on the music scene

so this week i did a phone interview with Pat Brown from the up and coming band Sing It Loud. they're actually pretty good. and yes, i still have his number:)
they're touring with Cobra Starship-snakes on a plane anyone??

anyways, he was really cool and answered all my questions, so that's nice. SIL is playing next Tuesday somewhere in Phoenix, but obviously i can't go since it's a school night.. and it's ELECTION DAY!!

i got the assignment from azTEEN magazine but i'm going to reprint the story in my school paper too, so double coverage for the band.
i always feel weird talking to celebrities because i don't know how much they expect me to know about them or compliment them or just ask professional, cuz that's just boring...

i did relate to Pat about wanting to do something that others might not like or agree with and just following your own dreams. here's to my writings dreams amounting to the same luck he got:)

i'll have the interview up sometime this weekend. this makes celebrity interview numero cuatro.. not that i'm keeping count haha
in the meantime go listen to "Best Beating Heart" on their myspace: myspace.com/singitloud

from the keyboard of a published author

so it's pretty old news that i met and interviewed Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy :)
I saved that story and had it printed in not only my school paper, but azTEEN magazine and now Teen Ink.
You can read it at http://www.teenink.com/Interviews/article/49620/Fall-Out-Boy/
I did it for fun, but that interview ended up getting voted as the best interview and was placed on the front page of the interview section of the website
....and then they published it in the current issue of Teen Ink!

they mailed me a free copy, along with a sweet Teen Ink branded pen and then -what I found hilarious- a sticky note pad that said " from the desk of a published author."

my brother thought they were making fun of me, but i'd like to think it's a foreshadowing or a visual reminder of my dream.

one day novel, one day, you will see the light of day haha

until then i'm swamped with senior hw and trying to find time for finishing ambrosia, so i'll have more up soon as i have time to breathe.

breakthrough

so yesterday i finally got somewhere with my short story "ambrosia" and i was so excited so i'm posting what i have so far. i will probably hate it soon after, but i want to know what you think of it so far and how it makes you feel, predictions etc.

ambrosia

The sky was a hushed tone of purple blue and we owned it. The two of us, licking the frosting off our triple chocolate cupcakes, hair sprawled across the green lawn. Me, full of questions of the future, wanting to escape college applications and a dreary waitress job. Clair, full of unbelievable wonder, with nothing to escape from. I envied, her effortless, simple existence. So that night, I asked her.

"What's your secret?"

Her eyes glowed for a moment, like they only did for Clair and then she laughed.

" My secret? My secret for what? My beautiful garden?"

She stroked the shy petals of some ravishing flowers that encircled us.

" I just get good help. You know I'm a hopeless gardener." She smacked her lips.

" No, Clair. That's not what I'm talking about," I said, sitting up.

" I mean you. The secret to you. You have so much energy, always going out and planning things... cupcakes under the stars...like you have nothing going on. But you're alone. I know it."

Clair tossed her amber hair over shoulder like a lion's mane.

" What do you want, Andrea? Are you trying to ruin a Friday night?"

I looked down.

"I just want to know why this house is always empty."

She leaned forward.

" This house has been empty for fifty years and always will be," she whispered. " I like it that way."

The cupcake in my mouth suddenly tasted like dirt.

writing for money=impossible

so i'm trying to get this scholarship called the Flinn Scholarship that gives you an unbelievable $50,000 for college and into this exclusive group of Arizona students that gets special trips abroad, conferences and seminars with important people and the keys to a successful future... or at least that's what their brochures say. see look at them, they're all happy and successful.

all the students that were Flinn scholars are major involved in their school and do science fairs, play sports, are in the orchestra and are valedictorian or salutatorian in their class. and then there's me...

Applying for this Flinn scholarship will definitely make me feel less lame about not getting to apply anywhere out of state and still have that sense of accomplishment for being recognized. I'm looking forward to college because it seems like that's where you actually get to do your part in the world and start building your life.

Plus, it's free money.

filling out all the regular boring application stuff is easy like your grades, clubs, blah blah. but then of course they had to test your writing.

there are 3 essays you have to submit and they're all 500 words or less. the Flinn lady who came in said they spend time trying to come up with interesting, unique topics for us to write and for them to read and this is what came out of that:

1. Who are you? Tell us something not apparent in your application about your career goals, life experiences or an obstacle overcome. Use this response to differentiate yourself from the hundreds applying for this scholarship award.

-I basically want to write about being Eritrean and Muslim growing up in America and how that's shaped my perspective and what I want to do. It's all really messy right now , because I don't want it to be a pity, outsider story because that wouldn't be true. I'm lucky that I had a lot of friends in school and I wasn't isolated or anything. But I did feel pressure to be with the majority and experienced moments when I had to stand up for myself, so I want to talk about that in an intelligent way...

2. Eight objects reside in a box. Choose five of them and write a story. Story begins: It was a Wednesday morning and had rained all of Tuesday." Objects: baseball bat, empty Starbucks cup, detour sign, two wax bananas, a guitar, a copy of Einstein's Relativity:The Special and General Theory, skateboard, six toy soldiers.

- Yeah, I know, what? This one is really hard. I don't even know where to start. Should it be funny or serious? Which objects should I use? Help?

3. What is your view on genetic testing? Defend your choice. ( there was more to this one, but i'm too lazy to write it all out)

- this was really easy, i already wrote it up and uploaded it. Got help from Mom since she knows about that stuff and from Dad because he knows how to argue:)

I'm feel very anxious about these essays because they are my only opportunity to show my voice and make me not another application the board has to go through. They say not to try and impress them and just be yourself, but what if that's not enough? I think I'd do better in the interview. I'm more of a face to face person. You don't have to worry about hooking the audience with your opening sentence or sentence structure or transitions then.

so any advice on essay #2 or writing essays for scholarships in general, i'll take it :)

Joining the Blogging World

so this is my first post on my first blog.
i'm trying to think of something incredibly profound or witty to say, because first impressions are everything, right?

well, i'll start of by saying that this blog is a place to read about the lonely, painful, crazy, amazing art of writing and how i manage to have time for school, family, friends and life in general. to be honest, most of the things teenagers start never end up getting finished. seriously, i'm guilty of it. but i'm hoping that by keeping a daily or weekly account of what i'm doing, my pile of "to-do" stories will eventually end up on "sent to publisher or contest" stories.

So here's what I have as of now:
- Short story called "ambrosia" for Seventeen Fiction Contest due in December
- Untitled Middle grade novel that I started 2 years ago... sigh...
- Untitled Picture book idea

it'll be an interesting ride where you'll probably read some rants or me asking for help on stories i'm working on or about how senior year is taking over or current events that get me thinking.

hopefully, i can inspire or atleast relate to anyone else who dreams of becoming a writer for a living or atleast entertain those of you don't.
that's all for now :)