erebekah

This LiveJournal account is going private (i.e. to 'friends-only') because I sometimes get these random bouts of paranoia.

However, just hit 'Add them as a friend' at the top of the page and leave a comment on this post and there's a very (very very) high chance I'll accept. And if you're from FP, I'll definitely add you if you let me know who you are over there.

I first heard of NaNoWriMo last year when everybody seemed to disappear at once from FictionPress. By the time I figured out what the hell had happened it was already too late for me to enroll...well, not too late, but I knew I would never be able to write something in that time-frame because (1) I think it was already into the third week and (2) I was in my final year of university and already drowning in assignments and exams. (I know I procrastinate, but long-term and planned procrastination is a huge jump even for me...)

So now that I'm not occupied with anything else, I figured I'd jump onto the NaNoWriMo wagon and give it a shot. Until two days ago I hadn't even entertained the notion of taking part...and then yesterday I suddenly - and quite impulsively - signed up for an account (add me if you have an account, using username Ravina). I joined thinking I would just check out the rules and decide later whether I would try it out.

( Me confusing myself here... )

Dang it, now I'm confused. (Damn you blog!)

Is anybody out there totally against me doing the cliché?

~ Rebekah ~

EDIT: (November 11, 2009) What's really funny is that I ditched the cliché midway and am now doing the fantasy. *sigh*

My first book review in ages...and it's going to be on a series. The "Study" series is written by Maria V. Snyder and I came across it at the bookstore before I went on vacation (and finally bought them last week and finished reading yesterday). The series is completed, and there are three books in it: Poison Study, Magic Study, and Fire Study.


This was one of the most delightful series I've had the pleasure to read. The main character, Yelena, is presented with a choice: be executed for the murder she had committed or serve as the Commander's food tester.

Although being the food tester could mean a sudden, unexpected, and possibly painful death, Yelena takes up the offer and is moved from the dungeon and into service.

To be completely honest, I think I'm becoming extremely lazy and slacking off...so I decided to turn to my readers (or random LJ stalkers...whatever) for help. I think what I need to get me back into frantic writing are challenges that'll make me think and, well, generally be challenging.

I don't know where to start, or what kind of guidelines to give...so I'm just going to ask for the following:

(1) Uncommon setting(s).
(2) Five random things. By random, I mean things you wouldn't really associate with each other on first thought. Like...kiwi, bracelet, book, sand, nephew, etc.

Maybe even the type of relationship between main characters (before the sparks fly, I mean). For example: (i) friends, (ii) girl's brother's friend, (iii) enemies, (iv) strangers, etc.

OR YOU CAN JUST TELL ME SOMETHING ENTIRELY FROM SCRATCH!

Much love,
Rebekah

This was stolen from preludity!

Instructions: Answer the following questions with 'innocent' or 'guilty'. You are not allowed to explain anything unless someone messages you and asks!

(So people reading this, if you want an explanation you have to comment.)

( Without further ado... )

(EDIT: This post is currently not floating at the top because it's a huge-ass distraction up there. I'm still trying to figure out a better way to do this...)

I currently don't have friends-only enabled, so feel free to add me if you want to keep track of my writing, life, or whatever brought you over here.

This is just a welcome post of sorts (plus I wanted to put my currently reading list somewhere where it's always visible)...you can skip below to see recent posts.

Currently reading:

Katie-Maude on FictionPress.com has written a very informative piece on plagiarism. No, it's not a rant like mine was. Rather, it's an intellectual piece that explains the misconceptions of plagiarism and clearly illustrates many of the rules and consequences of plagiarizing.

I believe it's a must-read for readers and writers alike, so please do check it out. It's called "Is Imitation the Sincerest Form of Flattery?". (Just click on the title if you want to give it a read - I've linked back to it.)

P.S. Read and sign this petition if you haven't already. It doesn't hurt to try, right? http://www.petitiononline.com/stopfp/petition.html

My god-sister messaged me on MSN two weeks ago and asked for help with her English assignment on Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Luckily for her, I just finished taking Introduction to Classical Mythology this past semester, the story was part of the syllabus, and I was interested enough in the course to remember the specifics. She suggested finding some old essays online and using them as outline and reference points for her own assignment. Note: She didn't want to steal any sentences/paragraphs word-for-word, but she wanted to take the main themes. Technically that wouldn't be considered plagiarism, but I told her a definite 'no', explained to her a system called Turnitin (in case you don't know what it is, it's a site that teachers/professors use to compare your submitted assignments to other things floating around the Internet to make sure you didn't steal it), and then we worked on the assignment from scratch.

And, while we're talking about Turnitin, I'd like to point out a real situation that took place very recently. An accounting professor of mine was going over the class course outline in September, but he stopped when he got to the assignment instructions and shot us all a glare. He told us that one student in his summer class had found the assignment solution by using Google. He then shared the site with his group members, and some of the group members mentioned it to their own friends. Needless to say, when the assignment was handed in, about 60% of the class had used the solutions. Turnitin caught the problem and EVERY SINGLE ONE of those students was called in for academic misdemeanor trials. Some of them didn't even know that their group members had used the solutions, but just having their name on the submitted assignment made them accountable. EVERY SINGLE ONE of those students received a ZERO in the class (which is a serious drop in GPA), and the guy who discovered the solutions was expelled immediately.

The moral of these stories? DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.

This post is spurred on by the rash of plagiarism regarding FictionPress authors' stories. These people have worked hard on their writing and put them up for critiques (and bashing, because not everyone has the same tastes) by you, the general faceless Internet public.

When you plagiarize their work, it's a very perverse and twisted form of flattery. By that, I mean that you're probably thinking they should put you on a throne for being such a stalkerish fan, but they're just wondering when they should hit you with a lawsuit.

And no, you're not immune because you're stealing on the Internet. You might think it's impossible to track you down because your username is "omigodreviewmyawesomenessXD<3", but I assure you it's entirely possible. Internet connections leave footprints that can very easily be tracked down - so don't be surprised if you receive a court notice in the mail after you steal somebody else's work.

I can understand the psychology behind using things you find online when doing assignments for school. I don't accept it, but I can understand it. I mean, it's a project, you get marked, the marks determine your average, your average determines your future (be it more school or a career). So yes, there's a thought process there that makes sense in a very unethical way.

But stealing fiction and posting it up on a free-to-view website? I know one of Myrika's stories (from FictionPress) was self-published by a moron looking to make a profit. However, all other cases I've heard of to date were all put up on websites that gave the thief no monetary "reward". So what, you put up somebody's work and lap up all the praises you get because people think you wrote it? Where's the satisfaction in that? Or are you twisted enough to convince yourself you deserved the praise for being able to use MS Word (or whatever word-processing software you use) to search-and-replace John's name to Bob and Jane's name to Sue?

So please, get yourselves a life and understand that PLAGIARISM IS NOT AN ART FORM (and neither are rows of soup cans, but that's another story altogether).

Forever ranting,
~ Rebekah ~

Combined review, because they're not worth reviewing individually.

(Ouch, that was harsh! But there's good news at the bottom of this post - check it out, especially if you're a FictionPress writer.)

But seriously, I could not put myself through the torture of reading these books. I skimmed the first chapter of Chosen, went 'okay?', skimmed the last chapter, went 'ooookay?', and then skimmed the middle and went 'SCREW IT!' I mean (and I don't think this is a spoiler because it says so on the back of at least two books), she had THREE boyfriends. I can understand having feelings for one person while dating another. Hell, I can even understand the psychology behind cheating (although it's very very bad - don't do it!). But three? One is a guy who adores her (who, typically, is the best and most popular guy at school), one is her ex-boyfriend (who is infatuated with her because she drank his blood and that creates a bond or something), and the third is...probably a spoiler, so I won't bother saying it.

And then she goes from three boyfriends to none because she's a dumbass like that. It seems like the author's want the reader's to have a pity party for her - but it was HER FAULT. Go die in a ditch Zoey!

There's an author interview on youtube, which I felt was very forced and...yeah, forced. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R72K9W5E3oQ) I didn't like the idea of them basically interviewing each other, because they worked on the book together, and at times it seemed like they were just shifting focus like no tomorrow.

I think I'm going to stop with this series because it is driving me insane. (But, knowing me, I'll probably pick it up in the future or check out online spoilers just to see how much more retarded it could get...)

Good news? If crap like this can find publishers, then a lot of writers of FictionPress should be delighted because they are so much better than this.

I've pretty much read my public library dry. I've also finished re-reading all my purchased books about 382 times each. (Maybe more.)

So I figured why not ask the Internets (yes, that would be you) who their favourite author(s), and what their favourite book(s), are.

Beginning with me...my favourite romance author of all times is Nora Roberts (who also writes a mystery/romance series under the name of J.D.Robb). If there's a book by her on the shelf, it immediately jumps into my hands and, even if I'm already partway through another book, I always finish her book before going back to another author's book.

So yes, I love her writing.

As for book suggestions, I would definitely recommend most of Nora Roberts'/J.D.Robb's books.

Other than that, I would recommend The Golden Compass trilogy by Philip Pullman (even though the ending of the series made me go 'WHAT? NOT FAIR! EVILLLL!')

Also, if you're looking for a good-hearted parody, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend by Christopher Moore. If you're a devoutly religious person this book might not be for you because it makes fun of EVERYTHING starting from Christ and going all the way to Hinduism.

I also enjoyed Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series...until she started brutally butchering classical mythology to suit her plots in the later books. But they're still not half-bad, and the guys are all hunky, so a definite recommendation.

I'm not that into social networking websites. I mean, I've had facebook for at least two years now, but my profile is set to private and doesn't even show up on the search page.

It's not that I'm super-secretive either - obviously I'm not since I'm running around screaming my name all over the place for people to see. (By place I mean da Internet shizzle we're all currently using.) My profile is private to protect whatever privacy exists online for my family and friends - some of whom are extremely paranoid. One of my aunt's (she's 'hip' *cough* and in her mid-30s) had me add her to facebook a few months ago, and she was all "Oh dear Rebekah - go and change your birthday information on your profile so it doesn't say the year of your birth!" (To which I responded: "But I already tell people I'm 50...what harm could my real age of 21 do???") And then she made me get rid of the year anyway, even though I only have family members and friends on that account.

That having been said, I opened a brand spankin' new facebook account yesterday to keep in touch with readers/writers on FictionPress. The account will be accepting any and all friend requests because it won't give you a minute-by-minute update of my life, my friends, and/or my family. It will, however, (most likely) be giving writing updates using the facebook status thing.

I just wanted to write my reasons up there because I'm sure at least one person wondered why (1) I'm very behind on jumping on the facebook bandwagon or (2) I have no friends.

So if you want to add me, the name is Rebekah Ravina Evans. There are other Rebekah Evans' on facebook, so make sure the Ravina is in there. My profile picture (as of today, June 1) is my eye. Um. It's on a green background, with my creepy grey pupils standing out...in case you wanted me to be more specific.

Toodles,
~ Rebekah ~

The other night I was invited out for a night with the "girls." I told my husband that I would be home by midnight, "I promise!"

Well, the hours passed and the margarita's went down way too easily. Around 3 a.m., a bit loaded, I headed for home.

Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hallway started up and cuckooed 3 times.

Quickly, realizing my husband would probably wake up, I cuckooed another 9 times.

I was really proud of myself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution, in order to escape a possible conflict with him.

(Even when totally smashed...3 cuckoos plus 9 cuckoos totals 12 cuckoos = MIDNIGHT!)

The next morning my husband asked me what time I got in, I told him "MIDNIGHT" He didn't seem mad in the least.

Whew, I got away with that one! Then he said "We need a new cuckoo clock."

When I asked him why, he said, "Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said "oh shit." Cuckooed 4 more times, cleared its throat, cuckooed another three times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then tripped over the coffee table and farted.



I forget where I found the above joke, but I couldn't resist putting it up. And what I don't get is why she feels she has to answer to her husband (especially to the extent of lying). What ever happened to girl power, hmm? (Yes, that was a message to my two lovely brothers. Even the little one bullies me! *sigh*)

The good news: Thanks to my lovely mommy, I got a new laptop!

The bad news: Everything is GONE. I wrote before about how my old hard drive is dead (stupid shit won't SPIN!!!) and I can't do anything about getting my old files back. So now I'm all demotivated and pissed off about Bet You Can't and not yet in the mood to rewrite those lost chapters.

We'll see how long this will last...I'll force myself to write (even if it's garbage) if I don't recover in a week or so.

~ Rebekah ~

My friend Vee wanted to go see the Wolverine movie, and my little brother did as well, so I decided to humour them both and ended up going on Friday night. It was just the three of us because Riyanna wasn't interested, and Roman and Kalen (the ditchers!) had already caught it on opening night.

My thoughts:

To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen any of the other X-Men movies (mainly because I didn't get into action movies until Kalen theoretically force-fed them to me), but I really enjoyed this one.

The movie had the perfect balance of gloom, doom, and humour (both haha-funny and sarcastic-funny). My favourite scenes were the ones with the diamond traffic operation headquarters, and especially the elevator part of it (Mr. & Mrs. Smith anyone?).

It was kind of painful to see the romance scenes because it was obvious to me what was going to happen. However, the chemistry was good and didn't look forced.

The graphics were pretty good, and I was impressed with the filming of a whole bunch of scenes.

(Oh, and I will trade Kalen in for Wade if I get a chance. Sorry Kalen.)

I guess since this was a prequel (i.e. Wolverine's past), I can always just watch the other movies without being mind-boggled.

(Right?)

Vee's thoughts:

We walked out of the theatre and the first thing Vee said to me was "Don't you think there was something missing?"

I asked her what was missing and she said she didn't know, but the ending seemed incomplete. She said she loved the movie (and then proceded to drool over Hugh Jackman), and that she was going to rewatch the other movies to see why she wasn't satisfied.

...maybe she wanted more Hugh Jackman sans shirt scenes?

Ryan's thoughts:

My little brother was busy complaining about the lack of popcorn, so it took awhile to get down to his actual thoughts on the movie once we got out of the theatre. (The popcorn machine at one booth broke down and the lines for the others were too long for us to bother.)

Ryan ended up telling me that the movie was "okay" and then continued on to add "Can we see Star Trek?" (It was opening night, and people were walking around in costumes...)

Meanwhile, Vee was yapping into my other ear about seeing Angels & Demons when it comes out.

Maybe I should invest in the theatre-business, since it seems like I'm going to be spending a lot of time in them...

Turns out I was right about the motherboard being fried (I had Roman and Kalen check it out to confirm), and the hard drive still refuses to back up even though I managed to find a computer running XP (thank you Belle for letting me play with your system).

Kalen's now in charge of retrieving all the files from my hard drive. If he doesn't manage to, then my readers can blame him for the delay in my stories. (I love you Kalen, I really do...)

In the meantime, I've gone ahead and ordered a brand spankin'-new laptop and am waiting for it to be assembled and delivered!

And I've suddenly developed the urge to play Halo 3 - which is irritating because I swore off the series after finishing Halo 2 a few years ago (and drove myself and everyone around me insane). I decided that I just might get myself a copy of Halo 3 if I still want to play after my new laptop arrives.

In the meantime, I'm keeping myself busy by playing Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess on the Wii.

~ Rebekah ~

I got back from Cuba a few hours ago and was looking forward to catching up on my sleep...but then I realized my LAPTOP WASN'T POWERING ON!

So, instead of sleeping, I pried open the laptop and figured out that the motherboard went to hell and the power circuits are messed up...

...and my hard drive was not backed up, so I quickly retrieved it and tried to transfer all my files to my desktop...

...but it WOULD NOT TRANSFER!!!

So now I have NONE of my halfway-done pieces of writing, including a few one-shots that were near finished, and about THREE chapters of Bet You Can't. I don't even have my outline for Bet You Can't because that was in my laptop files as well...

Hopefully I'll be able to get my hard drive to transfer the files. I think it's refusing to do so because my laptop was running XP while all the other million computers in the house are running Vista...so I'm going to have to find a friend with XP who is willing to put his/her computer at my mercy. (Mwahahaha...)

Now, I will catch up on my ZzzzzZzzZzzZZzzzz's.

My brothers decided that they wanted some female-free time at home, so the older one decided to ship Riyanna and me off to Cuba for a week (apparently my mom's an 'acceptable' female). I think Roman just wants to treat me to a graduation present and did not want to sound sappy by phrasing it that way...

...so I'm headed out on Saturday with my sister and three friends, and we're all hoping the weather is less temperamental in Varadero than it is here...

...and that we don't catch the H1N1 virus (AKA the 'swine flu')...

...and now I'm scaring myself into not going.

Don't miss me too much!
~ Rebekah ~

Well I didn't have internet over the weekend because my modem died two weeks ago and my service providers' customer service department is filled with morons who shipped me the wrong replacement produce TWICE...and because Kalen took back the modem he lent me since exams were over and he needed to get his work projects done. Anyhow, that meant I had time to catch up on reading, and I got around to finishing Betrayed.

So, as with Marked, I found at least one inconsistency...which, again, was very disappointing to see in a published book. However, the plot is still keeping me interested, although it still reminds me of FictionPress-style writing.

There was one scene in particular that made me go "say what???". I don't want this to be a spoiler, so I'll be as general as possible - it is the scene where Zoey finds and confronts the, um, "mysterious creatures" that she's been seeing around. Her reaction was stupid, because the creatures are supposed to be disgusting and scary, but she's playfully arguing with *the person she went to save* for a good chunk of time instead of freaking out and, oh I don't know, maybe GETTING THE HELL OUT OF THERE.

Zoey's character is too immature and shallow as of now - she's not the heroic sort, and it's hard to picture her going places and doing great things...but obviously that's what'll happen because she's the main character.

Rebekah, get off the internet and go study! (Yes, I figured out your password.) One exam left and you're on this site and FictionPress, doing nothing productive!

And think of me, won't you? If you don't do super-duper-fantastic on this exam your brother will think it was because of me and introduce my head to the wall. A brick wall. (Which would seriously hurt!)

So really, this post is just to save my ass because I can easily lead your brother to it and prove that I tried to get you to study (and that you're a bratty child who doesn't listen).

I love you? (Please don't introduce my head to a wall...)

- Kalen

P.S. If you delete this, I will sulk.

This book is set mostly on the seas around France, during Napoleon's campaign, and it's a tale of Meg Barratt, who is accidentally kidnapped by Cosimo. Cosimo is an agent for the British and he realizes that he could use Meg in his latest mission.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

So I read it from beginning to end because I expected Meg (who is touted by the back cover excerpt of the book to be "independent and inquisitive") to develop some sort of believable character - but that didn't really happen. I mean, sure it's different that a girl from that time period, living in an aristocratic society (especially when in the upper rankings) is so uncaring about what people conceive about her behaviour...but I felt Meg's implied character was completely overwhelmed and subdued by Cosimo and his commanding "looks" (yes, she gets somewhat scared and shuts up when he aims one at her).

The author spent a lot of time developing the trust Cosimo tried to coax from Meg - which turned out to be useless in the end because of her reaction to his telling the truth. And then the actual climax of the story is sped through faster than a road-raged driver in the middle of a highway.

Conclusion? It was readable, but definitely not something I would recommend.

~ Rebekah ~