Sparkatale

Aw, I guess you guys are shy. :) Either that or perhaps you have a lot on your plates with life. I do hope that as time goes on you will warm up to each other. Although this club centers around reviews, I'd like us all to have some sort of warm relationship with each other as well. It's not all about convenience but friendship as well. :)

The Tigress | November 16, 2014

I was waiting for someone to break the ice! How'd you know I was shy? I like friends, friends are nice. Lets make some! :D

Mighty (Emi) Pen (Valladarez) | November 17, 2014

How about we talk about the novel(s) that have had the greatest impact on us and why?

Nicole Armas | November 17, 2014

The two novels I cherish the most are 'The Castle in the Attic' and, 'The Princess and the Goblin'. I read these when I was younger, and they kind of sparked my love for fantasy novels. Which led me to other great fantasy/adventure novels.

Who's next for sharing? :)

Mighty (Emi) Pen (Valladarez) | November 17, 2014

Novels that I cherish the most

1.Paco's Story which I loved because of the raw emotion the book made me feel. It's about thew Vietnam War and was written by a war veteran so you can really get a sense of the pain and despair that soldiers feel.
2.The Great Gatsby because it was one of the first books I've read that really made me stop and think about things and the deeper meaning behind the words.
3. The Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle because they were one of the few mystery novels that I could actually tolerate and ended up loving. (Warning: hardcore Sherlockian here because of them)
4. Peace Shall Destroy Many. This book is another one that really made me think about things such as morals and the thin line between what is right and what is wrong.
5. A final one would be The Fifth Mountain. It's more of a biblical book that tells the story of the Prophet Elijah so it spoke to me on a more spiritual level.

Nicole Armas | November 17, 2014

Oops I didn't mean to reply to your comment. I'm an idiot who's half-blind I swear :/

Nicole Armas | November 17, 2014

You're really diverse in comparison! Maybe I'll start branching out into different genres. I quite like Stephen King, but maybe I'll spread somewhere else. 

Did you say you're into Sherlock? I'm pretty into it as well! I don't know if you watch the shows but here's a question; Do you prefer BBC's Sherlock, or do you prefer CBS's Elementary (the one with Lucy Liu as Watson). I prefer Elementary better.. I don't know why, there's something really charming I find about it.

I noticed you're really into historical fictions as well! You write them so beautifully after all. I'm still really into your story 'Have You News of My Boy Jack?'. Ugh, that story was so perfect. I think I've read it three times so far. 

Mighty (Emi) Pen (Valladarez) | November 17, 2014

I try not to stick to a specific genre although I usually find myself coming back to historical fiction.

I prefer BBC's Sherlock personally but I quite like the idea of Watson being female.

And I'm quite happy that you love my story so much!

Nicole Armas | November 17, 2014

I'm so glad someone came up with a question to ask because I'm no good at coming up with clever questions! Lol. 

Novels that have had a great impact on me... hmm. To be honest I read mostly fantasy and adventure novels and I read them for fun. I like to go to other worlds but rarely do they affect my real life. Although my favorite author is Edgar Allan Poe and I have to say that reading his work is like seeing a reflection of myself. I like to think that if we knew each other in real life we'd be great friends. Whenever I need intellectual stimulation I turn to him and Jack London for some "intelligent conversation".

I feel like I need to expand my literary horizons, but I tend to get bored with anything that isn't dark and introspective. I'm not sure why I'm obsessed with darkness and insanity, but psychology is a beautiful subject that I am deeply interested in.

The Tigress | November 17, 2014

I love Edgar Allan Poe too! My favourite story of his is The Tell-Tale Heart. And I hear ya; dark stories are pretty fascinating.

Nicole Armas | November 17, 2014

Ah I love that one as well! I love The Raven and Fall of the House of Usher. I mean I love everything that he wrote, so really I don't have a favorite writing by him. XD I wish I could write poetry like him. It's the only poetry that I don't find boring most of the time.

The Tigress | November 17, 2014

Are you familiar with Annabel Lee, by the same writer? That is probably my favorite Edgar Allan Poe piece...

Nicole Raine | November 19, 2014

OMG YES OMGOMGOMGOMG There are no words to describe the epicness of that poem.

The Tigress | November 20, 2014

*ninja*

Kain Delo | November 18, 2014

Lol *traps ninja in butterfly net*

The Tigress | November 18, 2014

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this with the site but:

I found that if I have been working on a particular chapter of a story for an extended period of time and then click the save button, the site takes me to the login screen and makes me lose everything I just worked on. It's only happened about three times now but I can't figure out why this is happening in the first place.

Nicole Armas | November 19, 2014

Well I actually type my story on Microsoft Word first and then copy and paste it onto here when I'm ready to publish it, so I don't experience that issue. The one thing I find annoying is that when I copy and paste onto Sparkatale, the formatting doesn't transfer over so I have to go back and italicize everything that should be italicized. It is a bit time consuming to go back and compare it to the original document.

The Tigress | November 20, 2014

Okay here's another topic we could discuss: our favourite character(s) from literature. 

Nicole Armas | December 7, 2014

I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long guys... I've been having a very busy month and it's not going to get better until January so I'm so sorry if I don't come on much.

My favorite character from literature? I'd have to say Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. She's so snarky and down-to-earth and keeps a good head on her shoulders while everyone else around her is bananas lol. Plus she's a good sister and friend and refuses to marry just for the sake of marrying. My life feels a lot like Pride and Prejudice right now so I can identify. -_-

The Tigress | December 8, 2014

One of my favourite characters has to be Sherlock Holmes. I find he is a very intriguing and odd character since you don't know much about him in which leaves a lot up to the reader's imagination. Another Favourtie character of mine would have to be Menolly from the Harper Hall Trilogy. She had a great love of music and wanted to be a Harper although it wasn`t allowed for women to be Harpers. I just like how she stood up to all the crap people threw her way and kept on pursuing her dream despite what others said.

Nicole Armas | December 8, 2014

I've never read either of those... I mean, I know Sherlock Holmes obviously and I know about his character- I agree that he's interesting- but I just never was into the whole mystery solving genre so I guess that's why I never read it. It's hard for me to pick favorites when it comes to literature because there are so many good characters.

The Tigress | December 8, 2014

Question: Does anyone know what passive voice is? And if so, do you think I use it too much in my writing? I'm having trouble pin-pointing where it is exactly that I allegedly use it.

The Tigress | December 13, 2014

http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/pasvoiceterm.htm

There's an entire page here that explains the use of passive voice. It's basically when the doer of an action is unidentified e.g. "Mistakes were made" or "Pandora, from Greek mythology, was given a box with all the world's evil in it." In both cases we know that mistakes were made and Pandora was given a box but we don't know who made those mistakes or who gave Pandora the box.

I hope that helps.

Nicole Armas | December 14, 2014

Thanks! I seem to remember reading that article before but the concept of it still escaped me. In any case, I am more aware of it now and will try to avoid use of it in my writing.

//

On another note, what's your guys's favorite part about writing a story? Mine personally is creating the relationships and interactions between characters. I find that to be the most amusing part of a story.

The Tigress | December 14, 2014

I find creating a character's personal history to be one of my favourite parts. I find if you give a characters a background story it makes them more interesting and you can relate to the characters better.

Nicole Armas | December 15, 2014

I think my favourite part is synonymous with yours, Nicole. I love creating characters in general. Shaping them into their own people is pretty fun. 

I also love creating worlds that have their own history and lore- of course I usually draw inspiration from other pantheons and mythology to create mine, but I guess originality is hard to come by these days! 

Mighty (Emi) Pen (Valladarez) | December 15, 2014

Hmm... interesting. I don't normally give my characters a back-story from the beginning. Their back-story develops with time. I love creating new worlds as well, but like I said the relationships are my favorite part. I literally just toss all of my characters into the story and watch them interact with each other, letting the pieces fall where they may.

The Tigress | December 16, 2014

Creating new worlds is always fun! 

Nicole Armas | December 16, 2014

Yeah but it's also hard... I constantly have to break my head to make sure there aren't any loopholes in the plots. :D

The Tigress | December 21, 2014

Lol I know the feeling

Nicole Armas | December 23, 2014

hi everybody. hope you don't mind if i butt in. :)

I would like to talk to somebody about my new story A Darker Power. If any of you guys want to help me figure out some stuff for it I would be really grateful.

Thanks,

Britta.

Gracie Rose | January 7, 2015

Sure. What did you have in mind?

Nicole Armas | January 8, 2015

sorry for the wait it's been hectic around here lately.

well, I'm kinda trying to figure out abilities. My world is a medieval one and there are Elementals, who control fire,water,air or earth, Dragon Speakers, who can form links with dragons, Elvenkind, who have really good eyesight and hearin and live for ages, and Mages who can connect with either Light or Shadow streams (basically use Light or Shadow energy) And then there are the Marked, who are like all four of those guys combined. Them i sort of have figured out it's the Dragon Speakers, Mages and Elementals who are giving me greif.

That probably doesnt help much but... anyway. As i said before any help at all would be really appreciated

Gracie Rose | January 15, 2015

For one how did those three get their power. I mean were they born with it, was it some kind of training that gained them those powers or what? For Dragon Speakers, what kind of link do they form with dragons? Can they speak telepathically with dragons? Does this link allow them to tame dragons? (I don't know how the dragons in your story are). Does this mean they can form an inseparable friendship with dragons?

Also, do the three groups use their power for good or for evil? Are they considered friends or allies? how the three groups seen by other groups of people? To me the Mages almost sound liken they posses some kind of black magic since they can control light and dark energy. Are they supernatural beings or regular humans bestowed with this power? 

And finally, for the elementals how can they manipulate those four elements? Can they literally take fire and water and bend it to their will?For the water element does this mean they could create vast waves and great storms with the element of air? And the earth element can they manipulate trees and rocks? Are animals included in these elements?

I don't know if this helps you with their abilities. But I thought I should pose some other questions about the three groups that could help you develop them more. I hope this helps.

Nicole Armas | January 15, 2015

You have a perfect point with asking all those questions. For the Dragon Speakers I had imagined them being able to form a link by touch so, obviously, the Speakers had to undergo vigorous training first before try hunted down their specific dragon. They could speak telepathically yes. I had the dragons sort of as independent creatures, though they were usually wild until bonded. Very dragon had their own personality, etc etc. The Dragon Speakers were also considered the protecters of the two realms (Light and Dark) before every thing went to hell and the 'gods' had to create a race even more powerful, aka, the Marked. The Mages and Elementals were both born with their abilities though Te Mages didn't really shoe it until they 'came of age' whilst the Elementals could control their element from birth, even if they were pathetic efforts (come on man, it's a baby! :D) The Mages were just normal men until (like I said) they came of age and were called into either the Sanctuary of Light or Shadow were they were bestowed with their gifts, i.e, Healing or cognitive sight for Light and... Maybe more destructive abilities for the Shadow ones. But at the time they were still considered 'good'. Everybody needs something destroyed at some time or snotty right? That is, until they all went wacko but, on with the explanations! The Elementals were usually born with a symbol depicting their element. For the Fire Elementals they could usually manipulate it but not create it, same with the others. They probably could create tsunamis and storms and everything 'if' they had enough of said element. The earth Elementals were more creative, they could manipulate the earth as well as, oh what's the word? I can't think of it now but, they could compress it and build thing with it and yes, they probably could do 'something' with the trees. And so ya know? This was all figured out 'after' your message so..... *promptly hugs* thank you. :)

Gracie Rose | January 17, 2015

Sounds pretty cool! And no problem!

Nicole Armas | January 18, 2015

Sorry for any spelling mistakes/ missing or incorrect words I am on a phone.

Gracie Rose | January 17, 2015

Okay so, I was just wondering if any of you guys know anyone/where I can get a cover from? I am looking for a specific cover for my book Marked. Does anybody know anything about an artist needing work?

Thanks for any replies 
Brit

Gracie Rose | January 19, 2015

So... How do I get my story on this group?

Michael Mann | January 21, 2015

Your story should be listed under "Members Book". If it s a review you're after then make an enquiry in the discussion titled "Review Exchange"

Nicole Armas | January 21, 2015

Hey everyone! After a multiple year hiatus I am back to this site and ready to get this show on the road! I've got a chapter up and am in the process of reviewing/critiquing two different stories.

I've also set up a club exclusively for giving advice or sharing opinions on. I hope this doesn't sound spammy but I was thinking that maybe you guys could take a look at it and let me know what you think?

So far there are only two discussions up- one on prologues and one on how to start your novel (I know they are both closely related but I figured they were good follow ups to one another).

Retrograde Heartbreak | September 4, 2015