The house smelled of cinnamon, like Christmas, like Thanksgiving, like a warm safe home. Something Alex had not known until now. He tried to play it cool, blend in, act like he was one of the spoiled elite he went to school with. But they knew the truth. He was a fraud. A foster kid who got lucky, he thought. He told himself things would get better maybe over time they would forget where he came from. Maybe he would too. Maybe this life was contagious. He was willing to catch it. The best part of it all wasn’t the money, it was Dan. He wasn’t very parental, there were no rules that he knew of, but Dan did care. He showed up at the art show and seemed to like his graphic novel. Dan also liked comics. Maybe this was it. A real home once and for all. He tried not to focus on it. The thought of losing it was too upsetting. He had become attached to Dan and the idea of having a father who actually cared. For now he would continue to play it cool, blend in, wing it.
 

I have been struggling with my lead character, Dan. But at my novel class Monday night at the San Francisco Writing Salon, he came to life. Our teacher asked us a very important question. What does your character lack? As opposed to the typical question of what does your character want? Writing about the lack I feel as though I went back to the depth Dan had when I first started writing him.

The backstory that made me what to propel him forward from the beginning–his fear of love, his greatest shame, his inability to be vulnerable, these wounds make him just as interesting as the vibrant secondary characters, that aide him or stand in his way. He is my main protagonist, at least in the first book. I have been focusing too much on the actions to propel, when I should just let him propel what happens on his quest. After all, it is his story.

Writer’s Diarrhea I do not have writer’s block, I have writer’s diarrhea. The ideas don’t stop, the what ifs don’t stop, and the creation of new characters doesn’t stop. One would think this is gre…

Source: Ramblings of the Solitary Writer

Writer’s Diarrhea

I do not have writer’s block, I have writer’s diarrhea. The ideas don’t stop, the what ifs don’t stop, and the creation of new characters doesn’t stop. One would think this is great! Well it’s not great when you are trying to send your synopsis to a New York agent and realize that maybe all five plot lines just can’t work in one book.

And the plot line I’ve been in love with from the beginning lacks a good villain, actually all the plot lines lack good villains. The attacker in the first scene of the series I am working on seems to be just that, an attacker; I have no place for them other than the first scene in the rest of the series.

This is tough because this scene is what drags the rest of my characters into the world of the vampires and I want it all to loop back or be connected to what happens in the secondary plot line of the vampires lives in a past time period. Oh and the time period has not been decided upon yet either because I have two different sets of those written as well, one in WWII and one in the late 1880s.

I have decided to write out each plot line out in its entirety and see which ones link best together. After all for a first novel, I do not think it’s a good idea to write the “Game of Thrones” of vampire novels. But that is often how it has felt.

By Tegan O’Rourke,

Elena and Damon finally consummate the relationship after four seasons of fans begging for it. Don’t worry Stefan fans; it most likely will not last. Since Stefan believes Caroline’s theory that Elena is sired to Damon. So the relationship isn’t real? Bunk, I say! Elena had feelings for Damon before she flew off Wickery Bridge and woke up dead, I mean undead.

I love how Caroline has become the new Lexi.  However, did Vampire Barbie forget she was Damon’s first blood bag/friend with benefits in Mystic Falls? Oh and Caroline seemed to be having fun on her make-believe date with Klaus. Did anyone else notice that? Tyler did.

This episode once again showed Stefan’s dark side, but this time his real dark side even when he isn’t on a Ripper binge.  He’s so obsessed with Elena that he is now turning people into vamps that Jeremy can kill to find the mystery of Jeremy’s hunter tattoos in order to save Elena.

At first Jeremy didn’t want to kill the vampire, then Stefan carelessly threatens to unleash the vamper on Elena’s little bro.  So basically he’s going to win back the girl of his dreams by possibly getting her brother killed.  I really thought Stefan was off the rails in this episode and maybe he’s the brother Elena needs protecting from not Damon.

Jeremy mans up and kills the blood sucker but he’s no fool he refuses to tell Stefan how his hunter’s mark has grown with that kill. Stefan even tries to compel him but now that Jer is growing stronger as a hunter he can’t be compelled and sweet Jeremy stakes him in the stomach and heads the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant because nothing bad ever happens over there at the Lockwood Mansion and he has escort duties. A Vampire Hunter’s work is never done.

Back at the Lockwood Mansion Elena spent most of her time barely even able to speak full sentences when talking  to Damon while she eye banged him. I don’t recall her being this tongue-tied around Stefan. It was kind of annoying.  Elena has all the power in this relationship, why doesn’t she know it.

This year’s Miss Mystic Falls Pageant was just as exciting as the prior.  April almost didn’t have an escort just like Elena and both times it was Stefan’s fault. Does he not appreciate great pageantry? Damon out right accuses Cute and Creepy Professor Shane of convincing the Pastor to kill the council and Professor Shane’s response was epic, “Did you just accuse me of mass murder in the middle of a high school pageant?”  One question, why is he judging a high school pageant? For a college professor he hangs around high school girls a lot.

Damon catches up with him in one of the awesome Lockwood Mansion rooms and the shady professor says, “You again? I must be the least intimidating mass murderer ever.”  His lack of fear of Damon was apparent even after Damon tried the look at what I can do I’m a vampire be scared move. This Professor Shane is cute and shady, I want to know more.  Does he like long walks on the beach? One thing is for sure, I think he is the last guy who should be hypnotizing Bonnie. Especially since he told Damon that only a Bennet Witch can decipher the Hunter’s Mark.

Jeremy finally shows up but all he can think about is killing Elena. Luckily Matt is onto him and tries to stop him from finishing her off after he stakes her in the neck.  Stefan also comes in at the last moment to play the hero even though Jeremy’s current downfall is his entire fault. Luckily the old Stefan reappears and admits what he did.

Elena tells him, “If getting my humanity back means stripping Jeremy of his, then I don’t want that. This is who I am now. The old Elena died when she went off that bridge. Let her go.”  Good stuff.  The confused not herself Elena seemed to have a lot of clarity on the situation.

Jeremy realizing he can’t live in the same house with his sister if he wants to kill her tries to move out. But Matt shows up and tells him Elena has left and he is moving in to keep a watch over all this Hunter business. Matt is turning into the new Ric, always looking out for everyone. I really like it. Maybe he can stop Jer from whittling stakes in the middle of the night.

Elena shows up with luggage at Salvatore Manor, what a bad idea!  The brothers let her in, Stefan tells her to pick a room and then announces he’s leaving.  What a bad idea!

Damon and Elena get some alone time to dance and start making out and finally do the deed while Stefan is getting drunk and whining like a school girl over at Caroline’s.  Oh and Caroline just can’t seem to stop thinking about Klaus, it was something he said, oh yes it looks like Elena may be sired to Damon because she liked the red dress on April too. The red dress that was the clincher, maybe I’m sired to Damon too, because I thought April looked hot in that dress as well.

Before the night is over, Hayley and Dr. Shane are together, Damon was right to be paranoid. They do know each other. Hayley tells him of the success her and Tyler are having breaking the sire bonds on Klaus’s hybrids and tells him Tyler is a good guy and she wants him spared of whatever their sinister plan is that is yet to be revealed. Dr. Shane gives her a cryptic maybe.

So basically it was just another boring party at the Lockwood Mansion. I like how they have the good sense to serve alcohol at these high school events.  Oh and if anyone cares, April won the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant.

Some things I would like to see going forward this season:   I would like to see Sexy Beks back, someone undagger her please! I would also like to see Katherine back in Mystic Falls. Now that Elena is a vampire her reaction should be rich. More of Hayley, she’s great.  More of Dr. Meredith Fell I’m sure she has more work to do in Mystic Falls. But most importantly, I want to see Elena and Damon have a real relationship like she did with Stefan with lots of drama of course! Oh and Damon needs a new BFF, maybe Matt or smart ass Hayley would work.

By Tegan O’Rourke,

The Magic Ring is actually the serial killer! Loved that plot twist.  Poor Ric, oh well I guess they needed a good segway for (Matt Davis) to leave the show. He will be on the New CW Series Cult coming soon. However, they will almost likely clear him of the murders so he can come back in cameos to help out when needed.

Ric will probably be so distraught over what he did while under the influence of the ring he will need to leave Mystic Falls at least long enough to see if his new show gets off the ground. Is it evil to hope it doesn’t? I Love Alaric Saltzman.

The only thing that will make up for Alaric’s departure is the permanent addition of that hot vampiress Sage, (Cassidy Freeman, Tess of Smallville). I think her and Damon are a much better match than Damon and Elena.

Anyway the show opened in 1912 with Zachariah Salvatore not taking the wise advice of a then male Sheriff Forbes and attempted to walk home alone from a Council meeting. Anyone familiar with the horror genre saw this murder coming a mile away. He gets a good shanking in the middle of the then dirt street outside the Town Hall. I loved the look of it. It was so 1912! Since I wasn’t there I’m assuming that’s what 1912 looked like.

Back in modern-day Mystic Falls, Alaric has survived the gunshot to the head via Dr. Fell’s vampire blood and is sitting in jail? Sheriff Forbes tells him and Damon about all the evidence against him and that Dr. Fell said Alaric was present for the argument her and the medical examiner had. It looks likes Alaric is screwed.

Elena and Matt are out jogging when Matt tells her Abby Bennet has decided to transition to a vampire.  Just another normal day in Mystic Falls. Elena gets a call about Ric and heads over to the jail, but while there runs into Damon and he is snarky as ever. They get into a passive aggressive lovers chat, where he pretends not to care about anything especially turning Bonnie’s mom into a vampire. He tells her now that he’s mean again and Elena hates him the world can start spinning on its axis again. She tells him as always he will end up alone. Which we all know is never going to happen he’s too good-looking to ever be alone. She then leaves without visiting Ric! Wasn’t he the reason she went over there.

Back at Salvatore Manor, Damon walks in on Stefan having the jitters due to his blood withdrawal while trying to journal. “Dear Diary a chipmunk asked me my name today, I told him it was Joe. That lie will haunt me forever.” Damon joked.  He then asked Stefan what year their descendent Zachariah was murdered. Stefan recalled 1912 and handed Damon the journal and the flashbacks started again.

Zachariah’s death causes both Salvatore Brothers to come back for the funeral, why I was unclear on. And where were all the other Salvatore relatives at the funeral?  Stefan finds out from Mariana Lockwood and Samantha Gilbert that Zachariah was murdered and the council members are not safe.

Damon shows up and is a bitter brooding uptight… I’m not mixing them up this is how Damon was in 1912. He’s still miffed because Stefan convinced him to turn even though Katherine was supposedly trapped in the tome so now he is alone. After fifty years he couldn’t find another woman? Stefan tries to reach out to him and takes him out for drinks. Then the scene flashes to modern-day Mystic Falls where Damon asks Stefan to go to the Grill to help him figure out who is behind the murders after all it can’t be alcoholic history teaching vampire hunting Ric.

Rebekah is already there with Mayor Lockwood trying to get information on the infamous White Oak tree. The Mayor tells her the Salvatore Family had a logging company back in the early 1900s and probably cut it down when the town was built. So Rebekah pushes her way into the Brothers conversation at the bar which Damon thinks is a signal she wants more sex.  She assures him there isn’t enough liquor in the world for that to happen again. But underneath her hostility you can see she’s up for another roll with him. Stefan mentions there was only one other vampire in town at that time.

Back in 1912, Sassy Sage is kicking the crap out of some unlikely man in the boxing ring. No one seems to think this is inappropriate for the time which seemed interesting, even the uptight ladies of Mystic Falls are enjoying the fight. Damon takes immediate notice of Sage. She offers $100 to any man who can beat her and winks at Damon. Then awkward timing Stefan offers to help Damon get off of human blood, Damon of course isn’t interested.

Sage tries to get Damon to fight her but he refuses, she even gives him $100 just for the allure of it.  She catches him outside later having a snack. She tells him women aren’t just for food they are for pleasure. This flips his switch and all of a sudden he’s the naughty Damon we now know. Wow, didn’t take much. He just needed to meet a woman as hot as Katherine. She convinces him to go for one of the uptight ladies who secretly want to be seduced like Sarah Gilbert.

Back at the Grill Rebekah tries to get the conversation back to their descendants and the trees of Mystic Falls, but Damon isn’t interested in talking to her. He takes his bottle of bourbon and leaves, Stefan knowing the bro code follows.

At the hospital Elena tries to talk some sense into Dr. Fell but she is unconvinced or at least pretends to be. She tells Elena that Isobel had a restraining order against Alaric before they got married.  She also accuses Ric of being an alcoholic, well come to think of it that may be true.

Elena isn’t deterred she knows Ric is a good guy so she enlists sweet Matt Donavon to break into Meredith’s apartment with her and look for evidence that will free Ric. They find a secret room in her closet just like Elena’s family has for their vampire hunting equipment and hello evidence! Meredith has a coroner’s report that has altered the time of death and one of the Gilbert family journals.

They hear Meredith coming back and get cozy in the closet. Great foreshadowing  since they may get back together at some point. Meredith opens the closet door on them and off they go to Sheriff Forbes who of course lets them go and tells them that Meredith has already had Alaric cleared of all charges with the infamous coroner’s report they found.

Back at the Grill, Rebekah tells the brothers that Sage was obsessed with her brother Finn over 900 years ago.  Funny, Sage didn’t seem like the type of gal who got obsessed with guys, but Rebekah does. Rebekah asks why Stefan is so grumpy and Damon tells her he’s got the blood withdrawals. Stefan finally admits he’s ready to eat the whole wait staff and they go outside where Damon tempts Stefan with a young girl.

Rebekah should have left at this point, Damon even tells her to again, but she stays. I think she wants more than the White Oak Tree. Stefan tries to fight it but can’t, he needs the blood.

Stefan finally takes the plunge and almost goes full on Ripper until Elena and Matt arrive and catch him in the act.  Damon told Elena it was just an experiment,  Matt  quickly ushers her away.  Stefan with blood still dripping from his face looked more broody and distraught than ever, and walked away. Damon told him this is going to take a little time. Even Damon seemed a little moved by the event.

Elena and Matt head back to her place where he tells her he just doesn’t get her thing with the Salvatores. She explains that after her parents died Stefan felt safe because as a vampire he could never die. But Damon just snuck up on her. I thought this was revealing. Now that Elena has encountered so much death and seems to be at peace with a lot of it, can she let Stefan go, was he just a crutch? Is Damon her true love because he wasn’t her crutch, as she said he just snuck up on her as love often does.

She asks Matt if the conversation is awkward for him and he says no and coyly adds  “Once you fall in love with someone, I don’t know if you can ever shake ‘em,” he said. There is an awkward silence, but nothing happens. It’s obvious however, that if given the opportunity Matt would gladly take Elena back.

Matt then shows her the Gilbert Family Journal he stole at the Sheriff’s station, one of the items Meredith mysteriously had in her closet. Matt made a comment about being invisible in a town of vampires so it was easy for him to snatch. There was another hot moment, then Ric came home. Elena and Ric hugged which seemed a little creepy at first, he seemed to be too into it for being her guardian.

Cut to the Salvatore Mansion, Damon comes back and tells Stefan the woman is alright and he is on the road to moderation. Stefan doesn’t believe Damon really wants to help him. Damon reminds him of what happened in 1912, the year he became the Ripper. Flasback time.

Damon after being wooed by Sage tells Stefan to have a drink …of Mariana Lockwood. He does against his better judgement and bites her so hard he knocks her head off. All he can say is “I’m sorry,” continuously and yells at a calm Damon asking him what he had done to him and then runs off. Damon didn’t follow him, shortly after Stefan gained the reputation as the Ripper of Monterey. Thanks Damon!

Damon tells him he let run away and get out of control in 1912 but he won’t this time.  “Whenever you go too far, I will be there to pull you back. Every second, every day, till you don’t need me.” Wow Damon actually took responsibility for something and seems to care all at the same time. It was just too overwhelming.

Meredith shows up at the Gilbert’s and Alaric isn’t happy to see her. She explains she cleared him by changing the coroner’s report but that doesn’t mean he’s really innocent. He lets her in and she begins to explain why he may really be the killer.

Meanwhile  Elena is upstairs reading the lost Gilbert Journal that belonged to Sarah Gilbert, who just happened to have a ring like Alaric’s and wrote that she was losing time and thought she was going mad. Same time at the Salvatore’s they piece together that Damon may not have killed Sarah Gilbert in 1912 like he thought since she had a ring like Jeremy and Alaric’s.

Elena comes downstairs and tells Alaric that Meredith is right, he may really be the killer, due to the ring. Why are rings always evil? Remember Lord of the Rings? Oh well it’s a good excuse for Ric to be innocent kind of.

Predictions: Next week I hope to see Bonnie and Abby back, should be interesting to see how Abby handles being a vamp. More Sage, please. I love her already. She’s a great replacement for Katherine. I think Matt has a shot at interrupting the love triangle between Elena and the Salvatore Brothers. Sage may be the one to convince Finn to come to his sense and not kill himself. Bonnie may have a fling with Finn after all he’s a bigger downer than Stefan about being a vamp. These are just my hopes and dreams.

Welcome to TeganWeekly! I am a writer and book lover in San Francisco. I blog about TV shows, books, movies  and events that interest me, mostly in the supernatural genre. I may also post my creative writing, and writing tips I come across. I hope you enjoy reading the blog as much as I enjoy working on it.