For those of you who don’t know, yesterday was my birthday. Not only did I get The Writers Market 2010 (which I’m going to review at a later time), my aunt, who happens to be a fairly big editor, also gave me a black journal; almost empty.

At first glance, it may seem like nothing, but upon further examination, it’s actually extremely valuable.

What she did was buy a journal, and write the first paragraph of a story (78 words, to be exact). In return, I wrote 85 words, and in the next day or two, she’ll write the next paragraph and so on.

It may seem like we’re going pretty slowly, but actually, at this rate, we should be done in about six months. That’s less than the average novel, and this should be about 60,000 words.

We also don’t tell each other the plot or where we’re going with the story, so we really have to make it up as we go along. That normally wouldn’t be a good idea, as the story wouldn’t hold itself together and it would be very difficult to continue the story, however, as we’re only writing a paragraph at a time, it’s pretty easy to move forward, even without planning.

This can be really great practice for a writer, because it’s easy to write; not only because you’re writing only a paragraph at a time, but because you don’t have to come up with all the ideas–only half. You also definitely don’t want to let down the other writer and not continue the story.

Writing a book like this with a writing partner can keepy you motivated, keep writing fun, and make it easy to finish a book.

What I’m also doing with this is I’m typing it up and editing it as we go along. Because we’re only writing a paragraph each, we tend to leave out a lot of detail’s that could be included. It’s easy to edit two paragraph’s at a time very carefully, so it’s very possible to publish the book.

In the coming week’s and month’s, I’ll be posting the chapter’s of the book as they come. I can’t wait to share with you how it end’s up, and I highly encourage you to do the same. In my opinion, for five or ten minutes a day, it’s well worth it.

It’s not a secret that almost everyone wants to write a book. According to a recent survey, around 79% of people want to write a book. 40% of them want to write fiction.

It’s also no secret that pretty much nobody actually gets there. While most want to write a book, the truth is that only around 2% (or even less) of people actually do sit down and attempt to work on their book.

The people who do that are already way ahead of most of the game. However, there is one crucial step that most people fail at.

Plot vs. Idea

Sure, people who want to write something usually have an idea. The problem is that just an idea on it’s own isn’t a book. That would be called the plot. The plot is when you actually bring all of those ideas together into a series of events that make up a book.

A plot is probably the hardest part about writing a book; if you have a good plot but bad writing, editors often will accept you anyways. The reason for this is that good writing doesn’t sell books; the actual events in the story do. You can be the best writer in the world; the next Shakespeare, King, Grisham, etc. all boiled into one.

But if what you’re writing about isn’t interesting, people won’t care.

I have seen several authors who are awful at writing published because they have great ideas. Even I still buy their books, because they’re fun to read. In the important step of the plot, everything is decided.

My Plots

Over the past few years, I’ve worked on developing well over thirty plots for different ideas. Some, I’ve discarded. Others, I’m working on currently. For every plot, I’ve developed it and gotten the idea in a different way.

So I want to share what I’ve done you. Later today, expect my first piece of advice in just an hour or two.

In The 39 Clues Book 8: The Emperor’s Code, a lot more is revealed about the secretive Nellie Gomez: She has a “secret mission,” a powerful “boss” or “uncle,” she’s reporting to an unknown source (“In Russia they ran ahead of me on purpose. This is different. Dan knew we were in the square, waiting for him, and he didn’t come back.”), and can pick locks. This fully confirms my long running suspicion that Nellie Gomez is not what she seems. Although the book doesn’t give many details, the few they did give could be crucial in the hunt.

Specifically, I’m talking about the whole fiasco with Nellie’s boss/uncle:

Nellie indicated the satellite phone on the corner of the workbench. “Let me call my boss. Maybe we can work something out…”

“Listen to what my boss has to say,” Nellie went on. “I really think it will be worth your while.”

He looked aggrieved but gestured toward the sat phone. She punched in the numbers and waited for the satellite connection to be made.

“Sorry to wake you up, sir. Yes, I do know what time it is there.” Quickly, she outlined their situation and the passed the handset to the Frenchman. “He wants to talk to you.”

Amy and Dan watched intently as the pilot listened to the voice many thousands of miles away. His eyes widened; his expression grew increasingly awed. He did not say a single word; just handed the phone back to Nellie and announced, “We depart in ten minutes!”

As the man set about the preflight preparations, Amy sidled up to the au pair. “Who did you call?”

Nellie shrugged. “My uncle. He’s a pretty persuasive person.”

Clearly, more is going on here than Nellie admits to the Young Cahill’s. Amy and Dan think Nellie is lying (“Obviously not Nellie’s uncle), and for good reason; who can call up their uncle and persuade a pilot to take her and two children to the summit of Mount Everest?! However, I actually have a sneaking suspicion that Nellie is telling the truth.

Quite some time ago, on one of the many 39 clues forums, I saw a theory that Nellie was actually another child of either Hope and Arthur or Grace and she had been taken away to train.

While she obviously is not the daughter of Grace (Grace was born in 1928, and Nellie is only in her 20’s), it makes a lot of sense, especially with this, that she is another daughter of Hope (maybe even with a different man than Arthur).

Fiske Cahill/The Man In Black

The reason why this would work is because of one key person: The Man In Black, otherwise known as Fiske Cahill.

As we see above, Nellie even admits that she has a secret agenda and secret employer. Many cards have said the Madrigal’s are following Amy and Dan everywhere they go. Nellie is not in any of the four branches, because all four are trying to figure out who she is. That leaves only one possible group: The Madrigal’s.

Therefore, I think Nellie is working for The Man In Black; that makes sense, as well as in one of the cards (can’t remember which one it was at the moment), it revealed Nellie was having interactions with Mr. McIntyre, and in Book 5: The Black Circle, Amy and Dan catch a message on Nellie’s phone from a man in a whispery and cold voice: “Call in for a status report. We haven’t heard from you.”

Fiske is Grace’s brother, so if Nellie was a daughter of Hope and working for The Man In Black, that makes perfect sense.

What do you think about Nellie? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

A few days ago, the title and cover for The 39 Clues Book 9: Storm Warning. The description is something I’ll talk about a little later, as the information it reveals isn’t even close to other sources. However, the cover reveals many pieces of information which could be crucial to the quest and certainly shows that many theories that I have been throwing around for quite some time are becoming a reality. Check out the cover to the left.

Madeleine Cahill

Back in book five, you may remember a code on the inner cover (both front and back) with the name “Madeleine Cahill” spelled backwards, as well as a code reading “Olivia had another.” As introduced in book three, Olivia is Gideon’s wife, the original Cahill, and the mother of the founders of the four respective branches: Ekaterina, Lucian, Janus, and Tomas. These codes can also be found in the second card pack’s (Branch vs. Branch) Madrigal handbook. These two codes imply that Olivia had another child named Madeleine. For obvious reasons, it makes sense that Madeliene would have invented the Madrigal branch.

She had disappeared from the action for a while, but the cover is a certain sign that she will appear in the next book, and the Madrigal secrets will finally be revealed. It’s on the wooden dagger type thing in the middle of the boat. If you enlarge the picture to the fullest extent, it should be easy to spot: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0545060494/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books.

Fiske Cahill

Most of you will probably remember Fiske; Grace’s long lost brother who disappeared in 1962. Even though many pronounce him dead, a vast number of clue hunters have long suspected that the mysterious Man In Black is actually Fiske, due in large part to the fact that the Man In Black always signs his messages to Mr. McIntyre with “F.”

On the boat, if you look very carefully, you will see the initials “FC.” This almost certainly stands for “Fiske Cahill.” So Fiske will be in the book.

If these two secrets already revealed are any indication, The 39 Clues Book 9: Storm Warning, is going to be, by far, the best one yet.

Yesterday, March 6th, 2010, was a big day for the readers here on The Readers and Writers Paradise (sorry I haven’t posted in so long; will hopefully be posting more regularly now); Book 8: The Emperor’s Code. I was especially excited for this book, because it was written by Gordon Korman, who is, as most of you probably know by now, my favorite author.

And I have to say this was by far by favorite book in the series as of right now. In a live webcast back on December 2nd, 2008 (seems like it was just yesterday), Gordon said that with as the series is multi-author, with everyone’s creativity piling up on top of each other, by the eighth or ninth book, it would be awesome.

Certainly, his predication came true. As for writing style, this book was clearly written in a different writing style than his other books (I know; I’ve read all of them). It wasn’t just Korman writing the book; the writing style of Rick all the way back from September 2008 is still showing in this piece. I really love the writing style—I think it’s the perfect way to write The 39 Clues series. I don’t really like book three or seven, because of the writing style of Peter Lerangis, but really everyone else has followed suite from Rick and Gordon back in the first and second books.

The plot? Well, at the end of the seventh book, Amy and Dan discover the secret of their family branch: Madrigal (read my branch predication three days before The Viper’s Nest was released). As you can expect, much of the book is centered around that topic.

First, Amy, Dan, and Nellie travel to China in search of the old Janus clue (yep, Jonah Wizard makes his long awaited rebirth into the series). In the Forbidden City, Dan finds a sheet with an equation of the different branch symbols in bottles added together equals the Cahill symbol, along with a Chinese message that later proved important. Unfortunately, Amy starts voicing her thoughts that maybe their parents deserved to die, and Dan storms off. Then, he was captured by the Kabra children, Ian and Natalie. They dump him in a pile of trash, where he is found by Jonah.

Jonah claims he’s making phone calls to Amy and Nellie and trying to track them down. However, when Amy and Nellie ask him if Dan is with him, he lies and says he isn’t, and was never making calls. When Dan meets Jonah’s mom, Cora Wizard (the leader of the Janus branch), it becomes apparent that the Wizard family is just trying to use him. They even claim Dan is from the Janus branch! Unfortunately, that prompts Dan to respond with the following:

“Janus? I’m no Janus! I know exactly what branch I am!”

“I’m a Madrigal!”

The secret kept on who the Madrigal’s were for the first time in hundreds of years is finally out, and people will be hunting Amy and Dan down even more.

Dan flees and leaves a message for Amy and Nellie. He did not give a location, as he would have to keep moving. Both decide the next clue is on Mount Everest, and meet each other in the hanger of a plane specially designed to go to the top of Everest. At first, the pilot refuses to take him, but Nellie puts her “boss” on the phone to talk to the pilot, who suddenly agrees to take them. Nellie later claims it’s her uncle; obviously not true. They also see Nellie pick a lock with masterful skill, and we get to see part of a phone conversation between her and her boss. In her thoughts, she also reveals she has a secret objective. From the Amazon product description of book nine, it looks like we’re about to find out more about Nellie. I’ve put it lower on the page.

When they get to the top of Everest, they see that Eisenhower and Ian are already near the top. Amy grabs a vial containing the clue at the peak, but it slips from her hand, as she tries to grab it, she realizes that Ian is about to fall two miles into death. Instead of saving the clue, she saves Ian. Luckily, it was hidden in the secret Chinese message:

“That which you seek, you hold in your hand,
Fixed forever in birth,
Where the Earth meets the sky.”

Because the paper they are holding is made out of silk, the first line means it’s silk. Fixed forever in birth means it’s frozen, which means its raw silkworm secretion, and where the earth meets the sky means it’s hidden on Mount Everest.

Dan also finds an impression of Anne Bonny, a famous woman pirate in the Caribbean. This tells them that’s where the next clue is located.

The secret code in this book is made from the coded letters:

“Madrigals are behind everything. They lay out the path the others will walk. The end is coming.”

What I make from that is the Madrigal’s plant the clues and leads for others to find, and obviously that the contest is coming to an end. There are numerous examples of the Madrigal’s making leads, such as Nellie “accidentally” placing them into secrets (she’s obviously not one of the four branches, the way they talk about her), and at the beginning of book eight, the Man In Black making sure Amy and Dan saw a certain movie which showed the Janus crest at their next destination. They certainly are the most powerful.

Here’s the Amazon product description for book nine:

“On the hunt for the 39 Clues, Amy and Dan Cahill uncovered shocking information about their past – from what happened the night their parents died to the shattering discovery about their family branch. But the biggest secret of all remains behind Grace Cahill’s alternate will. Now, Amy and Dan are about to discover a long-hidden secret of the Cahils – a secret so dangerous that people died to protect it. Will this be the end of them? Or just the end of everything they think they knew?”

To be honest, The Emperor’s Code was sort of like a filler; not as much as books two, three and four, because we at least got some info from this book, and not quite as much as book six, but more like book five. Certainly this book sets the stage for the outbreak of the series that we know is happening in books nine and ten. I hope to see you on the hunt.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my feed for daily updates and follow me on Twitter.

Here at The Readers and Writers Paradise, I give you advice on how to write a book. But why should you write one? What does it entitle?

Writing

Writing a fiction book is something which, in school, we’re never conditioned to do. Why? Sure, it’s partly that you do have to be a little crazy to put in all that work, but the real reason is that it’s not something teachable. There are no rules; not even the rules of grammar really apply to a novel. You either have it or you don’t.

Some people start writing books because they just want something to do and found they like writing (Dan Gutman; we’re looking at you!), but most people know they want to write one–something inspires them to do it.

Probably the number one reason is that they read a great book, and feel they can write one. Not everyone can write a book,  but it’s impossible to tell immediately. Your writing will progress as you go through the journey of writing.

If you enjoy writing short stories, then I’d recommend at least giving writing a book a whirl. They’re pretty similar.

The Steps of Writing a Book

1. Crafting the Plot

Some people just start writing out of ambition immediately once they have the idea. However, I don’t recommend this. Instead, you should take the time to craft a plot. If not, you will have trouble thinking of what to write, your ideas won’t be nearly as good, and unless you have a memory even better than my photographic one, you’re story is bound to have some inconsistencies.

2. Research

Many people like to write without researching their story. I’ve made that mistake before, and it was a mistake. You obviously need to have a setting, and if you don’t know everything there is to know about that setting, exactly what it looks like, and tell them; how will they have an image of the book.

3. Writing

Writing the book is actually probably the easiest part–yeah, I know, ironic. You already basically know what you want to say, but have to say it. Anyone can do the first two steps, but this is what sets writers apart from non-writers; how well they’re able to tell the story to tell the story to the reader. This is the most enjoyable part (in my opinion), and if it isn’t then you probably shouldn’t be a writer.

4. Editing

A lot of first time authors naively think that when they’re done with the first draft, they’re done with the book. However, that’s just the beginning! Gordon Korman once said he goes through his books in full at least twenty-five times to edit the first draft. Gordon’s got around twenty-million copies of his books sold, so you don’t need to do that much, but definitely a fair amount; most of the time is spent on this phase.

Note: Editing while writing the book is also something you should do.

5. Send it Off!

I said the most time is spent editing, but I lied, because actually, most of the time is spent simply waiting around for the publishing company you send it off to read and either reject it (97%) or approve it (3%) (I don’t put those numbers there to discourage you, but those are the actual facts. Writing a book is hard, and if you do all these steps, you probably already have a pretty good chance, because most people just bumble around and put together awful books!). Most likely, you’ll have to send it off to multiple publishing companies. But don’t give up! Harry Potter was rejected multiple times before eventually published, and look at it now.

Note: It is possible to send publishing companies part of your book or just the idea, but if you don’t have any connections or aren’t an author already, I don’t recommend it, because they probably won’t even read it with the number of offers they’re getting these days.

In two days I’ll give you some ways to get motivated to write; if you choose that route. So I ask you; what do you say to joining me in the journey of becoming an author?

When I finished two chapters of one of my current book projects a few weeks ago, I was worried at how short they were; around thirteen pages altogether, and the word count would be that of a novella, not a novel.

Recently, I discovered why.

I was very befuddled at this new turn into the problem-filled world that is writing. I already had the entire book idea and had planned it would be enough for a trilogy, but for some reason, it just wasn’t cutting it.

As I was laying in my bed, sick, a few days ago (don’t worry, I’m fine), as I was reading one of my favorite books, I knew that my story had a longer plot than the story I was reading, yet it was much shorter.

That’s because most (not all) third-person professional authors do something I like to call, stretching out your writing.

Stretching out your writing is simply making it longer, while actually increasing the reader value, and really not putting in any important information. It’s an important and difficult art to master. I’m not sure if professional writers do it on purpose or just automatically.

When people write, they usually tell what’s going on, emotions, surroundings, things like that. However, that’s not enough to look good in a paperback. So most people add things that aren’t important. Like, maybe, what it reminded him of.

We’ll do an experiment by transforming a sample paragraph (below), to a new, totally cool paragraph that would have a place in a great book.

“Dan glanced up excitedly, fascinated by who the new visitor might be. He was disappointed when he realized it was dreaded Aunt Beatrice; Aunt Beatrice was mean.”

My original first two chapters were something like that (except better written, and on a different topic), because I had forgotten the rules of what we’re learning. So let’s say Aunt Beatrice reminded Dan of something.

“Dan glanced up excitedly, fascinated by who the new visitor might be. He was disappointed when he realized it was dreaded Aunt Beatrice; Aunt Beatrice was mean. Her white teeth and jaws reminded Dan of a shark.”

A little better. Next is feeling. Of course, we always put what our character is feeling, but perhaps not their feelings about their own feelings.

“Dan glanced up excitedly, fascinated by who the new visitor might be. He was disappointed when he realized it was dreaded Aunt Beatrice; Aunt Beatrice was mean. Her white teeth and jaws reminded Dan of a shark. That fact alone was usually enough to make him both laugh and recoil in horror, but now, he faced only one feeling: Dread.”

It’s obvious, but some people forget to put why the character’s think the way they do, or do it later, or not in depth. Let’s add that.

“Dan glanced up excitedly, fascinated by who the new visitor might be. He was disappointed when he realized it was dreaded Aunt Beatrice; Aunt Beatrice was mean. Her white teeth and jaws reminded Dan of a shark. That fact alone was usually enough to make him both laugh and recoil in horror, but now, he faced only one feeling: Dread. Aunt Beatrice was not a nice lady. Once, when he was six, she had confined him to his room; during Christmas!”

A prediction of sorts by the author at what might happen.

“Dan glanced up excitedly, fascinated by who the new visitor might be. He was disappointed when he realized it was dreaded Aunt Beatrice; Aunt Beatrice was mean. Her white teeth and jaws reminded Dan of a shark. That fact alone was usually enough to make him both laugh and recoil in horror, but now, he faced only one feeling: Dread. Aunt Beatrice was not a nice lady. Once, when he was six, she had confined him to his room; during Christmas! Who knew what dastardly plan she had cooked up this time?”

Looking back on relevant past events will tell us a lot about the character and length a paragraph.

“Dan glanced up excitedly, fascinated by who the new visitor might be. He was disappointed when he realized it was dreaded Aunt Beatrice; Aunt Beatrice was mean. Her white teeth and jaws reminded Dan of a shark. That fact alone was usually enough to make him both laugh and recoil in horror, but now, he faced only one feeling: Dread. Aunt Beatrice was not a nice lady. Once, when he was six, she had confined him to his room; during Christmas! Who knew what dastardly plan she had cooked up this time? It didn’t help that Dan had just broken into her glass cabinet while eying a pair of her antique nun-chucks.”

Add more detail about the actual main event.

“Dan looked up excitedly, craning his head so that it nearly popped straight out of it’s neck. His disappointment was total when he learned his surprise visitor was none other than Aunt Beatrice. Her white teeth and jaws reminded Dan of a shark. That fact alone was usually enough to make him both laugh and recoil in horror, but now, he faced only one feeling: Dread. Aunt Beatrice was not a nice lady. Once, when he was six, she had confined him to his room; during Christmas! Who knew what dastardly plan she had cooked up this time? It didn’t help that Dan had just broken into her glass cabinet while eying a pair of her antique nun-chucks.”

There are so many things you can do.

“Dan looked up excitedly, craning his head so that it nearly popped straight out of it’s neck, knocking him backwards. He scrambled to get up, moving so quickly he bumped into his inhaler. Old and dusty, it hadn’t been used for months, but his big-sister Amy insisted he keep it–just in case. What a worrier! His disappointment was total when he learned his surprise visitor was none other than Aunt Beatrice. Her white teeth and jaws reminded Dan of a shark. That fact alone was usually enough to make him both laugh and recoil in horror, but now, he faced only one feeling: Dread. Aunt Beatrice was not a nice lady. Once, when he was six, she had confined him to his room; during Christmas! Who knew what dastardly plan she had cooked up this time? It didn’t help that Dan had just broken into her glass cabinet while eying a pair of her antique nun-chucks.”

Not only does this help you fill the pages, but it gives added value about the characters and the story of what’s going on to the reader. It’s simple, but effective. But there’s a fine line of having too much. Because writing isn’t an exact science (or art), it’s impossible to say for sure, but make sure it doesn’t interrupt the main storyline and mix it up; don’t use a whole heap like we just did above often. Bestselling-authors have used them very non-exclusively all over the place, but I wouldn’t recommend it; most people won’t want to read it, because it just is too much.

What’s your favorite add-on to stretch out your writing?

This tip is a quick one, but if you don’t use it, you are putting yourself at danger to your writing being destroyed.

It’s so obvious, but so many people fail to do it. You have to back up your writing.

There’s nothing secret about that, though; almost everyone recommends that you need to have a disc of some sorts to save your files.

That’s where I take a different stand.

I think it’s a bad idea to back up your files with a disc. Here’s why:

There are two main reasons. The first is that it can be hard to get all the information from those discs onto your computer. It takes forever, and discs are not backed up. That means if something happens to your disc (it gets scratched; you lose it; etc.), your backup is also gone. This can be a messy process. Before, people were just happy to have some way to protect themselves. These days, though, there’s a better way: A thing known as a Wiki.

For those of you who don’t know, a Wiki is an editable document that can be seen or edited by whomever you choose through privacy changes.

I recommend using PBWorks, and although it does cost money, you can actually (legally) get it for free, and I’ll gladly create an account for you if you give me your e-mail, name, desired username, and name of your Wiki. I’ll just create a random password that you can change later.

Privacy is what makes it so great for me; if you want, you can let the entire world see your files (not recommend as they might just steal your content) to no one but you (yes!).

Therefore, you can just copy and paste all the work for your book into there, and it’ll be safe forever.

Note: I also highly recommend using the Wiki for the purpose that it was originally intended for: To collaborate with others. To learn how that works, just go over to CommonCraft.com.

So, that’s your task for today. Feel free to leave what you think of PBWorks in the comments section.

Note: The reason why I don’t recommend depending on flash drives is because they are simply not dependable. As I write this, the head of my flash drive have fallen off, making it not usable. I don’t know whether the information is recoverable, but I do know that if your flash drive breaks when it’s your sole backup, you’re in big trouble. Also, when a lot of people save to their flash drive, they forget to do it to their computer. Flash drives are a good tool, but I wouldn’t rely on them too much.

In three days, Amy and Dan’s branch will be revealed. This is probably the most discussed topic among clue hunters, as it would open up a world of information.

For example, let’s just say Amy and Dan are Madrigals (no, I’m not saying that; yet). That would explain everything about the Madrigals. That they’re really good; protect the clues. We would know who Nellie is, why the Man In Black and Mr. McIntyre are spying on them, we would know their talents, and basically, all the secrets that we want to know would be revealed. For example; why did the other family members burn down Hope and Arthur’s house? Because they were Madrigals.

Don’t worry there would still be a lot of secrets (such as what will happen with the hunt), but we would have a base understanding.

Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of research on this topic, and have spread my theories around. So, here is my last, current, and official prediction. I hope you don’t mind all the details:

Are they Lucian?

Possible; but very unlikely.

The only reason that I think this is at least a possibility is because of card #115 Luke Cahill. In the top secret portion, there is a piece of paper titled Lucian Vault Inventory. It has Napoleon’s sword, Luke Cahill’s dagger, Czar Nicholas’s poison ring, and a shocking item: Hope Cahill’s day planner.

While it’s possible that she’s not a Lucian even though that item is there, it seems unlikely.

That raises the question though, of why Isabel (a Lucian) Kabra would burn down their house and thus kill them.

This can be explained by the fact that they were hiding information from the Lucian’s. It is well known that Hope and Arthur went back into the house to search for something (a poem; which I’ll talk about a bit later). Alistair also said “We are here to take what is rightfully ours.” That doesn’t make much sense, though, as it wouldn’t be all of theirs unless they promised the clues to everybody; which seems unlikely.

However, there are a few different cards giving the perception that Hope is a Lucian. For example, Grace says about cracking a code something like “Lucian’s complete it especially easily.” In another card, there is an icon on Hope’s computer with the title “Lucian Secret Codes.” It’s possible that she impersonated a Lucian, though, but Isabel realized that she really wasn’t. It just doesn’t seem to add up that she is a Lucian to me.

Also, on a card, there is a code that say’s “James Cahill is not a Lucian.” James is Grace’s father, which lowers the likelihood of Amy and Dan being Lucian’s.

Another thing that could be possible is that Arthur was a Lucian and Hope was of a different branch. It doesn’t really make sense to me that people of opposite branches would marry each other, but this is The 39 Clues.

So, with the exception of something very strange, it looks like Hope and Arthur weren’t Lucian’s, which probably means that Amy and Dan aren’t Lucian’s, either.

Tomas?

A lot has been said that Amy is an Ekaterina and Dan is a Tomas for the reason that in the Hunt Begins video, when you pause it, it shows their names next to those branches. See for yourself:

Note: This video has since been removed by the user.

It actually looks to me like they’re motioning towards the middle instead of to the sides, but even if they are to the sides; I don’t think it means much.

It was a promotional video, so they obviously are going to want to get the main characters names there, along with the insignias of the branches. It was going so fast that it’s almost impossible to see if you’re not looking for it, and I think it was just a coincidence. If anything, I think it’s saying that they’re not in any of the four main branches.

The notion that Amy is a Tomas is obviously laughable for anyone who has been paying any attention to the series, but it is possible for Dan.

Although Dan is not a brute, he is highly interested in ninjas and in book six, it was revealed by Sheppard Cahill (a cousin of Arthur) that Arthur was a daredevil; definitely sounds like a Tomas.

One thing against it is the in one card; there is a letter from the Tomas leadership saying that their try to capture Dan, as well as the Holts have on numerous occasions tried to kill him. They might think that Dan wouldn’t want to join them, but I doubt they would risk losing what would be a very valuable branch member.

So, again it is possible, but unlikely.

Introducing: The Janus

The Janus branch is made up of all the great artists of the last five centuries, ranging from flying ace’s to even Michael Phelps’s.

I haven’t seen anyone believe they are Janus; and for good reason. Dan put it best back in book two when Amy thought they might be Janus. “Face it Amy; you’re terrible at the piano, and I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler.” There is absolutely nothing pointing to the belief that they’re Janus, so I therefore don’t think they are.

Okay; so they’re Ekaterina?

So, after eliminating the unlikely choices, we now go to the two that I consider most likely.

First, the Ekaterina is a strong possibility.

For one, Alistair is a cousin of Grace, as Alistair’s father (Gordon Oh) was the brother to Grace’s father (James Cahill). This was back in the 1800’s, which could lead you to believe for sure that Grace is an Ekat. However, I don’t think it’s so set in stone because just being closely related doesn’t mean you’re in the same branch.

As an example, take the original Cahill’s (Luke, Katherine, Jane, Tomas and Madeline (I’ll get to her later)). Although they were all siblings, they were certainly of very different branches.

At the book two webcast, Gordon was asked whether brothers and sisters could be of different branches. I could tell that he was hiding something when he responded in an answer like: “Well, my son and I are of the different branches, so anything’s possible.” That hint will come into play greatly later in this post.

So, although Gordon and James being brothers is a clue, it isn’t for certain.

Another thing is that everything of Grace’s always seems to be decorated with dragons (the Ekaterina symbol). For example; Grace’s rugs, necklace, etc.

Also, Amy and Dan were surprisingly welcome in the Ekaterina stronghold, even by the ruthless Bae Oh. Perhaps Bae only wanted to get the information of where Alistair was, and that is why he was acting so kind, but I don’t think so based on Bae and the Man In Black meeting; somehow the Madrigal saying “There are too many things out of our control.” Because the Man In Black is Fiske (Grace’s brother; which I won’t get into here), it might make sense that he and Bae are talking if they are Ekaterina.

However, it does deter me a little that when it talks about Anne Cahill, the Ekaterina leadership was not happy when Anne choose Grace to fly the clue into its proper place. They said something like, “Despite our orders, Anne choose Grace to fly the plane. As usual, she made things as difficult as possible, and crash landed the plane.”

I remember someone saying that Grace choose not to owe her allegiance to any one branch, so that may be why the Ekaterina leadership were so upset with her.

So, it seems very likely to me that they’re Ekat.

Madrigals?

This has been one of the top choices for me for quite some time. I’ve devoted far more time to researching the Madrigal’s than any other branch, so here is everything that I’ve found:

First, the Madrigal’s were founded by a woman named Madeline. Madeline was another child of Olivia (Gideon (the original Cahill) wife). I know this because of the codes “Remember Madeline,” “Olivia had another,” and “Protect the secret of Madeline.”

This leads to a belief that Madeline found the 39 clues, and is the most powerful person on the planet.

That would make a lot of sense, as the Madrigals are obviously a very strong clan, and have so far prevented anyone else from getting all of the clues. Even if it’s through a letter like this: “Stop your trivial rivalry with Edison and give up your search. If you don’t, you will gain a real enemy. You have a talent for finding clues. We have a talent for making Cahill’s disappear.”

It’s possible that Madeline is still around today, and is actually not evil. Although they will not hesitate to kill, I think they know what will happen if this power goes into the wrong hands.

I believe that Madeline probably found the clues, but then divided them evenly around the branches, because she knew that nothing would ever get done if they were all fighting over the clues, and probably didn’t trust herself to be so powerful.

The reason why the Madrigal’s are searching for the clues now is because they are power hungry, and want the clues.

I do have a very strong suspicion that Amy and Dan are Madrigals.

One reason is because Grace’s middle name just happens to be Madeline; right.

The second is because it seems to me that Fiske is a Madrigal first; Ekaterina second. The reason for this is that I highly doubt that Mr. McIntyre (who is spying on everyone) would not know if his partner is really working for someone else. Fiske is probably just trying to get information for the Madrigals from arguably the most dangerous branch.

It all would fit with the book seven promo; which says that Dan and Amy find a secret “so devastating it changes everything: The secret of their family branch.” Still, I think that this possibility is only half true.

Note: I don’t think that they are Cahill because I think the Madrigal’s are the pure Cahill’s, as it seems likely that Madeline might’ve been born with a different father than Gideon, and since the pure Cahill’s would definitely know the clues, I doubt there are two groups who found them.

My Predication:

Okay, well; it’s now times for my prediction of Amy and Dan’s branch. Before I do; a little information:

First, I’m not sure that two can people can share the power, considering that it’s based on size. While I guess you could make it twice, it seems kind of unlikely to me that it would work twice.

Second, everyone is always saying “Trust No One.” Amy and Dan have taken it as their motto. I think that unless it’s intended for the purpose that I think it is, the amount of times that it has been used is way oversaturated.

I think that you can tell where I’m going with this: Amy and Dan are of different branches.

I think that’s where the clues above lead, and it would definitely be devastating enough.

I think that the most likely choice is that Amy is a Madrigal and Dan is a Ekaterina. This is the way they strike me in; with Dan being smart and inventive; experimenting. Amy even called him a “natural Madame Curie,” who happens to be an Ekaterina.

In book six, Amy definitely proves she has Madrigal ability by tracking for trails; even though I’m pretty sure she’s never been taught that.

This is my official predication. Tell me what you think in the comments section below.

You may remember about two weeks ago I wrote about protecting yourself from diseases such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrom, RSI, and Tendonitis which are caused from being on the computer a lot.

In that post, I mentioned a speech recognition program called Dragon Naturally Speaking, and recommended to not use it because it hurts your writing.

You probably noticed that I didn’t really go into much detail on that, as I hadn’t actually what it’s like to use speech recognition software. As I write (not speak) this, I’ve been using Dragon for just over a week, and thought it might be interesting to share my findings:

Time Wasted

Before I go into what it does for writing, I’d like to establish that a lot of time will be wasted.

The reasons for this are a few. The main one is (obviously) that most people can type much faster than the computer can type what they’re saying.

Even if you type slowly, I highly doubt that you can talk faster, unless your typing is like that of a snail.

Besides, although Dragon is extremely accurate and I give great thanks to the designers of it, it takes a while from the time the word leaves your mouth to get to the Dragon processor to get to the computer processor to get to the screen. And if you speak too quickly, it won’t process what you said correctly and will mess everything up.

However good the controls are for navigating around your computer, they are still a problem. While before all you had to do was move your mouse to click. Now you have to say some programmed code that’s hard to remember and (again), it takes a while to process it. If you are going to use Dragon (which I’m going to talk about later), do not use it for navigating. As it’s unlikely that moving and clicking with your mouse will cause any injury, I highly recommend just using the mouse.

• Writing Problems

This is the big thing, and the one that has permanently gotten me off speech recognition software: It really hurts your writing. Although I wrote about this a little in the previous post on this, I didn’t understand just how bad it was.

I tried to write an essay with it, and thought that it would be fine. Huge mistake. My words were not in order and were not nearly as strong. I can only imagine how badly it would hurt your writing if you’re writing fiction, where that’s what really matters.

Although you can test this if you want, I would recommend that you take it from me when I say that it’s not a good idea.

• The Argument

Obviously, though, if it was really this clear cut, then writing this post would be a waste of time; no one would be using this software. However, a lot of people do use it, and the reason for this is they want to protect against diseases caused by typing such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

I did put this in my last post but knowing more about recognition software now, I think I can help more:

In my opinion, it is much better to write a published book and get injured than never publish a book and not get injured. There is pretty much no chance that you’re going to get a book published by using speech recognition software, so if you insist on using it to protect yourself, then you can write it out by hand and put it in speech recognition software. I can’t personally do that because my handwriting is so bad, but if your’s is legible and you’re just scared stiff about typing, then yes; that is an option. Just be forewarned that you will waste a lot of time converting it and most people can type way faster than write.

So, because of the reasons I outlined above, I strongly recommend to not use speech recognition software for writing a book.