Aloha!

I've been lurking YWS for a few days now, and was so delighted with the submissions and the users and the community that I couldn't help but join in the fun. ;) I was looking on the 'net for a forum to help me procrastinate my novel, and I figured by joining a writing-themed board I'd be staying on topic (or so I justified, heheh) thus assuaging any guilt I might feel for being on here instead of hashing out my books.

I'm currently writing two novels, one fiction and one non-fiction. The longer (the fiction) is now ~5,000 words, which really, is nothing(!), but sadly is the longest piece of writing I've ever done. I love churning out ideas but I've never found the discipline to truly flesh any of them out. This time feels different, though. This time there's a whole book wanting to be written. I'm excited!

Part of my problem is I adore writing, but I love making something better even more. I enjoy bringing things closer to perfection; so yes, what I'm essentially saying is I love to edit. In high school I edited all of my friends' works-- happily, and with far too much enthusiasm, I'm sure. So I'll be on here primarily to critique and happily procrastinate my time away.

That being said, I hope my crits are more helpful than not! I've already done two, and happy to do more, so if anyone wants one, PM me or tag my guestbook, and I'm all over it.

Oh, and feel free to call me Pira, or Anha, or Pi (or whatever deviation tickles your fancy) if Piranha is too scary. ;)

That's it! Nice to meet everyone! I look forward to the beautiful friendships that will hopefully blossom between us! ;D *toasts*

Hello! Welcome to YWS!

This is a really AWESOME site, filled with really AWESOME and friendly people!

It is nice to meet you! I am casey_kent. You can call me Casey if you want! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the site!

Have an AWESOME time, Piranha!

~The AWESOME casey_kent

Hi Pi and welcome to YWS!!

Ah, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine around here. If you do need anything then feel free to pm me and I'll be happy to help you out.

All the best and I hope you like it here.

Alainna
xxxx

Hi Pi!!!:)


Welcome to YWS!

And definately your crits are helpful.


see you around.

~Shine~

Hey Pi!

Nice to meet you, I'm Mark, or Aedomir, whatever you prefer . I love perfectionists, we all are really, aren't we...?

I am sure you will have a great time!

Any questions you have, let me know!

~Mark

5000 words? You trump my sorry butt. Well, that failed NaNo from a couple years ago might have been 5000+, but I don't count that, as it was really bad.

Anyway, welcome! It's great that you're already diving into reviewing! I was horrible at that when I started. So now all you need is love! (Wow, random song reference much?) Well, I can't give you love, but I can give you a gift and a cheesy announcer to present it to you! Charlie?

AHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PIRANHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S GONNA EAT ME, IT'S GONNA EAT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nite: Charlie, it's not a piranha, that's just her username.

OH. WELL, PIRANHA, DESPITE YOUR UNUSUAL TASTE IN USERNAMES, WELCOME TO YWS!!!!!! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S YOUR GIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

Hello Pi/Pira/Ahna! Welcome to the site. *bows in traditional Japanese fashion, then remembers she's not Japanese and looks around sheepishly to make sure no one saw*

Well, PM me if you need anything, have fun, and all that.

Cheerio!
Keira

Hey I am SimonCowellLuver. I like your avatar it is neat. There is nothing wrong with having a problem is loving to write that is why this is the website for you that's for sure. You will definetly fit in here.

Well Here are some Smileys for you to enjoy...



Have a good day! SCL

I think I'll go with Anha. ^_^


Hello! & welcome to YWS. You should like a real fab person, so I look forward to getting to know you better. What are your novels about, more specifically? What genre? And what sort of things do you like to read?


Editing can be fun. For me, it usually hurts! Rewriting is the most painful. But I love critiquing. I'm sure you'll fit right in to our warm, friendly community. If you have any questions or need help finding something around the site, feel free to PM me and ask!

Hello. Welcome to the YWS!! PM me if you have any questions. What do you like to write?

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! I feel bombarded by smilies and support... and it's a good feeling. :D Complete with cheesy announcer! Charlie should know I bite anything covered in BBQ sauce, so as long as he doesn't bathe in Bull's Eye, he should be fine. ^w^

*chuckles at Keira* You're too amusingly cute! ;) And thanks, SCL! I'm glad you like the avatar. My friend suggested it for me a long time ago, saying it reminded her of me, so I've been using it ever since. :)

Mark, if you love perfectionists, then we're going to get along absolutely swimmingly. ;)

Nice to meet you, Shine, Alainna. You both hail from two countries I absolutely adore, and I'm not being facetious! I plan to visit both one day! Casey, your welcome was MOST awesome. :)

Suzanne and aestar101, thank you for your interest! My fiction novel is fantasy, though I don't know what type yet... I personally prefer high fantasy, so it'll probably evolve itself into that genre. I used to be a voracious reader when I was little, reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. Literally. I read medical textbooks, my mom's Danielle Steel-type socialite books and her entire childhood collection of Nancy Drew, my dad's sci-fi/fantasy and Don Quixote books, my step-sister's Babysitter's Club collection, my grandmother's historical fiction. I was and am lucky because I'm a fast reader, and so reading an entire novel in a day isn't out of the question. While growing up in school, whenever we were assigned a book, I would read the entire thing the same day, and then re-read it the morning of the day of the test before I left for school so everything was fresh. I did very good on my tests, to say the least. ;P

Out of all of them, I had the most interest in my dad's books, and since then I've read almost every fantasy novel under the sun to the point that I've... read myself out of the genre. I feel like there's nothing left for me to learn from fantasy. Of course, as a result, I'm most comfortable with that genre, so it's easy for me to write it. Is it my favorite genre? It was. Not so much anymore, but it'll always have a special place in my heart.

So, because I'm so familiar with it, fantasy is both easy and hard for me to write. It's easy because I know what makes a good fantasy novel, and yet it's hard, because I want to make my fantasy novel unlike any of the fantasy novels already written. For example, I don't know if I'll include different races in my novel, like elves and such, because I don't know if I could bring anything new to the table. It's almost to the point where it's cliché for me.

That being said, my fantasy novel is about two twin boys born to the King and Queen of the desert. On the day of their birth, the king's advisor tied a ribbon around each boy's wrist to identify the elder from the younger, but later, when he was alone with them in a separate room, he removed the ribbons and tattooed their wrists, claiming the desert wind had blown the ribbons away and left the marks behind when interrogated by the king and queen. This caused a lot of strife among the desert people, who were so steeped in tradition that not knowing who should inherit the throne turned their whole world upside-down. The novel is about the boys' struggle with their inheritance, with each other, with their tribespeople, with the muder of their parents, and with the other conflicts of the world, which they find out they're unwittingly involved in (due to the strange tattoos on their wrists). If you want to know more, PM me. :)

Now I like reading historical fiction, period pieces, and psychological thrillers. My next novel will definitely be something along those lines. It'll be harder for me to write, because of all the research involved, which is why I'm tackling fantasy first.

My favorite books, in chronological order of when I read them, include;

The Little House on the Prairie series
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be - Farley Mowat
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
Invitation to the Game - Monica Hughes
Black Trillium - Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May, and Andre Norton (and subsequent books in series)
Someone to Watch Over Me - Tricia Sullivan
Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer

I highly recommend all of these books! The second and third novels pulled at my heartstrings. The later books are more mature reads in comparison to the earlier picks, so you might want to keep that in mind.

Again, nice to meet everyone! Thanks for taking the time to say hello. :D

Welcome to YWS. I'm Rick. I hope you enjoy the site as much as we all do. After you get 25 reviews, you can access the YWS chatroom and talk about any work you're doing, ask for crits for anything, ask anyone if they have something they want/need critted, and/or just hang out in and talk about your day. Before you post your own work, you need atleast two crits. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/concerns about anything.

Bye.

-Rick.