Taking in the Bad News :(

Well, a few weeks ago, I heard back from a publishing company that I sent my finished book, An Orang-utan's Story to. Sadly, it didn't get published.

They said some nice things about the manuscript though, and they told me to keep on writing and keep on trying to get published.

So how have I taken this all in?

I've taken it in as a practice. A practice for when it might happen again. I've used this opportunity as a reminder that being an author isn't easy, and the answer won't always be yes! It gives you a chance to try again! Sure, it's a big and pretty discouraging thing, but it's what happens when you're an author.

But I'm going to keep on writing, and writing and writing, as that's what I enjoy doing!

Tuesday Teaser!

Tuesday has come and I'm being a very good little blogger! Today is Tuesday (In NZ anyways!) and I reckoned I'd post a little teaser of my Novelette, An Orang-utan's Story. It is set in the Borneo Rainforest, where the world's dwindling population of orang-utan's lives (They do live in Sumatra as well though). I wrote this novelette to raise awareness of deforestation, orang-utan's and Borneo in trouble. I hope you enjoy this little teaser, and leave a comment! Here is the Prologue and Chapter One of my story-

 

Prologue- At the Sanctuary

The moon shone gently through the bars of a cage, casting shadows all over the floor. In the corner of one of the cages sat a wise old orang-utan, his face a picture of sorrow and wisdom. Next to his cage, was another barred cage, but inside it moved a restless young orang-utan, his eyes darting everywhere uneasily, and his fur twitching.

“Naru?” he asked through the bars of his cage, trying to poke his head through.

“Yes, Kuasi,” the wise old orang-utan answered, shifting himself so he faced Kuasi.

“There’s been a certain question that’s been nagging at me all day,” the young orang-utan said, sitting down. “Why are we, and all the other orang-utans here?”

Naru just shook his head sadly. “There are many different reasons, all of them pointing out the Two-legs, or as you know them, the humans.”

Kuasi looked in confusion at him. “What do you mean?”

“I think the easiest way to tell you, is a story of my life, and how I am known as ‘The Wise One’. Would you like to hear it?” Naru sighed, his eyes sparkling as the moon shone on them.

“Yes please!” Kuasi said eagerly, nodding his head.

“Well, we’ll start with my up-bringing...”

Chapter One- The Very Beginning

“Menoa! You can’t catch me!” a little orang-utan baby called to another one, racing behind his mother and climbing up her back. The mother sighed and shook him off.

“He’s too tired to play today, Naru,” she spoke quietly to him, cradling another sickly looking baby orang-utan.

“But he hasn’t been able to play for like...forever!” protested Naru, his face looking sad.

“I’m sorry, Naru, but he just won’t be able to ever play, most likely,” apologised the mother, Rutha.

Naru growled under his breath and stormed off onto his favourite branch and pulled a leaf off, munching on it concerned.

Why won’t he be able to play? He thought, annoyed. His little brother, Menoa, had seemed to be sick from birth and got all the attention from his mother. He climbed back off his branch, swallowing his leaf, and crawled into a leafy nest.

“Good-night, mother,” he said sleepily to his Rutha. “See you in the morning.”

“Good-night, my little baby,” replied Rutha, her broad grey face softening.

 

“Naru, why couldn’t he play with you?” interrupted Kuasi, his face filled with confusion.

“Because orang-utan twins are extremely rare, and they almost never survive. Also, if they both manage to live, one of them will always be weaker and find life harsh,” replied Naru, his face showing nothing of the emotions writhing inside of him.

Kuasi just nodded, processing the information through his mind. “Just another question,” Kuasi said, shifting. “Why does your mother love Menoa more than you?”

Naru’s eyes suddenly blazed with anger and he bared his fangs, which were still sharp and intact.

“Why would you say that?” he growled to Kuasi, whose eyes were wide with fright as he took a step back from the bars that separated their cages.

Naru’s fur started to lie flat again, and his eyes went back to their previous dull look.

“Because…because…you said that she was always looking after Menoa, and…and normally ignored you,” stuttered Kuasi creeping forward again.

“Well, Menoa was always sickly, since he was the weaker of the two of us, and mother tried to keep him alive by giving him that little bit of extra love, but I think she knew that she would never succeed, as he was just so little and frail,” answered Naru, seemingly calm again after his little outburst of rage. “But should we get back to the story now?”

Kuasi nodded, starting to gain his confidence again. “Good idea.”

 

 

The next morning, Naru woke up to the sun’s rays on his face, meaning that it was dawn. He got up and shook out his auburn fur sleepily, before crawling over his mother and towards his little brother.

“Hey, Menoa,” whispered Naru, leaning to close to his brother’s ear. “Want to sneak out with me before mother wakes up?”

His only reply was a weak groan and a twitch of the fingers. When Naru saw his brother’s face, he saw that it was paler than usual.

“Are you alright?” asked Naru urgently; shaking his brother gently, worry clear in his little eyes.

“Good-bye, Naru,” whispered Menoa, closing his eyes heavily. “I’m up in the stars now.”

Naru shook his head and started shaking him more firmly.

“No! Menoa! You can’t go yet. You promised me that you would one day play with me!” said Naru sadly, watching the light die from his eyes.

When Naru touched him, he could feel his poor little body going cold. Suddenly, he was pushed out of the way by his mother, who was frantically trying to make him warm again. Naru tried to ask what was happening, but his mother wasn’t listening, just cradling her dead baby softly, grief clear in her eyes.

“I knew he wouldn’t make it,” she said to herself softly. “I knew that twins were so rare.”

Naru tried to ask again, but his mother wouldn’t listen to him. He sighed and climbed up the tree to his favourite branch, and grabbed a leaf like always, and started chewing thoughtfully on it.

Why isn’t Rutha listening to me? He thought sadly to himself.

Suddenly, an idea hit him. What if he could prove his bravery to his mother? He would go down the tree, which she had forbidden, then go out and explore where his mother would sometimes go, to a banana tree, bring her a banana, and maybe she’ll love him again!

Naru swallowed his leaf, and hopped down his branch to the secret entrance that he’d found. He turned around and started climbing slowly down the tree, as it was still a bit new to him. Once he hit the bottom, he started going towards the banana tree. All of a sudden, the bushes in front of him started rustling, and foot-steps from something huge were making the ground shudder. Then, a foot appeared, then another and another, until there were six feet. He looked up into the eyes of three men. One had a massive black beard with a strange sort of black stick that shone and looked deadly, in the middle was a bald man with a pair of brown stuff on his hands that looked like nothing was able penetrate them, and the last one was an evil looking man with a black moustache and was holding a cage in his hands.

“We could probably sell this one for a few thousand,” muttered the man with the gun. “Make sure you look for its mother.”

Naru was frightened to death! He started trembling as the one with gloves leant forward and extended his arms, hands coming closer. Naru could feel his blood bubbling, wanting him to call out for Rutha.

“Mother!” he finally screeched, scrabbling away.

But he was too late, as the thug with gloves grabbed his hind leg, and started hauling him back towards him. All of a sudden, a massive auburn coloured ape leaped on top of the man with gloves and delivered a massive bite to his arm. The one with the shiny stick thing that looked dangerous shouted to the man with gloves, and raised his stick to his shoulder, aiming his mother up.

“Run, Naru,” called his mother. “And never look back!”

Naru nodded in fright, and then scurried back towards his tree. Once he was in his cosy little leaf nest, he heard an ear-splitting bang that made him curl up even tighter than before, and he felt as if something just died in his heart, as he had when Bveno had died just a few hours ago.

One day, thought Naru, hardening his gaze, the two-legs will pay for what they’ve done.




Enjoy and please leave a comment/like! Also no plagiarising, as that is for losers and this manuscript is rightfully mine!

Finding your Writers Voice

Well, hello again everybody! I'm going to try and be a good little blogger and post frequently (Like at least once a week) and share my opinions and writing with you!

But here's what today's topic is all about- Finding your Writers Voice.

Your writers voice is that pull you feel when writing novels and stories. It tells you who the characters should be, and tells you what your protagonist(s) and antagonist(s). It also helps you decide whether to use first person, second person or third person! It helps with the style you write in, fast-paced and straight to the point, about a walking-pace and catching some description, or slow-paced and getting all the description absorbed into your novel.

I believe that I have found my writers voice, which is probably a walking-pace one, as I'm not speeding ahead to the next scene, but then I'm not slowly going and putting every little thing into my novel. I put in a short description of the surroundings, but then it's straight back to what the characters are doing. I've also noticed as I look back on my work, that I've never written a first-person novel. But that's okay, because it isn't what my writers voice is telling me to do.

Finding your writers voice is not at all easy! You have to experiment. Try a young-adult book, then maybe an adult book, then maybe a first-starters chapter book until you've found what you're best at! Then, you try all the styles and genres you can think of! At the end, your writers voice should of ignited, giving you an advantage over all the other writers that haven't found their writers voice.

Your writers voice is what makes you a writer! It is vital in becoming a novelist!



But yeah, I hope this article sums up why it's important to find your writers voice as soon as you can if you want to be a novelist!

A Very BIG Hello!

Hello to everyone who is reading this blog of mine! I'm Sarah (or Serena Jannice as you may know me on other sites, as that is my penname). I am eleven years old and have a strong passion for writing! I write all sorts of fiction, ranging from fantasy to realistic. I loved making up stories as soon as I could write, and have never stopped! A bit more about me is-

I love writing, reading, animals, friends, music, piano, singing, tap, jazz and ballet dancing, athletics and probably a whole lot more that I can't think of! I also have a dog and 2 sisters :)

Well anyways, I hope you enjoy reading my blog about my works, writing issues and awesomeness!