The Oasis of Literature

    It wasn’t black when she closed her eyes, at least not today. Bethany was red. She stayed up late and drowsiness overtook her body, but not her mind. She was repeating the fairy tales as she yearned for love.  Rapunzel was saved and Cinderella was found. She always skipped  “The Little Mermaid,” but hung on to what could’ve been, and what could be. A burning passion. That was it, wasn’t it? The feeling of red. Bethany's heart played music in her chest, but her mind was not controlled. Like a fire, it consumed her. One thing was constant, while in her books and at school. The word, or rather, the name singing over and over in her mind. Leo. He was blue. Waves of calm and depths of unknown phenomenons. He inhaled curiosity and exhaled paradise. Constant like the mountains, and loyal to the sea. Leo kept his head high like he was meant to be a king, but kept his eyes on things that mattered. Water brushed against fire, and Bethany cooled to a shade of pink. A more c...

First off first, Science Fiction is not a fantastical world full of mythical beasts and magical wizards mixed with crazy technology, it's fiction with a bit of a scientific twist, and not exactly fantasy, remember this. On to tips on writing Sci-Fi. 1. Look at big unanswered questions, in all genres of science fiction-technology, physics, philosophy, any scientific genre, whether they are considered truly 'scientific' or not. They can be questions such as the ever popular 'is there life on other planets?' or 'where do we come from?' or 'what's at the end of the universe?' make a list and then select one, or more that correspond (or not), and decide a way to answer them in whatever way you would like. 2. Imagine new discoveries happening in the world, discoveries that you can answer in a similar fashion to the questions above. Such things as alien life and how to control gravity. 3. Take your biggest fear about technology or the future, a...

   Starting a series of posts called, "A Different Shade of Bethany." It's bits and pieces of high school life through a girl who feels the changes of emotions in color. Look forward to it! Also, be aware Bethany is a pen name. Aaaaand.... That I haven't gone through all that will be portrayed in the posts. Loves! -Bethany Y. Lee Find Serindipidy.

Alright, so over the past few months we have given you a series of tips and tricks for you to use in your writing, now we want you to put them to use. Here are your story ideas for you to choose from, feel free to change them around and make them your own: 1. A young girl sits in a tree holding a glowing stone. 2. Three friends race along the edge of a cliff. 3. A group of friends watch as someone is pushed off a waterfall. 4. A boy hides in the bushes as bullies run past looking for him. 5. Feathers fall on the heads of five kids all across the world. 6. Someone sits in their room talking to their favorite pen. 7. Colors dance in the water of a young boy's cup. If you choose 2, 3, or 5 you could put in some  Love Triangles , add a little spice. When you submit these we want to see you trying to add in the  Five Sense  and feel free to add in some ideas from  TIps #1 ,  Tips #2 , and  Tips #3 . Take the idea and expand on it, explain the wh...

Wait a minute...WHAT?! How has this snuck up and tripped me from behind? Don't tell me I'm not the only one surprised by the sudden lack of Doing-Nothing hours. Now, I hope you guys are enjoying (in a way...) being back at these places that claim are raising our knowledge toward a greater level. Seeing as we have returned to the world of the 'living' I'll be able to blog a lot more often! So there is one good thing coming out of this. I'm glad to be back with you all, and I'm hoping to bring this blog back into full function as soon as possible. Hoping to see you back here again! -Kacie, the Lost Author :)

1. two dollars isn't a lot of money, unless.... 2. What does your sleeping, dreaming mind think in the moments before you wake up? What are  its last hopes, fears, or promises to itself as the alarm goes off and it feels itself vanishing? 3.Write a story based on the title of your favorite song. 4. Recall a recent dialogue between you and a friend. 5. Only ten people will fit in the life raft. Convince the captain that you should be one of them. 6. start with "i never told anyone..." 7. This is what _____'s life looks like in public. 8. This is what _____'s life looks like in private. 9. What happened that night. 10. Write the menu for a restaurant-including names for dishes and descriptions of flavors and ingredients. Then rewrite it for the delivery/to-go menu. the delivery menu must be half as long, but just as tantalizing. 11. She was crazy that way. 12. An elaborate and complicated lie. 13. Where do you go to escape? 14. How to get ...

I haven't posted at all this whole time. I would say I'm busy, but really, no I'm not. Forgetful, though. To be honest, it's just I used to be so indecisive, but now I'm not sure. Word of my life, by the way. Word of my life. Another word, now. If you are a fan of this blog, I hope this relates to you. Words are fun. Which leads me to a book. I will tell you about it. Safekeeping; Karen Hess Karen Hess wrote this book with lots of cool combinations of words. I loved to read it just for the sake of seeing how she used words. The ways she said them creatively, though it made it more complicated to say things. Pretty much stuffed with figurative language. I also enjoyed the pictures. Whoo! Picture book! Half the pages were photos the author took herself. It's a shorter book, anyway, so if you want a quick read that doesn't get you started on ANOTHER series while you're waiting for the next book of something to come out (we've all been there), here it is...

Here is the first look at the Prologue of the novel I am currently working on called Steel Horse. It is spoken as though someone were telling a story of a time past. Long ago, in the days of the Ancients, there was a Nation, the Nation of Karilim. Karilim's people were divided into four Kingdoms, not by area, but by species. First was the Kingdom of Injim, with no powers to aide them in any way they learned to fight and became the Warriors of Karilim, the Nation's army. Second was the Kingdom of Peritli, with their life forces in the form of a cat's tail and very sensitive to heat, they were not good in battle, but their Healing abilities were matched by no other in the land. Third was the Kingdom of Maliks, who were the ordinary folk; the craftsmen, farmers, and merchants. Last, but not least, was the most mysterious of the four Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Kazi, whose people were the wielders of an ancient power known as Stone Way, they were the Nation's Mages, and ...

For all you Authors and Bookworms out there, we're creating a new club just for you! The ABOK Club is a constant club on Google+ Communities, where we will have a Book of the Month chat room, talking about the book for that month. Also, authors will be able to share pieces of their work for feedback if they would like. I hope you all join  The ABOK Club Community ! -Kacie :)

You're standing in an elevator after just finishing the final draft of your latest book, and suddenly the head of a large publishing company steps into the elevator with you. Right now, you have less than a minute to convince them that your book is good enough to be published. What do you do? You give your elevator pitch that describes your book in basically one sentence. Don't have an elevator pitch? Well, then get one! It may seem daunting to take you however many chapter book and just summarize it up in just a few short sentences, but trust me, you can do this. You just need to make sure you are able to get the main plot of your story across. In your elevator pitch, it doesn't necessarily have to be in an elevator, you have to explain what it is about your book that it is worth publishing. First, you must explain what your book is about. Second, make sure you tell who the main character is and the main conflict. And you also need a quick 500 words to go a little fur...

We've all heard those things that people and characters say all the time, and then it starts to stick to those around them. Why is it that it's always the book characters, the movie characters, and the famous people who have memorable catchphrases? Why can't average every day people like you and I have a catchphrase, something that pretty much expresses how we're feeling all the time? It's about time, that we make ourselves heard, and get out into the world so that the world will remember us for who we are, and not for something we're not. It's time for this blogs first CATCHY CATCHPHRASE CONTEST. We am challenging all of YOU to come up with a catchphrase for this blog for the month of July, and we know you all can do it. All you have to do is come up with something catchy and submit it by July 4th. We, of the Oasis of Literature, will then decide which catchphrase is THE catchiest and post it for you on Monday, the 6th for all of you to see. First place...

When an author speaks of a character and just talks as them as though they were simply a basketball, the people listening do not get a real feel for what that character is like, and they are unable to emotionally connect with the character. To make a character be real to the audience, they first have to be real to you. If you're working on a book, and you don't know much about your main character, then you won't have a very interesting book, to you and your audience. You need to have the character come to life, for YOU. For an author, the character cannot just be a collection of words on a paper, the character has to have feelings and thoughts, learn what your character likes and dislikes, what they're good at and what their flaws are. Make sure they have flaws, because a character without flaws is like a sandwich with only bread, the flaws is what makes the character interesting, likable. Have you ever heard someone who is a big fan of a book, and they go on and...

Guess who's BACK!!! If you guessed me, than you are completely right!! Well, hello all you people out there. Did'ya miss me? Huh? Did'a? I'm sure all you fantastic people out there did! And if you didn't, you get your butt off this site right now, KIDDING! You know I love you all!! Anywhosits, crazinnes exploded these past few weeks, so while I was gone the world was turned upside down, pushed out of orbit, and crashed right into Mars! Just kidding, but that is totally what it feels like. Well, over the next few posts I will be telling you of some MAGICAL adventures I had while I was gone, including my Sweet 16 Birthday Ball, my trip to Mexico (real craziness happened there), and my first date, we got rained on. Have you guys all been good? I hope so, especially since it is just a couple weeks into SUMMER VACATION, which kind of seems too good to be true! This is all so crazy exciting, don't you think?! What's been your favorite part of Summer yet??? Why?? H...

Nicknames, everyone has one, or at least most people do. I have had many nicknames over the course of my life. Sixth grade I was known as the book worm, I would not be surprised if I was actually elected as the school bookworm that year, because all I ever did that year was read. Then, Jr. High came. And it was like WHAM, tons of new people, most whom I had never seen before in my life. In my good group of friends I became known as Owl, because they said I was very wise...and very curious. There was also the nickname of Thing 4, the Lost Thing. This latest nickname, came in a group of friends, whom were all nicknamed along with me--we nicknamed ourselves. And here are those who were in our little Thing group: Kiersten, she was Thing One; Kirsten, she was Thing Two; Kirsten, she was Thing Four and a different Kirsten from Thing Two; Kacie *cough* me *cough*, Thing Four the Lost Thing; Krysta, Thing Five, No Thing; and some other girl who's name I forgot but she was Thing 394. Yes,...

Don't you hate it when you have those ideas, those brilliant ideas, but you have nowhere to go with them, they just sit in the back of your closet like an unused birthday present. This happens to me all the time and I hate it, a lot. Well, let's put those ideas to work. Pretend that this is your idea: A werewolf attends a human school and cannot get caught. Grab the nearest blank piece of paper, draw a circle in the center of it. Then write down your idea in that circle: werewolf in human school. Now try to expand it. Werewolf in human school-full moon causes actions to change-acts wilder. Cannot get caught-kicked out of school-experimented on-circus show. Maybe this species of werewolf doesn't turn into a wolf, but simply starts acting like wild wolves and lose control of their inner wolf around the full moon. Maybe you should have a branch for conflicts, possibly some foreign scientist is in the area. Or maybe the werewolf's friends have noticed him or her act...

Crazy things have been happening over the past month and a half since I started this blog, for one, we nearly have 1500 views! I never knew how much fun blogging would be, before I started this blog I always thought that blogs were boring, and I never knew why people enjoyed blogging so much, but I understand them a lot better now. You'll be happy to hear we have gone GLOBAL. With viewers from ten different countries including the UK, Argentina, Ghana, Italy, and other countries! It makes me so pleased to be able to see people going onto the blog and enjoying it, and I absolutely love getting feedback from all of you! Thank you all so much for visiting my blog, even if it was only once I'm so glad to be able to have the opportunity to share with you many different things. If you ever feel the need to contact me, feel free to do so. Without you guys, this blog would be down in the dumps and probably wouldn't have lasted half a month. And a thank you to all of you who sha...

Would you care to sit in and listen as we learn to set our setting? Or maybe you would not like to sit in, but would rather like to sit and learn to set your own setting. Well, either way, you are free to sit in with us while we discuss: Setting a Setting This may seem to be quite an odd topic. Now, it would not be quite so odd to you if you joined us before in the first three parts to the Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Writing Stories. Well, it also might not seem so odd, if you were just a natural odd ball, then it would be less peculiar and quite plain to you. As you may have realized, this is our fourth step into the journey of writing. Of course, you can go follow these steps in any order you would like. Now, let us begin. Take your plot, if you have one, and examine it very intimately. Do not add to it, we do not want it to start growing yet. But look at it closely, and see where you think it might be taking place. Possibly, it is taking place in many different location...

Greetings to all intergalactic travelers, this is our first day of our splendid new Theme Week! Today, our lovely theme, from beyond the heavens themselves, is Star Wars! This is our official Star Wars Post for Star Wars Day! There will be all things Star Wars and you are free to scroll through and read whatever you want! May the Fourth be with you on this splendid day! Star Wars the Force Awakens trailer! Celebrating Star Wars Day! Star Wars, John Williams is the Man! Story time: Every year on May the 4th, everyone always says 'May the 4th be with you' of course, and every year my brother always forgot to do it. Now, this year he remembers to do it, but he's in Mexico and nobody understands! Star Wars pick up lines: You're the Obi-Wan for me. Are you related to Yoda? 'Cause Yoda-licious You're hotter than the flames on Mustafar I must be from Alderaan, because you just blew up my world. How can you be from an ice planet, wh...

Recently I have had the pleasure of being able to experience the fun of having a penpal. You learn so much about different cultures and countries, and it is always nice to be able to have a friend you can talk to about anything. There is no need to worry about what you look like or doing something that might make you feel like a fool, because usually you can just communicate through email, and it's great! There is a great penpal website called  Penpals Now  and it is really good! You can meet anyone from anywhere, and create an amazing friendship that could last for years and years. If you want to meet new friends and learn about different places and different cultures, having a penpal would be a great plan. You can even meet people from your own country! I think it's really great to meet new people and have such an incredible experience that can stretch across the globe, and who knows! Maybe you'll meet your penpal in real life someday, though it might not happen....

Alright, I know this pretty much can be seen as having absolutely NOTHING to do with writing, but you're wrong! Screenwriters wrote the script for this and also you can use this as some idea inspiring! Not to mention I just really wanted to post this because I absolutely just LOVE it so much! This is crazy exciting! The movie comes out this CHRISTMAS, which is, with great sadness, eigth months away T^T but, it looks incredible and I am really hoping that they did not ruin it, though looking at the trailer makes it look super good! What do you guys think? Is Disney going to ruin these next three Star Wars movies, or are they going to do an amazing job of them? Post what you think in the comments! Have a British day -Kac

Hey guys! You all know about the Merry Mischief, our brand new Newsletter that will be sent out every Monday. If you would like to Subscribe to it just go to the top of the blog on the top right of each page there will be a subscribe button where you submit your email and we will send you a Merry Mischief every Monday. And, if you would like to UnSubscribe, there is a button lower on the page, beneath our Random Fact of the Day on the right side of the screen and we will stop sending you issues of the Merry Mischief. Each Merry Mischief will have highlights on books that have recently come out and what they're about, along with books coming out, and book reviews. They will also let you know of any current contests and upcoming events like Theme Week. There will also be several Weeklys like book trailer links, jokes, poems, and writing tips. Last but not least there will be post summaries of the last week's posts and recent poll or contest results. Thank you for all of you...

If you're an author, how many times have you been given the gift of a notebook and pens? A lot more than you might think at first. Maybe you're not an author but your friend is, and you don't want to get the normal 'go to' gift for an author. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love getting notebooks and writing utensils, especially fancy schmancy ones, but it does get tiring when so many people do it. This is a list of gifts you can give authors that seem original and creature, but they're still pretty simple: Phone case with a notepad -that way, if you're going through your day and you think of an idea and you hate typing it in your phone, you can just write on the notepad on the back of your phone case.  2. A typewriter that plugs into a tablet -You can feel like you're writing on an old fashioned typewriter, but in a modern way, which is what you are doing. 3. Aqua Notes -this way you cannot forget all those great ideas that pop into y...

I am starting up a weekly newsletter for this blog and it is called the Merry Mischief, and is centered around reading and writing. It will be published through email every Monday, and anyone is allowed to get it. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, please submit your email in the contact forms or just email it to litoasisreese@gmail.com. Here is our very first edition of The Merry Mischief, though it is not in as good form as the email version: The Merry Mischief April 30th, 2015 Greetings to all you Mischief Makers! I’m Mary Mischief, here to give you the inside scoop on all things book related, with some assistance from the Oasis of Literature <liteartureoasis.blogspot.com>. NEW RELEASES: * Dream A Little Dream, by Kerstin Gier, Anthea Bell (translation) Mysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yes, Liv’s dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially this one where she’s in a graveyard at night...

This is going to be one of many Fable Fests to come. Each Fable Fest will have a special theme unique to that Fable Fest and I want all of you to submit your Fables under that theme. Then, I will post all of your Fables on the official Fable Fest post. Our very first Fable Fest will have the theme of Medieval. So, go out there, write those stories, use as many tips from my blog as you want, or use none, our Fable Fest will start on May 11 and will go through May 22. Each day I will post at least 1 Fable so I need your Fables in as soon as possible! If I don't have any Fables in for a day, I will post one of my own Fables, but I want this to be all about you and your work. Thank you for all of those who have sent in your Five Sense Stories, I love reading them and I am always happy to help you out in any way possible. Have a British day -Kac :)

Below I will be listing a series of basic descriptions for people, and you will be able to play the game and figure out your character. I will be coming out with another Brainstorm game for Personalities and Describing other things. Hope this game is fun and helps you out. Brainstorming: Appearances Gender>Flip a coin: Heads -female Tails -male Hair Color>Roll two dice and add together: 2 -bald>> 3 -white blond>> 4 -blond>> 5 -dirty blond>> 6 -light brown 7 -medium brown>> 8 -dark brown>> 9 -black>> 10 -strawberry blond>> 11 -red>> 12 -dyed colour Hair Length>Roll a die: 1 -cropped military short>> 2 -shaggy boy short>> 3 -shaggy boy long>> 4 -shoulder 5 -between shoulder and shoulder blades>> 6 -past shoulder blades Skin>Roll a die: 1 -Caucasian>> 2 -Asian>> 3 -African>> 4 -South American>> 5 -Indian>> 6 -Polynesian Eye color>Ro...

Here are some of my favorite pick up lines, you are ALL free to use any of them any time, I hope they work. First up, Star Wars pick up lines: You're the Obi-Wan for me. You've been looking for love in Alderaan places Did it hurt...when you fell from Cloud City? You're hotter than the flames on Mustafar I must be from Alderaan, because you just blew up my world Are you related to Yoda? Because Yodalicious You stole my heart like the Rebels stole the Death Star plans Are you an angel? Because I feel like I'm in Cloud City You've Obi-Wandered into my heart Now, Harry Potter style: If you were a Dementor, I'd become a criminal just to get your kiss I know we're not in Professor Flitwick's class, but you sure are charming My love for you burns like a dying Phoenix Without you I feel like I'm in Azkaban and the Dementors are sucking my breath away Your smile is like Expelliarmus, simple yet disarming You must be my Horcrux, because y...

We've all read those books where there is a love triangle going on between three characters, main or side, and you just don't know who you want to get together in the end. I find those the best kind of love triangles, because if there is always one where you are automatically and always on this one side then it just doesn't feel like a proper love triangle cause you know exactly who you want to end up together and who is going to end up together. Boring, right? Now, it's time to create love triangles all on your own and make it so that your readers cannot decide who they want to end up together, it makes them more invested in the story this way. First, you need your main character of the triangle. Usually it's a girl with two boys, but you can switch it up a bit and make a boy with two girls. Let's make a love triangle where it's a boy with two girls, just turn away from the social normal and be ourselves now. Alright, let's make our main character s...

When it comes to reading, so many times do I read books or stories where there is little to no inclusions of the senses in the writing. I am unable to make a real connection with the character if I don't know what they're sensing all around them using their five senses, but with the senses I connect with the character and grow attached to them quicker and easier, because I know what they're going through. Create a short sentence that has absolutely no senses involved. An example of a senseless sentence is this: I stood still before him. Now try to add in a little sight: Watching him through slitted eyes, I keep still as I stand. This helps your reader to understand exactly what the character is experiencing, and lets the reader experience it along with them. Our next sense will be the sense of touch, go ahead, add that in to create something like this: Breezes ruffle through my hair, sending chills down my back as I stand before him, my eyes slitted as I watch him. As...

Next Week, starting Monday, is going to be the first ever Theme Week on my blog. Every day will have a different Theme, and all the posts from that day will be posted under that Theme. Our first Theme Week will have the following themes: Monday-Star Wars Day Tuesday-Harry Potter Day Wednesday-Mystery Day Thursday-Super Hero Day Friday-Mythical Creatures Day Saturday-Picture Day I hope you will all enjoy my Theme Week idea and you are always welcome to make suggestions for another Theme Week. I am hoping to do a Theme Week once a month for all of you to enjoy. Well, that's it for now, have a British day -Kac

Part 3 of The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Writing Stories The Quest for Characters First, gather together what you have so far. Your ideas, your plot, everything. Examine your plot, look at it very closely, but not so close that you can see everything inside of it. No, you want to look around inside your plot for the kind of characters it needs. If your plot is based around the zombie apocalypse, you'll want a character who is brave and strong, or one that has no choice but to stop being a shy wallflower and become a strong leader. You don't want a character for that kind of plot where he or she is never willing to stop being scared, because then people who read the book will probably not like your character and lots of characters will die because of him or her. Now, once you decide on your main character and what you think they should be like, it's time to move onto the direct side characters, or the other main characters as some may call them. These characters are the on...

Echoes through the Wall <<<< There are sparkles and magic in this one XD Batman Birthday Party <<<< Vrrrooooooooom time

Now, first I must tell you of those who I eat lunch with this year, our names are: Bluebird, Lefty, Pumpkin, Paleontologist, Freezer Man, Shy Guy, and Master Mind. Now, I shall tell you of the Legend of the Sheep Dragon, which is the mascot of our lunch table. High in the mountains there lived a herd of young sheep, their herd having lived in these mountains for many centuries, having survived all creatures that rose against them. They lived in peace and prosperity, their coats of wool thick and soft, causing the envy of many other sheep nearby. One day, a new predator arose, daring to go against the high clan of sheep. This predator was the great Wolf, his fangs long and cruel, and his eyes flashing menacingly as he approached the mountain sheep. With loud howls he pounced, killing some of the sheep and causing all the rest to abandon their mountain home and retreat down into the foothills while their new enemy claimed their beloved land. For many years the great Wolf ruled the ...

Good job to all of you who participated in our very first writing contest: Chloe, Ethan, Audrey, Cecie, Kaylyn, and Michael. You all did really great and I am so happy to see you participating in things on my blog. Now, for the winners. First Place goes to Ethan M. with his poem Memory, you'll be able to find it on the Winners Page and on the Page of Awesomeness. Congratulations Ethan and thank you for participating. :) Tied for Second Place are Kaylyn F. and Michael H. with their poems Broken Ball and Light and Dark. Your poems will be posted on the Page of Awesomeness for all to see, Congratulations and thank you for participating. I will be posting out next contest soon so be ready! Thank you, and have a British day -Kac

Idea Inspiring time, I collected a few pictures for you and I want you to create five different captions for each of these pictures. They can be as long as three paragraph captions or as short as three words, for example: meaning of life. Then, try to figure out a story plot that would work the picture and one of the captions into it. Feel free to send in your ideas for the captions and I will post them on here.  Hot magma erupting as he wakes from his millennium slumber. <<<< Walking on the sky and looking up at the ground of the earth. >>>> how many footprints can you find? ^^^^    Shark flying through the air. <<<< A lone palm breaking from the desert floor. >>> Wandering in the woods during the shadowed night. <<<< Hope these help you with ideas! Let me know if these help and what else you would like me to do. Have a British day -Kac