FAIL.

I've dunnit again. I've fallen into the pits of "I don't wanna" and did something none could imagine.
I've...
I've gotten my nails done! I've gotten gel nails put on actually.
BUT! Yes, there is a but...I have a legitimate excuse for my failure. My  nails started growing eerily fast. I'm talking, every day is a noticeable length difference and I have to cut them every 4 days. 4 DAYS.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have no sense of "upkeep" when it comes to beauty and fashion. I live life on the edge of a blade called, "Screw It, I Got Better Things To Do." I hate cutting my nails. I hate doing my hair. I hate having to stare at the clothes in my closet to "match" my outfit. Who has time for that? I got kids, a husband, a house, a business and school! (which is out for the next few months, w00t!) My mind is happily in the clouds of getting things done then turning to fantastical things that can never come true. I don't have time for NAILS every 4 days! So, I decided to try gel nails and have someone else cut them for me every week or two.

Hmwah ha! I feel positively evil. I'm sure all the divas are rolling their eyes at me. And I enjoy this, yes? Yes. I will not conform to giving off a fraud version of me because society thinks thats what all women should be.

I'm not a total slob, all right? I shower. I do SOMETHING to my hair every morning. I brush my teeth. I hide my acne. But I don't plop on three inches of makeup to make me look completely different or like I need a dusting. If my socks are striped yellow and black and my shirt is red and green, big whoop! It's not like I'm out trying to impress the world.

I'm laid back. I'm chill. I riiiide the waaaave of - okay, now I'm sounding like a drug addict.

I'm the same when it comes to my hair. If I go out for something special, I put more time into it. If I'm at home all day, a bandana is sometimes my best friend. I don't have the patience to stand in front of a mirror  with a straightener and three different brushes and eight different hair products. Nor do I choose to put so much money in something so fleeting! What would I do when I'm an old hag? I would be cringing until muscle spasms covered my body every time I would look in a mirror! I'd have a spastic death!

And though my rant is not over yet, my hunger pangs are overwhelming. SO, have a great Friday everyone!

Update Blog Post

It's been a while, I know.
I've been busy. After lots of studying and stressing about school, one easy exam lies ahead and my summer break is here.
Life will begin to chill out a little and I can't wait!

As for my writing, I don't know what to share. Not much has happened. I haven't been writing lately. My muse has been silent and my confidence has been hurt over something that's happened. I'm sure it'll come back after a break. It's a long story and not worth sharing, really.

For the time being, I'm at home, getting things back in order after we painted and had our floors redone.

Update:
My website is currently down but will be back up sooner than later, I hope. Until then, my temporary site will be www.dianailinca.weebly.com.

Anywho, that is all for now. Happy Monday!

Diana Ilinca

Disappointed in Myself

Zirconya has been out since December and I got to say, I'm disappointed in myself.
When I looked at Nahtaia, I see everything that Zirconya is lacking.

A solid plot it the biggest thing.

If I were able, I would do a massive rewrite. More character development. More plot. More of something actually happening!

In Nahtaia, the characters were after something and in the end, they reached a point of closure.
In Zirconya, Chloe/Caelum is like a houseplant, being carried around a plot instead of within in, and in the end it tapers off far too much.

I don't think I'm being too hard on myself. I've know what I'm capable of and Zirconya: The Sage of Aluh'Nehn has not reached that point to me. Even book II is incredibly better written than Zirconya I.

I know I can do better. What I've published seems like a bad taste of what I have to offer in writing. I don't know what to say anymore...

Regretfully,
Diana.

Meme: The Lucky 7 Meme for Writers

I just got tagged in The Lucky7 Meme by T.K. Toppin.

My current WIP is Zirconya II: Reunion of the Sages

To play along, here are THE RULES: 
1. Go to page 77 of your current ms.
2. Go to sentence 7.
3. Copy and post the next 7 sentences as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other victims, er, authors.

OKay. Zirconya II: Reunion of the Sages page 77, sentence 7.

Melanya's laughter suddenly carried on the wind and though Caelum knew they weren't laughing at her, she still felt a sting of shame. Ever since they'd returned to Zirconya, Caelum knew she came across as the moody one, which wasn't typical. But she couldn't help herself. Nothing was as she'd imagined it would be and no one seemed to want to help her.

Maze would help. If only- she stopped at that thought. Everyone had made it clear that he wasn't coming, though she still didn't understand why. 

Tagging:

Kevin Breaux

Arely ZPerez

Dale Basye

Tymothy Longoria

Michelle Picarella

A.T. Russell

Stephen Penner

Friday Snippets!

I decided to join in on the Friday Snippets thingy that just got started!
Below is my snippet from my current WIP, Zirconya II: Reunion of the Sages, sequel to Zirconya: The Sage of Aluh'Nehn which released this last December!
Check it out here: www.Zirconya.com

All right! Here goes!

Background info: Tanis is the man driving. He'd just finished fighting off some demons that were coming after Caelum and he's a little less than happy about it. For those of you who don't know anything about the story, Caelum is a Sage (deity-like figure) from Zirconya. In this book (book II), she's on her way home to Zirconya to get trained and placed as an official Sage among her three "sister Sages." Tanis and Caelum, at this point, have not known each other for too long.
(www.Zirconya.com - The Novel tab for details)

~*~

He turned and hurried to the car, then hit the gas. The tires screeched and the pungent smell of burned rubber seeped into the car.

“Bloody ridiculous!” He shouted. “I can't lie down for five minutes!”

Caelum stared at him dumbfounded. “Are you blaming me?”

“It is your fault, you stupid, stupid girl! If not for you, I wouldn't have to be here. I could be laying back in my flat watching my seventy-inch-”

“You're joking,” she snapped back. She couldn't help it anymore. This man was a complete moron. “How in the world do you even have any of that? How long have you been in Earth?”

“That is none of your business!”

“I'll make it my business if you accuse me of --”

Their shouting came to an abrupt stop when red and blue lights filled the car. Caelum turned in her seat and nearly cursed at the sight of a police car trailing behind them.

“You've got to be kidding me,” Tanis groaned as he slapped the steering wheel.

Caelum crossed her arms and let out a breath that turned to a gasp when he pressed on the acceleration.

“Tanis, what are you doing?” She shrieked. “We're not running from the cops!”

She received nothing but a cold-shoulder in response. She couldn't believe it. Before twenty, she was going to be in jail, marked a criminal for the rest of her life.

“Your life isn't here,” Tanis said with a growl.

Caelum frowned. He could hear some of her thoughts. The liar. She didn't like it.

~*~

What Are Literary Agents Worth?

I get the questions all the time.
"Why don't you self-publish? You're great at self-promoting. You have a fan base. Work up from there."
"Wouldn't self-publishing be easier?"

Now, don't worry. I'm  not here to bash on self-publishing. That's not what this post is about. It's about my reason for not doing it and my decision to keep all of my books on hold, in my computer until I find an agent to represent my work - as excited as I am about them.

Sure self-publishing would be easier. Sure I could self-promote the way I have been but I won't.

Agents are not just people who take your stuff and sell it to publishing companies. Agents are not even a promise for success or fame - though you should all know by now that fame and glory was never in my crosshairs (yeesh). The idea gives me the shivers and as someone put it yesterday, "I'd hate to be in Meyer or Rowling's shoes." Elaboration on that will be for another post.

There are a few things about agents that people don't realize. Usually the people who take it personally when rejected and look for an easier/faster road to getting published.
The thing with agents is that they become like cyber-family and they extend your cyber-family when/if they sell your work. A family that will help your writing improve and become something we all, as writers, hope we can become. They open our eyes to the business side of writing, making sure what you do and get involved with is safe for you and your work.

Self publishing doesn't do that. No other publishing can do that better than the people who know the literary world front and back.

That's why I am still seeking representation. Because I want to do things right, safely and to learn the craft in a way that no one else can teach me. Agents offer a myriad of things if you want your writing to become a career.

Just my two cents. No bashing. No awkward, angry tone. Just me, my brain and my typing fingers.

Diana

Life is Hard. Life is Beautiful.

There's nothing quite like a schizophrenic man in a suit telling you you're beautiful to start off your day. (that's real, I promise)
Or finding out that a class has been canceled so you have free writing time.
Or knowing that the next few hours will be spent with friends, be they in person or online. (I got both today)

I chose those points of today to share versus the "my car broke down and I had to drive a PT Cruiser to school. I didn't sleep well last night, at all. I was nauseous all morning and couldn't manage a coffee. I rushed to my classroom to make it on time only to find that it was canceled."

It's interesting that everyone else I met today shared the negative aspects of their morning before even sharing a smile.

I'm an optimist. Most people know that about me. Life is too short to mope around complaining about anything at all when there are people on the streets and kids without clean water.
I have a roof over my head, food on the table and clothes on my back. What right do I have to complain about anything?

I get a lot of shaking heads from people because I smile so much. How does that make sense? Am I supposed to be down and depressed for some reason?

I wasn't always a positive person. My middle school years were pretty hard on me and I fell into a sort of void where all I ever saw was worldsuck and how it picked on me. It wasn't until junior year of high school that things changed - details on that is a story for another post.

Thinking back to that year, I remember telling myself that if I wouldn't get married and have a family anytime soon after I graduated, I would live month to month. I would do something that didn't have a promising future - I was going for Egyptology - purely for the purpose of showing the world that even then, I could keep a smile, just by doing something that I loved. That was my new view on life - live with love and life will be good. Life is hard, sure, but life is good if you stay in the right mindset.

I know a family in Romania with twelve kids. They didn't have shoes or anything but mud beneath their feet in their home - which was more of a shack - that their father built with his bare hands. If you would meet them on the street, you wouldn't know how bad their situation truly was. They kept their smiles. They kept their love for each other. They kept their faith that they would make it to another day.

When I think of them, I find myself wondering how people can complain about not having more money or a cooler car while a family like that- poor right down to their muddy toes- remain so positive? I think we've all been raised with terrible ideas that life is all about us; the world revolves around us.

I think if people would just take a serious look at their situation, what they do have versus what they don't, not only would everyone get along better but the world might just seem brighter. If we remain in this hole of "I want" and "I need" and "I deserve," then the next generation will only be worse. Sooner or later, we'll just be a very pessimistic world altogether and people will forget what happiness is.

Again, life is hard, but for others, life is harder. Think about it.

Diana