My Really Big News

I've written something new. For a ridiculously cute story, read everything. If you just want the big news, skip to the end. Oh, and italics from here on out are Codename:SAM's contributions.

Once upon a time, a girl of about thirteen was hired to tutor and clean for a family in her ward. Often times, the girl would find herself cleaning alongside the family's teenage son. They became friends. The two worked together for years, and eventually began meeting away from the home, going on adventures, getting into trouble, and generally just having fun. A few months before the girl turned sixteen, the young man presented her with his first gift:

a ctr ring the young woman had greatly desired

The young woman's sixteenth birthday rolled around, at which time the young man presented her with a dozen red roses, and asked her to be his girlfriend.

eww eww eww

Unbeknownst to him, the girl dried the roses and held onto them.

Unfortunately, the teenage romance didn't end well, and our heroine broke up with the young man.

Their relationship thereafter was in shambles. It went from silence and cold-shoulders to almost-a-romance, back and forth over the space of a year. Still, the young man bought her a gift for her seventeenth birthday. Knowing her love of writing and of things that whispered of eras past, he bought her a quill and ink pot. 

For the record, she wasn't expecting a gift that year. She still swore he was upset.

That's what she thinks.

Our young man left for two years to serve a mission, during which time the young woman missed (quite a lot) her friend of years ago. So she wrote him. Faithfully. For two long years. (Talk about dedication, right? Do any of you guys out there have a girl who will do that? Yeah, she's pretty awesome.) In return, he wrote back, and continued to send gifts on her birthday.

For her eighteenth, he sent her something straight from a missionary's heart:

For her nineteenth, he surprised her, and caused the girl to experience her first ever laugh-cry. (Success!)

He sent her a printed, bound copy of her first completed work of fiction. It looked like a book she would find in a bookstore (where it should be), and holds a place of honor on her shelf.

Eventually, the young man returned home, and the young woman apologized (for what??) and expressed her desire to be reunited with him. She surprised him by flying from Idaho for his homecoming (or rather, redefined surprise. She was talking to her roommates in Idaho one hour, and the next she was in my living room!). Once the young man rediscovered cellphones and skype, the couple remained in near-constant contact. The girl went home again for Thanksgiving, where this time, she asked him to be her boyfriend. Of course, he said 'yes'. 

For Christmas, our young man bought the young woman a beautiful and unique necklace (one of the girl's three eternal hunts, I'll have you know. That thing doesn't exist anywhere else in the world), and hand-crafted her a wooden box to keep it in.

Unfortunately, some four-legged creatures got to the box. (I swear I'll kill those dogs)

After Christmas, the couple traded places. He left for Idaho, while she stayed in Temecula. Still, they kept in constant contact. They talked. And talked. And talked. They made plans and secret schemes. He sent her flowers on Valentines Day.

 One specific weekend in February rolled around, and the young man flew to California. The couple met with her parents, got their approval and blessing, and then the magic began. 

First, she was blindfolded.  Then, she was driven in circles, and finally, led over treacherous fields and dirt paths. When the blindfold was taken off she was sitting...in the middle of the meadow, where the couple had spent many nights stargazing. The young man surprised the young woman with:

And then...

"Let's go get some dinner."

That's it? the girl thought. We talked to my parents, he dragged me out here for this big show and...rootbeer?

She shrugged and followed regardless. They gathered their things and walked over the next hill, where written in glowsticks was:

He then handed the girl a package, which contained:

And inside that:

A ring, on the chapter titled "The Unbreakable Vow"

Codename:SAM then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

 And I said yes.

Originally posted 2/17/12

Back In The Game

I've written! If you meander down goodreads way, you'll notice that there are new chapters available of both We Never Knew and Diary of an Agent's Sister: Year Two. With Codename:SAM away at school and nothing for me here at home, much of my time has been spent working and, well, writing. I've got a lot in store for your favorite characters. Check weekly, because I will be updating at least one story every week. Except maybe in two weeks. Because, well, Codename:SAM will be coming home for a bit. And that's just how it goes.

The End and the Beginning

I finished my third semester of College, passed the first part of my EMT exams, and got myself a boyfriend who's kind of sort of the best ever. How do I know?

Check it out:

This boyfriend isn't any random boy I picked up off the street. This is Codename: Sam, the one I've been so anxious to get back, the one who printed Diary of an Agent's Sister. His latest claim to fame? He found a seller that custom-made Sascha's dreamcatcher necklace for me. Isn't it incredible? Isn't he incredible? I am so blessed.

All of these incredible events, as well as the prodding of some dear friends, have prompted me to make an announcement:

I will be posting the first chapter of Diary of an Agent's Sister: Year Two on goodreads.com on Christmas day. (That's 12/25/11, just in case you don't observe it.) It will most likely be in the late afternoon or evening. Of course, this is assuming I can tear myself away from Sam long enough...no, I'll do it. My friends and fans have been so supportive over the past couple years, I owe everyone the only present I can really afford to give this year.

Have a Merry Christmas! And if your celebrate something else, I hope your holiday is incredible. Travel safely wherever you go, and have a great week!

Love always,

Jordy

Food For Thought

Hypoxia

Hey faithful readers. Missed me? I certainly missed you, that's for sure. So I'm all moved in to my apartment up here at BYU-Idaho (you know, the sister school of BYU, that one school with the football team and Jimmer? Yeah, that one). Anyway, I've been writing bits and pieces here and there for at least three different stories. Yes, Diary of an Agent's Sister: Year Two is still on a front burner, but so is the story of Liz.

Liz is a runner. Her parents are gone for the weekend, and what promised to be a nice, peaceful weekend turned into something from a nightmare. Two evil men have marked Liz as their prey, so she needs to do what she does best: run. She runs to the home of a coworker, Duke. Instead of finding Duke and his parents, she finds Duke, his parents, his sister, and his thirteen unofficial siblings, most of whom have criminal records and look just as scary as--if not scarier than--her predators. Her new adopted family has sworn to protect her, but now the question is, can Liz run fast enough?
Read the first three chapters of Fast Enough on goodreads here.

Meanwhile, I'm neck deep in my EMT class. There's certifications left and right, chapters to read every night, and stories upon stories from the instructors. I'm taking a full course load, and tomorrow I'll begin the job hunt. I have enough chapters of Fast Enough so that I can post one or two a week for a little while, at least.

Also--a huge point of excitement in my life--Codename: Sam, the boy who printed the bound copy of Diary (remember?) is coming home from his two-year mission in Virginia for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in twenty-five days!!! How exciting is that? I haven't been able to hear Sam's voice or see him in person in almost two full years, and finally I'll get to properly hug him in gratitude for the massive gift he gave me.

I hope you're all having a fantastic week, and that everything works out well for everyone in the week upcoming.

Love always,
Jordy

Teasers!

Back up to school this week. Maybe a regular posting schedule with it? We'll see. Until then, Year Two is officially being written by scene, not sequentially. Hence why I have not been uploading everything. Anyway, a few lines from stuff I've done lately, just for fun:

"I wear yummy lipgloss so I can taste it and look pretty, not so you can eat it all off!"
"Mmm, minty."

“She’s my partner, it’s just an alias.”
“Okay.”
“You…you don’t believe me.”
“What? Alex, of course I do.”
“You don’t. You still don’t trust me. After everything, you don’t trust me. What can I do to make you understand? I’m coming back. I love you, Sascha Dell. Why don’t you see that?”

Last, but not least:

“They’re dead. They shouldn’t be able to do this to me anymore. I was nothing more than a lab rat to them. One they only realized they couldn’t euthanize easily after I’d been created.”

Endless Summer...

...which will ironically be ending in less than two weeks.

I kind of took the summer off blogging, as evidenced by the long strain of post-less weeks. It's been more of the same stuff, really. My parent's house entered escrow this week, my job at the theater has been keeping me busy, and life has been continuing onward.

As far as writing goes, I have a new toy, and I absolutely love playing with it. It's a program called Scrivener. It's a word processor geared specifically towards authors, and is used by many of my favorites. It's doing a beautiful job of helping me format Diary of an Agent's Sister into a proper manuscript, and has helped so much in the creation of Diary II. Gosh, I really need a name for the poor book. Maybe I should just call it "Diary of an Agent's Sister: Year Two"

I suppose that could work.

I'm using a trial version of Scrivener right now, which is the same as the paid-for version, but I only get 30 days out of it. I'm pretty sure it'll be worth the $45 when my trial is up.
Anyway, here's a couple screenshots off Scrivener, so you can get the idea of what I'm working with.

[click the pictures to make 'em bigger, and get peeks of what I'm working on]

News about my hands, in case you were wondering:
I went to see another doctor here at home, one who specializes in sports medicine. Because we all know how writing and music are full-contact sports. Anyway, it boils down to a whole boatload of nerve damage, muscle inflammation, and other shiz that really isn't fun. My hands were put on bedrest for two weeks, during which time I did my best to do nothing with them. No writing, no music, no sign language, nothing. I learned to sit with my hands very still, which is a new talent for me.

I hope everyone is having an excellent summer, and wish you all the best!
-Jordy