Thought I Wasn't Coming Back, Didn't You?

Well, SURPRISE! I made it to my second post, which means this venture of mine has already been a success.  So, now that I found my way back to you, let me preface my post with a little warning.  I was asked if I had any sort of schedule for when I would be updating my blog.   If you read my first post, you know how I feel about commitment.  I don't know about you, but to me a schedule practically screams commitment, so the answer is no.  But that's okay, because for now, you have a blog post to read.  And in the unlikely event that you start to experience symptoms of withdrawal, you can always re-read it or, even better, leave me comments demanding more.

I started this blog as a means of communication, of opening myself up to the people who have been unfailingly supportive of my writing habit dream despite not really knowing much about it.  As a part of this process, allow me to shed some light on those things I usually keep to myself.

First and foremost, the pen-name.  If you found your way to this blog via my personal Facebook page, then there is no mystery as to who I really am.  There may, however, be a few lingering questions about who Belle Celine is.  There was, for me, never any doubt that I wanted a pen-name. Even if you know who I really am, that smoke screen allows me a layer of security, which manifests in my writing when I feel that I don't have to hold back.  Simply put, Belle Celine is the ambitious, less-fearful part of me, the girl who sees her name in print along with the text 'New York Times Bestseller'.  No, I don't have multiple personalities (although all of the characters that live in my head may disagree).  I chose the pen-name rather spontaneously years ago, because it was pretty.  In French, the name Belle means beautiful, and Celine means dream.  Put that together, and you can see what my greatest ambition is.  Writing is quite literally my beautiful dream. 

Probably the question I get asked most and, to be perfectly honest, the one that makes me squirm uncomfortably and wish I could disappear is "What do you write?".  If that sounds like an easy question for you to answer, you're either A) Not very shy or B) Not a writer.  I am both A and B and a little bit of C) Scared that the world will judge me.  Sure, it's a simple question, but it's implications are not so simple.  You see, first and foremost I write fiction- I make stuff up!  My target audience is 'Young Adult'.  I'm 23 and certainly don't feel like an adult most days (unless I'm drinking coffee and reading the Sunday paper, which is rare but has been known to happen).  A teenager on the edge of adulthood is at a magical time in life where every experience resonates with unrivaled intensity.  There is nothing greater than learning all about the world, love, responsibility, friendship, the true value of family, your self-worth, and still relishing the newness of it. 

But when people ask "What do you write?", neither of those things are what they want to know.  They want to know the things I write about, the people, the plots.  They can't be answered summarily because I've written about a dozen different worlds, a hundred plots, and a thousand people.  I can say though, at the moment I have two works in progress.  One is paranormal, involving all kinds of things that go bump in the night, with a spiritual twist and a general lesson on how finding your place in the world isn't easy but it is enriching.  The second takes place in a world that is picking up the pieces of war and learning that it's easy to assign blame to an entity, but hard to deal with the truth.  Ambiguous (and boring) as those descriptions are, I am not inclined to divulge the nitty-gritty details just yet.  But fear not...when I am, you'll be the first to know.