Hey! This is going to be a really fun challenge today, but don't forget to check out DAY ONE, TWO, THREE, and FOUR if you haven't been keeping up with this challenge so far.

Today's challenge is: Your protagonist is somehow transported to this world, meets you, and learns that you are responsible for creating his/her world. What is the first thing he/she would say or do after learning this fact?

Well..... I'm doomed.
Keegan is technically my protagonist in Tales of the Wovlen (he's such an idiot, but we won't get into that). If he found out that I was the person who caused the red dragon to kick his people out of their kingdom, turning them into nomads (the life he was born into), and that I wrote the prophecy about the Dragon's Son, picked him for the job, and then sent the army that massacred his friends and family....... Yeah, he'd try to chop off my head. And yes, I'd scream and run like a little girl. He may be an idiot, but he gets ugly when he's angry, and I have a highly developed sense of survival.
If Pharrgon (the dragon) was with Keegan, though, he would be more understanding. He'd see that I created the safe forest for him to hide in, all the wonderful creatures for him to enjoy, put Keegan in his life, and made him the formidable beauty that he is. He would try to help Keegan see the positive side to all of that, and he would certainly keep Keegan from chopping my head off.
There is also one other delicate little thing that Pharrgon would be thankful to me for, but I can't mention her right now because...

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Hello everyone! Don't forget to check out DAY ONE, DAY TWO, and DAY THREE of this challenge.

So, today's challenge is: a book you can't live without.

​Oh man. That's easy: The Bible. Seriously. I would not be alive today without that Book of books, and my imagination would be really flat without it as well.
BUT, just to be a little less of a "Bible-Hugging-Christian" about this answer (which I am not being that way at all, but I know how the "oh she's so christian, meh, meh, meh" people act - they're all brats - so I'll just humor them), I'll give you an alternate answer: The Hobbit.
​I just love The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is so much fun to read. Plus, there's a dragon in it... admittedly, he's a bad dragon and he dies in the end, but he's still a cool dragon to read about!
I read the Hobbit at least once a year. Probably more. I want to get into that habit with the Lord of the Rings, but those books are a little thicker and a little harder to read. I also want to start that habit with the Silmarilion, but that one IS HARD. It is the most beautiful book to read EVER, but it is a very hard one. Shakespeare is easier to read than the Silmarilion. No, I am NOT kidding.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Make sure to wear green, or you'll get pinched (that's what happens in my house)!

By the way, don't forget to check out DAY ONE and DAY TWO of this challenge, if you missed them.

So, today's challenge is: a trope in your genre that gets on your nerves.

I'll be honest; I had to look up what "trope" meant.

Ooookay. A cliche! I got it now. Why didn't you just say so?

So, what is a cliche in my genre (fantasy) that gets on my nerves? I have no idea. Cliches very, very rarely get on my nerves. There is something about the predictable that makes it familiar, like an old friend, and I like that.

Thinking about it now, there is one cliche in fantasy that, only recently, I have come to find a little annoying. It is the super strong, tough, battle hardened, young female characters.

In most of the fantasy books I have read, the female characters are either warriors, assassins, mages, barbarians, or some other type of Xena Warrior Princess or Red Sonja "bad-A". Plus, they are always young and hot. Now, I'm not saying that tough, young, hot chicks are bad or unrealistic. I'm a tough, young, hottie if I say so myself, but not all women are young, hot warriors. Some are gentle and delicate - the healer, and the priestess. Some are quiet, regal, and proud - the queen, the duchess, and the farmer's wife. Some are fun-loving and flirty - the bar maid, the gypsy girl, and the merchant's daughter. And don't forget about the sassy boss - the cook, the store keeper's wife, and the governess. Not all women are Xena warrior princess, or Lessa the dragon rider, or Arya the elfin princess. Also, battle hardened warriors are definitely NOT young and hot. They are beautiful in their own way, but they have many scars and they are tired and worn thin, because they have seen many, many gruesome battles.

The only reason this cliche has started to bug me is because of the reviews a friend was getting on his first book (The Heroes of Ravenford by F.P. Spirit). I LOVED his book. I adore one of the female characters introduced in it. But many of the reviewers who read it were upset because of the "lack of strong female characters".
Excuse me? What in the cube kingdom of gelatinous are you talking about? What happened to the "stop using cliches" sermon?
Everyone wants "fresh content", but as soon as one of their favorite cliches are avoided, they throw a fit.

I guess what actually gets on my nerves in the fantasy genre is the readers. Authors are always getting preached at to create original stories free of cliches. But then they get bashed if they publish a book without cliches.
Shut up, you picky readers! Either read the book and enjoy it, or go write your own. Then let's see how well you handle criticism from other readers like yourself who love/hate/love/hate/love/hate cliches.

OH! And one other thing that annoys me about the fantasy genre: NOT ENOUGH DRAGONS.
When I read a fantasy book, and there aren't any dragons, I feel just like this chick from Game of Thrones:

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Don't forget to check out The Writing Challenge - Day One.

Today's challenge: a one sentence summary of your current WIP (work in progress).

Oh boy. Let me see. How do I put this?
The witch did not really die at the hands of the hero and has possessed an important character, causing the dragons and the giants to emerge from hiding and help the Dragon's Son stop her before she summons an ancient demon and starts a world war.

Can you guess which book it is that I am working on? That's right: book #3 in Tales of the Wovlen.
Now, I will leave you to fret about your favorite characters because, yes, they are in peril and, yes, some of them are going to die!
Be afraid. Be very afraid.

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I was challenged on Facebook by a fellow author to do a 30 day writing challenge. I read through the challenge list and accepted it, but instead of doing 30 days of Facebook status updates, I am going to make 30 blog posts. If I do one a week, that will be 30 weeks of writing themed blog posts.
​Here is the challenge list:

Day 1 is a one sentence summary of the first story you ever wrote.... Well, in this instance, it will have to be the first story I can remember writing. I wrote lots of stories as a kid, but I can't remember what they were all about.

So, here goes: a special girl, called Raina Morning Star, is rescued from drowning and taken in by a merchant family who live in a land where dinosaurs are a common everyday sight and form of transportation.

There you have it!
It was a pretty cool story idea, but the plot never took off in my head. I still love the ideas that I had for the dinosaurs, though. I'll put them into a story some day.

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