"Some people bench press. I fiction-press."

Thank you for paying attention to my corner of the internet! I hope you enjoy your stay - and be sure tell your friends! Please note that it's finally summer and I can officially beta read for you guys now! Yippee!!

Latest published: Except Brown. A light little poem written through the eyes of a little girl ordering a root beer.

Favorite music: Skillet (June 25 new album!!), Evanescence, RED, tobyMac, etc.

Favorite books: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Ender's Shadow all by Orson Scott Card;
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain;
A Separate Peace by John Knowles;
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Fun aside: my username, Petra Arkanian, comes from one of the only female characters in Orson Scott Card's books. She's pretty much amazing. And she marries my favorite character. So call it wish fulfillment - I don't care. Haha.

Favorite movie: Back to the Future with Michael J. Fox. Speaking of, we're running out of time for someone to invent that hoverboard.

Random fascinations: math, history, economics, patterns, Scrabble, politics, etc.

Favorite Historical Figures/Heroes: Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Harper Lee

Did You Know?
1) There was a guy who proved that positive zero is not the same thing as negative zero. He then proceeded to go insane. When he got out of the asylum, he proved the same thing a different way and went insane again. No kidding. (And for the record, this falls into the category of things math teachers shouldn't tell their students right before a test.)
2) During the Great Depression, FDR hired men to chase tumbleweeds on windy days.
3) In WW2, the Japanese only attacked our west coast (aside from Pearl Harbor) once: the bombing of a small oil field five miles from my house. It's now a butterfly reserve - which I find quite amusing.

More on my Theory of Beta-Reading
My philosophy about writing is that the more a writer talks about his story, the better. Conversing about your writing is what makes you see its strengths, and its weaknesses. It's what makes you write rationally. It's what builds your understanding of yourself and your craft. It's what shows you what works and what doesn't. And most importantly, it's what makes you excited to sit down and write. So it's my goal to make you talk. I'm going to ask you a lot of questions, and I'm going to expect thoughtful responses. I'm a wordy person, and I like to converse with other wordy people. If you love to talk, and you love your story, and you're looking for someone who engages, I'm your beta. And I should mention this just in case: I reserve the right to respectfully duck out of your beta-reader role if I feel that you're not actively engaging anymore. It happens, and it's totally fine, but I may not be the beta for you.

(And for the record, I am a pretentious grammar nazi, but I don't feel it's my duty to check and correct everything for you, so I won't. If it's too bad, honestly, I'll probably just make up an excuse about how I can't read the story anymore.)

Quotes to Munch On (or you could just start reading something)

"Beware of little expenses. A small leak can sink a great ship." Ben Franklin

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks." Harper Lee

"A person who won't read has no advantage over a person who can't read." Mark Twain

“Everyone thinks Hitler got to power because of his armies, because they were willing to kill, and that's partly true... But mostly he got to power on words, on the right words at the right time.” Peter Wiggin

"When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty." Thomas Jefferson.

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man stupid and blind in the eyes." Orson Scott Card

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." Mark Twain

"Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." Harper Lee

“Keep dignity, and give honor where it’s due, so that defeat is not a disgrace. And I hope I don't have to do it often.” Ender Wiggin

“They never tell you any more truth than they have to.” Petra Arkanian

"Never spend your money before you have earned it." Thomas Jefferson

"The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that." Harper Lee

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." Thomas Jefferson