In my coffin, put-

Grass and wildflowers from the farm where my mom and her siblings grew up-

One of my dog’s baby teeth-

Fabric from my baby blanket, the dulled green one with Winnie the Pooh on it-

A bright red feather from a cardinal that ate from our bird feeder-

A scrap of paper from my first doodle-

The cover of my first sketchbook-

The first needle that I used to inject myself with insulin when I was diagnosed with diabetes-

One, not both, of the old Reds Baseball flipflops that I got my dad for Christmas one year as a joke because he hates, “those flimsy shower shoes”-

A lock of my hair from when I cut it completely off in third grade so I looked like my favorite news broadcaster-

A grape dum-dum lollipop, partly sucked on, then placed back in its wrapper-

Some, if not all, of the sweatshirts and jackets that I determinedly wore long into summer-

A whatchamacallit that I found under the dresser that I could definitely find an artsy use for, or maybe I just don’t have the heart to throw it out-

A piece of cloth from my first attempt at sewing a plush-

The Supergirl doll I stripped of her factory clothes, hair, and paint, redesigning her from scratch into a new character-

A yard sign-

A Harry Potter book from the original worn-to-shreds set my parents bought when the books first came out-

A political campaign sticker-

My first baseball cap from when I was a baby-

A tiny New Testament Bible with my name untidily scrawled into the front cover-

The pink radio that belonged to my cousin Robin before she and her father died in a house fire-

The 2ft tall Lego Ronald McDonald I inherited from Robin’s mother when she had a heart attack a few years after the fire-

And my toy pig, who’s losing one of his legs and has turned gray in old age, far from the pink tone he was when I was born and held him for the first time.

In the novel I am currently writing has two broad settings; The magical realm of Aspira and a small rural town. Considering I live in a small rural town, I’ve found myself pulling parts of my own life and applying it to my story. The main character, Lotus, visits a small pharmacy/grocery store and gets lunch after school each day. A small family owned pharmacy with a little soda fountain is a few blocks from my home, and a lot of students from my school visit. Lotus’ cousin Max is a young lawyer, to whom she brings lunch after school and does odd jobs for. My deceased grandfather, and now my own father, my aunt, and my cousin work at a family owned law business that my mother and I help work at as needed (such as odd jobs like cleaning and minor repairs). Lotus’ aunts, Valerie and Cynthia, own a little cafe where Val sells her art. I want to be a history teacher, but one of the careers I seriously considered was opening an art shop. I try my best to make them different from my real life so that it’s not like copying the settings and events, but I also feel like using the events as I’m familiar with them will help me write them more realistically.

For the independent novel I am to read in class, I have chosen All Quiet On The Western Front, the author being a WWI German Veteran, Erich Maria Remarque. By chance, my history class is discussing World War I and several weeks prior, I watched a synopsis/analysis of the book. The class discussion launched the book back into my mind, and I inquired of my dad if we had the book, though I was confident I could find it at the local library. Dad and I are both very interested in history, so he was very excited when I mentioned the book. We had a sizable conversation about the topic, which only increased my liking for the book. I have been informed that this book often brings on tears, not a hard thing to do in my case anyway, but I still expect this book to educate me on the horrors of war and the perspective of the soldiers in World War I and beyond.

For the past two years, I’ve been slowly developing a short story turned novella turned (hopefully) novel. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to actually write very much, but I think that has been advantageous in some ways because it has let me work on the story in ways that I might have skipped or not known about if I began writing right away.

I have the first chapter, the majority of the second chapter, and a few chapters within the story, as well as many small writings and drawings sifting through different ideas. I’ve always been fascinated by fantasy and magic books, resulting in this story’s creation and story-line.

The setting of the novel is split between two broad locations: a small rural-suburban town and another world, Aspira. I must admit, I’m not certain how to categorize Aspira. Alternate or Parallel Universe is too much of a Science Fiction-esque title, and while I love Sci-Fi, it doesn’t fit the Fantasy themes in the book. It is a realm of magic and legends, a number of kingdoms and peoples all precariously united beneath the Aspirian flag. I want the story to be a mix of Fantasy, with a pleasant touch of Slice-Of-Life. The main character of the story is a fourteen-year-old girl named Agatha Reed, but has been nicknamed Lotus Reed by her family and peers for her mysterious connections to nature (Aspira and its magic). I feel obligated to mention that she hails from our world rather than Aspira considering I’ve prattled on about universes and magic and such.

The story follows Lotus as she travels back and forth between her home town on Earth and the regions of Aspira. The story begins, showing her as almost an urban legend to some of the townsfolk. No one, other than her friend Matthew (whose last name is to be determined) and her family, really know who she is, and only Matthew knows of Aspira. Most of her family live several towns away, excluding her cousin Max (who she works for), whom no one recognizes as her relative. She just exists, she goes to school, has her job at her Max’s office, and disappears the rest of the time. These disappearances, of course, are her travels to Aspira. After the initial introduction to how she is characterized by the human world, we look into how Aspira sees her. If I’m quite honest, it is rather similar. She isn’t really known outside her friends, she sells things in the market and is known to go out exploring.

That is far from what I have planned, but it is all I have written out thus far. I have the characters developed and the storyline designed.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.