite Spokane's overall drier weather than the Olympic Peninsula where Forks was located, high winds whipped my wet clothing against me as I ran and raindrops struck my eyes, peppered my face, and soaked my hair.
But I couldn't stop running.
If I continued, I would end up running all the way back to the Olympic Peninsula and then would have to return to fetch the Vanquish....
Shit. Usually I didn't allow myself to use foul language, first because it offended me that most people didn't take the time to choose the best word for a particular situation; they lazily resorted to four-letter words in a decided lack of creativity. Second, such words offended Esme, and the last thing I wanted to do was to give my mother pain.
But the agony within me wouldn't allow me to stop running—but whether I was running away from Isabella or toward her, I did not know. But those brown eyes, swimming with deep emotions and fragile strength, wouldn't leave my mind's eye for more than a moment, and only then when I forced them away.
But they never stayed away long, those incredible eyes.

So I'll be continuing the story of Pinned but Fluttering with next weekend's posting of Chapter 30, picking up with the Cullens' tense discussion with Bella in the living room....


Plus, Pinned but Fluttering just passed 300,000 reads on Wattpad this morning. See?

From the Wattpad.com Profile Page of Cassandra Lowery dated March 28, 2012

Thank you for reading my stories and for being such an amazing support and encouragement for me as a writer. Fiction writing still seems foreign and odd to me, and I certainly have a great deal to learn....


With a grateful heart,
Cassandra

The Middle-of-the-Night Jottings on Christmas-Themed Post-Its....

The last two weeks I've found my mind still in Pinned but Fluttering mode when I get ready for bed after posting the new chapter late. Last week some tings I wanted to address in the next chapter came to mind, so I grabbed the ever-present Christmas-themed pad of Post-It notes and, in minuscule penmanship, jotted down five Post-Its of ideas.


After getting up the next morning, I unstuck them from the bathroom mirror, brought them downstairs, and stuck them to a blank page in my "Scribblings" journal--a place in which I jot chapter ideas, points not to forget, elements to bring back in, and rough drafts of many a failed poem.


So there they are (pictured above): the basis for Chapter 28 of Pinned but Fluttering.


And this morning was no different. Going to bed at nearly 5:00 AM (when normal people are getting up, of course) after staying up all night to ready my new online classroom for the teaching of Little Women, the opening lines for Chapter 29 came to me. So again I reached for the pad of Christmas-themed Post-Its and jotted down the opening lines (subject to later revision, of course).


Here is what I wrote:

"What did I do?" I asked weakly, the room still reverberating from the sheer force of Edward's dramatic exit.

Alice seemed completely unperturbed. "Oh, it was nothing you did, Bella," she said, waving a hand toward me airily. Then she flashed me a wide grin, a "cat-just-ate-the-canary" kind of grin. Refusing to say another word, she returned to watching Downton Abbey. I tried to join her, but as engrossing as the Crawley family and household staff were, they were the furthest topic from my thoughts....

So there we are!! Now that my speaking engagements are over (although I was asked back to do the Journaling Workshop again in May), I have more time to breathe...and perhaps even write! Of course, I'm not even thinking about my "normal life" of teaching two online courses this week (teaching one is more than enough!!), homeschooling the boybarians, and just living.


But I'm still hoping to get some writing done before the weekend so I don't have to stay up so late (and keep my Wattpad readers up so late, too) posting the next chapter. I also want to write an EPOV Outtake...and after Edward's rather dramatic exit at the end of Chapter 28, perhaps now is the time. Could I do both this week? I seriously doubt it...but who knows?


And guess what? On Wattpad yesterday, Pinned but Fluttering reached a quarter of a million reads!!! 250,000!!! And last night, Evening Star reached half a million reads--that's 500,000 reads!! WOW!!!! I love my readers sooooooo much!!! :) :) :)


Okay, getting back to my real life of juggling home education with teaching outside classes....


Writing for you,
--Cassandra :)

New One Shot Started....

It's been a crazy-busy month for me. I've started a new one-shot called Her Wedding Day at least. I'm working on Chapter 24 of Pinned but Fluttering, plus I have serious plans to write an outtake of Chapter 23 from Carlisle's POV, including Bella's arrival at the hospital, her treatment, and the meeting with the wolfpack. So we'll see how all these things come together.


And on Wattpad, Pinned but Fluttering just reached 2,000 votes and 2,000 comments and also passed 115,000 reads. Wow!!! My Wattpad readers just blow me away with their extraordinary kindness and manic enthusiasm! It's wonderful writing for them.


And the best thing about writing these stories? The friendships I've made. On FanFiction.net I've made good friends with Natalia Mazaur, LadyLibre, and SleepMyBella (and I also beta for the first two out of sheer admiration for their awesome talent!!). On Wattpad I've made too many friends to keep track of--seriously. But with each chapter I get to respond to their many perceptive comments and kind words of encouragement, and I am so blessed to befriend so many writers!!


The best comments I receive on Wattpad are from readers who either 1) hate Twilight, or 2) hate fan fiction, but end up loving Pinned but Fluttering!! Talk about the ultimate compliment!!!

As a special treat, here's the beginning of Her Wedding Day:

She was utterly breathtaking.

Sure, she wobbled just a little as she started down the aisle on her father's arm. Only my sharpened sight noticed the slight catch in her stride and the nervous tightening of her hand on Charlie's arm.

But that was my Bella.

Once she raised her eyes from the ground on which she carefully stepped, her beautiful brown eyes latched onto mine, and I could see nothing else.

I'm sure that her dress was perfect—lovely and graceful on her slim form, modestly outlining her curves in a way that would drive me distracted later.

Later...much later...I would peel that dress off of my beloved, and slowly, surely, we would become one in body as we were becoming one in heart and mind and soul in mere moments.

But I couldn't focus on her dress now; I could only see her warm, chocolate eyes—melted chocolate—as warmth and emotion filled them. I could feel my own eyes burning oddly, too.

Our love was like that...full, warm, complete.

It seemed as though it took hours for Charlie to walk his daughter down the aisle, but it was mere seconds.

But somehow, during the passage of these mere seconds, I changed...from a boy to a man. My age and appearance may remain the same, but I would never be that boy again.

I was ready, so ready, to step up and become the husband of Isabella Marie Swan.

After eons of gazing deeply into each others' souls as she drew ever nearer on her father's arm, she was here.

At my side.

Forever.

WIP Recommendations:

Within Reason by JA Mash

Words with Friends and Words with Strangers by Nolebucgrl

Serenity's Prayer by ladylibre

My Guardian Destroyer by Natalia Mazaur

(And yes, I beta the last two!)


Enjoy!!!!!

Well, it's 1:00 AM, so I suppose I ought to attempt to sleep sometime....

Love to you all--

Cassandra

Evening Star Now Available for Downloading!

Well, with Evening Star now completed, I thought I'd set up some free downloads for you all.


I formatted Evening Star in two ways: 1) a PDF with a regular font (14 point) for reading on a PC/Mac, and 2) a PDF with a much larger font (24 point) for reading on E-Readers like Kindle, Nook, etc.


Basically, these PDFs are the same as the original postings on Wattpad and FanFiction.net (see sidebar for links), with the exception of the last few chapters which I edited from looooong chapters into multiple shorter chapters. I didn't remove any wording (or fix many typos--sorry!) but just added a few chapter headings for a total of sixty chapters. The PC/Mac version runs to about 340 pages, and the E-Reader edition comes out at 925 pages. The text of the story itself is 140,000 words.


Trying to get my PDFs uploaded was not easy. I Googled and searched and found DocStoc where I was able to upload my PDFs and have them available here. But if anyone knows of an easier way to upload PDFs into Blogger, I'd be thrilled to learn how.


Anyway, scroll on down to the bottom of my blog, and you'll see the two versions available for downloading, the E-Reader Edition first, then the PC/Mac Edition.


Please let me know if there are any problems with downloading either edition; I haven't used DocStoc before and am hoping it will work well. :)


Consider these downloadable versions of Evening Star as early Christmas gifts to all my wonderful readers!! Enjoy!!!!


And, on the Pinned but Fluttering front, with Chapter 15 uploaded on Wattpad, the story made #1 on the Thriller List, #2 on the Fan Fiction List, and is currently #86 on the What's Hot List...which encompasses the entire website!!! I'm quite thrilled to have made it into the Top 100 for the first time since Evening Star's early days. Yay!!!


Well, I'd better start editing Chapter 16 of Pinned but Fluttering if I want to post it tomorrow. The rough draft was composed on the final day of NaNoWriMo and was extremely rushed, and thus needs a great deal of revising and editing! :)


Merry Christmas again!! Enjoy those downloads!!!


--Cassandra

Pinned but Fluttering Milestone...We're #1!!!

Yes, it's Darkward!!!

Well, I did finally win NaNoWriMo...with 14,000 words posted in the final 24 hours. It was exhausting, and I verified my word count with a mere 14 minutes to spare!! Whew!!


But the big news came today when I arose, bleary-eyed after two night this week of grading essays until 3:30-4:00 AM, and checked my Wattpad profile.


And...WOW!!!!

A screenshot right off of my Wattpad profile!!  

Pinned but Fluttering was ranked #1 in the Thriller category (which has happened before) and, the big surprise, #1 in the Fan Fiction category!!!! And Pinned but Fluttering was ranked #111 all together on the entire site under "What's Hot!"


In addition, Pinned but Fluttering also passed the 1,000 vote mark and the 1,000 comment mark as well...just yesterday!!! And it's just passed 40,000 reads, too, on Wattpad alone.


So while Pinned but Fluttering only has sixty-some reviews on FanFiction.Net (almost half from two faithful fans who have reviewed every chapter), at least Pinned but Fluttering is receiving lots o' love on Wattpad.


Plus, one of my favorite fan fiction authors, Aleeab4u (who wrote the amazing, incredible Falling Beyond Redemption, pimped Pinned but Fluttering on Twitter earlier this week!!! Yay!!!


And...Chapter 15 of Pinned but Fluttering will be up tomorrow (Saturday)!


So, thank you to all of you delightful readers and faithful reviewers/commenters/voters who have done so much to share my stories and spread the word!!! THANK YOU!!!!


You're the BEST!!!! Love you all!!!!


--Cassandra

Chapter 7 of Pinned but Fluttering Now Posted

New Pinned but Fluttering cover designed on Wattpad by ExxIce

Yes, I updated Pinned but Fluttering early this morning, posting my longest chapter thus far. It's already racing up the lists on Wattpad, reaching #2 in the Thriller category and #8 (a new high) in the Fan Fiction category.


A couple of days ago, Chapter 50 of Evening Star reached a new high, #9 in the Fan Fiction category; currently it's ranked at #16.


I'm gearing up for NaNoWriMo, with the Prologue of Pinned but Fluttering posted. Somehow I need to complete Evening Star before the end of November. I'm thinking about having a marathon writing session this weekend try try to complete it. I really only need three more chapters, perhaps four. I might just be able to pull it off and finish with a bang.

And isn't the new cover for Pinned but Fluttering amazing? A sweet fan on Wattpad just e-mailed it to me out of the blue. ExxIce did a lovely job of picking up the pathos of the story. I love it. And another friend on Wattpad offered today to design new covers for both books! I told her that I already had covers, so she should perhaps design for people who didn't, but she likes to design for her favorite stories, so I gave her the "go ahead," if she'd like. I'll post them when I receive them....


So that's the current news. I'm up far later than I should be, but essays must get graded and homeschooling must happen. And addictive fan fics must be read, of course....


Have a wonderful rest of your week!


--Cassandra

Entering a Poetry Contest on Wattpad




Screen Shot of Wattpad Profile Page

 
Through another fan fiction writer on Wattpad, I read about a poetry contest on Wattpad that closes in four days. We were to write and post a "Manifesto Poem" which I did, along with another poem.

Both "Tone-Deaf?" and "Trailing Fingertips" ended up tonight ranked in the top poems, the former at #16 and the latter at #48.


I was also surprised to see both poems on Wattpad's "What's Hot" list today, "Tone-Deaf?," which I entered in the contest, at #232 and "Trailing Fingertips," which I also posted on FanFiction.net, in #644.


I posted the latter as an AU from BPOV set a century after her marriage to Edward and transformation into a vampire. I thought I'd post it here for you as well:

Trailing Her Fingertips...

"True love lasts forever,"
she said,
trailing her fingertips
through their years.

Theirs had been the tale often told:
love entwining,
twisting time
into binding cords,
cutting her delicately
if she struggled--
the scars unseen.

Unless, of course,
one gently gauged
the depths of her eyes....

But no one did.

Copyright Cassandra Lowery/SMB
All Rights Reserved


So I'm hoping to bring more attention to my poetry and perhaps win a contest at Wattpad, and also bolster my FanFiction.net postings.


I've received some really great comments today which is nicely encouraging, considering I'm still sick in bed after being down with a flu bug all week....

And some Pinned but Fluttering news.... It's remained at #1 on Wattpad's Thriller category and now edged into the Top Ten Fan Fictions at #10, also a new record.

Wow.

Just....WOW.

I think I'm pinching myself...again.


--Cassandra

Wow--Another Wattpad Milestone!

I am so thrilled...literally!


Pinned but Fluttering reached #1 in the Thriller category on Wattpad. Wow!


I've written here before about why I think my stories do better on Wattpad than on FanFiction.net. Wattpad deals with stories in many genres, not merely fan fiction, plus Wattpad has a younger audience and thus my stories, which are more like PG/PG-13 level, do well there.


Don't get me wrong--I would *love* to have a following on FanFiction.net too, but right now it isn't happening. There are just soooo many fan fics there and I don't have time to do stuff in their forums or on Twilighted to spread the word.


But right now I'm quite happy with my Wattpad fans, and my two or three consistent reviewers on FF.net. And I am so happy to reach #1 in the Thriller category! Pinned but Fluttering also passed the 10,000 reads mark this week as well, plus I also surpassed 250 fans now, so I'm very happy about these milestones as well.


Over the weekend I'll be writing and posting Chapter 50 of Evening Star as I wind down that story in order to complete it by November 30 to enter the Wattys. the annual story awards at Wattpad. I may finish Evening Star for NaNoWriMo first, then proceed to writing chapters for Pinned but Fluttering.


Next goal: #1 in the Fan Fiction category on Wattpad; right now Pinned but Fluttering is at #13 and the high has been #12.


Have a wonderful evening all!


Keep writing bravely,

--Cassandra

100,000 Reads and 1,000 Votes on Wattpad!!

YES!!!!!! Tonight Evening Star passed 100,000 reads and 1,000 votes on Wattpad, and I now have passed the 200 fans mark as well.


All tonight.


So very cool!!! Wow. I'm just flabbergasted. I came home from church today to over twenty comments on my stories alone.


So, thank you to all of you who read my stories...to all who vote, comments, review, and offer feedback. You're all wonderful...and I love you all! :)


And I'm so grateful. So, so grateful.


And I'm thrilled to keep on writing...because I can't seem to stop. ;)


With gratitude,
Cassandra :)

Milestone for Evening Star

I am thrilled to report that Evening Star is just about to pass 100,000 reads and 1000 votes on Wattpad.


That's a fairly important milestone. There are some stories on Wattpad that have gone practically viral, with over a million reads. But passing 100,000 is still quite impressive. Wattpad has over one million registered users, so my first little fan fic (and only second work of fiction since college) attracting a very respectable number of readers is very satisfying.


Of course, as the readers/writers are mostly teen girls who compose most of their stories directly into Wattpad without editing, revising, or proofreading, my stories would look quite professional by comparison.


If only I could receive similar readership on FanFiction.net although I suspect that my stories would need a great deal more sex to become truly popular there. I have barely 150 reviews for 47 chapters which is pretty discouraging.


FanFiction.net certainly hosts more discerning readers and a much higher quality of writing. "Betas," or story editors, help writers to revise and edit their work, thus creating a far more professional product than what one sees on Wattpad. I have been invited to become a Beta on FanFiction.net, but I'm still helping one writer on Wattpad with her story plus I have enough grading to do IRL.


Being a writing teacher has both its privileges and its drawbacks.


I am almost finished with Chapter 3 of Pinned but Fluttering; I'll update it over the weekend. I haven't started Chapter 48 of Evening Star yet but hope to get to it over the weekend as well, despite all the teaching work I have to do: grading outlines and preparing new lessons for my online class and preparing handouts for my two co-op classes for next week, besides doing our own three boys' school planning for the upcoming week.


I just finished a few decent fics this week--nothing extraordinary, but solid reads, if you're interested. Here are the titles, authors, and links:


The Tutor by ItzMegan73


Distractions by windchymes


Blood Lines also by windchymes


Out of the three, Blood Lines was my favorite by far--a fresh take on the events after Eclipse with a very different plot line that takes us through Edward and Bella's wedding and parenthood. Very, very intriguing, and a wonderful explanation for Edward's reluctance for sex with Bella and his own feelings of inadequacy. Very well done and definitely recommended.


So, have a pleasant and productive weekend, my friends, and I'll be chatting at you very soon!


--Cassandra