7 Elements I Love to Write


Today I’m joining in with a linkup hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Ashley @ Ashley Aspires called A Novel Idea. This is a weekly linkup to help writers stay inspired and look deeper into their writing life. You can learn more about it here or here. I won’t be joining in every week since, well, I only post once a week. Heh. But I really liked this week’s prompt. It got me thinking. I love questions that make me think.
This week’s prompt is:
Tell us about your writing style/what you like to write.
The moment I read that I thought, “What do I like to write about?” Back in the day, I would have loudly proclaimed MEDIEVAL FANTASY without a moment’s hesitation. But for the past few years I’ve branched out, I’ve tried different things, I’ve discovered different styles I like and don’t like. I by no means write one particular genre anymore. My stories are all over the place. From medieval fantasy, to contemporary fantasy, to fairytale retellings, to a dystopian novel, a King Arthur/Robin Hood mashup thingamajig, all the way to a bizarre steampunk time travel novel. With a dozen more ridiculously hard to describe stories constantly crowding my thoughts.
I had to ask myself, do I actually have a specific style? DO I EVEN KNOW WHAT I’M DOING?
Probably not.
BUT. I think I have started to hone in on my author’s voice in the past two or so years. Really, Burning Thorns and my last two NaNoWriMo novels were the first three stories where I began to improve vastly on my writing and discovering what I like to write about and how I like to write.
So the real question I asked myself was, if someone were to read multiple stories of mine, would they find any reoccurring themes, despite the varying genres? The answer is: ABSOLUTELY!


FANTASY
“But,” you’re thinking, “you just said you branched out of fantasy!” No, no, no. NEVER. I said I branched out from your standard issue medieval fantasy. But if there’s one thing I can be sure of (ha! okay, I’m never sure of anything about myself), it’s that my stories will ALWAYS have some sort of fantastical element to them. Whenever I even try to come up with a story without something fantasy-esque in it, dragons and unicorns attack my brain. Such as the time I was considering a contemporary mystery, Sherlock Holmes-y sort of thing, and then my brain was like BUT LET’S ADD MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES. There’s just no getting around it. Not that I’m complaining. Fantasy is my favorite thing of ever, medieval fantasy still being highest on the list. Rest assured I will always come back to my beloved medieval fantasy no matter how much I branch out. I’ve never been a history nut, so writing historical fiction for me is a big no. And I can count on one hand how many contemporary novels I’ve read. (No joke.) I get enough of real life in, well, real life. Writing is my escape. I SHALL WRITE FANTASY FOREVER AND A DAY. Whether it be medieval fantasy, contemporary fantasy, completely different worlds—IT’S ALL GOOD. Which brings us to. . .

DRAGONS
A few years back I wrote a steampunk time travel story. The world was supposed to be your average world, much like ours, but with a steampunk flavor. Next thing I knew THERE WAS A BABY DRAGON IN IT. Who just took over the show and played a prominent part in the story! I tried to write a story without dragons, I DID. But it was futile. Basically, if you read a story by me, expect dragons in some form or fashion. They come from nowhere. They come from everywhere. I DON’T EVEN KNOW. Just dragons. DRAGONS EVERYWHERE. Am I complaining? Hahahahaha. . .NO. Dragons are LIFE, and I refuse to stop writing about them. *gathers up all the dragons and runs away with them*


ANTIHEROES
Ah, yesh. Antiheroes. Those precious babies who never can decide if they’re good or bad or WHAT. I mean, hello? DECISIONS ARE HARD. But seriously. They’re my absolute favorite type of character to write about, and pop up all over my pages. Long before I even knew what an antihero was. I was just thinking the other day about my first antihero that appeared back when I was a little baby of 16. He immediately became my favorite character of EVER back then and I had nooo clue why! WELL NOW I DO. Antiheroes are amazing and complex and interesting and can make the very BEST redemption stories. Not to mention SO FUN TO WRITE. Mine tend to start out as full-out villains, then bump-up to antihero status, then slooowly fight that “anti” in their title and became actual heroes in the end. It’s my favorite FAVORITE type of character-arc to write and you can sure bet you’ll find it in over half of my stories. NO REGRETS.

LIGHT VS. DARK
I’m pretty sure this one has come into play in every novel I’ve ever written. Somehow I can’t seem to stop penning tales of light triumphing over darkness. Even in stories I had absolutely NO intention of doing that with, it just bled through. Sometimes it’s more subtle, sometimes it’s the prominent feature of the story, but it’s always there. Because isn’t that why we’re here? To soak in God’s light and reflect it back to this dark world. How can I not tell stories of light overcoming darkness?

THIRD PERSON
Only once in my entire life have I ever written a first person story. To be truthful, until just a couple of years ago, I hated first person with a passion. I can’t even tell you WHY. All I know is every time I picked up a novel and found it was in first person I groaned internally. Then, horror of horrors, I actually *le gasp* WROTE MY OWN FIRST PERSON NOVEL. And, worse yet, I. . .liked it. O_O Ever since, I’ve had no problem with reading first person books. There’s a level of intimacy with the character there that third person is sometimes missing. BUT. I’m still a firm lover of third person, and have no doubt 90% of my novels will be just that. I tend to have multiple points-of-view and don’t enjoy the limitation of first person in that sense. And novels that have multiple POVs but are all in first person hurt my poor brain for some reason. Now, I am all completely and firmly for intimate third person, where you’re still in one character’s head at a time. I want to feel like I AM the character. Thus all my novels very much stick to the intimate third person POV. It’s my fave.

FRIENDSHIP
Who doesn’t love a good story about best friends going through mortal peril together and forming deep bonds. LET’S JUST SAVE THE WORLD AND BE BESTIES OKAY? I love it! I love writing about it! I actually love ALL types of character bonds—friendships, families, romance. But the sad truth is, my earlier writings didn’t have many family relationships. I’m trying to fix that! I don’t know what was wrong with me! Families are AWESOME. I also didn’t write too much romance. Really, my NaNoWriMo 2013 novel, More Green than Envy, was my first story featuring a fair amount of romance (and even then it was still just a little subplot), and Burning Thorns is the first novel with heavy romance in it (but it is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it kinda can’t be helped). But friendships now, they’ve been in my novels since the beginning of time! Buddy stories are so FUN. And I especially love writing about two people who at first don’t like each other then became the BESTEST FRIENDS OF EVER. Like a hero and antihero. *wriggles eyebrows* Can there be anything more epic? I THINK NOT. What’s crazy is, Burning Thorns is my first novel with a sad lack of friendship. o.o There’s a lot of family and romance, but where are the best friends? It’s WEIRD. Because I’ve never written a story without a ton of friendship. I JUST WANT ALL THE BESTIES.


HAPPY ENDINGS
Or perhaps I should say satisfying endings. Because my novels may very well traumatize you and characters may die and horrible things may happen. BUT, I can’t, physically CAN’T, leave a novel of mine on a sad note. I’m not into open endings or the whole everybody-dies-the-end type of finale. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to leave my characters or readers in such a shape. I want my readers to finish the book with a full heart and smile on their face. I want them to be fulfilled. Not empty and depressed and feel like they wasted their time. So yes, I shall write my happy endings without shame!

I probably have dozens of more things that all come into play in my novels, but those are the main themes that strike me.
As for my style or “author’s voice”, well, is it possible to even describe one’s author voice? I DON’T EVEN KNOW. It just is. And, like I said, mine has only really started to come to me in the last three or so novels I wrote. It takes a long time to grasp your author’s voice, and it may even change from book to book. It takes practice and lots of playing around to get it right. For me, I’m not overly flowery like, say, L.M. Montgomery. Her amount of gorgeous writing is way beyond my wee brain’s capability. But I’m not as straight-forward and fast-paced as Suzanne Collins. I do enjoy writing in a bit of prose, but I also don’t want to confuse my readers with too much flowery talk. I want my stories to be easy reads with just a touch of beauty. . .if that makes any sense at all.
Let’s be real here. I really just write whatever story I feel like at the time and hope for the best! Because I’m professional like that.
WELL. That is plenty about me and my writing. What are a couple
of specific things that show up again and again in YOUR stories?
Do we share any? What’s your absolute FAVORITE thing
to write about?? DOES IT INVOLVE DRAGONS?

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Jameson C. Smith
June 14, 2016 1:10 AM

Oh goodness, ANTIHEROES. I didn't even realize those types of characters had names until a couple of years ago but I love them so much. Especially when they're more heroic than not. 🙂

And also, love third-person and fantasy. Fantasy is that one genre where you can really write anything, which is really fun.

That Sherlock Holmes + mythological creatures? I really want to read that. 🙂

Sophia White
June 14, 2016 3:11 PM

Funny, up until about two years ago I, too, said "Medieval fantasy" without a second thought. Then I sort of accidentally discovered historical fiction. Doing research ruins medieval fantasy, I found, because you're always discovering anachronisms in your work (like horned Viking helmets and velvet invented before it really was and cinnamon and chocolate coming into common use before the 15th century and side-lacing on Anglo-Saxon gowns before the Conquest and bareheaded married women during any period vaguely 'medieval'. . . I should stop), and it's hard to convince the critic in your head (who knows better) that it's fantasy and nobody else is going to get twitchy about it besides you. Besides, there's so many settings that come ready-made in historical fiction with just a little research. Research is really the equivalent of world-building. Anyway, I've branched out, in a way, going from fantasy that never managed to be more than imitations of Tolkien and Lewis, to historical fiction (one during the American Civil War, one in seventh-century England, one in the 11th century in England just before the Norman Conquest, and now one in planning that comes right after), and even some bits and pieces of 'contemporary', in which ideas, words, and mannerisms of my sister play a large part. So far I haven't had quite the same intrusion of strange animals :). Oddly enough, for as much as I love dragons, I don't think I have any stories with them.

Antiheroes are fascinating. They tread such a narrow line between good and evil that they're really a challenge to write, but so much fun (not fun, really, because you have to think so hard about how not to glorify the dark or let him get off too easily or all kinds of things) to redeem.

My writing group just had a long conversation about the light versus dark theme. So far I've got one story that's all about that. Writing about the dark can be very scary, because you don't have to look very far inside yourself to find those traits to write about. I share a lot with my antagonist, almost more than I do with the protagonist. But it's so much worth it when the light wins.

Sophia White
June 14, 2016 3:12 PM
Reply to  Sophia White

(Split into two comments because the first got too long and couldn't be published)

Lately I've also gotten into experimenting with first person points of view, and although they can be very handy for getting into the character's head, it's harder to show things that go on in that character's absence without too much head-hopping — third person has much less trouble with that, although, while third-person omniscient is best for avoiding the head-hopping, it also risks sounding too condescending sometimes.

Friendships! (We share a lot, I'm finding out.) A lot of my characters end up with vary vague family relationships, for some reason; it's not that I consciously make them orphans or just leave out writing about their families altogether, it just happens. I'm working on that. But I do like them to have friends. I wish people nowadays wouldn't go around turning every bond into romantic love. King Arthur's knights were devoted to him, but not one of the original writers made anyone an homosexual (though there was, I must admit, a fair bit of adultery going on in the ordinary way). David and Jonathan were very good friends. A girl can be friends with a guy and it doesn't necessarily turn into romance (and most of my closest friends are guys). Probably more people have friends than romances, but very few people write more about friends than romance.

An ending should be satisfying, even if it isn't perfectly happy. There's a place for bittersweet endings, too, like the end of the Lord of the Rings, where it's all the more powerful because, as in real life, things aren't quite perfect; they never go back to the way they were before, and maybe that's a good thing. (Also if every ending were perfectly happy, we'd get bored of them.)

I don't know what my absolute favourite thing to write about is. I write a lot about home, what it means and where it is; I tend to favour light and dark; there's a lot of adventure and wit that gets tossed around with all of it; Beauty and the Beast and Robin Hood elements make frequent appearances; but I can't say I know yet what my favourite is.

This has gotten quite long enough. In sum, yes, I agree with your post, and I share a lot of your sentiments :).

Kiri Liz
June 14, 2016 3:46 PM

I love this post. I want it wrapped up in a silver ribbon that has tiny baby dragons embroidered on it. BECAUSE. Then I can put it in my pocket, and carry it around with me, and smile all the day long.

BUT THESE THINGS! YES, YES, and YES! Dragons are a must NO MATTER WHAT! Okay, so I have written stuff without dragons, but they are so wonderfully epic and wonderful! I MISS MY DRAGONS! I haven't written about them in …. almost two years? Something like that. But it's not good. Not good.

FRIENDSHIPS!!! <3 I love my besties, too. You can't write an awesome character without having some sort of bestie backing them up. Unless you've got siblings to back them up. Actually… come to think of it… I think I have more siblings for my heroes than besties. Hmmm…. or maybe it's an even mix. Too many people to try to count right now. 😛 Writing about family is probably one of my biggest elements. I have A LOT OF FAMILY in my stories. Pretty much every one.

Ugh, yes. First person is awful. Until you start actually writing a story in first person, and you actually enjoyed it. But it really depends on the story. I began Hazel Tree in first person actually, but then revised it to third person after only a few chapters in because I absolutely hated it. I think it's mainly difficult to write in because you're so limited to your perspective. BUT if you got the right story for a first person POV, wow. That can go far. I love first person with sarcastic and fiery characters, because then you can narrate with an awesome snarky tone and not apologize for it one bit. *grins*

Kiri Liz
June 14, 2016 3:48 PM
Reply to  Kiri Liz

You know, I read your posts, and then I'm like: "Just a quick comment. Just something short, and then I'll be on my way." And then it's SPLAT — writing, and 30 minutes later (after reading the post through like three or four times) I walk away having posted nothing under 200 words. 😛

Love you, dear friend! <3 Keep on posting these wonderful, distracting gems!! 🙂

Emily Drown
June 14, 2016 4:41 PM

*hugs post to death* I LOVE THIS THING SO MUCHHHH! <333

And this post just makes me want to read your stories more and more. BECAUSE THEY HAVE LOTS OF THINGS IN THEM THAT I LIKE.

Ooh, family relationships! I love those. <3 That's one thing I LOVE about the Ilyon Chronicles… everyone's endearing family relationships. 😀

And my younger sister (who is a tomboy) was disgusted to hear me say this, but I really enjoy a sprinkling of romance in stories — if it's sweet and clean and well-done. 🙂 Another reason why all of my favorite books are my favorite books. 🙂

And YES; HAPPY ENDINGS PLEASE AND THANK YOU. xD

Confession time — I don't like writing about dragons. *GASP* I'm sorry, but I just… no. -.- It's really weird actually, considering that I like READING about dragons, but not WRITING about them. Shame on me. xD I really don't know why my brain decided to do that to me. 😛

Ah, I am a third person kind of girl, too… but I do enjoy a little first person every now and then. Lots of times, especially in the cases of The Hunger Games and Divergent, I find that first person is far too straight forward and un-descriptive for my taste. BUT one series I thought handled this exceptionally well is THE OUT OF TIME trilogy by Nadine Brandes. It is the most beautiful first person I have ever read. I am CONVINCED that Nadine has first person superpowers… and writing superpowers IN GENERAL. o.o (if you haven't come away with anything from this rambling paragraph, come away with this: READ OUT OF TIME.) 😛

Aspen Shannon
June 14, 2016 7:09 PM

Fabulous post! Loved reading it, dearie! Medieval fantasy is my first love, by far; but I've branched out a scosh and written some in other genres. The current novel I'm working on is a historical fiction. I adore history, and am writing a retelling of how the Magna Charter was signed, with lots of twists and turns and of course a hint of Robin Hood; because YES!

Love and Rich Blessings –

~ Aspen

Skye Hoffert
June 15, 2016 4:00 AM

You are fantastic with your dragons, antihero's, and fantasy stories. I love them!

Victoria Grace Howell
June 15, 2016 5:23 PM

It's cool to know more about your writing style! We have a lot of similarities I too love friendships and third person limited and happy endings. ^ ^ Though I like sci-fi as well besides fantasy, though fantasy was my first love. 🙂

storitorigrace.blogspot.com

Jenelle
June 16, 2016 1:57 PM

What a fun post! I loved hearing about your writing style! DRAGONS! Yes, I love dragons. When Minstrel's Song is done, though, I shall be taking a break from dragons… I think I tried to tackle them as far too young of a writer, and they suffered for it. I could tackle them now… but I have a couple of series coming that don't have dragons in them at all, and they need my attention. I think my next dragons will be quite better for the time off. Or, I hope so. Because dragons are awesome. I'd like to do them better justice … and make them a bit more central to a story.

I think I may try to get to this link-up this week. I've been focusing on blogging this month and taking a break from real writing… but I have some drafting to start and this sort of linkup seems like a great way to get the ol' creative juices flowing again.

Jenelle
June 17, 2016 1:43 PM
Reply to  Jenelle

It is extremely rewarding to see how our writing improves through the years! I have a love/hate relationship with it… but more love, I think… knowing that my writing is way better now than it was 10 years ago, and hopefully will be even better 10 years from now.

Thanks!

Perran Kids
June 16, 2016 3:05 PM

Great post, Christine!
Before I say anything else let me say this: TOOOOOOTHLESSSS!!!! That GIF is ADORABLE!!!!
Anyway. It IS hard to write in first person. In the beginning of my story, it seemed like all the MC did was watch everyone else, and do basically nothing. So now I'm changing it to third person.
And YES friendship is awesome (both in real life and stories! ;))
Thanks for posting!!
-Ariel

Savannah Perran
June 17, 2016 4:22 PM

I loved this post Christine, it was so fun to read about the elements you like to write! (and I agree with Ariel, the Toothless GIF is adorable. This is why we write about dragons *nods*)

"Next thing I knew THERE WAS A BABY DRAGON IN IT." Oh my goodness, that made me laugh so hard :D. Which story was that?

I'm always waffling over whether to do my stories in first person or third person. Though they typically end up third person, just because … well, it's eaiser, I guess :D. Plus, I have this weird thing where I ALWAYS write first person present tense, even if I try to do it past tense. Yeah, I has problems *shakes head*.

(oh, also I saw your comment on the Paper Crowns post about losing the URL for my blog, so here 'tis: http://scattered-scribblings.blogspot.com/ Hope to see you around!)

Sky Destrian
June 17, 2016 7:20 PM

I absolutely love that you were able to narrow down 7 recurring elements in your stories! I'm a similar way–though my genres and styles tend to be different, there are a lot of things I end up writing again and again. I LOVE that you love writing friendship–we so need more of that in the book world. I really appreciate that you try to write SATISFYING endings–that's my goal as well with (most of) my novels.

Also, dragons. YES.

Thank you for linking up! ♥

Mary Horton
June 17, 2016 11:40 PM

ANOTHER GLORIOUS POST. Not like I'm surprised or anything. ;D Again, I must applaud you and your excellent taste. BECAUSE ALL OF THESE STORY ELEMENTS ARE PERFECTION.<3 Especially dragons, fantasy, friendships, happy endings, and third person. (Whoa, that is like all of them. BUT WAIT I ALSO LOVE ANTIHEROES AND LIGHT VS. DARK. Why must your choices always be so perfect, Lauri???)

Fantasy is my favorite genre, but I've surprisingly never actually written one yet. (I mean, unless you count my horribly-clichéd, copycat story from little 11-year-old Mary, but let's not.) Maybe I'm just terrified of messing it up because it's my favorite? I don't really know. I have an idea for one on the backburner currently which maaay or may not involve dragons and elves and whole new fantasy creatures. I'M A LITTLE EXCITED. Hopefully I can start working on the outline this summer! *squeals*

AHHHH, THAT TOOTHLESS GIF, THOUGH. So stinkin' cute!

Light vs. dark…YES! My favorite stories always include that. *points at LotR* In every story I write, I can't help but present a picture of light vs. dark. 'Cause like you said, we're meant to shine a light for our Savior. I want it to show through everything I pen.

Third person is DEFINITELY the best! I like first person, but I just really enjoy the different things that can be done with third-person. (Side-note: it CANNOT be present tense. I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LIKE PRESENT TENSE. LIKE AT ALL. DO NOT GO THERE. I WILL BE AN UNHAPPY DRAGON. Yeah, I kind of don't like it. XD)

FRIENDSHIPSSSS. Good camaraderie always makes me happy! ^_^ (Or let's be honest, frenemies are also extremely fun to write. In fact, they are probably one of my favorites. *cough* James and Charlotte *cough*) I love relationships of all kinds, whether they be friendships, romances, or family.

SO THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO TURN INTO A MASSIVE COMMENT. But eh, it's typical Mary-style. I'm just cool like that. *dons a pair of sunglasses*

Deborah O'Carroll
June 19, 2016 8:26 PM

Firstly: I LOVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY, GIRL. <333

Secondly: I LOVE how your stories are all totally different. XD That is the best.

Thirdly: THIS POOOST. I really really enjoyed this post because all of the lovely things that are awesome in storiiiiies! ^_^

"I had to ask myself, do I actually have a specific style? DO I EVEN KNOW WHAT I’M DOING? Probably not. BUT." I lost it at this. XD AREN'T WE ALL.

I literally love ALL OF THESE! <3<3<3 I wouldn't say I've done much with dragons, or a TON with friendship (though definitely some!) in my own novels, but I do ADORE reading about both and want to do more with them. ^_^

I also love how dragons take over everything you write, even your Steampunk story. XD AAAAAAAAHHH TOOTHLESS-BEING-ADORABLE GIF!!!! ^____^ *watches it for longer than I'd care to admit*

BUT FANTASY. YES. Fantasy has to get in EVERYTHING! I think I have a few that don't have it buuuut mostly yes. 😀

Yep yep yep to Antiheroes! I mean, obviously. 😉 I still call them Dark Guys because I'm used to it, but they're totally the best. I think I like writing ones that aren't quiet in the villain spectrum, but do get better… or sometimes even ones who everyone THINKS are villains, but are actually noble! 🙂 (In that sense, Strider was actually one when the hobbits met him. 😉 I just love that.) Buuut I do have an occasional one who is actually really dark and I just love the redemption stories that can lead to. 🙂 Butbut all those mysterious characters who you're not sure if they're good or not but can end up noble in the end, I just really like. ^_^

Light vs. Dark ALLL the way! Let's have none of that shady grey business (except if light still wins). All the best stories are light vs. darkness with light coming out on top, because Light is always greater. 🙂 Love what you said on this one!

THIRD PERSON ALL THE WAY. I make exceptions for it if I love a book — like, I can handle first-person if it's a really well-done book — but mostly third-person. ^_^ And I've ALWAYS written third-person. Except for a short story or two. So it's weird I'm writing one right now. >.> But it's actually — GASP — /fun/, which is weird… I guess first-person is okay in moderation or if the story is brilliant or just really calls for it. But mostly third-person. 😀 (WE WILL NOT EVEN DISCUSS PRESENT TENSE. Ahem.)

I LOVE BUDDY STORIES YESSSSS! 😀 Everything you said. ^_^ (A hero and an anti-hero… bwahaha. XD)

Aaaand you obviously know my feelings on happy endings. 😉 Though I also won't usually do as much horribleness because I can't manage it… BUT YES HAPPINESS.

An author voice is definitely hard to describe, yes… o.o I don't know how one would go about it.

"Let’s be real here. I really just write whatever story I feel like at the time and hope for the best! Because I’m professional like that." I LOVE THIS AND IT'S THE BEST THING EVER!!! 😀 (Same. XD)

WOW that was long. Ahem. Aaaaanyhoo, all that to say, I loved this post and it was awesomesauce and thank you for sharing all of the awesome writing things! <3 Your writing posts are splendiferous. ^_^

Tracey Dyck
June 22, 2016 2:02 AM

*flails around so much I fall down* YOU'VE BEEN WRITING SO MANY AWESOME POSTS LATELY, GIRL! Okay, ALL of your posts are awesome, but I'm extra-loving the recent ones for some reason. 😀 This one just makes me want to dive into a million good books at once (as long as some of them are yours!).

Fantasy! I'm the same way, I almost NEVER write something without at least a shred of something fantastical in it.

DRAGONS. TOOTHLESS. Yusss, give me all the dragons–cute ones, fierce ones, snarky ones, unique ones…

I really like the conversation you and Deborah were having about light vs. dark, and how with grey areas, you want light to triumph in the end. To that I say, "Hear, hear!"

As soon as you mentioned antiheroes, I thought of that character from one of your most recent Colors of a Dragon Scale novels. Forgive me–I don't immediately recall the actual book's name OR the character's name. (Friendship fail. D:) But he's the guy who annoys Iavin but kinda mothers him and it's all adorable and hilarious. XD

I gravitate towards third person too! I don't know, it feels most natural to me. (Third person past tense, to be precise.) But I've enjoyed a number of books written in first person, even first person present tense. I find it works best with contemporaries–or anything that doesn't take place somewhere in the past. So dystopians, sci-fi, etc. work too. *shrugs* Just my observation.

Friendship, yes! (All the character connections, right? *wink*)

And yet another big yes to happy endings!

I loved getting a glimpse into your writing style in list form like this, Christine! I second Celti: I adore all your writing posts too. <3