Writing Through the Night

10 Ways to Deal with Being Doxed!

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Dealing with DoxingIf you find out you’ve been doxed (had your private information acquired and shared online), you have my genuine sympathies. I’m not suggesting you follow all of the steps below (beyond numbers six, seven, and nine), this is just how I reacted…

  1. Be Shocked
  2. Be Scared
  3. Panic a Bit
  4. Wonder if You’re Over-Reacting
  5. Go Through a Few More Cycles of Shock and Fear
  6. Take Screenshots of the Harassment (as evidence, in case the person deletes and denies it)
  7. Find out How People Got Your Details, and Just What Information is Actually Online About You (HINT: It’s probably a lot)
  8. Despair at Humanity
  9. Block and Report the Trolls
  10. Write an Angry Blog Post

There are a few ways I could start this blog post – this is not the blog post I had planned to be writing; I was actually feeling really productive and had planned to get shit done when someone ruined my night; I’ve recently been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and I don’t need any of this stress right now – but all of that boils down to this: last night, some guy I have never met, decided it was appropriate to share part of my address on Twitter because I’m taking part in an event and his partner isn’t.

Yup. For real.

I’ve considered naming and shaming, but have ultimately decided not to give any more details about the situation – at least not right now – beyond saying the person did it to more than just myself, and that he’s been reported to Twitter for it.

Tomorrow, I will be promoting the event as I had originally planned, in a separate post not connected to this negative crap. I don’t want to risk bringing a really positive movement down any further. I just really needed to vent.

This is so far from okay, but I will not be scared into silence. Not over something so stupid.

Having that anxiety disorder I mentioned, and after watching my friend go through a much worse case of doxing just before Christmas, I’d been worried something like this might happen to me, and I recently bought extra security for this site – insuring that my personal details aren’t on who.is, as a result.

The take-away message is that people can still get your details easily enough. I recommend doing some searches to see what’s floating around online about you (start with Google, but also look at pipl.com), and adjusting your privacy settings accordingly.

Hel and Rebelle (Flash Fic)

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Hel and RebelleI recently signed up to be a writing mentor for children and young people as part of an organization called Fighting Words Belfast and, in training for this voluntary role, a group of us went through the writing exercise that we would normally set the kids, to get a first-hand idea of what it’s like.

The gist of it is this: people suggest ideas for a main character, a secondary character (the best friend of the MC), a desire for the MC, and the MC’s main fear. These ideas then get voted on, and a story begins to be built around whatever combination of details that were picked.

My idea of a story about a pink-haired warrior princess with a helicopter for a best friend wasn’t picked, but I decided to write a little story about her anyway – mostly because my partner, who’s also a volunteer, was a little dubious about it…

Behold:

Rebelle was the last in a long line of warrior princesses, hailing from a tiny island, just off the coast of Estonia.
Insurgent groups had just overthrown her parents, and now she was fleeing for her life.
Her best horse was galloping at top speed towards her other best means of a getaway – her best friend, in a lot of ways – a helicopter, affectionately nicknamed Hel.
If grown men could love cars and spaceships, referring to them with female names, Rebelle saw no reason why she couldn’t do the same.
Hel was like a miniature, one-pilot version of a black hawk – completely Rebelle’s own design. A black sparrow, she called her. One of a kind.
But none of that would matter if Rebelle couldn’t make it to the waiting copter in time. She’d voice-activated it, via her wrap-around headset, and the blades were already whirring around – Rebelle could hear them even over the sound of Jasper, her horse, panting, and over the roar of the mob. Many of them were mounted on quad bikes, and Tracktor-Xes. If she didn’t keep up her pace, they’d soon steal her sliver of a lead.
Hel couldn’t come any closer to Rebelle by herself, obstructed by the forest as she was, but the engine was warmed up and ready to go.
Closing the final distance, Rebelle stayed on Jasper until the very last second, at which she had to jump from the horse directly through Hel’s open door. Her high ponytail got sliced off by a chopper blade in the action, leaving Rebelle’s pink hair to fall down over her eyes in a fringe.
With no time to mourn for it, she slammed into her seat and rose into the air even as her seatbelt came around her waist.
Jasper continued running, off towards the horizon, and she missed him already; knowing that she likely wouldn’t see him again, and hoping that he wouldn’t be caught, or trapped.
Rising higher and higher, the mob was now only a series of dots to Hel and Rebelle.
The princess flipped them the bird as she took off towards the freedom of another land.

Guiltless Pleasures (Reading Wrap-Up – Jan. ’16)

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Books Maybe it’s cliché to say this, at this point, but how the hell is it January 2016?! Life, and time, and everything else, is crazy, but more of that in my next post – I’m here to talk about reading!

My Goodreads Goal for this year is a total of 45 books, and I’m currently 5 books into it (11% – 2 books ahead of schedule).

Of those five books, one was poetry (Give Me a Quiet Corner by Patience Strong), two were complied of short snippets of dialogue (Weird Things People Say in Bookshops, and More Weird Things People Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell), one was a novel-length fanfic, and one was Snow Dog by Malorie Blackman – a children’s book. Yes, a children’s book. Not Young Adult, I’m talking something for young, young kids.

I read children’s books, and I’m not ashamed of that fact, but why did I pick one for such a super-young readership? Well, the truth is, I didn’t actually realize it was intended for five year olds. Let me take you back to my childhood, for a minute:

As a child, of maybe of about ten, I read Santa Paws by Nicholas Edwards and I loved it. At the time, it was age appropriate, and to this day I get a deep sense of nostalgia just thinking about it.

Now, Malorie Blackman is my favorite author. As such, I’d been looking through her back catalogue, and I just so happened to come across Snow Dog, listed beside a cover that didn’t look too dissimilar from my beloved Santa Paws book (pictured below).

Based off that cover, I assumed it was going to have similar content inside (hey, isn’t there a popular saying about that?), but… well, I was wrong. Having ordered the book from my local library, who had listed it with the cover in question, I was surprised to pick up a shockingly thin, illustrated book with the cover pictured on the right (also below). Had I seen that cover online, I probably wouldn’t have requested it, but y’know what? I read it, and enjoyed it, so it’s all good.

Santa Paws Book Cover Snow Dog Book Cover 1 Snow Dog Book Cover 2

So, yes, I’m currently ahead of my reading schedule, and yes, that’s mostly because I’ve been reading ‘quick reads’, but they still count and, I’ll say it again: I’m not ashamed.

Moving on!

For Christmas, my partner got me a Kindle, and we also decided to adopt the Icelandic custom of Jolabokaflod (the book flood), in which you give the gift of literature to each other on Christmas Eve and then spend the rest of that day reading.

For the occasion, I received The Jane Austin Bookclub by Karen Joy Fowler, and Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult. While, in turn, I got my partner Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

I didn’t really get into The Jane Austin Bookclub, so I’ve set it aside for now, and I haven’t yet began Sing You Home, but my parter loved Illuminae so much that he finished it within a couple of days and now I’m halfway through it, too.

Also currently reading an eBook on how to get the most of my Kindle Fire, and listening to The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer on audiobook.

Comment Question of the Day: What books have you read that some people might try to shame you for? Tell me below (please?).

Follow Ellie on Goodreads here

2015: A Year in Review

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Engagement RingSince re-launching this website way back in January, I have written forty-seven blog posts (including this one). That’s way more than I’ve written, across the three separate blogs I used to run, in the last few years combined.

Also this year, I’ve written just over ninety thousand words of fan fiction, and a totally unknown amount of other words in poetry, and novels, short stories etc (the fanfic word count is a lot easier to keep track of).

With regards reading, my final stats for the year sit at a total of forty-six books read off a forty-book target.

In the month of December, I listened to one audiobook (You’re Never Weird on the Internet… Almost, by Felicia Day), read two novel-length fanfics, finished a third, finished The Horologicon, and read Where She Went cover to cover.

In 2015, I re-released Wake as a second edition, released Four Season Summer and Season’s End in a combined paperback edition, had a book launch for that paperback, received awards for my fan fiction, entered writing competitions, re-launched my YouTube channel, took part in April’s CampNaNoWriMo, July’s Camp NaNo, and the official National Novel Writing month in November.

Meanwhile, in my personal life, I took a few more trips to England, met the love of my life, and got engaged. All that considered, I think it’s been a pretty great year. Roll on 2016!

Look-See (Flash fiction)

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Below is a flash fic, entitled Look-See, that I wrote the other day. It should become clear by the end what it’s about.

Sally’s head hurt. It hurt so bad it was as if she’d been drinking solidly for a week to only then stop suddenly, but she hadn’t touched a drop – ever! The first thing she was aware of that morning, aside from the mother of all migraines, was her father yelling about how late she was for… what was it she was supposed to be doing again? Honestly, she felt so ill she could barely remember her name, let alone anything else.

Her dad threw back the sheet she’d hidden her face under, and she screeched as the indirect sunlight streaming in from the window hit her darkened, balmy flesh.

“Look at yourself!” her father exclaimed. “How did you get yourself in this state?!” His ranting continued but, no matter how incessantly he posed his questions, Sally had no recollection of how she got so ill. She was sure it hadn’t been her fault, though.

“Look at yourself!” her dad said again.

In response, she opened a blearily eye to him, at which he made a noise that eloquently portrayed his horror as much as his disapproval at the sight.

His next move was to enable Sally to complete the task he was demanding of her – thus, he tugged her by the arm until she was out of bed and following him on dead feet across the hall to the bathroom. Once there, he pushed her forward a step, so she was directly in front of the mirror.

“Just look!” he wrung his hands as he listed off aspects of her appearance: bloodshot eyes, a strange skin tone, dry lips. All the while, Sally looked.

She rubbed her eyes.

She looked again.

In the mirror, she could see her dad pacing on the floor behind her, his gaze focused on his hands.

“Look,” she said to him, instead.

His head came up, his eyes switching back and forth between Sally and the mirror a few times before his skin darkened, too, at the non-sight.

Now she’d had such a sobering shock, Sally remembered exactly what had happened to her. Instinctively, her hand reached for the bite marks she could feel on her neck.

Lulu Junior, but for Adults?

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Comic Book Front CoverApparently it’s been around since February 2014, but I’ve only just heard about this thing called Lulu Jr.

Lulu.com (the parent company), for those who don’t already know, allows people to self publish using the print on demand model, meaning there’s very few overhead costs to releasing a book. As a big fan of this M.O., I’ve used Lulu to create the paperback versions of all of my books.

So now there’s this new thing – essentially Lulu for kids – and it sounds so cool! (No, I’m not getting paid to say this.) Lulu Jr’s book making kits come with everything needed for a child to draw out pages of a book, which they then send to Lulu via the included envelope, and then Lulu compiles the pages into a proper printed masterpiece and sends it back. I told you it sounded cool! WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I WAS A KID?!

Ahem.

Don’t judge me, but I find this so awesome that I’m tempted to do it myself. Yes, the kid’s version and, no, I’m not joking.

As and adult that shamelessly reads children’s books, and enjoys a good spot of coloring in, this is right up my street. But here’s what I’m wondering: why isn’t there a Lulu Jr, but for adults?

Okay, okay, I can practically hear you rolling your eyes at the screen. There’s already the main Lulu service, I’ve already said that, I know. But I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about a third option, in which adults who are not professional artists but who like to doodle as well as write can, not only self publish a book, but can illustrate one too.

In 2014 I made a comic for 24 Hour Comic day, and that resulting comic is available through Lulu’s main site. But let me tell you, it was not easy getting it there – I fought with my printer/scanner for three hours straight!

What I’m essentially saying here, in my perhaps not so humble opinion, is that Lulu is great, and Lulu Jr is a stroke of genius, but I want more. I want to be able to draw out pages to accompany my text, and then have Lulu put them into a book for me, no stress of misbehaving scanners whatsoever. Now, wouldn’t that be a nice Christmas gift?

Reading Wrap-Up – November ’15

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Reading Challenge 2015 badgeHaving previously stated a dislike of audiobooks, I recently decided to give them another chance, and I’m so glad I did! Via an Audible free trial, I got a copy of James Marsters (et al) performing The Importance of Being Earnest, and it was SO good! Sublime and ridiculous, at the same time – what’s not to love?!

My issue with just listening to something instead of having it in front of my face is that I fidget and get distracted. But I have another issue – that of insomnia – which means I, rather regularly, have hours to spend in which my body too tired to do anything, yet my brain too awake to sleep.

Listening to audiobooks during this time was the obvious solution – one that had been pointed out by my partner, some time ago, I must admit – but one that took me a while to come around to. Or maybe it just took me to find the right audiobook. Seriously, I cannot emphasize how much I loved The Importance of Being Earnest. Fantastic book plus favorite actor equals very happy Ellie.

After Earnest, I went on to listen to Go Set a Watchman, which I also loved (Reese Witherspoon: A+). But I must say that I still don’t think I could listen to a book while not in a darkened room, drained of energy. And I listened to a few samples of other audiobooks, and was horrified by the narration of those, so who knows if I’ll continue to enjoy audible tales beyond this. Will keep you posted, either way!

In terms of physical books: I finished P.S. I Love you, read If I Stay, The Revenants – a one-off comic book by two Belfast brothers – and started Master of Murder by Christopher Pike.

Where She Went (the sequel to If I Stay) has been requested from my local library and, in the meantime, I’m still reading The Horologicon eBook.

All of that considered, I have completed my Goodreads Reading Challenge for the year – a whole month early!

Get a free Audible 30 Day Trial Here

Myths of Love and the Moon

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Last week at my local writer’s group, we did a short writing exercise based on the series of prompts about the origins of myths (suggested here). Below is what I came up with:

Gerald and Mavis were sat on the beach, star gazing. Mavis had her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder, as she listened to his long-winded explanation of how the earth came into being.

Drifting in and out of sleep as he went on and on, she caught a few key words and phrases.

“…all started about a hundred years ago, you see… when the ice blasts died off, and the grass overtook everything else… water wasn’t discovered until much later, of course.”

“Of course,” she affirmed, groggily, before really processing the words.

Ice blasts, grass, and then water? Her eyes scrunched up at the thought. Either she was more tired than she realized, and had misheard rather a lot, or her boyfriend was an idiot.

Surreptitiously, she forced herself awake enough to check the flask that had rested between them for any signs of alcohol.

All the while, Gerald carried on. He was talking about the moon now, and how it changed shape because of the fluctuating pressure of the sun.

Mavis was wide-awake now, staring at him.

Finally noticing this, Gerald paused. “Are you alright, dear? Don’t you find the moon fascinating?”

Shaking her head, Mavis held up her finger and pressed it to his lips, in an effort to halt any more words from escaping.

“Firstly,” she began, “The moon doesn’t actually change shape, it just looks like it does and-”

Gerald pushed her finger aside to ridicule her. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “Things are exactly as they appear. You don’t believe in the airy-fairy nonsense they teach kids on TV these days, do you?”

Suddenly horrified at her taste in men, Mavis did three things: one, decided not to let her friends pick out blind dates for her ever again; two, to start making potential suitors take aptitude tests and, three, she stood up.

“Gerald,” she said.

“Yes, my dear?”

“That thing you’re looking at?”

“Yes?” he said again.

“It’s a satellite.”

They drove home in silence.

More Fanfic Awards!

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Fanfiction Award Plaque Today, the winners of Round Thirty-Two of the Sunnydale Memorial Fan Fiction Awards were announced, and I was one of them!

I’ve been titled runner-up for ‘Best Beta.’ One of my stories won ‘Best Crossover (with a TV Show),’ and another story won ‘Best Quickie Fic.’

So, needless to say, I’m very happy! Thank you to whoever voted for me 🙂
Fanfiction Award Plaque Fanfiction Award Plaque