The Steel Rose

 

Aspen is a five-foot-six rouge with a dodgy past; her best friend is a troll named Hannah, who she met the night she was an outcast from her pack.

What will happen to the pair of friends as they journey through life together?

https://www.wattpad.com/story/323354586?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create_story_details&wp_uname=PhoebeMCAuthor&wp_originator=qh71i2vYKe2cTS9XEuZQAybRKHzSQyeA0jEW9sy7Ra4CzrZ3%2BHArw2mtUzznOhMi3U%2FG6XVqwTAhN7RXJjF9C%2BcBLA%2BNzBf00KuK5G20E8joq2UaG5Y9WLwXmj7FloKj

Chapter one Teaser

The sky darkened as Hannah ran alongside me; who would have thought that things would have turned out like this? I turn right around the corner and let out a wolfie grin as the wind changes direction and flows through my coat. 

I love this. I think to myself as I continue running, looking back at Hannah occasionally to ensure she is keeping up. 

Hannah is not your average person; she's not a person at all. Her long golden red hair flows down her back, framing her seven-foot stature. Her bright green eyes show she is from the forest we live in, and her horns fit perfectly on top of her head. 

"Hurry up, slow coach", Hannah giggles, somehow getting in front of me.  I bark in return and hurriedly catch up with her.

I observe as the small wood cabin we call home quickly approaches.  The dark, dusty wood cracked ever so slightly from the recurrent earthquakes; the once glass window shattered all over the ground from rowdy teens who thought it was funny to destroy one of the last intact cabins here in the middle of the forest. 

The sky darkened as Hannah held her hand on the rough door handle, trying to avoid a splinter from the nearby wood and pushed her way inside. I turn back to look out over the forest. The birds chee furiously in the distance as the wind picks up, sending beautiful music into the air; I push my way past Hannah and into our cabin, shifting back into my human form. Every bone in my body cracks into place. I slowly grow in height, reaching my five foot six height; my long blonde hair flows down past my shoulders, my yellow eyes switch back to my doe brown; I quickly stretch out my back and sigh in relief at the freeing feeling. I love being in my wolf form, but having lived as a rouge for five years, I don't get to spend much time in human form anymore. 

"Better?" Hannah questions, making me nod happily.

"Much better, now let's eat. I'm starving", I laugh before heading into our kitchen; our cabin might be small, but it's perfectly built for the two of us to live in.

I still remember the day I met Hannah; it was the day I became a rouge outcast from my pack, and with nowhere to go, I ran into a village where I found Hannah, who was imprisoned in a cage but the hunters; It was the first time I had ever come across anything like her, but I saved her anyway, and we have been inseparable Ever since. 

I stare at my plate full of meat and smile at Hannah.

"Thank you", I smile graciously; if it weren't for Hannah, I would have starved to death by now Because I can't cook. 

"You're welcome, your majesty", she mocking bows making me growl lowly.

"No", I state, trying to calm my wolf down

"Sorry, I forgot," she states, making me nod, knowing that she is telling the truth. She would never do anything to annoy me on purpose, and I know it. 

"What are your plans for the rest of the night?" I question, curious as to her answer. 

"Might go and find my prince in shiny armour", she laughs before gulping back her coffee 

"I'm kidding; I will probably just go to sleep with you tonight because I'm beat after our run", she states.

"Strange, you normally go out and don't come back until the early hours of the morning", I state back, making her nod.

"Not tonight", she smiles before eating her bacon and eggs. 

I finish off my plate of meat before taking my finished dish up to the sink and rinsing it off to make it easier to clean after my coffee in the morning.

"I might go to bed early", I smile before kissing Hannahs's cheek good night and heading into my dimly lit room.

My dresser is pressed up against my left wall, my book collection placed on top of the draws, as well as a few photographs I have picked up over the years. The only family photo I have is framed and hung above my bed, which is opposite my dresser on the right wall, and my sheep skin rug is placed nicely next to my bed so that I don't get cold feet in the morning. One of my biggest pet peeves is having cold feet.

I jump into my bed and close my eyes, praying for a peaceful sleep.

15,000 words in a week challenge

on June 1st, 2019 i asked my Instagram story a question. they had to decide if i did a 12-hour writing sprint or if i had to write 15k words in a seven day period. they, of course, decided i had to write 15,000 words in a week so i did. i set out to work out how many words i had to write in a day to pass the challenge the number, of course, was unrealistic at 2142.857143 so i had to round up to 2143 words a day. i had three projects the words could go towards. project transfer. my wattpad book The Heartless Alpha or this very blog.

Day One

day one was very easy, i was able to write a grand total of 2212 putting me over my word count for the day by 69 words. 1320 of my word count was on my wattpad book. i decided not to write for my blog at this stage so the remaining 892 words were on my novel. i found it quite easy to do this because i had all the inspiration in the world that i needed at this point.

Day Two

day two was very similar to the day before. i had managed to write 2208 words all of which were on my novel. giving me an extra 65 words on top of the 69 from the day before. i was very happy with the turnout and knew if i kept up the way i was going i would be done in no time.

Day Three

day three was when everything went downhill i had only managed to write 274 words on my novel making the few words i had made up for look really bad in comparison. even with the 134 words i had leftover it only put me up to 408 words which meant i was still 1735 words behind. i put the lag of work down to the fact i had to go in for an appointment and i wasn't very motivated when i finally did get home.

Day Four

day four kept me on the very big standstill. i was able to write 713 words. i don't know what was really stopping me other than a mental block. this put me behind by 3165 words. not sure how i was meant to fix this small block i decided to put it off and hope that the last three days would go well

Day Five

day five was a very good day in one aspect while i was able to write 4380 words, 1491 words on my blog with my post, Author interview with myself and the 2889 words leftover were on my wattpad book. while that was very good. keeping in mind i was over by 2237 words it still left me under what i should be by 276 words.

Day Six

day six was a very long day. we had to drive an hour away for multiple appointments and shopping i had only managed to write 960 words which added to what i was already behind wasn't promising what so ever i was now behind by 1459 words putting my total so far at 10747 words. knowing i had to write 4253 words the next day i was sure i would be failing unless i had another good day like day five

Day Seven

waking up day six i was a nervous wreck. i had the worst sleep of my life and a huge goal in front of me that i wasn't sure how to fix. i joined my writing sprint group for a 25-minute word sprint which gave with 939 words in a very short amount of time. very happy with the results i went and started writing this blog post which put me up by 763 words. i took it away and was left with 2565 words left to write. determined to pass this challenge and not fail i went back to my novel and did a draft plan of what i needed to write and then started writing again landing up with an extra 1751 words unhappy with the outcome since i was 800 words behind i took to wattpad and wrote 849 words I decided to tally it all up and was amazed that i had written 1751 words putting me at a grand total of 4305 words for the day. i had finally passed my goal of 15k words in a week and i was even over by 49 words. i know for a fact i will definitely try this again. 

author interview with myself

this blog post is a little bit different. i am going to be doing an author interview with myself. i have self-published one book in the past which i later took down. i am in the editing stages of a book as well as writing another book. {if i have the word project when referring to a book name it means i have not come up with a name for the book as of yet.} 

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?


i had always had a love for writing but never did anything about it other than writing short stories for enjoyment. it wasn't until around 2015 that i started to write for other peoples enjoyment. that is when i first joined wattpad and have been writing on there ever since. i love rereading my books from when i first started to now to see how far i have come as a writer. i self-published cut a new adventure back in 2018 but took it down in 2019 because i wasn't happy with it. my wattpad 


 
2. How long does it take you to write a book?

it really depends on the book. some of my wattpad books took me two months to finish one even took me two years because i had major writer's block. my project age gap book which is in the editing stages and i am still trying to think of a name took me around seven months to write for just over 26,000 words. i have been writing project transfer for around two weeks and i already have 5,000 words.

 
1. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?


when i am writing it depends on the day. i try and write every day and m goal for the day is 200 words. some days you sit down and can get 30 words and others you can get 1,500 words it really depends on how the ideas flow on the day. i am easily distracted so i find it easy to get the 200 words but once they are done then i find it difficult to go on but other days i find it so easy. but as long as i have a coffee by my side i don't take a break until the coffee is done. i normally start writing mid-afternoon and will be done within half an hour on a bad day but i have spent hours before writing and totally lost track of time. i really need to make a schedule though.


 
2. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

this is a tough one. one might argue it is that i normal turn spell check off, grammar is not my strong suit and i write really fast so letters go in the wrong spots and my keyboard sticks so sometimes it won't add a letter. i notice a lot of my the's turn to he's so i prefer to only turn self check on once i have completed a chapter so i can fix the mistakes up with writer's block/ to work out where to go next.
 
3. How do books get published?

i can't talk much about traditionally published work because none of my books at this stage are published that way. (though i hope project age gap will be) but with self-publishing, i have only ever had one experience so i can only talk about that. i self-published through a website called lulu.com. its a website to buy books as well as self publish both paperbacks, hardback, and ebooks. you upload your writing document and put how many chapters you want on your book. you upload your cover add the blurb on the back and all that sort of stuff. it was a very easy thing to do but is a tad time-consuming.

 
4. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

most of my book ideas. wattpad, novel and future books included. are thought of in the shower or when i am talking to myself when cleaning etc. while most people find it weird to talk to yourself it is a big part of how i have come up with so many book ideas in the past. once i have the idea i will write out who the characters are there personality, looks, and what i want to happen in the book. if i am basing a location or need information for something i do research both online and in a library.

 
5. When did you write your first book and how old were you?

if we are counting wattpad as my first written book, which i am since short stories for school and just my eyes isn't really the first book it was back around 2015 and i was twelve years old at the time.

 
6. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

when i am not writing i am either working on my projects for the business i run or on my youtube channel. i will also be doing school work but that will be finished as of the first of July 2019

 
7. What does your family think of your writing?

my grandma and grandad don't really talk about it that much. i don't even know if my dad and his family pay any attention to those things in my life but my mum is really supportive. she always listens to bits of my books that i was really excited about and she even beta reads my books for me.

 
8. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

i think the only really surprising thing for me is actually writing it in a way that is understandable. i knew from the get-go things like publishing wasn't easy since my mother herself is a writer and is writing a trilogy at the moment. she sent her first books around different publishers and wasn't accepted to any so she was self-published. and just like myself she took her first book down and is now editing it and writing the other two. i write in first person present tense for my novels and my wattpad books are written in POV present text so it can be really hard to find ways to write says, replies, etc. 

 
9. How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?

i have written three novels only two of which will ever (hopefully) see a bookshelf and i have written 23 wattpad novels. it is really hard to say which is my favourite out of all of them. out of my three novels, i would argue that i love project age gap the most when reading it but love project transfer while writing it. when it comes to wattpad it would probably be my bad boy serious that i wrote. and out of that book, one would be my favourite out of it. while i am loving writing the heartless alpha i couldn't say it is my favourite.

 
10. Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?

while i do not want to give writing advice out i will tell you one way how i get over writer's block. if you would prefer to listen click the link how i get over writer's block. when i am trying to get over writer's block one way i do so is by re-reading my book and editing it at the same time so that i can remember everything i have written already and be able to have some of my editing done.

 
11. Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

i hear from my readers on wattpad some of the time, most of the time it is them commenting on how they hate one of my characters (normally the villains) personality. or telling me i need to update again because they love the book too much.

 
12. Do you like to create books for adults?

while none of my books are just for adults, i write for young adults. the only reasoning being is some of my books have things like sexual activity, swearing and some even have things like abuse. all things that you would find in a book for a young adult but not a children's book

 
13. What do you think makes a good story?

i think what makes a good story is being able to relate to what is happening or has happened to a character / seeing yourself as one of the characters, which is why it is so important to be descriptive. the book also needs to be able to be written in a way that makes people leave whatever they are going through and be transported into the story.

 
14. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

         as a child, i always wanted to be a teacher and a lawyer.