A Visit to Hui Chi Temple...

(Note that this post is relatively image-heavy and might take awhile to load if you have a slow internet connection. My apologies! You should know that you can click on all the pictures to see a larger version of them.) 

Hey guys. The weather here in Taiwan has been vacillating between crappy and less crappy as of late. Today it's crappy, but yesterday it was quite nice. So what did I do? Took my dogs down the mountain and decided to visit a temple that's on my bus route. Now, Taiwan is one of the most dog-friendly countries in the world, so it wasn't a problem to bring them along. You see them everywhere: in shops, restraunts, stores...and not just the little ones, either. It's great to be in a country of dog-loving people.Anyways, we went on down, and found Hui Chi Temple, which, translated, literally means "Good Fortune Temple." It's really beautiful, as you can see, very ornate but not tacky. The picture you see to the left is only the gateway to it. 


 As we walked onwards, my dogs and I saw the temple's two guardians. They're Chinese lions, and they're pretty common around temple areas, and even houses or bridges. There's usually a male and a female, and in Chinese they're known as shizi. (Side note: the two dogs I own, Daisy and Happy, are known as Shih-Tzu dogs, which is basically the American way of pronouncing the Chinese word for lion. Yes, my two furballs were actually bred to look like miniature lions...which they kind of don't, but the statue above doesn't exactly look like a lion, either. I'm not sure if the ancient Chinese actually ever saw a live lion.) 

We went through the gates, and saw that the temple had only just begun: as you can see, there are steps that lead up and up, towards the real temple. It's not much of a hike, since the steps are relatively low and very wide, but it was fun to look around. The pictures here don't do the place justice; with all the lanterns and the surrounding greenery, it looked truly magnificent. 

As my dogs and I traveled upwards (meeting many other dogs on the way, most of them Shih-Tzu as well) it began to grow darker, and our only light was that of the lanterns, as you can see to the left. They're really gorgeous in real life, and are probably one of my favorite parts about Asian arcitecture.  

Here's a closer look at the statues that line the stairway (look to the right.)  I'm not exactly sure what they're supposed to be (lion? dragon?) but they're a cross between adorable and hideous. A face only a Chinese mother could love, I suppose. 

The stairways continued going upwards, and began to twist and turn. To the right there was a beatiful garden area, filled with statues of what I'm guessing to be Buddhist deities. Buddhist deities that ride tigers for fun. That. Is. Awesome. Though the tiger doesn't look too happy, from the look of his face. There are other ones as well, including a pedophile-looking old man riding a deer (not as awesome as a tiger, but it probably takes skill) and another guy on top of a mini elephant. The tiger still wins in my book, though. 

 By now my dogs and I were about a third of the way up, and continued. It got continually more tropical as we did so, and the stairway rails started showing carved panels on them, most of which had a) dragons b) people riding dragons c) dragons fighting each other d) or tigers. If you're reading this blog and know you're not going to remember anything I'm writing, at least remember this: China and Taiwan like their dragons. And I can see why - they're awesome. Forget those nasty Western dragons, man. I want an Oriental dragon. 

By now we're finally at the top, and we've passed a koi pond, another garden, several trails, and a couple of locals who were giving me some strange looks (I'm not sure if it was the dogs or the camera, or the fact that I'm white. Probably a combination.)  By the time we got the the top, my poor dogs were panting (they're lazy) while I was doing just fine. And, let's just say, the views got even better at the top. (The picture to the right is one of the carved dragons on one of the incense burners. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a big fan of dragons.) 

Because, at the top, we saw the temple. The actual temple. Yeah, all the preceeding stuff was just a precursor to the big show up on top of the mountain. Needless to say, I was kind of impressed. The cool thing about living in Asia so long is that I've been able to see how temple styles differ in various countries. In Korea, they're very bright and have a lot of woodwork; in Thailand, there's a lot of gold used; in China, the style is darker in color but much more ornate. Taiwan is like a mix of all three, and the resulting buildings are beautiful. Very colorful, very ornate, with some beautiful stone and wood carvings. It also smells great. 

After wandering around the courtyard area for awhile (see the link below to see all the photos in the album, since too may on here will overload the post) I tied my dogs outside and decided to take a look inside. Since this is one of the more "touristy" temples, I didn't have to take off my shoes or anything, and even though taking pictures wasn't exactly condoned, nobody yelled at me for doing it. I just tried to look nice and innocent while taking a look around. 

The inside, obviously, was quite lovely. Besides smelling strongly of sandalwood incense, it was really quite beautiful. I don't know...it had this kind of aura around it, I guess. Even though I'm a pretty devout Christian, I couldn't help by be impressed by all of this. Within, there's a large statue of Buddha; around there are more minor gods. There's a place where people can kneel and pray and burn incense and give offerings. I kept walking forward, and found another koi pond, as well as a pretty cool dragon engraving. It kind of amazes me, how much effort that people put into this temple, which is kind of out of the way to see. 

After a few minutes of quietly looking around, I went back outside to find some pretty impatient dogs waiting for me, so I decided to take them back home. Back down the stairs we went! By this time it was getting pretty dark, and the lanterns had started to light up properly. They have the name of the temple painted on them: Hui Chi Temple. The character on the bottom looks kind of like a temple, I suppose. 

That's all for now - until next time I go out and find some other part of Taiwan to explore. If you want to see more of the pictures, you can view them at my Facebook album, here. (If for some reason you can't get onto my album, comment and I'll see what I can do.) 

Until next time, guys. 

~Ari

Spark Wordcount: 120,00 words, currently writing the ending
Music: Vienna Teng, Recessional 

Poetry Slam

Yesterday my school had their first "annual" (I use quotations because I think it will be the last of its kind) poetry slam. Being a somewhat enthusiast, if sporadic, poet, I decided to sign up, even though I despise being on stage. But I figured, "Hey, I'm a good writer. Maybe I'll have a chance of winning this thing." Unfortunately, all the "judges" were random people in the audience, and about 75% of them were seniors...and friends of the seniors who were performing. Being a lowly junior, I didn't even make it into the second round. Only seniors did. Oh, well - I got some darn good poetry out of the thing. 


We had to write three poems: the only guidlines were no lewdness or language. I'm posting one here on the blog for the funzies, but you can view the other two on my DeviantART account, here and here. 


This one is titled "Bird Bones" - yes I have a fascination with skeletons. Enjoy. It's a little long. 

Upon the ground against the sand
I saw it: the skeleton of a bird long dead. 
Sightlessly staring at the sky. 
The cage of its ribs gleaming white,
its keeled breastbone, strung 
in perfect harmony
against those outstretched bones of wings,
scrubbed clean by constant rivertide
‘till flesh is but a memory,
yet still contains the yearning, 
the aching memory of flight.

I stopped to look at those old bones
huddled on the river’s edge,
like fledglings too afraid to fly. 
Within, I saw their hollow chambers,
cathedrals in a dust-bound world.
Sacred geometry, delicately forged, 
gossamer webbing against the dark.

The bones began to speak to mine;
whispers, just the barest voice.
Let me tell you, so they whispered,
let me tell you of the story
when my old kind first took the leap,
and crossed the gap from ground to sky.
Let me tell you of my story,
when these old bones once dreamt to fly:

Shallow seas act as a womb; 
a cradle; the stirrings of life contained
in its evanescent hold. 
Armored ancestors tread the sand
as seas conjoin and landscapes shift;
to suit the ever-present wish,
the need to overtake the skies.
How bones and carapaces are the ballast
a constant temperance to their flight.  
And even now, as time has passed
and as the old ones have turned to dust,
the dream to fly is still kept beating
a dream forever realized. 

The bird’s old skeleton lay untouched
save my careful observations.
I blinked, and saw them as they were: 
simple bones they are no longer,
instead, the path to something more,
something old and uncontained:
the children of a careful plan,
evolution at its best
designing this uncanny blueprint
to celebrate the joy of life.
That croon their secret words to mine,
their story of the urge to fly,
and simple ballast, the reminder,
that we can always find the ground.

Book Review: Legacy, by Cayla Kluver

I think that spring has truly and finally arrived upon my little island. The sun has finally broken free of the fog that entraps my mountain, and the day's been entirely blue and clear. In the bright light, all the tropical foliage looks pristine, almost like a picture. I took my two dogs, Daisy and Happy, out on a walk this morning at about seven down a trail near my house, and it was gorgeous. It leads down, past a valley full of growing vegetables, and down more steps to a beautiful waterfall. If you go another way, you can head onto this other trail that I love, as seen to the left. It follows a 1940's waterpipe around the mountain and leads to a beautiful river that you can cross by foot. I'm so glad I live on this mountain. 

A few more things before the book review: 

1. My new friend, Kaiyuh, has written and self-published her book, Shinken. At first I was admittedly wary of the premise of her self-publishing, but after learning more I've become rather impressed, instead. I'm ordering the book off of Amazon (you can as well!)and I'll soon be reviewing it on here, with the additional chance of an interview with Kaiyuh. 

2. Schools' getting to that point where teachers realize how much crap they have to stuff into our heads, which means many projects, papers, and homework. Which means less blogging time for me. D: 

3. Saw How To Train Your Dragon. Loved it. Love the music. Want to own it. So should you. 

Without further exposition, here's my new bi-monthly book review. Today I'm looking at a medieval romantic fantasy by the name of Legacy, by teen writer Cayla Kluver. I'm not usually interested in anything medieval nor romantic, being more of a gritty steampunk-esque (think China Mievelle here, you guys) kind of girl, but I'm always interested in seeing what people my age are turning out, so I've looked into it.  

Legacy, the first in a planned trilogy, was originally self-published by Cayla and her family, and was later picked up by Amazon's new publishing industry (yes, Amazon's become a publisher now), called Amazon Encore. I read it on the school library Kindle. 

First off: I'm rather opposed to teen publishing. Yes, yes, I know it sounds a bit stupid, seeing as I'm a teenager myself, but I honestly think that most teenagers don't have the skills to be properly published. But ever since Christopher Paolini opened the door, there seems to be a growing number of teens getting published. And most of them, while definitely showing talent, need to improve a lot before they have the skills to be real writer. It's not their fault - they're young, and there's a certain amount of experience that's needed to be gained before I think they can produce worthwhile stuff. Anyways, on to the review. 


Plot 
Though Legacy is sold as a fantastical romance, there's very little of the fantasy element added in, at least until the very end of the story. We begin with a suspiciously specific prologue, detailing the story of two countries with names that are totally not innuendos, Hytanica and Cokyri. Apparently thirty-or-so babies were stolen from Hytanica sixteen years ago, and only one of them wasn't found dead. There's also mention of a Blood Moon. 

The main story, however, is told through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Alera, who is one of the two princesses of Hytanica. She's being forced to (what a surprise) marry someone she doesn't love, and this person is the son of the Captain of the Guard, Steldor. Meanwhile, a hot new love interest crops up from the Hytanican enemy: Cokyri. *snort*  as a prisoner, dragging along the plot. The story revolves around Alera and her struggle to make a choice: marry the man who was brought up to be a king (Steldor) or sacrifice everything and go with Narian, the Cokyrian boy. There's also something about an ancient blood feud.

Like I said before, the romance factor wasn't what brought me in, and I was pretty disappointed to see that there wasn't much of a fantasy element in the story. To the book's credit, though, I kind of got into the whole "Alera having to choose" factor, mostly because both Steldor and Narian were jerks in their own right. However, it was too bloated; there were too many wandering chapters that didn't really lead anywhere, which made the book hard to get through at times. For a character-driven novel, this can be a problem, but experienced authors know how to deal with it. Unfortunately, Legacy doesn't do that. 

Plot: 5.5/10

Characters & World
Like most other medieval fantasy books, Alera, the protagonist, tried hard to be the spunky, rebellious princess that we know so well. At first this deterred me, because the "rebelliousness" read more like "annoyingness", but I grew to like her a little more, mainly for one reason: she made mistakes. Big ones. It shows a lot of potential for character growth in later books, and since this is a trilogy, I'm willing to let her go. The rest of the characters ranged from nicely written to plain annoying (I liked London, Alera's bodyguard, but Tadark, her other bodyguard, grew grating after a few chapters of complaints.) As for the two love interests, Narian and Steldor...well, both seemed kind of like douchebags in their own right. Steldor was the stereotypical aggravating, pompous man-boy, and Narian was just kind of insolent. If I had to choose, I would say I liked Steldor better, actually. In general, the characters here weren't great, but most of them weren't too terrible, either. 

 As for the world...well, if you're a history buff, don't get your hopes up. Cayla tries to create a fantasy world, complete with names like Emotanya (it's a country full of sad people, I presume), etc. But there's a lot of inconsistency. The character names vary from your standard fantasy names (Alera, Miranna, Steldor) to the pseudo-Asian (Sadhienne, etc.) to just...weird. (London?) Even though it's supposed to be a fantasy world, there's mention of Christianity (both God and Christmas are referred to) as well as Latin. Alchemy is used as a substitute for all things science, and the economy/worldbuilding is nonexistent.  In short, Hytanica is a very shallow world, a backdrop for the characters and nothing more. 

Characters: 6.5/10
World: 3.5/10 

Writing Style 
This is where the ball drops, people.  Cayla Kluver, as reviewed by Amazon, is thought to be "marked by witty, rapid-fire dialogue and dramatic complexity that belie the writer's age," This must be for a different book, because I found no such thing. Much of the story is bogged down by unnecessary descriptions, adjective-loaded sentences (e.g. "He stroked my long brown smooth hair.") and "look-at-me-I'm-a-writer" words. Cliches are abound ("raven hair" and "startling blue eyes" are only the beginning) and the rest of it was so boring I wanted to skip. Many of the descriptions were out of place for a fantasy novel (calling one dress "fun and flirty".) As for the dialogue...well, it would have been good if the author had made up her mind. Everyone kept switching back from Ye Olde Medieval speech to stuff you would hear in a shopping mall. It was jarring, to say the least. 

The biggest sin, however, is Cayla's tendency to tell versus show. She obviously knows the difference between the two, but for some reason would use both in the same sentence. (Narian looked surpised, mostly because I knew that he knew that something was wrong...). It was unnecessary and redundant all at once, and made for an annoying read.  if you're a critical reader or writer, it will make you want to scream at times. 

Writing: 3/10

In short, if you want an easy, if verbose, romance, this is the book for you. It's not bad, and in several parts it's quite good, but the inconsistency makes it hard to keep up the suspension of disbelief. Like I said before, if you're a critical reader or a history buff, this isn't the book for you. As critical as I've been, however, I will say that I enjoyed it, despite all the errors. With some practice and a little more research, I think Cayla Kluver can turn into a great writer. As for now...well, this is a darn good first draft. 

Total Score: 4.6/10   

Cheers,
-Ari 

My Works: Current Writing

If you ask me what I am, my first answer will probably be "I'm a writer." Okay, I get it, that doesn't really make me special. Lots of people like to write. Lots of teenagers like to write. Yeah, well, me too. The cool thing is to see how much my life as an expat has influenced my writing. If I lived in America my entire life, I probably wouldn't have a fantasy story taking place in the ruins of Shanghai with a Han Chinese girl as my protagonist, or an Arabian faerie-tale that takes place in Marrakesh. So yeah. Here's a rundown of my main projects, from biggest to smallest:


Spark 
A five-part book series that I've been conceiving, writing, and creating for several years. I recently finished the first book, Spark, and I'm now working on the sequel (steampunk!) called Ironsong. This is my main project that I've been working on for about four years, and I love it. Snippets of excerpts and more information are available on my main blog. 


Chiaroscuro
A single-standing novel about a boy with PTSD and depression who sees a monster whenever he looks in the mirror, and can't stop killing people. 


The Night Dance
The story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, rewritten from another point of view. Ora is a serving girl in King Pierus' castle, and is chosen to follow his nine daughters when they travel each night to another world. 

England + Spring

Spring has alighted over Taiwan; a few months later than I'd prefer it to, but I'll take what I can get. Up here in the mountains, a mist has settled over everything, just like before, but there's notable changes - the birds are starting to herald me in the morning. There's one bird in particular that's endemic only to Taiwan, called the Formosan Blue Magpie (Urocissa caerulea) It's one of the most beautiful birds I've seen, and I had the pleasure of seeing one on a hike a few weeks ago. They're called the blue-tailed faeries of the forest over here, and you can see why: 

 They're really quite lovely, aren't they? 

Now, onto the reasons I haven't posted in two months: 



- Going on a weeklong trip to London and Stratsford-upon-Avon with my theatre buddies
- Preparing for college stuff, IB exams, and getting up to par on my homework
- Revising and editing Spark.

First off: England. I got back about a week ago, and I'm still in awe from it. I've been to England and Scotland before on a family trip, but this time it was just me, my friends, and a very cool brownie-baking theatre teacher. I can still taste it. We saw a pack of musicals and plays, including Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Sister Act, The 39 Steps, Romeo and Juliet, and more. Not to mention the shopping. It's always a strange feeling, going somewhere that uses English as its predominant language. A foreign country. Living overseas turns everything around, I suppose. 

Now I'm back in Taiwan, rooted in my own geography. School's been going for a week, and I've found myself trapped beneath a mountain of makeup homework, projects, exams, and college prep. Writing is the only way I can breathe, and I've been hard-pressed to find any time to do that. Three or so weeks ago I sent in the first five chapters of Spark in to an international writing contest after some encouragement from the local writing teacher. It's a pretty big contest; about 500 novels are entered each year, and only one gets to the top, where there's the chance of publication. I should be notified of whether I've gotten into the first submission process soon. 

Spark: 116,000 words, currently editing

-Ari 

Long time, no see (literally)

If anyone's been reading this (and, judging from some comments, a few people have - thanks) my apologies for the long lapse between updates. I've been pretty busy, but that's not a very good excuse...anyways, not much has happened that would be interesting enough to blog about. In short: 

- Semester exams have come and gone
- Christmas (and my birthday) has also passed - I'm seventeen now. 
- Been pretty sick. Got better. 
- I've found that the weather in Taiwan can get pretty interesting. 
- Taiwanese parties are probably the strangest things I've ever witnessed, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. 
- I freaking love Chinese New Year. 

As for the joke in the title - it's been "no see" because up where I live on Yangminshan it's so foggy I can barely see outside my window. It's kind of cool, actually. If I can get a good picture, I'll post it. Meanwhile, I have to look for some better jokes. 

Now, to answer a question I saw in the comments - why am I trying so hard on a blog that pretty much nobody reads? 

1. For myself. It's a fun way to keep tabs on my life as an expat, and it'll help me remember details I would otherwise forget. 
2. It's fun writing practice, and God knows I love to write. 
3. Could be a helpful tool for someone moving to Taiwan. 
4. Why not? 

That's all the answers I can come up with for now. Onwards. 

As I mentioned above, I've found that Taiwanese parties are...strange. Haven't been to one myself, but last night my dad had to go to an "end-of-year party" for another company. It included (and I'm being completely serious here): 

- KTV (karaoke) - sung by grown men, no less. 
- A woman testing to see how sober a man was (and subsequently how fit he was to drive her home) by running towards him and jumping - he had to catch her with his thighs. Yeah. 
- Dried jellyfish skin, an apparent delicacy. 

I'll just say that Asian parties in general usually have something like that going on. They sure know how to have fun. It's going to get better this week and the next, since Chinese New Year is right around the corner. If you don't know what that is, it's basically the Asian equivalent of Christmas, Fourth of July and New Year's Eve all rolled together. The older Chinese calender proclaims that the new year actually starts in February, instead of January, and that every year has a different animal horoscope. This year it's the tiger. Oh yeah. In short, there's a lot of red-gold decorations, money-giving, and fireworks. It. Is. Awesome. 

One last thing - I just saw (seriously, I'm looking at it as I type) one of Taiwan's endemic species of birds. I looked it up; it's called a White-eared Sibia (Heterophasia auricularis) and Wkipedia says it lives in temperate forests...like the one surrounding my house.

There were two of them. They're kind of cute, huh? Anyways, that's all I have to say for now. Stay tuned for next week - it's Chinese New Year, and I'm heading over to Shiiin Night Market. Hilarity should ensue. 

Story Wordcount: 122,000 (currently editing) 
Music: A Very Potter Musical Soundtrack 

 

 

Guess what? Taiwan doesn't like China.

Hello there, my amazing nonexistent readers. How are you today? Well? I hope so. Moving on.


You know what Taiwan loves? No, not manga or anime, though they like it. Not cute stuffed animals. Not food, even though they realy like that as well. Nope. What Taiwan loves is paperwork. Or, to be precise, what Taiwanese government officials love is paperwork. Superfluous, redundant paperwork. Seriously, it get to the point where you should carry your passport and visa everywhere, because odds are somebody's going to want to see it. Just last week I wanted to take a look at the Taipei Public Libary, just to see if they had anything in English, but to simply get it you have to be older than nineteen and have some form of ID. Not even to get a library card. Just to look.


Moving on again. A key difference (one of them) between Taiwan and China is that Taiwan's been rabies free for a good couple of generations. China is not. Actually, rabies still runs rampant in China, even in Shanghai, where I used to live. I should know, since I got bit by a monkey at a zoo there and had to get a series of rabies shots, and, later, my thumbnail removed. The thumb's perfectly fine, but my pride will be forever wounded. Long story short, China has rabies, and since Taiwan's the equivalent of China's whiny college student who wants to get out of his mother's house, they love making trouble for anyone coming out of China. Not that I blame them, but sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a fight between two petty children. China won't realize that Taiwan's never going to become part of it, and Taiwan just won't get over the fact that China has a large store of missiles...pointed right at them....and they're not far away....right, someone tell me what I was talking about, again? The sudden fear that China's going to nuke Taiwan into nothing has paralyzed my mind.

Oh. Right. The dogs.


Which has meant that my poor dogs, Daisy and Happy, have been in the USA for sixth months so we could get them here. (The dog to the left is Happy.)


For the last two weeks they've been back, but in quarantine, just to make sure they don't have rabies. Even though we've gotten them rabies vaccinations since they were born and numerous blood tests show they're clean, they can't come home for another eleven days. Thankfully we got to visit them in the quarantine area in a city called Taichung (has a nice diner) today.


The poor guys have been stuck in a cage for the last two weeks, in this dirty hellhole they call a facility. Let's just say that Asia's standards of cleanliness differ greatly from that of the West. The sad thing was that I wasn't even surprised. I shouldn't judge, because it's not like they have the money to make it much better, and the employees were great (mathematically speaking, about 98% of the Taiwanese are extremely friendly. They have the highest percentage of friendliness in the world) but my dogs have already been through a lot. I'm surprised they don't hate us for dragging them through all the airports and planes, but they were happier than ever to see us. I love dogs. 


Right. Enough semi-ranting for now. I'm tired, and the hour is late. Tomorrow I'm going sightseeing. We'll see how that turns out, yeah? 


Story Word Count: 116,000 words and going strong. Seems that the closer exams get, the more I'd rather write. 


Thanks for reading,
-Ari

Winds of Change

Hello there again, nonexistent readers of my unknown blog. How lovely to see you all again.

This weekend I haven't done much, thanks to getting about a pint of blood drawn for testing and resulting in me becoming extremely giddy (dui, for some strange reason I get into a drunken-like state after losing blood) and then having to lie down for awhile. But I did manage to get some sightseeing in, and am I amazed. The hospital I went to is near the area where a lot of old government buildings, and all of a sudden my and my mom stumbled upon the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.

And wow, is it amazing.

For those of you who don't know, Chiang Kai Shek was one of the men who helped build Taiwan and made it independent from China. (Note: Never assume that Taiwan is part of China. It's not, and the Taiwanese would like to be very clear about that.) There's mixed feelings about him on the island, but they still built a huge memorial for the guy, and it's beautiful.

The gateway actually reminds me of a place from my story. The picture to the left is the actual memorial (thanks, Wikipedia!) and even though it doesn't quite capture how big and grand the building is, it's a good shot. Within is a big statue of Kai Shek sitting on a chair - yes, similar to the Lincoln Memorial, except this has Asian style. :)

So I saw that, and also some other beautiful buildings in the area. Personally, I think it's the best looking part of Taiwan, save Yangmingshan, of
course.

On other notes, the weather here is definitely taking a turn for the...different. Apparently Taiwanese winters are foggy. Really foggy. And rainy. Basically, very damp. I'm not sure if it will snow or not, but since I live on a mountain, I'll probably be the first to know. Today we celebrated Thanksgiving at my church, and we get two days off from school this week.

Writing-wise, my story's going pretty well. I'm writing the end, and it's quite exciting. It's not an action-packed ending, but it's really emotional, and definitely bittersweet. I don't like happy-happy endings. For me (and in my writing) everything comes with a price, and this time the price is big. NaNoWriMo's starting to wind down, so my heart goes out to all the novelists scrambling to get in their 50k quota.

Also, time for some book recommendations! The library at my new school is much better than the one at my old school, so I've been checking out books like a mad woman. Right now I'm in the middle of Cybele's Secret, a book by Juliet Mariller. It's the second in the Wildwood series, but it's not so much a sequel as a a loosely-related book in the same universe, through a different character's eyes. If you like historical fantasy and rich Ottoman Empire-inspired cities, then this is for you. Of course, I recommend reading the first book, Wildwood Dancing, first. It's vaguely based off the fairytale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and it has the same magical feeling in it. The cover art is just as beautiful.

I think that's all for now. I'm really having fun with this blog, and I'm going to keep adding on more to it. Enjoy.

Sarn Progress: 111,000 words and going strong.

Cheers,
Ari

My Life's a....Soap Opera?

Apparently so. It's been a long time since I've updated this thing (approx. two months) and a combination of guilt and boredom propelled me to post on it again. It probably doesn't matter much, since nobody reads this thing, but I think it will be good to keep tabs on my life once in awhile.

So. One of the main reasons I've been so lax in writing lately is because I've been sick. Got surgery when I was ten and I guess it wasn't ready to kick the bucket yet, because I'm still having some complications related to it...or something. It's been two months of testing and we're still not sure what's wrong with me. Something to do with my immune system and my endocrine system. All I know is that I'm getting sick of being sick.

But enough about me. Despite being housebound 75% of the time, I've managed to see a bit more of beautiful Taiwan. It's getting chilly here, which I didn't expect - winter clothes are coming on. It seems like time's moving pretty fast; next week we have our Thanksgiving break, and after that Christmas is just around the corner. And this month is November, which means...

NaNoWriMo. Possibly the most insane fun things ever invented in the history of writing. I'm far behind blogging about it, since November is more than halfway over, but better late then never. I'm not in NaNoWriMo this year - working on last year's draft suits me fine - but a load of my friends are, and I wish them luck. May rushed prose abound wherever you type, you guys.

Sarn Status: 107k, writing the ending. Hope to be done and editing by Christmas.

My Dream...and My Nightmare

So we had a four-day weekend this week, which was really nice. Unfortunately I spent most of my time studying - I've been in Asia way too long, man - but I did have some time to go out and explore Taiwan some more. I went to the Taipei Zoo, and a market known as Ximending, and they are both very well-known places, especially for tourists. I usually prefer to take the road less traveled and all that, but this was pretty cool, I have to admit.

Right. I'm not trying to give Asia a bad name, but I have to say that zoos here are usually...held up to a lesser standard than in Western society. Sometimes it can't be helped - on the whole, Asia doesn't have as good a quality standard of living as America and co. does, so they don't have as much money to make the zoos all awesome. But the Taipei Zoo is very, very cool. It's kind of far out - we had to take the MRT for almost an hour - but it's worth it. There's an aviary - my favorite part - a section about the animals endemic to Taiwan, a nocturnal house, an African section a Rainforest section...I could go on and on. I took a lot of pictures; they're not posted on here, but you can go to my DeviantART gallery to see some (I love photography.) We spent the whole day there, walking around in the humid Taipei heat, having a ball. The crowning jewels, of course, were the pandas, recently imported from China. There was a parade in their honor; yeah, people are that excited about them. But seeing how Taiwan and China are constantly on edge, it makes sense.

The day after, my sister and I went to Ximending, a sort of market, but not the kind I'm used to. No idea what the word means in Mandarin, but I'm guessing it's something like "the anime/manga lover's paradise." Because that's what it is.

And let me say that I really dislike anime and manga. My sister loves it, so she was totally enthralled by the market, and I was mildly amused and somehow horrified at the same time.

First off: the people. I have never seen people like this before. Little girls with hair dyed so much it was kind of orange, with one-inch nails adorned with lots of glitter, waaaay too much makeup, mini-skirts and high heels? And then me: no makeup, jeans and a t-shirt, no jewelry. I almost died laughing - after I managed to rip my eyes away. And the guys were just as bad, if not worse. Skinny jeans and hair that looked better than mine, and so many piercings I wasn't sure where to begin counting. They're living anime characters, or so they want to be.

Second: The stores. Oh, the stores. I have never seen so many cosplay costume stores in my life. Maid outfits, schoolgirl outfits, whatever - it was there. Then there were these cafes where the waitresses were dressed up in lolita (some kind of anime style) dresses and spoke in whispery little voices. Yeah, to me. I've had nightmares like this. I wish I had taken pictures, but I forgot my camera at home.

Taiwan is definitely different from Shanghai.

Tune in next time to see where I go next, hmm?
-Ari

Exploring

So today after school I decided to go exploring around my neighborhood a bit. Like I said before, I live on a mountain known as Yang Ming Shan, so the roads aren't really very flat. More like steep hills and winding little pathways everywhere. No two houses are at exactly the same height. And it's really quite interesting, because everywhere the jungle is trying to creep back into where we've cut into the face of the mountain. No wall doesn't have budding vines and ferns creeping on it, and all the trees become tiny little worlds all their own. Even with all the tiled houses (some of which are more like palaces) it's obvious that this is a wild place.

And it's actually kind of sad. See, all the houses here are completely walled in, so that everyone is protected - or trapped - from the world outside. Not like in America at all. I don't even see our neighbors. And that raises a question. Why are we even living on this gorgeous mountain if we're trying so hard to keep it away?

Just something to ponder. Let's see what else I can find out.

Books and Taiwan

Hey there, everyone. Instead of talking about books, I figured I'd talk about something less common: my life in Taiwan as far. For the record, I'm American, and so white I glow in the dark, so I kind of stand out in Asia. But I've been living here for eight years and counting, and Taiwan is the eighth place in a long list of areas I've lived.

So far, it seems pretty awesome. The people are nice, the food seems pretty good (milk tea!) and my school is good, albeit hard. In my opinion, Taiwan is a mix of China, Thailand, and Korea. The people speak like Chinese (mostly), but they don't act much like them in some areas. They drive kind of crazy, like Koreans (no offense, you guys; I loved living in Korea) and the markets and stray dogs remind me of Bangkok. Somehow it manages to blend together in this place I now call my home.

And, for the first time since I was eight, I'm living in a house. A real house, with a yard. And a pool. Not to say I'm biased or anything. The only downside is that my dogs are in America at the moment, because customs are being kind of picky. We have to wait until Christmas.

Now, the one thing that I have to say about Taiwan is: God, it is freaking gorgeous here. I live on a mountain called Yang Ming Shan (Shan means mountain, but I'm not sure what the other two words are yet), and it's about twenty minutes from the downtown area where my school is. Okay. Remember how I said Taiwan is kind of like Thailand? Scratch that. It's more like Malaysia, or Indonesia, or some beautiful, tropical place that is simply brimming with life. No one told me I was going to live in a rainforest. Well, I am, and it's awesome. There are birds galore, monkeys, tropical bats, mice deer and way too many insects for my liking, but what the heck. Yesterday my family and I went on this flat hiking trail not far from our house, and I swear it's like you stepped back in time, way back to the Jurassic. I'm talking giant ferns, big leaves and vines hanging everywhere, mossy outcrops and little streams flowing around. Gorgeous. Breath-takingly so.

Not to mention the fact that I appear to be living on some sort of volcano-like structure. Forget shan. My house is on Yang Ming Freaking Volcano. There are geysers and natural springs everywhere (and yes, sulfur really does smell horrible) and it looks like there should be dinosaurs, or someone from Lord of the Rings, roaming around. So far I've lived through two (minor) earthquakes and Typhoon Morakot.

I'm starting to think this is a sign. The first book in a fantasy series I'm writing takes place back in Shanghai, which is known as the Zhongshui in the future, about one thousand years from now. I was kind of disappointed when we moved because I wouldn't be living in the city of my story anymore.

I found out I moved somewhere even better. Taiwan is the exact place I imagined that Book Number Two (which I'm tentatively calling Bone Teller at the moment) looks like. Not kidding.

I'm really thinking it's a sign.

Over and out
-Ari

Story Chronicles

So far I've kept my promise to myself, and I'll be trying to update this every day. Today's topics for discussion: my story, my website, and young authors in general. Let's get this started:

For anyone who doesn't know already, I love writing, and as of this moment I'm working on a story that I'm calling Fantasy at Heart. It's, obviously, a fantasy story, and it takes place about a thousand years in the future, in the ruins of the city once known as Shanghai...the people who live there now are different, changed. Everything that makes us human was disappeared, and the survivors are barely more than animals. All the parts of us that we love have been forgotten.

But what if someone begins to remember?

That's all I'm going to say for now, because I'm paranoid, especially on the internet. Right now it's more than 91,000 words and counting, and I hope to finish it for November so I can write the sequel for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. If you want to learn more about me and my story, you can visit my website, which is listed in the link bit to the right. It's all about me and my travels around the world as a young writer.

Ah, young writers. It seems like a lot of them are popping up lately, from Caryn Kluver to Nancy Yi Fan to the infamous Gloria Tesch, and some are better than others. This has raised a question for me: why? Why do we young writers feel this innate need to get published as soon as we possibly can, no matter how good or bad or stories may be, how mature our prose is? I want to get published because I love writing and I know that I'm going to be writer, no matter what. If I get published now or in ten years....well, I know I'm going to be published. But it seems that ever since Christopher Paolini's parents self-published his book and it was subsequently picked up by Knopf, it's become the "in" thing to be a teen writer. Personally, I think most of us should wait. Teenage skills are constantly being improved (in most cases) and that if you get published now, you're going to look back in a year and see how bad your writing was in comparison to the present. So I think most kids should wait.

There are, however, some exceptions. There are some teens who are truly gifted and write stories beyond their years. Words are their plaything, and they bend them and use them in new ways, ways that have never been seen before. They're rare, but I've seen them. And they should go for it.

The question is, are you one of them?

That's all for now. Next topic: Books I love and books I hate.

Who I Am.

I seriously have no idea if anyone is going to read this, now or ever. After all, I am technically a nobody, just another person who want to make something in life. But perhaps someday, someone will read this. Even if they don't, that's fine. This is for myself. My name is Ari. I'm a teenage writer who is currently living in Asia, and I've been moving around the world since I was in third grade. I've lived in seven places in four countries (so far), and I've visited over twenty and counting. What I love most is writing. I discovered this pretty early on, and ever since no one has been able to stop me. My title work, Fantasy at Heart, is what all of this is based off of. Above all things I am a storyteller, living happily within my own fantasy at heart.

That's all for now.
-Ari