Young Writers Society

Welcome to Squills, the official news bulletin of the Young Writers Society!

What will you find here? Tons of interesting news about YWS, including but not limited to: articles about writing, art, and the world of humanities; interviews with YWS members; shameless plugs; link round-ups; and opinionated columns.

And where will all of this come from? Take a look at our fantastic creative staff!





Of course, our content can’t come only from our staff. We also depend on you to help keep Squills successful. You’re all a part of a writing community, after all. If you’re interested in submitting to Squills, pop on over to the Reader’s Corner to find out how you can get involved by contributing an article or participating in other Squills activities. You can also subscribe to the Squills Fan Club , or PM SquillsBot to receive a notification each time a new issue is published!

Well, that’s all I have for now. So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy!

1. Noteworthy Novels
2. Ask Gruno
3. Green Room Gallery
4. Resource Relay
5. News Flash
6. New Arrivals
7. Subscribers

Noteworthy Novelswritten by Pretzelstick < PM: >

Hello, Pretzel here coming at you with an awesome article featuring another noteworthy novel. I am so glad and proud to present to you this lovely and detailed chat with @tigeraye. I hope that you enjoy it, so just lay back in your chair and find some inspiration while reading this article:



tigeraye: Well, I draw a lot of inspiration from a lot of different places, but I'll say that I was looking for a specific sort of story but couldn't find anything that was exactly what I was craving. So I decided to make my own. My reasons for writing it have varied since I started working on it last May, but right now I'll say that I use it as a means to escape from a world I wish could be better.



t: The main character is Toby Kyle, who lives with his single mother and two little sisters. On his tenth birthday, he goes into cardiac arrest and miraculously wakes up a few week after his fourteenth birthday, where he is told that he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. His mother, too preoccupied and unable to afford his treatment, decides to send him to a private boarding school, Heartbeat Academy, intended for students with disabilities. Heartbeat Academy Chapter 1

Over the year, Toby not only meets students with many different impairments like clinical depression, autism, and anorexia, but also learns that the school has a twisted darkness to it. The school had been plagued for years by rumors of deceit, fraud, deception, and even a murder. The year prior, a boy named Ben disappeared off the face of the earth, and there's a shocking tragedy behind just what happened to him. He eventually learns that the only man who may know what happened to Ben is the principal, the mysterious Headmaster Barnes. And both Ben and Headmaster Barnes have a strange connection with his own past.



t: I just thought it sounded catchy. It was originally just titled "Heartbeat", but then I found out there was already a novel titled that.



t: I see a lot of novels stuck in the green room that have just stopped because the author wasn't getting any feedback. And it's difficult, when you check the site daily or weekly and you don't see any reviews or likes, and it hurts because it makes you feel like nobody is reading what you're writing, and even worse, that nobody cares about what you're writing. But my advice would be not to get discouraged by a lack of feedback. There are a ton of excellent stories that take forever to get out of the green room sometimes, so be patient and don't stop writing your story. And if you really need motivation, don't be afraid to ask around -- I'm not the best around at reviewing, but I always try my absolute hardest when someone asks me personally for feedback.



t: Mr. Tyler, Toby's teacher is my favorite. He's a recovering drug addict who grew up in a rough neighborhood, and all he really wants is for others to treat him like an adult rather than another students. Not only is he fun and has a great personality, but he also fits in well for any type of scene; he can be goofy and lighthearted, deep and meaningful, somber or tense or whatever else. He's a blast to work with.

Least favorite is Dr. Pam, the ninth grade doctor at the academy. She's difficult to have there, because she's a good woman, but all these things keep happening to the students of the academy and it's like, why is she not doing anything about it? What's her reaction? When am I going to get her back in for another part? Overall, she's just a bit unnecessary, but I still need her for certain scenes so I can't exactly get rid of her. The chapters featuring her tend to be my least favorite. Plus, her dialogue tends to be the most cringe-inducing, I'll admit...



t: I self-doubt more than I should, although every writer should doubt themselves to an extent. I'm a very self-conscious person, and to be able to overcome that and be confident enough to find the motivation to continue to upload chapters is difficult. Apart from that, I'm not very organized. I have a word file somewhere that summarizes the main plot, but besides that, all my organization is in my head. Probably not the best way to go about things. Other than that, right now I'm just working to find the motivation to edit and re-upload the parts, and coming up with a way to cover up this gaping plot hole I have.



t: I know, it's a little bit weird to upload thirty-six chapters, then pull down thirty-five chapters all of a sudden to make changes to the story. But I think writing is supposed to be unconventional. The original plot of the story revolved around the disappearance of Ben, and that was that. But to make things more interesting, somewhere along the lines I came up with the idea that Toby's father, Walter was murdered. The original plan was that (get ready for it) Mario Laudano killed Toby's father and Dr. Blade because they were all friends previously, but fell apart eventually and one thing lead to another. But the whole thing became so convoluted and unrealistic, I just wasn't happy with it.

Thank you so much for staying tuned this week to this beautifully answered article. You should all go and check out the novel, read through it, maybe even review it if you're at all looking to pick up another novel. Or maybe you're like me and have the problem that you have too many novels to catch up on, but this one is worth a read!
That's all that I have for this week.

Until Next Time,

~Pretzel

ASK GRUNOwritten by Gruno < PM: >

Welcome to Ask Gruno, the advice column in which stuff happens. Gruno will answer any questions you throw at him, be it advice, personal opinion, solutions or philosophy. This week 3 questions will be answered. My cousin Pruno has been busy at the wonderful school for Pruno people, so I will be taking over the column. Every now and again, Pruno may make an appearance, so never fear! May the question answering commence!

Eeeeeeey Gruno
Where can I find peel-able banana Popsicles??? I NEED THEM.
-BananaSan

My Delicious Fruity Friend,
In your freezer.
Step 1: Buy bananas
Step 2: Put them in the freezer

Love,
Gruno

Dearest Duo,
If I'm planning on becoming a writer, why must I take chemistry in high school?
-6 CO2 + 6 H2O → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Dear Chemical Equation,
The school system is trying to brainwash you into becoming a scientist because they have no value or respect for writers. They see writers as the single biggest cause for global warming because we use up paper and electricity to write books and to post writing online. It’s a worldwide conspiracy, they’re trying to beaut us down. FIGHT THE MAN!

Love,
Gruno

Dear Whomever,
Can you stake a vampire with an artificial heart?
-WildBagel

Dear Delicious Breakfast Concoction,
Yes, but only if they sparkle and fall in love with humans.

Love,
Gruno

Okay my fellow Runians! I love writing this column just as much as you all enjoy reading it. However, if you guys don't submit questions for me to answer, I will have to find another job and then Pruno will have to change his major of answering questions to asking them! If you would like to ask more than one question, that's absolutely fine. It would also be much appreciated if you hit the like button and told your fellow YWSers about Ask Gruno, AND Squills. So, if you have a conundrum, hit this link

See you next week!

GREEN ROOM GALLERYwritten by BlueAfrica < PM: >

There are currently 103 works with zero reviews and 158 works with one review in the Green Room. Head on over and check them out!

Cynder Rosetail and her Journey: Prologue and Chapter 1 by @Cynder

Action/fantasy. When Cynder turns one hundred, she moves to the adolescent dormitories with the other young dragons.

Beyond -- Chapter 2 by @SemperAugustus

Fantasy/mystery. A fisherman remembers an old story of his grandfather’s while caught on the sea during an impending storm.

Five Essential Souls (No. 4) by @DoubleOJell0

Action/humor. Can Ring escape capture? Or is his number up?

Aftermath: Chapter 3 - Chaos by @BornLoser

Fanfiction/action. Jay regains consciousness with a broken arm and the realization that Hayley is dead.

War of Legends-Chapter 1, The Beginning by @Ivywater

Supernatural/humor. Eros is a wise-cracker, but the other gods don’t appreciate his humor.

The New Generation--Chapter 13: No Pay, No Way by @Artemis28

Fanfiction/action. A Percy Jackson fanfic featuring the daughter of Percy and Annabeth. In this chapter, Leia finds herself in the Underworld without any money.

Altera Vita - Chapter 4 - Snake Eyes by @Kingofnate

Action/sci fi. A mysterious man saves Felix.

The Chronicles of a Public Bus (part 3.01) by @Buggiedude2340

Mystery/fantasy. Rick the busdriver overhears an important conversation.

Child of the Sea (Chapter 2) by @NympheaLily

Action/fantasy. Devan fights a pirate for the captain’s entertainment.

The Labyrinthian Mind- Chapter 1 by @Kelpies

Fanfiction/fantasy. Sakura tries to outsmart the Goblin King, but it’s not easy.

No Romance: 24 Part 2: Captain’s Log by @AdrianMoon

Action/dramatic. The memory of a failed rescue that ended in three deaths.

Why You Wearing That? by @Sweater
Rated 18+.

Essay. A magazine commissions a teenager to wear a box out on the side of the street.

Resources Relay 3/13written by Pretzelstick < PM: >

Wee! Another week of Resources Relays coming straight at you. This we have to mention things such as Inspiration for Character to Hoards of Links which I am obessed with. There is definitively something that you will find coming your way that will be useful and enchance your YWS life. So, without further ado, let's just jump straight into the fun!



@zsmith is wondering how do you come up with your character's entire personality? This is an essential question to ask for pre-novel planning, and even while in the process when looking to expanding that character. zsmith does provide some specific examples, but one of the replies that @Lightsong made really caught my eye!









@Storygirl95 wants her readers to have a deeper connection with her story that she is writing, and she all started thinking about this when she got a bit sappy and started crying mid-chapter. This is a delicate topic that many authors need to adress I believe. So I wanted to pull out two responses to kind of provide an overview on what type of replies there could be:

@ChildOfNowhere provides this little tip:







And @Kyllorac also provide a wise jem of advice:







These responses are so amazingly helpful to any busy writer out there, and I'm sure that you will learn and benefit from both of this entire replies, so you shouldn't hesitate in checking it out.



Come on over and take a look at the hoards of links that @Deanie has been posting on writing related articles/posts. I have found all of these so far very interesting and they give a lot of information. If you have found yourself being quite encouraged, I would reccomend that you go on that thread and thank Deanie for linking those for us. For now though, I don't want to clutter this Relay with links so I'll just provide the intro post:







Yes, yes, and yes! You won't have to look any further once you check out this post, I promise you.



I'm sure that all of you have seen @Skins awesome reviews that linger all around the sound, but they have a problem that you can help solve by simply linking. They want more reviews. This thread has been created in 2010 and thriving with 32 pages and 470 replies! That's really impressive, not to mention the mere 970 reviews that Skins has already written! ik impressive right?. If you're looking for a reviewer, here is the hotspot to get it, so I'll give you a little taste of the intro post by including this in there:






Yay! My true love in writing and reviewing has always been ficition and only ficiton, so if your writing fits into any of these categories, what are you waiting for? Go on and request a review from the one and only Skins.

And with that 4th note, we have a wrap. I hope that you enjoyed, read through, and found use of all the links that were provided, straight from the source of the vast empire called Resources. See you all next week, but until then, hopefully these 4 will keep you on your feet

Until Next Time,

~Pretzel

NEWSFLASH
written by Lavvie < PM: >

It’s already March. Can you believe it? Let’s see what the first month of spring has in store for us this week.



A car bomb Sunday evening exploded in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, resulting in the deaths of 32 individuals and leaving more than 100 injured. The incident occurred in a popular commercial and transport area of Ankara in the early evening. Emergency personnel were quick to respond and the area of evacuated in case of a second explosion. A security official has already suggested that evidence points to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is currently outlawed, or an affiliation. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says that such terrorist organizations are targeting civilians because they are losing against Turkish security forces. In response to this latest bomb, President Erdogan called for stronger security enforcement, saying that these attacks “increase our determination to fight terrorism”. The city of Ankara has placed a court-ordered ban on social media, including Twitter and Facebook, to stop people from posting images of the bombing. There have now been three attacks in Ankara in a six month period which hints that the Turkey faces an increasing amount of security threats.



A four year old boy has drawn a cucumber and staff at his school threatened to refer the child to a de-radicalisation programme after thinking the boy had drawn a cooker bomb. The mother says that the boy drew his father slicing a cucumber with a knife. The teachers misunderstood the boy’s explanation and thought the drawing referred to an explosive device. In response to the ordeal, the boy’s mother took a video of her son playing, shows him an image of a cucumber and asks him what it is. “A cuker-bum,” the boy is heard to reply. The mother said the experience of the staff threatening to send her child to a de-radicalization programme left her upset and shaken. The event is relevant, especially in a time where Britain’s relationship with its Muslim citizens continues to become increasingly tense. No apology from the nursery school has yet been made.



This past week marked the historical visit made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to President Obama in Washington, D.C. While visiting, Trudeau met with Democratic politicians, including Nancy Pelosi, the House of Representatives Minority Leader. He also made a trip to the World Bank and held a question period at American University. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed Justin and his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau with a state dinner, the first for a Canadian prime minister in nearly twenty years. Guests included Canada’s very own Ryan Reynolds, an actor who recently featured in Marvel’s Deadpool, and Grey’s Anatomy actress Sandra Oh. On Friday, while answering questions from American University students, Trudeau advocated for progressive politics, stating that “diversity is strength”. He also added that people “need to have public discourse that goes beyond knee-jerk reactions [and Canadians] find it hard to sustain anger and fear for very long”. Diversity remained the main focus of his answers, which is optimistic in a time where fear of the unknown dominates.



You may know the chihuahua from Legally Blonde as Bruiser, the metrosexual canine who was practically Elle Woods’ furry soulmate. The dog, whose real name was Moonie, was with character Elle Woods, played by Reese Witherspoon, throughout her entire Harvard education and later Congress career. Moonie’s trainer, Sue Chip, revealed on Thursday morning that the dog died in Los Angeles at the age of eighteen. He wrote, “I remember the day I brought him home as a puppy.” Actress Reese Witherspoon also paid tribute to the dog on social media, taking to Twitter to express her broken heart.



Hanah al-Hroub is a Palestinian woman who teaches children who have been exposed to violence and she recently won a one million dollar Global Teacher prize. The prize was awarded by the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, who commended the teacher for her “incredible work [and that] a good teacher represents the key to real change in this world”. The prize is considered to be the Nobel equivalent for anyone in the teaching profession and was awarded this year at a ceremony in Dubai, attended by many celebrities including Matthew McConnaughey and Salma Hayek. Upon receiving the prize, Hroub exclaimed, “I did it, I won!” This year’s prize had a shortlist of ten finalists, but it was obviously Hroub’s dedication and love that helped her snag the prize. The winner was announced by Pope Francis via a video message. Hroub’s grew up in a refugee camp in Bethlehem and was herself traumatized by the violence of war. Her slogan is “no to violence” and she uses a special approach with the children – an approach that she designed herself involving trust development, healthy, affectionate relationships, and team-building. Hroub plans to spend the money helping other children and their teacher around the world progress in their education and careers.

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written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

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