Publish a novel

I’m a newbie so I dont’ know my target audience or even what I want to write about. I’ve always read victorian novels so I’m sort of out of date.

I bought an irewards card and now I’m buying and reading bestsellers like crazy so I can …
1. Figure out the genre and audience I”m interested in.
2. Update myself to what speaks to people right now.

I’m a complete amateur so I don’t know what genre I want to target or anything like that.

I got an irewards card. I’m buying and reading best sellers like crazy.
Hopefully from this, I’ll..

1. Find out the genres and audience I want to target from what I just seem interested in.

2. Build up on what’s hot out there right now.

My book was published as an ebook about 2 months ago and will be in paperback in about six more months. The entire process has been very satisfying—but my goal is now to publish another one.

This is very important to me, and I have an outline and notes for a great sci-fi, social commentary thing by which I’ve been smitten for many a year, but It’s more practical to work on a couple of smaller non-fiction works first to get my foot in the door and work up to it. Off to long-term land with you!

Chapter 1: ‘The beginning’
You know how we start liking someone and we think they like us. Well, we never actually know who they like unless they tell us. Oh, and we should never believe ANYTHING from anyone about someone else, because usually, they’re rumors. Okay, that was the warning, now I’m going to tell you the real story. It’s mainly about a ninth grade girl and guy in ISG-Jubail School and how they like each other, and remember, this story is based on a true story!

It was the first day of the new school year 2006-07; I walked in through the assembly hall doors to one of my best friends’, Melinda. We chatted for a while and talked about our holidays. We finished with the gossiping, and there was a moment of silence. Of course, we were gazing around the hall, looking for new faces. We did spot some people, unfortunately, they didn’t look fun enough. Then, we spotted the biggest snob and show-off of the junior high. Her name was Annie and she was in ninth grade. She thought of herself being the smartest and the hottest girl. That’s what she thought, but the majority thought the opposite! So, Melinda and I sat there, observing Annie and her attitude as usual. Suddenly, Melinda let out a squeak, “EEeeeekkk!!!” “Nancy, Annie’s nose is shining like a diamond!!!” Okay, now that sounds kind of weird. She was talking to me, but her eyes were totally on Annie. Then, I gave a closer look at the snob’s nose…Yup, there it was. It was pretty obvious; Annie had gotten her nose pierced.

What the hell!!! What was the need of getting her nose pierced? She’s only fourteen. “Oh well, must be another trick of hers to attract the guys”. Said Melinda. Yeah, I guess she was right. Soon, some of our other classmates walked over. We talked for a while…then, they got right to the point. “Oh my god, look at Annie’s nose, why did she even get it pierced, doesn’t she wear enough jewellery?” said Hallie. Everyone burst into laughter; it was true, because Annie is a jewellery obsessed freak. She had five holes in each of her ears! Besides that, she accessorized herself with a thousand bangles, anklets and many more. So, now you must have figured that a lot of my class dislikes Annie. But why did everyone notice one piercing so highly and why did they make such a big deal out of it, well, I think it was because nobody in the whole school, including teachers, has ever worn a nose jewellery.
Later, the principal of the school made a few announcements and welcomed new comers. Then, we headed to homeroom. We were given 30minutes to meet new people and talk to our old mates. Then, our teacher handed us day planners and we were off to second period. The classes seemed extremely long, but very fun and amusing. Soon, we had lunch break, many people headed towards the cafeteria where the younger kids ate. Most of the seventh grade, including me, headed towards a shaded area, which we call ‘The Cage’. There, we ate and played soccer. My two best friends and I are kind of like tomboys so we like do play sports and play with guys.

We played soccer until our shirts were soaked with sweat! “EEwwww!!” said a gang of four girls called, Amy, Alicia, Juniper, And Hallie from my class. These were the show-offs from my grade and they thought of themselves as the smartest and the coolest. Well, only Hallie thought that. The funny thing was, they all looked alike and were south-east Asians. That’s not the funny part, the funny part is, they all had noses which were flat, fat, wide, boneless looking and hammered looking. Seriously, it seemed as if someone had hammered their noses. There were ten minutes left before break ended, just then, a couple ninth graders walked in. Their names are, Annie, Melvin, Hanan, Marie, and a new girl was also with them. Hanan and Marie were close friends of mine. Annie was okay with me sometimes…when the teachers were around. Annie and Melvin had their arms around each others’ backs. It seemed like they had an affair going on.

Melvin started playing soccer with us; he was on the other team, the leading team. Annie was cheering for Melvin. What was the need to cheer? His team was in the lead by seven points! Now it was obvious, she was trying to get his attention because, her friends said, she has a huge crush on him. Typical of Annie. Melvin was one of the smartest and popular ninth graders, how could he even think of hanging out with SO CALLED Miss Universe?

Chapter 2: ‘The Accident’
The bell rang. Break was officially over just in time for the penalty kick by our team. All the non-players were standing by the goal. Annie was the closest to the pole on the right hand side. My team mate, Paul, took the shot. He didn’t shoot in to the goal; he did an even better job. The ball hit the right hand pole and then, it hit Annie, spot on her nose ring! Marie, Hanan, Melvin, and the new girl ran over to help Annie, all of us just laughed our heads off!!! This was hilarious, it was the first day and Annie just started to attract the guys towards her, when her nose starts bleeding. Quickly, we ran to class. It was Library Lesson. We just reviewed the Dewey Decimal System. After that, we had Problem Solving. We did some math warm-up there. It was time to head back home.

I got on my bus. On the way back, I kept on thinking about what had happened to Annie and I actually thought it wasn’t very loyal since she got an infection in her nose after the accident. I wondered, what I would feel if it had happened to me. But who cares? It was Annie, she deserved it! When I got home, I had lunch and then I went online. It was only the first day and we had gotten loads of homework already. As I was doing my research, many of my classmates were online. All of them were doing their homework and talking about Annie. Hallie, who lives on her compound, told me that Melvin and Annie were dating that day, that minute and in that compound. What was wrong with Melvin? Had he become brainless all of a sudden? No, that couldn’t be possible. Than, Paul told me that when Annie got hurt, she fake cried and so Melvin went to her, then, Marie forced him to take her to the nurse and he obeyed her. And the rest I figured. See, Annie must have asked Melvin out as they walked to the nurse’s office. Yeah, that was right and it made perfect sense. After all, Annie would do anything to become popular as well as show-off more. As everyone knows, Melvin is extremely kind and generous and he won’t hurt a fly so possibly he said yes to the snobby show-off.

The next day at school, everyone was obviously talking about Annie again! I went straight towards my locker which was on the end of the hallway. My bus had a lot of kids to pick so I was always five minutes late. This meant I didn’t have a lot of time to socialize. I had only five minutes to talk to my friends, take everything out of my bag, get ready for class, and lots of more things. I walked with one of my best friends’ to the Band Room because we had Band first period. We practiced some songs we’d play in the winter concert. I played the flute. After that, we had P.E. there, we ran a mile! P.E. was over soon and snack break had started. I and some of my friends sat by our lockers. We ate, talked and laughed. Then, we heard loud giggles, who could it be? Well of course, it was Annie!! Even though her nose looked horrible because the blood of the piercing had frozen on to her nose, she still seemed happy! Another reason why she was laughing was because Melvin was there! Our school was very strict about dating, kissing, and hugging inside the buildings. This was because we lived in Saudi Arabia and the society around us was very different then in the other countries. Melvin and Annie were holding hands and then, right that minute, our teacher, Mrs.Torry caught them.

I don’t know what happened after that since I’m not in the ninth grade, but I heard that they got away with it without getting in trouble! So, again, the classes seemed terribly long and now, they were boring! Especially Language Arts, we just read a book! We had the same old routine; I went out to play soccer with some friends in the cage. I was played great today, I scored two goals! Then again, Annie and her people came out. This time, Melvin didn’t come to play soccer with us, even when we begged him to. Then, they made out! Annie and Melvin actually made out! In front of everyone in the cage! They did it there because there was no teacher around! But, unfortunately, the couple didn’t know that some people are big mouths and they are in the cage! Who I’m referring to is the gang of four girls from my class. This time, there weren’t any accidents.

The next day at school was a special one. We had a movie morning, so the whole junior high watched a movie till 10:00. The movie we watched was called ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’. It was funny at times, but boring mostly. I gazed around the room to see who was there and who wasn’t, and guess what? Annie and Melvin weren’t there! Nobody had noticed that, not even the teachers! Where could they be? What could they possibly be doing? Due to the missing of these to people, I whispered to the girl sitting next to me telling her that they aren’t here, she whispered to another girl and they pretended to ask together, “Where are Annie and Melvin?” The whole room suddenly started to gossip, including the teachers, then, one of our teachers left the movie room and went to look for the two runaways. Everyone else was told to be quiet and to pay attention at the movie.

Chapter 3: ‘Got away again!’
I did hear that Melvin and Annie were found, but I don’t know anything else. But I didn’t know anything until lunch break, after it, I knew everything. Basically because the ninth graders were talking about it and we heard everything they said. See, Mrs.Torry found them in the Band room, making out! That was the only place where they could hide since the Band teacher was watching the movie with us and the room was at the end of the primary hallway. They turned off the lights so that nobody would think anyone’s there and they shut the door so it seems like the teacher locked it. Everything was planned. But, guess what? I also heard that they didn’t get in trouble at all. Well, they did get break time detention, but that’s it! What was wrong with Mrs.Torry, why didn’t she give them a lecture or something? Annie was very sophisticated and simple last year, but this year she was the opposite! This was partly because her mother wasn’t here so she could do anything she wanted. She wore bad and inappropriate clothes to school, did wrong things…you get the idea. Days went by, there was new news about Annie and Melvin daily, the teachers didn’t take any action at all, life was made extremely simple for them. There was no use of complaining to the teachers either, after all, they already knew what the situation was.

Annie’s mother was back, just in time for Parent Teacher Conference. Our science teacher, Ms.Hallington was decorating the bulletin board outside her class, there; she put pictures of students working. Fortunately, she put a picture of Annie, wearing a deep neck shirt and a mini skirt with Melvin’s hand behind her back! Was this our lucky day or what? Everyone from the seventh and the eighth grade saw the picture because the board was near their lockers. Annie on the other hand had her locker on the other side of the hall so she never got to see her picture. The picture was put up on Wednesday so Annie’s last chance to view it was over. On Thursday morning, all the parents went to our school at selected times to meet with their child’s teachers. My parents went early in the morning. When my parents reached home, I asked my mom if she met Annie’s mother, my mom said yes and she also told me that her mother didn’t look very happy. “Yes!!!” I cheered!!! Annie’s mom had seen the picture! It was time to celebrate. I called and sent text messages to many of my friends telling them the situation. Oh, if you’re wondering why the meeting was on Thursday, well, it’s because in Saudi Arabia, Thursday and Friday are weekends.

On Saturday, our second period class was P.E, the girls met in Mrs.Torry’s room. Usually we all gathered in the class then we went to the gym. This time, we had a little lecture on appropriate dressing, modesty, and behavior in school. She mentioned many things which resembled Annie. Everything the teacher said didn’t match anyone in second period P.E. Annie was in the first period batch and they also got the lecture. As time passed, Annie got a little better. She stopped showing off and she stopped wearing so much jewellery, still, she did not change her clothing style and she didn’t let go of Melvin. When ever I went to a party and Annie was there, she would always show me text messages from Melvin. They were highly romantic but I was shocked that Melvin sent those. Everyone had thought that he was just dating her to be nice and all. But, unfortunately, we were all wrong! He actually liked her! Who would have thought that it would be true? She always got so happy when ever he messaged her. She would read the text over and over again. Then, she would call him and they’d talk for ages.

Our first quarter was over; we had a ten day vacation. The last day of school was Wednesday. Everyone was saying goodbye to each other because most of us won’t be meeting for ten days. I didn’t have a problem with that because my best friends and I always met. As we all headed to our buses, Annie and Melvin were doing a little love scene. They did it daily but this one was slightly longer. The hugged for ten minutes and then they kissed and hugged again. It was sort of hilarious since the vacation was only ten days long! Watching them was boring, so I went to my bus. My sister came on after me and she told me that our principal saw Annie and Melvin’s scene and he told them off. Big deal, everyone knew about them and nobody took control. When I got home, I ate, and then I got ready for my friend’s farewell party.

Chapter 4: ‘The real thing starts now’
The 10 day break was over and everyone was happy to be back at school. Everyone
Was talking to each other about the long weekend and where they went. Also,
Everyone was curious to know what had happened about Annie and Melvin since they
Were the hot talks of our school currently. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time
To figure out. We headed to our Band class. There we learnt how to play some very beautiful and yet, extremely hard compositions. The best one was of course, by
Mozart.

Our Band class had ended and P.E. was about to start. As we walked to the Locker room to change into our gym suits. We saw Annie and Melvin hiding out and doing the worst thing of all in the costume room which was also in the Girls locker room. When we saw them, Melvin was zipping his fly and Annie was buttoning up her
Shirt. Suddenly, I had a vision of what could have happened, but I wasn’t sure if it
Was right. I went to the gym next, as I went there, a few ninth grade girls were
Talking to Mrs.Torry, and according to me, it was about Annie since those girls were
Also highly against Annie. Guess what, we didn’t have P.E. after that, in fact,
Mrs.Torry called in all the girls from their other classes and the guys were sent
To their P.E. instructor Mr.Torry. Everyone was wondering why they had skipped
Class and what could the reason be.

“As you all may already know what has been going on with a few ninth graders and even though it’s unacceptable behavior, we, the teachers have been quiet about it. However, this will no longer happen, we will catch the culprits and give them the required punishments. I surely know who the couple is and I don’t think I have to name them and tell you all what they have been doing since you all may already know. I’m going easy on you guys today and I’m not naming the people today, due to this fact, you all should strictly understand my point and stop this immediately or else I will deal with you.” This was the speech which Mrs.Torry gave to us as a result of missing P.E. We, the students knew whom she was talking about of course, so did the culprit, Annie. When we were dismissed, we went to our lockers to get our snacks, Annie was shocked, and so was Melvin as they headed to their lockers. The guys had a dose of the same speech by Mr.Torry.

The students were happy that this day had been faced, and now Annie and Melvin would probably break up or at least socialize less. WRONG!!!! We were all wrong!!! How could this be??!! The Torrys’ were the strictest teachers of the junior high and if they were disobeyed even once, then school would become hell for the student who was responsible. Melvin did seem scared; however, on the contrary, Annie was as cool as a cucumber. Her habits didn’t change the slightest. The teachers did catch Annie and Melvin making out again, but they let them go, because winter break was starting from the next day. It was the last day of school and this time the holidays were a month long, mainly because Eid and Christmas were coming during the vacations. Everyone was saying bye to each other, people were giving presents to their friends, either for the two holy festivals, or because their birthdays were coming up. Annie and Melvin followed their routine of hugging and kissing for a minimum of five minutes. Annie was staying here in Jubail for the long vacation and Melvin was going to his home country, South Africa.

Chapter 5: Busted!
School opened in the second week of January. The junior high hallway was full of conversations and laughter. It was hard to hear what you were talking about because so many people were talking at once. We had an assembly first thing in the morning which meant we missed first period class. The assembly was mainly just a greeting and a few new rules and current events were being announced. We were told that we had a concert coming up in middle of February. As we headed to second period, we spotted Annie. The same old Annie. But there was something different about her. She was the same, but different. She was not with Melvin and he was at school! The news had been announced, Annie and Melvin had broken up, but nobody knew why, only some ninth graders knew.

Annie did continue to show off as usual, but she did still have an unhappy look on her face. I didn’t know that I would ever say this, but for once, I actually felt sorry for her! Even though Annie was heart broken and everyone knew it, she continued to flirt! The worst part was, Melvin was actually making fun of her and swearing at her for some awkward reason. Then, we all, including Annie spotted him making out with this other girl, Tina. I was so happy he did this, because Annie really got pissed. Suddenly, she went over to a nigger from her class, Keagan and she made out with him! This was bad because guess what, Mr. Torry caught her. Keagan was so mad at Annie for what she did because his girlfriend saw them and she thought he was cheating on her! Now, not only was Annie embarrassed, but her reputation was completely ruined!

What could she do, she was desperate! Annie couldn’t last one day without a boyfriend and everyone knew it. On one side, Annie was crying in the girls’ locker room, and on the other side, Melvin was the happiest today then I’ve ever seen him be. According to the Torrys’, this was the best lesson of life for Annie because she learnt how tough it can be. School was boring lately; everyone had tests for 2 weeks. Sometimes, we had two long tests on the same day! Also a reason for school to be boring was…no gossip!! After Annie and Melvin had broken up, everyone became bored. We had nobody to gossip about, nobody to bitch on, our pleasure had absolutely disappeared.

Valentines Day was coming up which meant valentine social was coming up! Every year, our school has two parties for the junior high which are called, socials. So one of the socials is a valentine’s one and the other is the end of the year social. The social was on a Wednesday which meant we had a week to decide the events and decorate. The leadership team was a group of junior high students who made decorations and decided games, food, etc for parties. Luckily, I wasn’t one of them as I wasn’t very fond of art and neither was I very good at it. It was the day of the social, the hall looked great. There were hearts and cupids all over the place. We were put into teams for the games. I was in team number six. As we were heading to the cage to do some fun outdoor activities, Tina and Melvin sneaked into the locker room and they did this when all the students were heading to the cage in a bunch and so if they sneaked out, they wouldn’t be noticed. I really didn’t care about them at this moment; I was having too much fun. We had water balloon fights. I was horrible at aiming and I was the one who got soaked up the most!

It was time to go home from school after the social. All the parents were coming to pick their children. As I was heading out to the parking lot, I heard a bunch of ninth graders laughing; I didn’t care what they were laughing about at all until I heard the name ‘Annie’. I was kind of surprised since Annie didn’t really have a boyfriend anymore and so their wasn’t much gossip about them, then why were the ninth graders laughing? Since my best friends didn’t go to the social as they were busy with their parents, I stayed with Marie as Hanan had left forever and they were best friends so it seemed like she needed a friend. Also, Annie used to be with them until last year since she didn’t really have a boyfriend. Even though, friends are important and nobody can just ditch their friends just because of some guy who would some day betray you.

The laughter made us curious to hear the whole story behind it, so, Marie and I hid behind a row of lockers and luckily, we could hear the group talking since they were so loud. The tallest guy in school, Justin, was saying something similar to this, “Annie and Keagan were having a one night stand, and when Annie went to the locker room to get her clothes on as she was only wearing a bra and a thong, her Dad called her phone which she left with Keagan. He didn’t know Annie hid her personal life from her family, so he answered her phone. Her dad was like, who are you and where’s Annie, Keagan answered and said, I’m Annie’s boyfriend Keagan and she is gone to wear her clothes as we just had a one night stand.” The bunch started laughing again, this was absolutely hilarious. The funnier part was, Keagan didn’t tell Annie about the conversation he had with her dad, and so they walked out together not knowing her father had arrived. As they stepped out of the school building, they kissed on the lips. Then they stood on separate sides.

Annie’s dad came running towards Annie after seeing the couple kiss. He asked her who the guy was; she replied and said, “I don’t know.” Keagan probably heard them as he scurried towards them and kissed Annie! Annie was again, embarrassed and her father was absolutely ashamed because she was not allowed to do what she was currently doing and had done in the past. Her father slapped her and pulled her towards the car. Nobody knows what happened next but everyone saw the scene with her father’s behavior towards her and that was going to turn into big news.

Chapter 6: Shocked!
After every social, Mrs.Torry puts up pictures and highlights on the bulletin boards in the junior high hallway. This time, there were many pictures of Melvin and Tina. This made Annie jealous since she still had feelings for Melvin. Later, we found out that Tina and some of her friends helped the teacher to put up the pictures so they might have printed those pictures. After lunch break, I went to the girls’ locker room and heard someone crying, I knocked on the door and Annie came out. She was full of tears, her eyes were puffy, and her nose was red.

It was obvious; Annie was hiding because she was crying. There was absolutely no need to ask about what was wrong and why she was crying. I knew the answer…it was because of the pictures on the board outside. Poor Annie, her love for Melvin was still so full even after the break up. Interestingly, we talked for a while; she told me so many secrets about her life and all. I was shocked to hear what I heard; also, I was sort of surprised about why she was telling me stuff which had basically nothing to do with me. Annie also told me that she was dating Keagan to make Melvin jealous; however, she wasn’t successful with her mission. I did feel sorry for the heartbroken ninth grader, but I was sure she deserved what she got, in fact, she deserved way more then that. I was certain that more pain was surely coming. Despite all the sympathies I had for Annie, I was happy for Tina since she was a good friend of mine even though we weren’t classmates. She was a show off of course, but not a big one like Annie. Tina was kind and helpful to everyone and that’s why everyone loved her.

It was almost time for class so I headed towards my locker, there, I told my best friends about my conversation with Annie. They didn’t really seem to care much anymore; besides, nobody should care since it doesn’t involve them. For the first time, I felt as if I was doing something wrong. Even though I felt ashamed, I couldn’t help it because the major population of our school gossiped about the same person. Almost all the people hated Annie, but they were nice to her in person, and the talked about her 24/7 behind her back.

Every year, we always had new language arts teachers. Most of them were boring. However, this year, it was the opposite. Our language arts teacher was the best! Everyone loved him, he was funny all the time and we laughed during 90% of the class time. Even though, we learnt so much! Mr.McTernan gave me the highest scores on the essays. The whole junior high was a fan of him. The teacher was attached to all the four grades equally, however, he was closer to ninth grade the most. Annie was his favorite student apparently. Nobody knew why, but that’s the way it was. Annie would tell him her life story and what people say about her, he would give her an emotional treatment class. This would usually happen during ninth grade French and since some of my close friends were in it, they told me what happened.

It was the third quarter of school when I had 2 go to my hometown for a month because my dad was switching jobs. It was very depressing for me having to leave like this, leaving all my friends and my studies. I pleaded my father to let me stay at a friends’ or so, but his answer was clearly no. I had started to do extremely well in my courses and my grades were quite high, according to me, leaving like this would make my grades drop down. Every quarter, the junior high students got progress reports which gave them a grade point average.  This was only the beginning of the 3rd quarter which meant I wouldn’t have a GPA since I would be gone.

I was surely coming back, but not in time for my progress report which meant I would have to work extra hard when I come back to cover up for all the stuff I had missed. My last day was Sunday, I hugged and said goodbye to all my buddies, and then I headed to my bus.  The first few weeks after my departure were terrible. I missed all my mates, teachers, even my enemies. I also missed my studies and tried to keep up with everything I missed. Every day, I talked to my friends online and asked them what happened each day. I didn’t want to feel as if I wasn’t present at school.

I was gone from school for six weeks. The first two weeks were terrible as I mentioned before, but then, I started to have some fun and forget about the tough and tiring life of school. Before I knew it, I didn’t want to go back home! Who would have thought that my opinion about the long holiday would change?? I told people from school that I didn’t want to come back and they were nothing but shocked and freaked out. I did want to stay here in my home country, but I did miss my friends. So, on the morning of April fifteen, my mother, my two sisters and I headed for the airport. Said goodbye to our relatives and went in to board on the plane.

When we got home, I ran straight to my room and packed my school bag, my excitement for school had obviously returned! The day I went to school, all my friends hugged me and told me how glad they were to have me back. My classmates told me how quite the class had become since I left. Now they weren’t worried at all, Nancy was officially back! Sure I took time and struggled as I covered up for all the studies I missed, I still loved being back. Everything and everyone was the same, including Annie, she was still the bitch of the junior high. The only person whom I found quite a largely detailed change was In Hallie, a Filipino from my class. Usually she was with her gang consisting of three other girls. However, this time it was different. Hallie was a show off, and she was the biggest flirt of my class! She was always with the guys and she would tickle, hug and kiss them all the time. I was in total shock, how could someone change in such little time?

Chapter 7: All the girls versus Hallie!

I wasn’t the only one shocked by Hallie’s new attitude, all the girls were. They told me that Hallie wouldn’t sit at the usual lunch table; she won’t share her secrets with them, she was totally a guy freak now. The Filipino didn’t have any female friends in our grade and the sad thing was, none of the guys noticed it. They all were her servants. It was basically like she hypnotized them and they were in her black magic. She would also play with everyone’s emotions. Three pupils of my grade had huge crushes on her, and she knew. What she did with all three of them wasn’t very nice at all. She told every single one of them that she would date them…and she didn’t! The stupidity which the guys had was crazy! They all didn’t care if she dated every single one of them! Hallie’s grades had been decreasing immensely, mainly because of what she had become. Social Studies was a subject where everyone got over a B+. Hallie got a C+!! (I sneaked a peak at her mark sheet when she was talking to the teacher!) The girls of my class were nice, they talked nicely to Hallie even though she was nasty and mean, I didn’t talk to her. Hallie and I had a little misunderstanding during early November so we stopped talking. I was actually glad our friendship had ended.

Enough with Hallie’s story. Let’s get back on the Annie story… school was almost coming to an end… Which meant, end of the year social! Schools in the US and all have end of the year proms but since our school didn’t have many students in the higher school, we just had a social which was more like an activity party. The theme this year was ‘under the sea’. The whole MPR was decorated with fishes and other sea creatures, thanks to the leadership team. The dress code was casual but people dressed up. Finally, the night of the social had arrived. We were to be at school at six o’ clock sharp since our chaperon would announce the teams. There were six teams in total and I was in team number six.
We participated in a scavenger hunt, quiz, and this dress up thing in which we had to dress one of our team members up in a scuba diver. All in all, the night was surely fun and very memorable. The last hour was given to dancing and free time mainly. I dressed casually in a jeans and a T-shirt type. So did my classmates. The older girls wore dressier outfits like skirts and ponchos. Annie came in a Pakistani outfit which highly surprised me since I was expecting something different from her. When the dance had started, Annie had changed into a white spaghetti strap knee length dress. Now that’s what we were expecting from her. She was slow dancing with Keagan. Typical Annie behavior! I didn’t concentrate on Annie much that night as I was having too much fun! I just know one thing, Annie was certainly getting jealous that night because Melvin was dancing with Tina and they were an awesome couple.

The last day of school had arrived, for some it was a day of happiness and for others it was a day of sadness. For me, it was a day of sadness basically because I would miss my friends a lot over the summer break. For our holiday, my family was planning to visit Dubai and Turkey. A few of my close friends were leaving the kingdom so they were very upset and everyone was crying. For Annie’s life, this was the happiest day, mainly because she was going to Dhahran Academy which is much bigger then our school. She could ditch classes easily and make out without being caught. She also wanted to go because there would be more guys to hit on over there! It was time to head to the bus; I left early so that I could get a good seat. The junior high hallway was full of cries and laughter.  School was officially over.

Annie was a bad influence on our school and we all are glad she’s gone; however, we’ll all still wonder what goes on with her in the other school. Summer has just begun and my family and I are about to head for Dubai, who knows what changes occur during the summer. We all just hope that another Annie doesn’t come to our school again!

The End            By: Neha Naviwala

I believe I can write a novel, so why not publish it as well?

I finished writing a novel a few months ago…and its sitting around partially unedited. I would edit the rest of it myself but I always read that you need a professional editor. So I quit editing and figure that its best to just let the editor do the work so that I do not edit in vain.

The problem is…I don’t know how to get an editor. I am really paranoid of scams since there are so many out there. I always read you have to have proof of the editors credentials and be able to trust them but I don’t know how to find a trustable editor and one that will charge decently.

I am totally clueless about agents…

I don’t know what to do!!!! My family won’t help me…

My sis doesn’t seem to care about my writing and is too obsessed with her wedding now…as is everyone else. I want to get things moving!

and make some moola!

I’ve been working on a short story for about three months now, but with a new baby at home, I’m only writing for a couple of hours every week, and slowing down steadily. I have to pick it back up, because I’m losing momentum fast! Encouragement, please.

One day, I want to see a book that I wrote in the hands of a complete stranger. I want to see them so engrossed in my book that they do not hear me when I say “Hi, what are you reading?” That would be the biggest compliment of all.