Have you ever wondered why I started blogging? Most likely, you haven’t. That’s perfectly okay with me. But Sarah Brentyn at Lemon Shark created a blog hop called My First Post Revisited. She tagged me, and—with much cringing—I jumped back in time to six years ago to a blog that’s been hidden from public view (for good reasons). And it would seem it covers why I started blogging quite well.
11/26/2010 – I should be sleeping
I’ve decided to take up blogging since it’s almost midnight on Thanksgiving/Black Friday, I’m tired as all heck, and I can’t fall asleep because I can’t stop thinking. So here it is, Loni’s blog, and I’m not really expecting anyone to read it. Alright, maybe I might clue in my mom (Hi Mom!) about it since she’s one of the people who really seems to enjoy knowing what is going on with me.
I’ll start off with what is keeping me up and awake, lying in bed with my eyes closed in the dark. I like to write. I’ve had a book stuck in my head since my pre-Sailor Moon days which I think was before I even hit tween. This book has morphed over the years (and years) so that there’s actually more substance and less “magical conveniences”, but the basis behind the story is the same. Here’s the rundown of the differences.
I've hidden the rundown due to excessive, eye-glazing rambling. Click here if you really want to read it. I don't suggest it.
It started out with Derek, a biology student living a mediocre life in his parents’ downstairs who has a shallow girlfriend named Britney whose friends dig Derek and a brilliant younger sister named Melanie, who gets magically sucked into another world where he meets a mysterious woman with teal hair who has amnesia. Derek instantly falls for Tika (odd looking woman from another world) and he tags along on her journey to this tower she is being lured to by an evil fairy named Iresu who has control over a prince named Akito and wreaks all kinds of havoc just because she wants to rule the world. During this journey, Derek comes across Jebaliah, a young woman who is in love with him to an obsessive point, hates the Princess MaTisha (who is Tika’s true identity), and accidentally kills Han (Derek’s former self) in a mishap battle. Jebaliah is also the leader of a rebel group and her right hand man is Kieser, a dashing man who is ever faithful to his leader. Also there are the guardians, Komiko, Senu, Yone, and Nicky. Derek finds out that he was actually a prince who rejected the evil fairy’s offer of power and as a result, his family was killed and he was forced into hiding as a child. Eventually you find out that MaTisha loved Han and when he died, used her power to send him to another world and another life. I also have a bit about taking the entire gang to our world to explore the joys of traffic and the mall. Overall, Derek is a nice guy and MaTisha is an innocent little princess.
Well, then I got to thinking. It’s a bad habit really. I, for some reason, no longer liked the concept of princes and princesses. So I threw that out the window and created my own social structure revolving around my created race, Drethamir, Teymir, Thanmir, and the rest are just commoners so to speak. And then I didn’t like the thought of fairies. So I decided to create a race of elementals, humanoid beings smaller than humans and divided into five clans, each with their own branch of elemental power. They now have distinctive hair, eye, and skin color which lets me pass off MaTisha’s once teal hair now as silver-blue, since she’s of the water clan. And then I moved into deeper thought. Why would a powerful fairy want to rule the world? It didn’t really make sense to me. What would be the point? Iresu the power hungry fairy turned into Ira, a Teymir (clan leader) who lost her power and now seeks to restore it by taking the Thanmir’s (half-elemental, half-human offspring born for the purpose of being vessels for corrupt power) power. She convinced one of her sons, Thanmir Aito instead of Akito, that she has his best intentions in mind and uses him to try to draw Thanmir MaTisha to her with intent to kill her. In this version, Han steps in to save her when Aito tries to capture her, and is maimed to near death. His Teymir grandmother intervenes to save his life, sending him to be reborn on another world (our world) and in the process, messes up MaTisha’s attempt to save Han and scatters her and the guardians, inflicting her amnesia to all of them. Jebaliah in this version is Han’s foster daughter and she ends up in the care of a military commander, Kieser who is less of the suave and dashing figure and more of the neat and tidy sort. And the guardians got different names: Naomi, Jack, Liz, and Nicholas. The story plays out with much the same plot but far more meat. Derek’s life took a turn for the worse. I’d tell you all about it, but hey, you’ll just have to read the book(s) when it(they) come out.
One of the things that worried me about writing my books (I have about six with Derek as the main character and more with his children taking the lead) was the theological side. I’m a Christian, but my books are not. In my books I created my own religion with its own powerful deities, and that’s on top of the Drethamir being gods to the elementals since they created the elements and elementals. I’ve always been concerned that someone who knows me personally would read my writing and shun me for the un-Christianly theology of my mythological fantasy world. I want to reassure you all that my books are works of fiction and no way represent my actual beliefs. There. I’m glad that’s off my chest.
Alright! Now that I finally got the part about my books written down in my blog and it’s now about an hour later than when I started, I’m moving on to other topics I wanted to write about.
I’m lazy and lack self-discipline. I would like to do something about it, but when I attempt to, I find that I’m lazy and lack self-discipline to do so. Go figure. I’m horrible at starting something and not finishing it. Or wanting to do something and not getting around to it. I’ve decided to put down my list. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll help me accomplish some of my goals (listed as I thought them up, not in order of importance).
Oh look, I'm rambling again. Want to know my goals? Click here.
Goal #1: Get my weight down to 135 lbs by working out regularly and using our weight set for at least 1 hour a day. I bought it. I should use it.
Goal #2: Finish my blanket. I’ve got numerous crochet squares that I’ve got to make and I really should be doing that instead of playing “PocketFrogs” on my iPod Touch.
Goal #3: Return to pole dancing. For those of you who don’t know me, it’s not what it seems. Ophidia studios teaches pole dancing and it’s great fun and helps boost sexy self-confidence.
Goal #4: Write my books. With the history I gave earlier, this goal should be self-explanatory.
My ultimate goal though is The Girl. She is the most adorably beautiful child in the world. She’s also my 3 month old daughter. I’m going to be getting up in about 3-4 hours to go buy her a jumperoo from Babies ‘R Us. I want to exercise her constantly kicking legs. I’m also endeavoring to potty train her. Being lazy and lacking self-discipline makes this a daunting task. I need to recognize her signs that tell me when she needs to go. This means I need to look at her instead of my computer. Hrmmm. Things I plan on buying while I’m at Babies ‘R Us: jumperoo, waterproof pads, and child potty. But I’d also like to get her some leg warmers and this nifty elastic belt that I can just tuck cloth diapers into so that taking them off is really easy. I figure I could probably make both. But that’d take putting forth the effort and putting down the PocketFrogs.
Note from 2017: I discovered I don’t like crocheting and never finished that darn blanket. My current exercise/weight goal is 120 lbs. I’ll take 125, if I can get to it in 8 weeks. I never did return to pole dancing, mostly due to lack of time and scheduling conflicts. My ultimate goal has expanded to include Babyzilla, The Girl’s younger brother. Thankfully, potty training isn’t something I need to worry about anymore.
Ah, 1:04 AM. I think I’m going to bed now.
03/08/2017
Though it’s been six years, writing still keeps me up at night. I’ve accepted this as the way things are. It’s also the reason why I imbibe a glass of wine before bed, otherwise, I’d never get sleep, and I need sleep to be functional at work.
Sadly, my writing hasn’t progressed much. Oh, I’ve improved in the craft. It’s not all telling and long-winded descriptions anymore. But six years ago, I had dreams of finishing my first book.
That’s about all I’ve finished. (Alright, I did add a novella to my completed works.)
On a positive note, I might be able to finish a novella this month if I work really, really hard. But my schedule is working really, really hard to thwart me. 🙂
Since this post is part of a blog hop, it’s customary (and also part of the rules) to post the rules.
Obvious rules:
- No cheating. (It must be your first post. Not your second post, not one you love…first post only.)
- Link back to the person who tagged you (thank them if you feel like it or, if not, curse them with a plague of ladybugs).
Thank you, Sarah, for reminding me of how unproductive and old I am. 😛
Other rules:
- Cut and paste your old post into a new post or reblog your own bad self. (Either way is fine but NO editing.)
- Put the hashtag #MyFirstPostRevisited in your title.
- Tag five (5) other bloggers to take up this challenge.
Notify your tags in the comment section of their blog (don’t just hope they notice a pingback somewhere in their spam).
- Feel free to cut and paste the badge to use in your post.
- Include “the rules” in your post.
See, told you the rules were part of the rules.
Completely silly rules she made up as she was typing:
- Drink a glass of wine, bottle of beer, cup of coffee, mug of herbal tea or whatever floats your boat after you hit “publish”. (In other words, toast yourself. Go you!)
- Read the post out loud in a Mickey Mouse voice.
Call me a rebel, but I’m going to be a rule-breaker here, though I do an awesome Mickey Mouse voice.
I’m supposed to tag five of you, though I know many people have a schedule they stick to for publishing posts. So some who I think might participate are:
Aldrea Alien
H.R. Sinclair
Mason T. Matchak
Sarah Foster
If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!
Are you a blogger? What does your blogging journey look like? Do you cringe looking back at where you started?
Since this post is part of a blog hop, it’s customary (and also part of the rules) to post the rules.
Hmm, I think maybe my first comment disappeared….
Well, I know you can finish that novella, Loni! Maybe give yourself an extra month to get it done, though. Life happens, and this way you have a little more breathing room.
Oh, I’ll give myself the full year to get it done, but if things work out, I might be able to get it done sooner. 🙂
I checked my spam and everything, but I couldn’t find your other comment. Sorry. 🙁
That’s a really cool idea! You didn’t tag me, though… 😉
Seriously though, were you trying to potty train when your baby was 3 months old?
Consider yourself tagged!!
Yeah, I forget how I first encountered the concept of infant potty training, but as a new parent, I was ambitious to give it a try. I was/am not attentive enough to actually make it work, though.
How fun to revisit the past (I love the post header for this, it’s so fun!) It was a great first post/introduction to you. 🙂 I like how you truncated the posts. Was that done via plugin? I need it! LOL
Oo, I got tagged!
(I have a Derek too! But you know that. :))
I actually had your page up and I was going to leave a comment, but got distracted by stuff I needed to do for work. Glad you stopped by!
I use the Shortcodes Utlimate plugin and hide stuff with the spoiler tag. It works out nicely, and I have a small selection of styles I can choose from.
Thanks! I’m going to play with it today! 🙂
Let us address the title of your very first post. Seriously? I love it.
Let us now talk about those cool hidden (“but I have a + sign so you can read more!”) things. You techie. I love those, too.
Okay, moving on. Yes, it’s a bit verbose, but worth reading, IMO. For some reason, I remember reading this (a long while ago). And, wow, you’ve been blogging longer than I thought. How cool to look back and see where it all began. This isn’t as cringe-worthy as you think. It’s kind of awesome.
You wanted to write a book. And here you are, you amazing, talented author! You’ve published two! (Don’t EVEN dismiss your “novella”. I totally count your “novella” as a published “book”. Pfft. Don’t downplay Cera. She’ll kick yer ass.) 2017 will see MMF.
Thanks so much for playing. 🙂
P.S. The sleeping issue might be resolved if you cut back on the Red Bull. 😉 Just saying.
Heh, I’m fairly certain my problem isn’t caffeine related. For example, one 8.4 fl oz Red Bull (my typical daily ration) is 80 mg of caffeine. Compare that to an 8 oz cup of regular brewed coffee, which ranges from 95 – 200 mg of caffeine, depending on how strongly it’s brewed.
Take into account that I’ve also been on a diet for a couple of weeks now, which reduced my Red Bull consumption to two cans max on my cheat day, therefore, the most caffeine I get from Red Bull is 160 mg per week. True, I have taken up drinking tea during the day more often, but my tea of choice is Genmaicha, which is the lowest caffeine content of the various green teas, ranking at 4 mg per 8 oz glass. But dang, I do love the flavor.
Can you tell I’ve defended my Red Bull habit on multiple occasions? 🙂
I’m glad you like the post, and thank you for tagging me. I probably have showed you the original-original before, but I doubt anyone else here has seen it.
Well, I like the original. And the original-original and all forms of this post. And, wow, yes I can tell you’ve defended your Red Bull habit before. I stepped in that! 😉
Glad you didn’t tag me. My first post is really short and lame.
I’m a Christian and I didn’t include any religion in my books, but I have no problems with fantasy type stories creating their own. I know the difference between fantasy and reality.
That’s encouraging to hear, that people do have that separation.
Very cool. I don’t know if I still have my first blog post. Neat Blog Hop.
Juneta @ Writer’s Gambit
You don’t lack self-discipline – you stuck with your blog all these years.
My first post was in April 2005. I have no idea what I said.
Interesting to go back to where it all began. Your motivation for starting blogging is far different than mine–I was under an impression that I’d make money from my blog, but soon found out that it was more fun to just write than to be concerned about making the money. Although I’d still like to make money from my blogging.
Blogging is a good way to provide another outlet for writing out ones thoughts as well as interacting with others who enjoy writing. It’s good that you stayed with your blogging.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Okay your first post isn’t bad at all! It’s upbeat and keeps with the writing theme 🙂 I’m glad you’ve stuck with it!
I started my first blog after I read this article saying that writers should have a blog (very original, I know). My significant other had to explain to me what a blog was, and then set one up for me to experiment with. My first post had to do with the New England Patriots either winning or losing some big game. I can’t remember which. It took me a while to actually start blogging about writing, whereas you got that part right away. 🙂
This is fun! I love to find out why bloggers start and to see their first post. Starting a blog on Thanksgiving/Black Friday was ambitious! 😉
It was fun to read this – we started blogging around the same time. I know you’ll get that novella done – you can do it!
Try not to be so hard on yourself about the published books. To me it’s amazing that you’ve published one and done so much other work while you are raising children. I really admire that!
It’s always interesting to see how these things got started. ^_^ I do think it’s great that your first entry was about the book you wanted to write, and you actually did it – lots of people don’t even get that far.
And thank you for tagging me on this – I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it, but I went back and looked at my first entry, and I actually came up with some things to say about it. So I’ll be posting that this week.
I know some people who wouldn’t read the Harry Potter books because they thought it was anti-Christian what with all the magic in it. They eventually read the books anyway.
The idea of sharing your first blog post is intriguing. I suspect most people would be mortified to see how they used to sound.
What a fun idea and I like the tip on drinking a glass of wine after you hit publish. And that manuscript? I know it’s tough with kids and life but I do believe you will rock it when the time is right.
I love it! For my 10 year (coming right up) blog anniversary, I’m going to do something like this…except there will be cheese. Wow. How does time pass so quickly? I loved the “Hi Mom”. You know, I don’t think my mom even read my first post. She might have, I guess.
This is a good idea! Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to do it. A while ago, I went back and sort of cleaned house on my blog, including the first-ever post I’d written (actually, I think I may have unpublished or deleted that one years earlier because even my 19yo self thought it was hecking pretentious).
But to summarize, it was basically “I HAVE DEEP THOUGHTS. I’M SO DEEP.” Yeahhhh.
I relate to the insomnia!! And I’ve also pondered that question of “what if my book’s religion and characters’ ethics don’t match my real-world religion and ethics? Will people think I’m a bad person??” I internet-know some Christian and Muslim writers who don’t, for personal reasons, write non-Christian or non-Muslim worlds, even in fantasy and scifi. I figure that I’m not looking to convert anyone with my silly fantasy fiction, so I’m less concerned about it now. What bothers me more is that I tend to like reading and writing characters who would qualify as not-very-good-people. I worry people will think writing a “bad” character is an endorsement of their bad qualities.
Ack, mistake. Clarification: I internet-met some writers via nanowrimo. I wouldn’t say I “know” them anymore, since I don’t hang out on those forums much anymore. It’s always interesting to hear people’s different perspectives on stuff like this.
Going back to the past seems like a really interesting idea. I should do that with my own writing. Thanks for sharing!
I love your shout out to your mom! Lately writing has kept me up too. I do believe with constant devotion you will make your dreams happen Loni.