I must say that I am flattered in the most sincere way. Thank you Kurt and Peti, I have never before had an award bestowed upon me by a dog. That only increases the honor tenfold, now I can claim to have an award given to me trans-species. Well I suppose I should continue the trend of speeches. A note, I am at school so if you see mathematical equations, that isn’t part of my speech
Early in my life (I am just turned 16…), my mom used to read to me adventure stories, stories that always had the same storyline and character types. There was no romance or suspense and hardly morale to learn. Yet I still developed an early love, having my mom repeatedly read the same story over and over again until she actually hid the book for me! Then I would go to kindergarten the next day and dream about little froggies hopping across the street to the stream.
My first real books were the one where a village of mice found some special powers that were guarded zealously by a cat. It was a three book series and in the end most of the characters died, and I cried. Being probably in third grade, I felt fully satisfied with the twists, love, and death. Everything that makes a story great. Next, in fifth grade, came the RedWall series, then the song of fire and ice, and now Timeline 191.
As you might see, I leaned heavily towards fantasy and I wrote about fantasy. Little rodents with fireworks, a man flying back in time, and a mouse who conquered the world with just a spoon, a fork, and his stomach. Teachers, again and again, told me how I had a brilliant imagination…just horrible grammar. Today the grammar problem exists, just look in the GtA, but I think I have progressed from a fifth grade level. Hopefully AP English will solve this next year.
Anyways, this award has come at a good time, as I was losing steam on my Rome AAR. Julius just lost and is retreating deep into barbarian territory, probably what a normal writer would thrive in, but not me. Somehow a combination of time, relationships, and brain power lost on math tests is contributing to my staleness. Maybe the epicness is getting to me? I don’t know, but what I do know is that perfectionism that I am characterized by will force me to finish, come the devil or high water.
I write normally in one sitting. I used to write on paper with a pencil during school hours in my early AARs, and maybe that achieved a higher standard of writing, I don’t know. But now either I have become too lazy or environmentalism is taking over my soul and now I just type it. Not to mention the computer has a thesaurus so I won’t be stuck with same words.
But I do wonder what the future has in store for me. Originally I planned a sequel for my Rome AAR, but popularity of both forum and AAR may discourage me. My best bet is in HOI3. I have been reading many books detailing with Nazi rise to power, but of course, I have to be original, which I may have something up my sleeve. In addition, you never know, I may finish up the adventures of Boudy someday…or maybe have his son continue….
WritAARs + ReadAARs = AARland