Seven Facts

Jenelle Leanne Schmidt tagged me with the One Lovely Blog award (thanks, Jenelle!)! Basically, I have to share seven random facts and then tag fifteen people. If you're so inclined, then please do this tag!
Because it's December, I'm going to share seven Christmasy facts about myself:

1. Last year, I made a Star Trek themed Christmas jumper.

2. My two favorite Christmas movies are Eloise at Christmastime and White Christmas.

3. Here's a Christmas confession... I am secretly very fond of the Christmas songs that everyone loves to hate. You know... Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Santa Baby, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Blue Christmas, Last Christmas (I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away...)... Here's one of my favorites:

4. One of my least favorite Christmas songs is Do You Hear What I Hear? because I hear it EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME.

5. I'm also not that fond of Josh Groban's version of O Holy Night because our local radio station plays it about ten times a day.

6. It's been four years since Michael Buble's Christmas CD first debuted, which is so hard to believe! I remember being SO excited for it to come out and listening to it on repeat that Christmas and next. It's still one of my favorites.

7. In our house, everything bought after November 1st is liable to get wrapped and put under the tree, whether it's a present or not. I just like seeing presents under the tree. It's so festive!

What are some of YOUR favorite things about Christmas?

Live long and prosper.

Zounds! I've been tagged again!

My lovely friends Bethany and Becca at Clever Bunnies tagged me! Thanks girls!

Rules: 
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site. 

2. Put the Award logo on your blog. 

3. Answer the ten questions sent to you. 

4. Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer. 

5. Nominate ten blogs.

The questions: 

1.  If you were stranded on an island with a box, what would you want to be in that box?
Can my box be the size of a storage container? If so, I would have lots of food, my computer, lots of notebooks and pencils and pencil sharpeners. And a piano and lots of sheet music. And books, of course.

2. Do you like to go camping, and if so, where do you prefer to sleep? (ie. tent, camper, cabin, under the stars.)
I like tent camping (camping is camping, after all!) but I'm not opposed to sleeping in a cabin, either. Just don't make me sleep under the stars, please! I would be too afraid of animals and creepy crawlies climbing into my sleeping bag with me.

3. What's the craziest thing you've ever cooked/baked?
My dad and I made a 1776 meal for my mom once.

You see before you: chicken pudding, sweet potatoes and apples, green beans, and whipped syllabub. For dessert, we had raspberry flummery. All courtesy of an American Girl Felicity cookbook.

4. What's the last movie you saw in theaters?
Avengers: Age of Ultron.

5. If you could have any animal as a pet, what would you chose?
Probably a bunny! I love bunnies. A Bedlington Terrier would be fun to have, too. Or a snake.

 

6. Favorite flavor to combine with chocolate? (ie. coffee, raspberry, coconut, caramel...)
Caramel, definitely.

7.  If you were zapped back in time, where would you hope to end up and what one thing would you want with you? 
I hope I would end up around 1900. All my favorite people were alive then... George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, J.R.R. Tolkien, Arthur Conan Doyle, Claude Debussy... And what would I want with me? I'm not sure. Maybe a camera? Or a full wallet so I could afford to go to the theater and the opera and to concerts whenever I wanted.

 

8. Do you sing along to the radio? 
Of course!

9. Do you have any nicknames? If so, what are they? 
Some people call me Ab or Abs (names my mom hates). My British saxophone teacher used to call my "Ab." It sounded great in an English accent.

10. You are all alone in your house and you hear a strange noise, what do you do next? 
I would either freeze and listen very carefully, my heart beating horrifically. Then, if the noise didn't continue, go back to what I was doing and wait until my heart calmed down; or, I would go investigate. 


I don't think I will tag anyone, or make up questions. If you want to answer the questions that Bethany and Becca asked, go ahead! 

Live long and prosper!

The 777 Challenge.

The rules of this challenge are to go to your current writing project, scroll or flip to the 7th page, go down to the 7th line, and then share the next 7 lines.
I have two writing projects at the moment: my fantasy novel and my Camp NaNoWriMo novel. Since I was tagged twice, I will take the opportunity to share seven lines from each!
Thank for tagging me Jenelle and DJ!

Fantasy story (this is technically eight lines, but I couldn't stop in the middle of a sentence, could I?):

[He was] just starting to lose his good form to sumptuous dinners [and] needed someone to compliment himself and give him an heir. She had to be beautiful, young, and ready to obey her husband. She had to be a princess, of course, and she had to be a little exciting. And what was more exciting than a rescued princess? reasoned King John. So, he poured over the Royal Magazine's pages about missing princesses and weighed his options.

Camp NaNoWriMo (for which I am writing a Daniel and Varina story. You can find out more about them in this post from 2013):

“You shouldn’t have put what off so long?” Varina asked.

“Telling you…” Daniel said.

“Telling me what?” Varina pressed.

Daniel sighed again. “Telling you that I have to go home. I have to go back to London.”

“What?”

“My father is recalling me.”

“Why?”

Why, indeed? YOU SHALL NEVER KNOW! MWAHAHAHA!
As you can see, I have no qualms about stopping in the middle of a question. 
 
I tag whoever wants to do this tag.

Live long and prosper!

"I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor!"

I'm here to do a tag today! Jack tagged the first 11 people to comment on her post... which included me. So, once again, I present to you... ME! to do the Liebster Award (you know the one... the good, old elevenses tag).

They changed the award picture. I like it.

Rules:
A. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
Thank you, Jack!

B. Answer 11 questions which they give to you:

1. Have you ever listened to the Snoopy vs. The Red Baron songs?
I didn't know there was a song! But I'm listening to it now, so can I say "yes"? I have seen and read the cartoon if that gives me bonus points.

2. What's tatters?

PO-TA-TOES. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!

3. What would be your opening lines to your Great American Novel?

CALL ME ISHMAEL!

Wait, that's already taken? Okay... How about:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

...That one's already taken too?? Okay, how about:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

That's a Great British Novel, you say? Ugh! Um, I'm going to have to get back to you on this one, Jack.

4. Are you over Tadashi yet?

NO.

That scene (and subsequent ones) is right up there with the death of Nemo's mother is terms of sadness. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who still had to fast forward through that scene?)

5. How well can you crash a plane?

I don't know, I've never tried. Hmmm...

"Relax, I interviewed a pilot once."

6. What color are the socks you're wearing right now?

Black socks, they never get dirty the longer you wear them the blacker they get... Sometimes, I think I should wash them, but something inside me says don't wash them yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. (You're welcome.)

Not just any black socks, though...

Beatles black socks!

7. What is the one thing you always carry with you and why?

I usually take a book everywhere I go. And a pencil. I take my purse quite a few places, too; and in my purse I always keep a Bible, the Constitution of the United States, and a deck of cards.
 

8. Are you six foot something with a scary nose?

No... although I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing... No, I'm a 5'2" something with a roundish nose.

9. What's the stupidest thing you ever done which inflicted pain on yourself?

I literally can't think of anything. This is horrible! The thing is, I lose my balance a lot, but I never fall (wow, that sounds like a song lyric). I run into things, but I never hurt myself (I'm sensing a trend here. I may just have to write a song about this).

I tripped up the stairs once and skinned my knee... I forced myself to read The Old Man and the Sea... I picked up my dog and she scratched me. (That rhymed! I'm unintentionally writing a song here, people!)

Wary. Is Abbey going to pick me up or is Abbey not going to pick me up, that is the question.

10. Do foods which don't go bad scare you?

Not terribly, no. I wouldn't want to eat them... but they don't scare me. Why? Should they? 0_0

11. How well do you get along with cockroaches?

I've never met a cockroach, but if I ever did, I don't think we'd be the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin of our generation.

C. Give 11 random facts about yourself.

1. I can count the amount of times I've teared up during a book/movie on one hand. The Benji movie, the Doomsday Doctor Who episode, Feathertail's death in the Warriors books, aaaandd... there's one more, but I can't remember what movie it was. It must have made a huge impact. Ha.

2. Even thought I'm not a book/movie crier, I tear up when I get really excited, when I see a really good pun, and when something really epic happens in a book (whether it be an epic word picture, an epic snarky remark, or an epic spelling/grammar fail). But I only tear up when I start to TELL someone about it, never when I'm just reading it to myself.

3. I can't wait for Once Upon a Time to come back this Sunday! I mean, what WAS that huge break all about?

 
4. I really really really really REALLY hope that we get a picture of Lewis and Louis in Haphazardly Implausible #3. Actually, can we just get a huge cast picture of everyone? Is that too much to ask? Like this picture from Scott Westerfeld's Manual of Aeronautics:

5. I want to be... under the sea... in an octopus' garden... in the shade.
Well, maybe I don't want to be under the sea, but I certainly am longing to be near the sea.

6. I want some cereal.

7. I got cereal.

8. In music lessons I'm singing "The Jewel Song, from Faust." MWAHAHAHAHAHA. It makes me feel powerful.

9. I'm watching the Frasier episode where Noel teaches Frasier a Klingon blessing instead of a Hebrew blessing and Frasier says it at his son's bar mitzvah.

10. Speaking of the Jews... in my reading-through-the-Bible-in-one-year study, I've hit the part of the Bible where God is detailing all the sacrifices the Israelites are supposed to do.

11. I deleted the Netflix off my computer. So far, it has been a very good decision.

D. Nominate 11 bloggers.
Anyone who wants to may answer all or some of the following questions on their blog or in the comments.

E. Give said bloggers 11 questions to answer.

1. What kind of cereal do you like to eat?
2. If you could write a song, what would it be about?
3. Do you know any Klingon words?
4. Have you ever read the Haphazardly Implausible books by Jack Lewis Baillot? You should, they are great!
5. Do you prefer going to the city, to the beach, to the woods ("Into the woods without delay, but careful not to lose the way..."), or staying at home?
6. What do you wish?
7. Night or day? Moon or sun?
8. Have you ever interviewed a pilot (be it once or more than once)? Do you "get that reference" (or how about that one?)?
9. Have you ever heard Bernadette Peters sing a Broadway song (or any other type of song)? You should, she is great!
10. What's your favorite Aesop's Fable?
11. What's your favorite mystical/fantastical creature/race/being?

Live long and prosper!

P.S. Funny story... I went looking for an song lyric to be the title of this post and somehow ended up listening to music from the musical Cinderella... and I still don't have a title.
...Thought of one. Because, you know, someone has got to do these tags. We can't leave those 11 questions unanswered. So, like Frodo, I took on the burden. But now I am tired. Who will take the weight of the ring from me? Who will answer my eleven questions??

Beautiful Books Linkup #2: How's the Writing Going?

I'm doing the second Beautiful Books linkup with The Notebook Sisters! 

1. Be honest: how is your writing going? 

It's going really well! I've surprised myself: I didn't think I would be able to maintain hand-writing six pages a day, but so far I have been able to. Today I wrote ten pages. The first week was hard because my hand would get really sore. Now, however, the muscles are used to the strenuous workout they are receiving, and don't hurt so much at the end of the day anymore.

2. What’s your first sentence/paragraph? 
(This is from chapter 36, by the way, since I didn't start at the beginning.)

"This is how this torture will work," the man said to Mr. F, "I will start with your toes, then move on to your feet, and then your legs, and I will continue up your body until you are so burned you will be unrecognizable."

Mr. F's brain wasn't working. Burn...? He was still trying to figure out what that meant when he felt warmth on his big toe. It slowly permeated his calluses and then his toe started to burn.

Fire! Of course! Mr. F grit his teeth and prepared for the pain.

3. Do you have a book cover, and/or pictures that reflect your book?
I don't even have a name yet... so definitely no cover... Here are some pictures, though:

This picture cracks me up. :P

 

4. Do you have pictures of each of your characters? If not, describe them for us! (Be as descriptive as you can.)

Rozella, the Princess

Mangle, the Bard

Alonzo, the Cat

Inspiration for Mr. F.

Hag is my other main character and she is a warty, ugly old woman. But I couldn't find any pictures of ugly old women online, so you'll just have to do with that description. =)

5. What scene are you most excited to write?
The scene where one of the main characters is shot with an arrow. Heh heh...

6. Share a snippet or a scene that you really enjoyed writing. 

Uhh...

"This is how this torture will work..." 

Just kidding. I'm not sure. And I'm watching The Scarlet Pimpernel so I don't want to go searching through my notebook for a good scene.

7. Now that you're writing, have any of the plot details, or the process itself, turned out different from what you planned or imagined?
Hahahahahahaa... yes. I've been writing this story for the whole year and you'd think that by now I'd have all the characters figured out. Nope, a new character showed up a few days ago and demanded to join my main characters on their quest. This rarely happens to me and it threw me for a loop. I had no clue what to do! For now I'm letting him tag along.

8. Is there a character or aspect of your plot that's difficult to write?
Well, this surprise character is making himself difficult. He's toying with me. He won't tell me whether he's twenty-two or nineteen. He's condescended to let me know that he comes from a large family.

9. What’s your favorite aspect of this novel so far? Favorite character?
My favorite aspect is the potential for this novel to become something great; that through copious edits I can craft something with only words that will be a masterpiece, even if I'm the only one who knows all its secrets.

10. Have you drawn off of any life experiences or people you know to create your novel and your characters?
Mangle the Bard is based on my piano teacher and his wife, my choir director. Sometimes I catch glimpses of myself or my friends and family in my characters.

11. Do you have a playlist or certain song for your novel and/or characters?

Not really. To inspire the fantasy setting I listen to the Peer Gynt Suites by Edvard Grieg and The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas. Otherwise, I've been mostly listening to Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, and Vince Guaraldi. Strangely, A Horse with No Name by America is strangely fitting right now. Haha.

12. Let’s have some fun for a moment: imagine you are somehow transported into your book’s world. Which character are you most likely to be found hanging out with?

We haven't been having fun already? :P

I'd probably be found hanging out with Draegond because he's epic, or Mangle the Bard because he's epic too.

13. How do you keep yourself motivated to finish your daily wordcount? (Pinterest? Internet breaks? Chocolate?)

My story is actually keeping me pretty motivated right now! I really want to finish it before year's end!

14. What your favourite writing quote or piece of writing advice?

Not only young authors, ANY author.

15. How does this book make you feel so far? Are you laughing? Crying? Frustrated?
This book is making me feel excited about writing. Today, while researching Iambic Pentameter for my book, excitement thrilled through my heart; not an excitement I commonly feel. Actually, I can only remember feeling this excitement once before, when I was reading about outlining. Is this how you know that you're meant to do something, when you get a deep excitement through the core of your heart? That, or I'm weirder than I thought... do you know anyone else who gets excited about outlining essays with sub-sub-sub-sub points? I don't.
It's the little parts of writing that make me excited... Knowing the "rules" and utilizing them to my advantage. There are so many more than you'd think... I didn't fully know how much there is to writing until I started my writing class. It's fascinating and exciting and it makes me want to spend eight hours a day just molding sentences!

Well, we're just coming to the climax of The Scarlet Pimpernel so I shall end now.

Sink meh! 'Tis the end!  

"What are men to rocks and mountains?" (Pride and Prejudice)

Bethany and Becca at Clever Bunnies recently did a Jane Austen tag and I decided to accept their general tag, since I haven't done a tag recently. Thanks girls!

Here are the rules:
The Rules: 
~Thank and link back to the person who tagged you.
~Tell how you were introduced to Jane Austen and share one fun fact about your Janeite life (this fun fact can be anywhere from "I stayed up all night reading Emma," to "I visited Chawton and met Anna Chancellor.").

~Answer the tagger's questions.

~Write seven questions of your own.

~Tag as few as one or as many as seven other Janeites and let them know you've tagged them.

In 2011, my mom introduced me to Jane Austen by getting the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice out of the library one day. At first I wasn't interested because it was simply a romance story, but in the end I really loved it! That lead us to watch the 6-hour version... two or three times in one week... And then I read the book and have read it every year since 2011!

Here are Clever Bunnies' questions:

1)  If you were to name a child after an Austen character, which name would you choose?


I'm going to go with what seems to be the popular answer... Elinor. =) Elinor is such a pretty name! And I love the way Jane Austen spells it, with an "i" instead of an "ea." Isn't Aunt Elinor from Inkheart named after Elinor in Sense and Sensibility?
If I were to name a boy after a Jane Austen character, I would choose the name George (after George Knightley, not George Wickham), since George is already on my future-children's name list.

2)  Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters are all coming to your house for tea; what do you serve them, and what would you talk about?
I would serve them tea and fruit and little cakes and tea sandwiches. It's more of a 1910's meal, but I'm sure the Bennet's would like it. We would probably talk about the differences between the 1800's and the 2000's. Mary and I might discuss music.
 
3) If you were running down a hill in the rain, fell and broke your ankle, and a handsome young man jumped down off his horse to rescue you, would it be love at first sight?
Haha ha... no. It would be more like embarrassment and then worry that I'm being too much of a trouble and then worrying that he's gonna think I'm weird and stupid for running and falling in the rain. He'd drop me off at my house and we'd never meet again. The end.

 
4) Which Austen heroine would make the best companion for the Doctor?
I think Mary Crawford from Mansfield Park would be a good companion for the Doctor. She's not necessarily a heroine, per say... I bet Emma Woodhouse would have fun with the Doctor too.
 

(Or, considering that Billie Piper played both Rose Tyler and Fanny Price, maybe Fanny should be the Doctor's companion?)

5) Which Austen character most deserves a slap in the face?
Henry Crawford. Ugh.
 
6) If all the main characters from Jane Austen's books were attending a ball, who do you suppose would strike up the most engaging conversation?
Hm, intriguing question! I think Frank Churchill and Henry Crawford would get together and talk about the latest London fashions. Wickham and Willoughby would talk about being slimy womanizers. Mr. Knightley and Mr. Darcy might talk about running estates and their wives would probably giggle at them behind their backs.
 
7) If you and your favorite Austen heroine unexpectantly switched places for the day, what havoc would be wrought in both the literary world, and the real one?
My, my! If I switched place with Fanny Price, I would most definitely wreak havoc! I would start by telling her cousins and aunt and uncle to be nicer to her. Then I'd go find Henry Crawford and give him a nice big slap. =)
If Fanny were to come into my life, I really have no clue what would happen. She probably wouldn't wreak any havoc... She'd probably just sit around and absorb everything that was going on around her.

Live long and prosper.

August: The month of tags

I'm taking part in yet another tag today! This one is part of Kendra's blog party! I'm squeezing this in at the end, because it's the last day. I hope you don't mind, Kendra!


1. How long have you been blogging?
 It will be three years this coming fall.
2. Which of the books on my WIP list intrigues you the most?
After reading about 300 Dragons on your blog, I think that one would win! Though the one with the Nine Gems of Virtue certainly sparks by interest as well...
3. You're stuck on an island that has no sign of other people. What five items would you like to have with you in this event?
I. A library. This counts as only one item because all the individual books and shelves are the atoms that make up the being which is called 'library.'
II. My laptop (with internet and a printer) to write on and to watch Netflix on.
III. An unlimited supply of paper.
IV. An unlimited supply of pencils (that actually work).
V. A pencil sharpener.
*nods* I could survive on a desert island all by myself with only those things. Though most of them are actually more than one thing...
4. Someone gives you a thousand dollars. What do you do with it?
$100 goes to church. $100 would go towards all the self-published books on my wishlist (and a CD). The rest I would probably save for college.
5. Is there any book that you wish you had written? (Not because of the money involved, but because you love idea so much you wish it was yours)
What an intriguing question. I'm not sure. I don't think I could separate any works from their authors.
6. What is your favorite fairy tale?
The Fisherman and his Wife.
7. Describe Kendra in seven words.
Explosive imagination, bursting with creativity, fun, friend.
8. What is your opinion of popcorn?
I like to eat it occasionally - but I hate it when the little shells get stuck in my teeth.
9. How many different crafts can you do?
I've seen others put down writing, so there's that... I can also knit (though my knitting is limited to things in a straight line - e.g. scarves), and I used to "scrapbook" (mostly paste pictures on pieces of paper and staple them together). I sometimes attempt to draw or create something out of cardboard.
10. How long have you been following my blog and how did you find me?
I'm not sure how long I've been following you, but I'd guess in between a year and two years. I found you through Jack.


Live long and prosper.