Happy Tuesday!

MY SPONSORS APPROVED MY FINAL THESIS APPLICATION TODAY!!!!!

Ahem. Sorry, got a bit excited there.

Today I learned how much one short meeting could change the course of a novel. Getting the chance to really sit down with my writing professor and discuss Five of Cups, its characters, and where the plot will go was unendingly helpful. She had a lot of really helpful things to say, and also expressed concern about one of the bits of storyline that had been niggling at the back of my mind as a bit off. Through being able to bounce thoughts off her I think I've come up with a much better idea, which will take the plot in a slightly different direction but will be better for the book as a whole.

It is worrying when you write descriptions of your characters and even you can tell they sound flat. Especially when you know that the character kicking around in your brain is not flat at all! In fact, they're a demanding pain in the butt. What is it about conveying a character from your head to the page that is so hard? I'm a writer! Shouldn't this come naturally to me?

Maybe we're not really supposed to write "descriptions" and have them portray our characters in their best light. After all, I can tell you a person is witty over and over and over again, but until you witness their wit, you can't really know for yourself. I've concluded that it is our characters' actions and not their defining characteristics that show us who they are. So I'm not going to spend anymore time stressing over page after page of descriptors. If you want to know what the characters in Five of Cups are like, pick up a copy someday; I'd be thrilled to sign it for you!

In other news, I completed my first review for Adele, which will hopefully be up soon. I went with The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley in the end, the book I'd picked before just wasn't speaking to me. See you Friday!

Onward and Upward!

I've decided to follow a Tues/Fri blogging schedule, though I don't know what times I'll be posting them (I'll attempt to get posts up before midnight EST for the most part). However, as those of you who know me can attest, I often have a LOT to say, so if a blog pops up on an off-day? Well, don't say I didn't warn you in advance!

This weekend is going to be a stressful one for me in terms of writing and paperwork. On Tuesday I'm meeting with all three of my thesis sponsors to present my final application. Scary. For my main project I am going to be finishing Five of Cups, my YA novel, and then writing a series of academic papers to supplement and support it. For the portion of the project completely free of faculty help and insight, I'm hoping to conduct a series of conversations with established YA authors about heroines in YA fantasy. What I'm presenting on Tuesday to my team of professors will be an outline of all of this, plus outlines of each of the individual papers.

Also on Tuesday, my main sponsor wants to see a complete backstory for FoC, a complete list of characters and character descriptions, and an outline of the novel. In theory this shouldn't be too difficult since it has all lived in my head for so long, but getting it out onto paper may prove more difficult than I think! I've also got my first review for Adele to write, on The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I'm off to get started now, wish me luck!

Welcome!

You've reached the blog of student and aspiring novelist Rebecca Mallary. Here you'll find updates on how my first young-adult novel, Five of Cups, is progressing; plus some updates on the Chronicles of Miradium, with my co-author Nicole Reddy!

I'll also be writing book reviews for the new online magazine, Adele, as soon as it is up and running. More information on all of this later! Thanks for your interest in my writing and I hope you enjoy what you read here!