A bit about myself...
I'm 742 years in spirit, plus the last 15 in this body.
I was born under the star sign of Leo.
My favorite colors are black & white.
My favorite animal is the dragon.
I spend my time reading, writing poetry, and savoring the solitude of my cave.
I work as a Falcon for Mockingbird Prints, a website dedicated to acknowledging authors and their stories.
My family is perfect in every way; a real Heaven on Earth. With my librarian Mom, biologist Step-Dad, engineer Dad, and younger siblings, I've had many happy times. -- I'm the oldest of four, with two brothers and a sister down the line. My youngest brother is autistic and as strong as an ox. My sister is a wild-child who loves nature, zebras, and running amuck with the dogs. My not-quite-as-old-as-me brother as a Gifted & Talented student with an innate ability to make the most peaceful want to strangle someone. -- Yes, my family has faults; divorce, anger problems, and other personality quirks that drive me up the walls of insanity. But I love them all the same. I value each of them for who they are, and more importantly, who they have helped me to become.
I don't care what others think of me; I know who I am, and I don't need anyones approval.
I don't like being the center of attention, so I take precautions not to be noticed.
I don't like fighting, but I will defend myself.
I hate bullies, and anyone who acts superior to anyone else.
I've never understood why one brand of shoe is better than another. As long as it's comfortable, who cares?
I'm prejudiced against cosmetics. It's stupid. It makes women think that they look horrible without it.
I adore the simple things; the sound of birds waking on a spring morning, the smell and sound of a summer shower, the feel of moss under my bare feet, the beauty of the thunderstorm, the magic in a tear, the chill at a wolf's cry, the dance of the campfire, sitting in comfortable silence for hours upon end, the autumn wind caressing my hair, and a million other of the simply perfect things in life.
I'm a quote collector. Sounds funny, doesn't it? It isn't, not really. I'll explain, shall I? -- I'm often told that I'm wise for one of so few years. It's always bothered me slightly, "What makes me wiser then the next person?" I realize that my answer is they way I listen and learn. I listen to everyone & everything, then I pull out bits and pieces that make sense to me. You see, I learn from everything around me, that's why I sometimes seem wise. -- So being a quote collector means that I take pieces of others' moral codes and incorperate them into my own. (In case you're wondering, a moral code is the way you live your life; how you think, what is right and wrong, what choices you make, how you judge others, what's important, and your values.) So I'm kind of like a patchwork quilt. A moral here, parents' advise there, all balence with myself.
Here are some quotes that I've taken to heart. Each of these tought me something - something that will guide and help me through the rest of my life.
Words to live by...
"All good things come to an end, but they live on in memories and in our hearts. So they never really come to an end." --Nikuya (Quizilla.com user)
"Never explain; your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyways." -- Elbert Hubbard
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -- Confucius
"What's better? A lie that draws a smile, or a truth that draws a tear?" -- Unknown
"Ignorance is bliss, knowledge is power." -- Zoa the Twilight Wyvern (me)
"The height of cleverness is being able to conceal it." -- Francios de la Rochefaucaold
"When you take the first step into the blackness of the unknown, two things can happen. One: There will be something solid to step on. Two: You will learn how to fly." -- Unknown
"Mankind has the incredible ability to reason logically and come to the wrong conclusion." -- Unknown
"Only those who see the invisible can do the impossible." -- Unknown
"The best way to make your dream come true is to wake up." -- Unknown
"It's better to be hated for who you are, then loved for who you're not." -- Unknown
"Without fear, there is no courage." -- Unknown
"10 percent of life is what happens to you. The other 90 percent is how you react to it." -- Unknown
"If ignorance is bliss, why arn't more people happy?" -- Unknown
"Most of the important things in the world have been acomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all." -- Unknown
"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say." -- Unknown
"Never give up, for around the next corner, your life might change forever." -- Unknown
"People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine while the sun is out - but when darkness sets, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within." -- Unknown
"Dream as if you'll live forever, love as if you'll die today." -- Unknown
"I always knew that I'd look back on my tears and laugh. I never thought that I'd look back on my laughter and cry." -- Unknown
"Your dreams are like a candle and you are it's only flame. How long and how bright it burns is up to you." -- Unknown
"Don't let your accomplishments get to your head, but don't let your failiures get to your heart." -- Unknown
"We can't discover the oceans if we're to afraid to lose sight of the land." -- Unknown
"I do not care so much as what I am to other, as what I am to myself." -- Michel De Montaigne
"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." -- Harvey Fierstein
"The purpose of life is a life of purpose." -- Robert Byrne
"It's not the length of life, but the depth of it." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Always do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." -- Mark Twain
"Insanity: a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world." -- R.D. Lang
"The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy." -- Jim Rohn
"Go not where the path may lead; instead go where there is not path, and leave a trail." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A fool can change the world, but it takes a genius to fix it." -- Unknown
"The only thing unchangable is change itself." -- Unknown
- I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.
I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.
I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.
We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.
I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.
I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.
I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks, and in another year I will probably be able to walk again.
I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.
We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.
I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.
I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.
I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.
I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.
I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.
I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.
I am the man who died when the paramedics stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.
I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I did not have to always deal with society hating me.
I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.
I am the person who is afraid of telling his loving Christian parents he loves another male.
I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.
Re-post this if you believe homophobia is wrong. Please do your part to end it
The white man said, "Colored people aren't allowed here." The black man turned around and stood up. He then said: "Listen sir...when I was born I was Black, when I grew up I was Black, when I'm sick I'm Black, when I go in the sun I'm Black, when I'm cold I'm Black and when I die I will be Black. But you sir, when you're born you're Pink, when you grow up you where White, when you're sick you're Green, when you're in the sun you're Red, when you're cold you're Blue, and when you die you will be Purple. And you have the nerve to call me colored?" The black man turned around and sat down, and the white man walked away...
Post this on your profile if you hate racism
I'm a beta-reader now, so if you need help... Here are a few guidelines.
Story Requirements for Editing:
1: We need to know:
a) The title of your story.
b) Genre: fan-fiction or original; fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, romance, realistic fiction, mystery, historical fiction, horror, science fiction, short story, etc. - It helps to know beforehand what the story is supposed to come out as.
c) What you want us to do; edit, critic, or both? - Do you just want the grammar, spelling, and punctuation corrected, or do you want to be told what me to tell you what I think of the plot, story, and characters?
2: All stories must have been edited by the author before they come to me.
I'll only work with this when you've edited this to the best of your ability. When you hand this to me, it should be perfect in your eyes.
This does two things:
a) It gives me less to edit. - If the story has few errors, then I won't end up re-writing it in an attempt to make it legible. I'm not going to rephrase every other sentence for you.
b) It shows me how dedicated of an author you are, and whether or not you've what it takes to publish.
3: Understand that I’m rather heartless.
I hate tearing down authors who are trying to find a place for themselves, but I hate lying more. I’m honest, and almost cruel, when it comes to critiquing, so expect me to do a little bashing when asked for my opinions.
4: I have high standards.
When a story is edited, then published, the quality of that story reflects on the editor.
Plain in simple, it's so you don't embarrass yourself or me.
I have accounts on:Quizilla.com- ZoaTheLonelyGirl (Nothings there that isn't here.)
FanFiction.net- The Critic Zoa (I currently have an AkuRoku published.)
Mail me at zoathecritic@yahoo.com.
FictionPress.com - let the words flow
