Character Development!

So as mentioned in the little description at the top, there should be some character development going on on this blog! For a while I've known about the Character Development Meme on Tumblr and it's a really great way to get into all the details you'd like about one of your characters. It's one of the greatest things ever, so if you have a character you'd like to develop more, check that out HERE.

I will be following this meme but instead of posting every day, it'll be every week or so. Each character I do this meme for will have their own page where I will update their information according to said meme. The first character I will be doing this for will be Miss Lizzie Allore the main character of Found! Whenever there is an update on her page, I will post a little announcement and also links to the page.

So I hope you all will enjoy learning a little more about the lovely people in Arrows! I apologize if updates are slow, but they will come. Some information may also be held off if they contain spoilers I'd rather not reveal yet. Aside from that, I'll focus on giving you as much as I can! I'm very excited to be starting this and I hope you get a chance to follow along.

Buy the book HERE.
Listen to the songs HERE.

Who's you favorite supporting character in Found? (New Poll!)

Hey there everyone! So who's your favorite support character?

Marina, the shy and slightly meddlesome friend.

Duncan, the quiet and caring friend.

Or Tia, the popular and loyal friend.

Each of them have their part in Lizzie's story so far, so which of them is your favorite? Who do you think helped Lizzie the most as she found herself? They all are very special to her, but who is closest to you?

Go vote on the newest poll to the left! It'll be up for the next week~

Buy the book HERE!

Listen to the songs HERE!

The Town of Arrows

Hello there lovely readers!

Today I will start with talking about the little town where it all happens! Arrows was a town that I always had since I was younger. It was always small and there was never an exact location in America to put it. I've always left that up to the reader! When I was younger, there were things like a diner, a large barn and less high-end housing. I believe that the town may have evolved through the years like many towns do! The large barn is no more, and at the top of the town, there are many amazing houses. The diner may still be there, though!

As mentioned in Found, Lizzie says the town has a quaint, vintage feel to it. This is all very true! The sidewalks are nicely paved and lined with small trees and some flower beds. Buildings are mostly made of old stone, or wood that have been there for years. Some of the buildings are newer, so there are some modern ones, but the old style architecture still shines through. Near the end of the road in town, there is a food court area. Around this area are various restaurants which surround the courtyard where people go to eat. The shops that line the street are other things like The Riff, Light Putt, and Pretenders (the costume store where Lizzie, Tia, and Jess go). At the other end of town, there are places like the skate park which is in the actual park, the ice rink, the pool, the care home, and the school areas.

Aside from the school Lizzie, Duncan, and Marina attend, there are two other public schools. But I'll get into that later. Where Lizzie lives is close to the school but in the cottage-like houses. These homes have more of a rustic and natural feel to them. Where Duncan lives is also close to the school but in the opposite direction of Lizzie's home. Duncan lives in the nice homes that come before the huge mansions like where Tia lives. Marina lives in the middle/lower class housing in one of the older houses. Those houses are just as good as the ones Lizzie lives in; just more affordable for Marina's family.

That's all I'll say about Arrows for now! There's much more to say, but I think saving it is best. I hope you have a lovely day and thank you for reading. If you'd like to help support me and the whole Arrows Gang, go like our Facebook Page! Your support means the world.

A New Chapter

No, not in the book, but in life! As of last week Friday, May 23rd, I am no longer a high school student. The bittersweet feeling will surely stick around for a while.

In updates to what else that's been happening, I just spoke at a Career Fair at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School! I was assigned a classroom to speak at for 45 minutes for three sessions. I was so nervous at first but after the first session, I began to get the hang of things. The students were really cooperative and a lot of them liked to write! As an activity, I had them work together and we created a character which they then had to write a short story about. Even with the short timeframe, what I got back was really amazing.

I really hope that these kids continue with writing because I'm sure it'll take many of them far in life. Even after the short time spent with them, I feel they were generally good kids who liked to write and come up with stories and plots and characters. Its nice to see that a love for writing is still alive and well! I hope that maybe I'll be able to go back next year to speak again! I would love that opportunity to see more kids who enjoy writing and to show them that anything is possible no matter how old you are.

Songs!

Hello again! Its been over a week since my last post, but today I have wonderful news indeed! A few nights ago my friend Janica and I went to a recording studio (thanks to Mike Odo) to better record the three songs in Found (buy it HERE) with great results! Although it took several hours, we managed to get them all recorded before one o'clock AM. I have uploaded them onto my SoundCloud account. You can find the link in the back of the book!

The first song is titled Duncan's Song. Its the first song in the story which Lizzie does not perform, but she does write in her composition book.

The second song is the trio's Christmas song titles Perfect Christmas, which they do sing in the story. Although we were not able to get piano in it, it still sounds great!

The third song is a song Janica and I collaborated on. Its kind of like my gift to you for reading the book all the way through. If you enjoyed the book, this song may give you a few "feels" as I'd like to say it. There are no lyrics for this written in the book, but Lizzie mentions it. Once you listen to it, I'm sure it'll be obvious as to what song it is. (It's seriously one of my favorites. Check it out!) On this track there are some harmonics played by Mike's friend Kasey.

So I hope you will check out these songs! We worked very hard on them so it'd be so great to have people listen to them and connect them to the moments in the book. Also, in no way do my friend and I resemble Lizzie's voice or Marina's voice perfectly. We have our moments but those girls take the cake. But! That doesn't take away from how proud I am about these recordings and these songs. Let me know how you like them!

More News After a Long Break

Hi there dear readers I hope you've been well. It's been a while since my last Wednesday post and I apologize for that. And now it's Thursday, so I'm even more sorry. But I come bearing great news! As of a few days ago, Found is available for purchase on Amazon! Just search up "Found Marley" and a link to order the book should pop up. Or- you can just click HERE for a direct link to the site. As of Tuesday, I received my 20 free copies to distribute as I see fit. I may give a few away to family and maybe friends, but I'll be focusing on the libraries first.

Am I excited, you ask? Why I'm absolutely ecstatic! When I got my authors proof on April 8th, I finally got to see the final product of my hard work. It was my book and it completely thrilled me. Everyone who happens to find out- whether I tell them or someone else does -is very proud of me and I love that. From what I've been told by people, I'll be getting an overwhelming amount of support from my peers as well as my teachers. The head of the English Dept. at the school has even asked me to do a book reading and of course I said I would. Hopefully I'll do my writing justice by reading it! I still need to pick out what parts to read, but that's news to save for another day.

Now that the book is out there I'll be posting a lot more on here! There are only 25 days left until graduation, so I'll have a lot more time after then to post. So hopefully when people start to read the book, they'll take some time to visit the blog! There will be polls up every month or maybe every week. Considering how many people actually visit and vote. But anyway, I hope that you check out my book and I'll be posting more news next week!

Love, Marley.

Books News?

Hello dear readers how are you all doing? I hope you are awaiting the release of Found! I know that I am. It's hard since the publishing company is all the way in the East coast. Living on an island in the middle of the ocean can be a bit hindering with time. I'll be emailing my mentor today to see if there are any updates with my book. Hopefully I'll be able to get my rough copy of the actual book and then give them the okay to make a few more copies for me.

Waiting can be a pain, can't it? I also made things a bit difficult for them with the amount of fonts I used in the book. It never occurred to me that they wouldn't have access to the fonts I used. A+ writing skills! The fonts were the only reasons editing the manuscript took so long. So if you're reading this and waiting for the book, I'm very sorry! Once I hear back from my mentor I will make sure to give you all an update! I'll also be posting reviews that a few students at my school did as well as my mentor's and my English teacher's.

I hope you are all having a nice week so far. Finals this week, so things are kind of hectic! But I hope wherever you may be, you're getting through the day as well as the week. Bye 'til next time~