I Have Loved the Stars Too Fondly

Tags

a tale of two cities, a wrinkle in time, baroness emma orczy, c.s. forester, charles dickens, doctor who, horatio hornblower, j.r.r. tolkien, madeleine l'engle, original stories, short stories, star wars, the lord of the rings, the scarlet pimpernel

Call this a tribute to all my favorite characters–I was thinking back on all my favorites and I noticed that my very favorite characters all tried and failed at some point, but kept on trying. Their victories were by no means constant, and their successes were not always total.

So here is my tribute to Horatio Hornblower, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Martin the Warrior, the Doctor (though this sounds much more like Eight than like Eleven), Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Charles Wallace Murray, Meg Murray, Sydney Cotton, and all my other favorite characters.

Enjoy.

---

They all pity me. I can tell.

I’ve got all the scars and bruises and broken bones I earned by my trouble, I skirt the edge of madness, and sometimes I seem to be invisible.

Sometimes, they ask me why I’m like this.

“It couldn’t be helped,” I say.

After all, if I told them the full truth, they wouldn’t stop to listen.

Sometimes, when you reach out to touch the stars, you fall and fall hard. Not all your leaps of faith will be successes.

Of course, since they pity me, they’d never see the truth. The truth is this: I tried. I did my best and sometimes it just wasn’t enough. Reduced to this shell of a man as I am in their eyes, they would only see the futility of the struggle. Never its nobility.

The very core of the truth, condensed and concentrated, is that I do not regret one moment.

I do not grudge one bruise, one scar; not the shattered bones or the bleeding knuckles or broken skin. If I had my live to live all over, I’d do it all again. I’d risk it all. I’d step out without knowing if I had a safety net. I’d run farther and fight harder without knowing if I’d win or not. I would seize every chance, take every risk in hope.

I have lived more fully than any of them. The path of least resistance is not one that is by any means enviable. It’s safe, certainly—but it is not satisfying. Not to me, in any case.

I would not give up one second of this. I do not regret one moment of this.

Some things are worth failing for.

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LATE March Blog Chain

Tags

a swiftly tilting planet, a wind in the door, a wrinkle in time, blog chains, characters, doctor who, late, madeleine l'engle, selay'uu (sort of), writing

Go visit Rosalie’s blog, if you’re curious. Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of Dead Week and can’t help you much.

Well… a character who I’ve created who will probably never feature in a novel… Casceny! No, just kidding. The steampunk time-traveler heroine may or may not have a novel in the works. Eventually. So far, the time travelers in the Mind Palace are Charles Wallace Murray and Meg Murray (A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels), the Doctor (Doctor Who), and my own characters, Emrys Williams, Casceny, and a young Hispanic lady who is going by the alias of “Maria” at the moment until I can pick out a better name for her. Emrys is first in line and Maria is second (multi-cultural time travel academy, here we come!) But Casceny is still not eliminated from the running.

But she’ll be in the countdown anyway, since right now she’s more of an interest person and an agent of chaos in the mind palace at the moment.

More seriously, Kysherin. Kysherin is my evil muse. Generally a not-very-nice person. Pesters me to write, and then bothers me while I am writing. If I come up with a wonderous thing, she comes up with a way to corrupt it totally. All angst, posted here and elsewhere, is absolutely 100% her fault. (Okay, except for the sensory-overload type, which is me trying to cope with my overwhelming surroundings.)

There’s also Oliver, who is one of my all-time favorite characters, and who Writefury and I came up with. I probably shouldn’t even be talking about him yet, but I haven’t mentioned what he comes up in, so we’re good… you’ll all probably recognize him when he does, though. Technically he doesn’t count because he DOES exist in a project in what Rosalie terms the Erin!verse (which is a composite of all my ongoing projects at any given time.) But it’s not a novel. I just HAD to post about him, since he’s AWESOME, and let me just say, I can hardly wait. ;-D

And finally, there’s Chaos, who is barred from the mind palace for obvious reasons. Chaos is my artistic vent. She always wants to fight and start minor class wars. She’s a teenaged Marxist and anarchist and I sometimes doodle her getting into well-deserved trouble when I’m particularly hot under the collar about something (mostly politics). Favorite pastimes include random vandalism and Luddite-ing with copies of Das Kapital. Needless to say, I never plan on posting anything featuring her on this blog. If she were here, Chaos would claim that she was created as a caricature of Bernie Sanders, but she is a blatant liar and you should not trust anything she says. Ever. (Caricacturing Bernie Sanders would be giving me far too much credit, and I can’t draw Trump.)

TCWT December 2014: Learning from the Masters

Tags

a tale of two cities, blogging, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, charles dickens, dee henderson, fahrenheit 451, g.a. henty, irene hannon, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, ray bradbury, redwall, sir arthur conan doyle, story dynamics, teens can write too blog chain, the silmarillion, writing

We’re back again!

I am so sorry, I’m posting this a day late. I had planned to schedule it, but… well, let’s just say that though I know better than to excuse myself to my instructors at college, you guys might actually forgive me if I say that work and college conspired to destroy ANY plans I had for this week. AT ALL. Also, late happy St. Nicholas’ Day and on time happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

I know it’s been a while since I posted for the Teens Can Write Too blog chain, but I had good excuses. Crazy college and a new job made me take a hiatus from blogging for a while. I kind-of almost want to change to a history major, but I’m going to hang on with what I have now–I figure that if I want a history degree later, I can get a history degree later by transferring credits and attending part-time. Besides, I don’t think you need a degree to go to history conventions and get in on that conversation. History people are awesome.

Well, that’s enough about that.

On to the prompt!

Over the years, I have learned a lot, mainly by following the example of other authors. Remember how there’s that annoying little thing where your writing tends to mimic the style of the last author you read? Well, that’s part of it. But only part of it.

From The Lord of the Rings and the Redwall series, I learned about style and pacing. In Redwall, the style is very concrete, and the pacing is quick; when you get to the crises of the books, it’s a hard-hitting series of events leading rapidly up to the climax. The Lord of the Rings is paced slower and has a bit more of an ornate style. I have had my style compared to Tolkien’s *glares at Iris, sitting in the audience*, but I tend to prefer Jacques’ pacing.

From Irene Hannon, Dee Henderson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I learned the value of not broadcasting your plot twists all over the place. Normally I have intuitions about whodunit, but in these cases I could not see the villain until he was right in my face. Genius.

From G.A. Henty, I learned that it’s okay to take detours. (Okay, Tolkien does that too, but I read Henty first.) Adding in side plots to prolong a quest+character development for side characters=an equation for 300 pages of a good read. (Don’t hate on me. 50k is all well and good, but I like books that are 150k or 200k, even. I read The Lord of the Rings in nine days straight and actually finished reading The Silmarillion.)

From A Tale of Two Cities, I learned the value of keeping up with history and using a cultural and historic background to my advantage. Realism is the name of the game, and while you’re simulating realism, it helps to be knowledgeable about the real history behind it.

From Fahrenheit 451 I learned the importance of keeping calm through criticism. (Don’t ask me how; that’s just the lesson I took away from it. I pick up on odd things sometimes.) I’m not used to being criticized in a negative light. If you’ve been reading my blog, and especially the comments on the posts, it’s only been once or twice that I haven’t received abject praise. I don’t know if that’s because I’m good at what I do or if I have a feel for what my audience likes or if they just can’t find anything to criticize. But it’s hard to be criticized since I’m so used to praise. I just have to find out what’s relevant, and not let the rest get to me.

From C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle, I learned that it’s okay to write the tough books, the ones that might get you hated on. You might be shocked to see how much criticism gets to me, even if you’ve known me forever, but I learned from reading Lewis’ and L’Engle’s works that you have to just kick fear in the teeth and write it. You’ll be surprised by how much support you garner.

You have to write the book that wants to be written, and if it’s too difficult for adults, write it for children. ~~ Madeleine L’Engle

5^th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

6^th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

7^th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

8^th – http://introspectioncreative.wordpress.com/

9^th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/

10^th – http://kirabudge.weebly.com/

11^th – http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/

12^th – http://randomosityofeden.wordpress.com/

13^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

14^th – http://www.alwaysopinionatedgirl.wordpress.com/

15^th – http://www.juliathewritergirl.wordpress.com/

16^th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

17^th – http://horsfeathersblog.wordpress.com/

18^th – http://unironicallyexcited.wordpress.com/

19^th – http://theboardingblogger.wordpress.com/

20^th – http://stayandwatchthestars.wordpress.com/

21^st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

22^nd – http://fantasiesofapockethuman.blogspot.com/

23^rd – http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com/

24^th – http://oliviarivers.wordpress.com/

25^th – [off-day]

26^th – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/

27^th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

28^th – http://www.pamelanicolewrites.com

29^th – http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com.au/

30^th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/ and http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/

31st – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)

Oh, are you still here?

I apologize again for posting late. Don’t stick around here, though! Head right over to the next blog and don’t miss out on their post!

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

The Best Blogging Buddies Award

Tags

authors, awards, bbc sherlock, blogging, c.s. lewis, catholic culture, christianity, chronicles of narnia, diamond, disney, dreamworks, frozen, guitar, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, music, owl city, rise of the guardians, star wars, the last battle, the lion king, thomas jefferson, writer, writing

Hey, there’s not actually a picture for this one? Hmmm… 😛

Instead, you can enjoy looking at my beloved dog (who passed away a few years ago… :’-( )

HEEEEEERRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE’S DIAMOND!

Okay, so Miko over at The Legendary Miko nominated me for this one. Thank you so much! 🙂

And apparently, this is a new award, and I’m the third recipient in the chain! Exciting! 😀

Okay, now to review the rules…

1) You must make a post to show your award on your main blog.

2) You must tag the person who nominated you in your post.

3) You must nominate all of your best buddies, and those whom you want to become best buddies with, who, to your knowledge, have not been nominated, for this award.

4) You must ask your buddies at least 15 questions on your post.

5) You must answer all of the questions your buddies ask you. On your post.

On to the questions!

1) What is your favorite TV show? I’m Sherlocked. No more to say. 😛

2) First song that pops into your head right now? “Fireflies” by Owl City. (My sister is a big fan.)

3) What are three guilty pleasures of yours? Fanfiction (technically), hot cocoa (I can’t often seem to actually finish a full mug), and reading C.S. Lewis when I’m supposed to be reading Faulkner (honestly, I need to find a new short story!)

4) Chipotle, Subway, Taco Bell, or McDonald’s? I’m going with Subway. I’ve never been to Taco Bell, and I’ve only ever had a hot cocoa at McDonalds. I got tired of Subway back in January, but that’s that. It’s been a while.

5) What is one thing that not many know about you? Well, Iris was surprised to learn that I play guitar. Other than that, I don’t advertise that I write much, except online. Since that’s the exception, though, and everyone here knows that I write, I don’t think anyone on here knows that I like to carve toy daggers out of wood. (I should post some pictures of them some time…)

6) If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor? Fictional or real-life? Well, for fictional characters, I’d love to have Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon as my mentor, though it would also be awesome to be mentored by Doctor John Watson. 😉 And real life mentors… Thomas Jefferson and my history professor at the private college I used to attend. *sniffle*

7) If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? Ironic, I just got this question on another blog award… If I could really change my name, I’d like to change my universe as well… does that count? 😛

8) Where’s Waldo? Up in a tree. He’s in time-out and I won’t let him down… Never mind. 😛 (Who’s Waldo?)

9) What is your ideal boyfriend/girlfriend? Yikes. What a question… My ideal boyfriend will be a Christian, chivalrous, and kind. Other than that, well, I suppose I’ll have to wait to meet him. 😉

10) What color socks are you wearing? At the moment? No socks. Soon? Probably tan or gray. Wool is the best!

11) Blue or Black pens? Both! You see, I write with blue pens on even-numbered days, and black ones on the odd… Just kidding. I like to write with black and then do the primary edits in blue before typing everything up, tweaking as I go. (I like to print final drafts in purple. Unfortunately they don’t let you do that in college. :-S )

12) What’s the best book you ever read? The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. Runners up: Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet, Tolkien’s Smith of Wooton Major and Leaf by Niggle, and Lewis’ Space Trilogy. (Just finished them and I’m in heaven!!! I should totally review them!!!)

13) What would you choose to be your last meal? I don’t care what it would be, so long as it wasn’t cream of wheat, and was with friends.

14) If you were given the option to choose your death, how would you die? I would prefer to die defending my friends and/or my country. (Though I doubt that’s exactly what you wanted…) I wouldn’t care about the nonsense “go out in a blaze of glory” so long as I was doing that. (I’m not Eowyn, in case you were under the delusion that I am. 😛 )

15) What is one thing you wish you’d never heard/learned? Certain non-canon couples… Ugh. (That’s not the only thing I wish I’d never heard about, but you only asked for one! ;-P)

Here we go with my questions:

1. If society was clipped up Divergent-style and you had to pick a faction, which of these factions would you choose: Truth Seekers (scholars, archaeologists and explorers), Protectors (military and police forces), Aristocracy (leaders and rulers), or Underworld (spies, black-ops units)?
2. Are you more like Sherlock or Mycroft Holmes? (Be honest and objective! :-P)
3. For the library aficionados, what book do you not own that you would like to read again?
4. If you could re-write any pop culture catchphrase, which one would you re-write and what would it mean in its new form? 😉
5. What’s your number one underdeveloped character in a published work? (I mean, who is your favorite character that you wish the author had developed more?)
6. Frozen or Rise of the Guardians? Why?
7. Tangled or Brave? Why?
8. Do you prefer birdwatching or stargazing? Why?
9. Favorite Lion King character and song!
10. When you’re about to leave the house, what’s the first thing you grab?
11. Do you prefer the forest, mountains, or ocean?
12. Do you sing in the shower?
13. Gardening or fiber crafts (sewing, knitting, embroidery, crochet) or sports? Favorite sport?
14. Do you have a particular official spot where you hang out with friends? (Mine was the library in my hometown. Now it looks like being Barnes&Noble, since it’s close to the university…)
15. Apples, oranges, grapes, or strawberries?

And now, I hereby nominate (in no particular order):

Iris, partly because she’s awesome and partly because I miss her.

Sarahtps, because awesome lists and fun photography. 😉

Proverbs31teen, because of Superhero Sundays. 😀 (She was the one who REALLY got me started on the Avengers!)

IcedMocha34, because she’s awesome and totally deserves it. 🙂

Roo, because I know her on Nanowrimo and she’s awesome. 😉

Superseaturtle (well, that’s what I know her as… ;-P) because she welcomed me to the Lego Star Wars Gallery, which is where I got my start on the web, and because she’s doing Nano this year–yay!

Andrew, whom I also know from Nano. 😛

FrenziedMythology, again from Nano, better known as Gandalf or the Panda of Awesomeness. 😛

C.N. Goodhue, aka Cedric of Chessington, who I first knew on the Lego Star Wars Creations gallery and who I’ve been having some trouble staying in contact with… :-S

Truthwillwin1. All of us need a bit more political incorrectness in our lives. 😉

Robyn Hoode, because… well, Minions for one thing. ;-P I just got nominated by her for another award, too. 😛

Professor V.J. Duke, for punchiness and dadblamery.

Sheikah, for her beautiful artwork.

Coruscantbookshelf (aka Rosalie), because she got me started blogging in the first place. 😉

Erin of Laughing at Live Dragons (we have to differentiate here, for obvious reasons. 😛 )

Eric, because Lord of the Rings! *happy sigh*

Wow. That’s a lot of people. 😛 But I was restricted on the other one by the fact that I couldn’t nominate boys for it. 😛 (It says “Sisterhood” right in the award name! 😛 )

Anyway, thanks for reading, congrats to the nominees, and God Bless! 😉

The Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award

Tags

authors, autumn, award, baroness orczy, bbc merlin, bbc sherlock, blogging, captain america: the first avenger, dee henderson, disney, dreamworks, editor, fall, fall break (finally!), frozen, irene hannon, joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat, louisa may alcott, madeleine l'engle, pixar, prince of egypt, roleplaying, sewing, singing in the rain, star wars, star wars rebels, story dynamics, the clone wars, writer, writing

I have been awarded the Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award by Robyn Hoode of Spiral Bound… Thank you, Robyn! 🙂

Okay, the rules are to show the icon on your blog, answer questions, make up new questions, nominate bloggers, and notify them of the nomination. (It isn’t exactly fair to them if you expect them to just read your blog and see, “Oh, I got nominated!” A lot of us are really busy people, so it takes a while for us to get back and realize that we were nominated, if you don’t comment on our blogs to tell us. PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT pointing fingers at anyone. I’m just making an observation about something, because the last two times I got nominated no one commented to tell me that I had been. Don’t worry about forgetting if you did nominate me and don’t remember if you notified me or not, because you probably did, but if you haven’t seen your award up on this blog please comment and tell me and I’ll do my best to respond to the nominations in a timely manner. 😉 Don’t loose any sleep about it, just do your best to notify people of nominations, and no one will hate you if you forget, and the whole world will go a lot smoother. 😉 )

1. What is your favorite musical? Ooh, hard to say. I’m bouncing between Prince of Egypt, Singing in the Rain, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 😉 Partly because the latter was the first and only real musical I’ve seen live. 😉

2. If you could guest star in any TV show, which show and who would you be? Any TV show? Including ones that have stopped running? Well, I have a lot, but I’ll have to pick three… BBC’s Merlin as an assassin sent to kill Arthur but who instead winds up siding with Merlin against a bigger threat (no romance, because that’s overdone!), Star Wars: The Clone Wars and/or Star Wars: Rebels as a Jedi (or maybe a Mandalorian, just because 🙂 ). I’d also like to be on BBC Sherlock, but I have no idea what I’d be doing there. 😛

3. Do you have a favorite number? I don’t know… Nine seems like a nice round number. For some reason, twenty-seven doesn’t seem nearly as perfect. But I also like the smaller prime numbers, just because they’re interesting…

4. What is your favorite thing about autumn? I don’t know. Probably the beautiful color of the leaves (and jumping in the piles). Or the hot beverages–wassail (spiced hot apple cider) is the best!

5. What’s your favorite girly thing to do with your sister/female cousin/best friend? Umm… I don’t know. Sewing projects. Sitting down to watch a movie and then discuss it. (I know. Not very girly.) Roleplaying. (As a boy, occasionally–so again, not very girly!)

6. Best movie you’ve seen this year? So far? At the moment, I rather think that that would be Captain America: The First Avenger. I haven’t seen many movies for the first time this year, and I was rather underwhelmed by Frozen, after all those stupid spoilers.

7. If you had to change your name, what would you change it to? Wow… I don’t know. I might change it to Erin (as Erin is not on my birth certificate, if you were wondering :-P) I don’t really plan on saying here what I would like to use as a pseudonym, as that could be–could be–personal information. As to why I go by Erin online, it’s a long story. 😉 If you want to hear it, I suppose I could post about that… which should tell you just how bored I am and how low I am inspiration-wise.

8. How do you feel about chick-flicks? Not much into them. Don’t know much about them. That’s all.

9. GIFs? I like them, but I don’t use them much. (Oh well!) The first time I encountered a gif was over on the Merlin Wiki back in 2013, and I was a bit amazed at first–it’s a moving picture (minus the sound), after all!

10. Favorite female author? I know I’m probably going to have a bunch of angry people on my hands, but Madeleine L’Engle is my absolute favorite female author. Baroness Orczy is a close runner-up. I also like Dee Henderson and Irene Hannon. I haven’t been quite as “in” to Louisa May Alcott as some others… yeah. Rather limited, I know.

Now, for my questions!

1. How many times in a day do you look things up online, on average?
2. What is the strangest thing you have ever said to anyone?
3. Since my dad is having us watch The Avengers and all the movies leading up to them… who’s your favorite Avenger? 😉
4. Which Avenger are you most like, in your opinion? In your friends’ opinions?
5. If you had to pick one–just one–fictional character to be caught with in the middle of a natural disaster (or a nuclear war, take your pick) who would you choose?
6. Oddest thing you’ve sung in the shower?
7. What is the biggest thing you’ve had malfunction about your account or blog? (Mine is the elusive “like” button which I have often complained about.)
8. Favorite kind of fruit?
9. What book/movie/poem/short story has made the biggest impact on you lately?
10. And, last but not least, what was the funniest thing you read recently? Please share! 😉

Okay, so now I need to nominate people… let’s see…

Tara Therese (check out her new… well, relatively new, site! 😉 )

Miko (because she just nominated me, and so I can’t nominate her back on the other award reception post I’m working on.)

PinkDoughnuts15, because Winnie the Pooh, and relatability as well. 😉

Rachel Carerra, because awesome stories!

Portergirl, even though she might not accept the nomination, just to point more people to her awesome blog! 😉

Rayne Speryll of Writing in Rivendell, just because. 😉

I was probably going to nominate a bunch of other people, but oh well… I can’t remember half of who I wanted to nominate. *sigh* I’m trying to nominate mostly people whom I haven’t before, but one day after I receive the award myself, everything goes out the window. As I said, oh well. 😛

TCWT: Beginnings and Endings (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILBO AND FRODO!)

Tags

a swiftly tilting planet, a wind in the door, a wrinkle in time, beginnings, book reviews, brian jaques, c.s. lewis, castaways of the flying dutchman, catholic culture, creative writing, endings, j.r.r. tolkien, john flanagan, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, ranger's apprentice, reading, redwall, reviews, robert louis stevenson, star wars, the chronicles of narnia, the hobbit, time quintet, treasure island, writing

Hello, everyone!

Now, before I get into the TCWT post, I want to just make one little announcement.

Today is the shared birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins! *confetti flies everywhere* Happy birthday to the Ringbearers!

Okay, now that I’ve said that… 😉

Beginnings and endings. Now this reminds me of a paper I wrote in high school! Which will never see the light of day until it gets a boatload of revising. So don’t ask. Or you can ask, but be prepared for it to not happen for a very, very long time.

Specifically, my favorite beginnings and endings.

Let’s do this by series.

First of all, favorite beginnings and endings for The Chronicles of Narnia.

1. The Magician’s Nephew, both as a beginning to the series, and its own beginning and ending. This. Book. Rocked.
   First of all, we have the story of how Diggory and Polly met, and the fact that they were sent into Narnia by a ruthless pseudo-scientist/magician who was also partly insane (wouldn’t any number of YA authors just love to try their hand at a plot this juicy nowadays?!), but it’s not just that that makes the book great. It foreshadows World War II and people like Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler. (I would not be surprised to hear that Lewis did not approve of the US’s alliance with the USSR. Good grief, I don’t approve of it. And I’m American.)
   *cough* Anyway…
   Well, this book as a whole is the beginning of Narnia and the Chronicles of Narnia series. But its opening, while modest, is no less of a favorite for me. And its ending! The hiding of the magic rings (we’ll get to Tolkien and the rest of the Inklings later, I promise!), the cure of Diggory’s mother, and the promise of hope.
2. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The book that began it all. Seriously. Was ever story so well encapsulated? It wraps itself up very well, and smaller elements that were included (especially the Professor, who is–guess who? Diggory Kirk [yes, that is really his last name!], all grown up! and Susan’s horn, which becomes a major point in the plot of Prince Caspian.)
3. The Horse and His Boy. Unlike the rest of the Narnia stories, this one actually does not have anything to do with “our world”, unless you count the presence of the Pevensies (SPOILER! 😛 Who cares, anyway?! Most of you have already read all of the Chronicles of Narnia!) The ending is good, okay, but it’s the ending I really love. This is the one Narnia book that describes Archenland, and it tells us about the people of Archenland, and gives a very satisfying ending.
4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Okay, yes, I love pretty much all of the Narnia series, but Dawn Treader stands out among the Narnia books. Again, the beginning is not nearly as euphoria-inducing as the ending is. It appears that Lewis may have been playing with the idea of the Seven Friends of Narnia at this point–of course, though, at this point only Lion, Witch, Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Dawn Treader were written, which means that Diggory was only a flight of imagination, and Polly probably hadn’t ever (in Lewis’ mind) come into Narnia at all yet. The three aforementioned books were intended to be a trilogy, complete in themselves, and it seems that Lewis didn’t plan to write any more books. However, step back and take the series as a whole. If you read them in Narnian-time order, not writing order, then by the end of Dawn Treader there are seven friends of Narnia. (Susan hasn’t left the group yet, remember.) And Dawn Treader and The Last Battle are the most similar in style, and ending as well. Coincidence? Most likely not.
5. The Last Battle. If I have to pick one favorite Narnia book, it is this one. (Dawn Treader is a close second.) First of all, the opening is riveting. An impostor Aslan? Narnia’s King captured? WHAT?! IT DOESN’T EVEN BEGIN IN “OUR WORLD”?! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! *squees*
   Seriously, though. ❤
   This Narnia book raises the stakes like no other. (I plan on making a list of the top villains who made an impression on me, to show you what I mean.) However, this book is also probably the one which is hardest for a child to read. (You’ve been warned.) It is both heartbreaking, exciting with its call to war, the rage against the lies… It is a true emotional rollercoaster. This one, more than any other of Lewis’s books, made me understand what “passion” really meant. More than any other book, really.
   And now, for the ending. While some people are upset that Susan didn’t get to the “True Narnia” in Aslan’s Country at the end of the series (read more about that here, and I highly recommend the rest of his blog for thought-provoking stuff on theology and popular culture!), I was both saddened by the fact that Susan had made herself not to believe in Narnia (which was, by the way, a recurring theme throughout the book–which is why, now, whenever I hear anyone say anything REMOTELY smacking of “We’re out for ourselves!” [*cough cough* “The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs!”], I always throw a fit and demolish their argument in a blaze of righteous flurry and the occasional lightsaber-to-their-newspaper), and gladdened by the fact that by the very fact of her leaving the Friends of Narnia she was given a second chance. The problem, really, that we’re talking about here, is the bland/blase reaction of the remaining Friends of Narnia to her exclusion. But you’ll just have to read Malcolm’s post, linked in above, if you want to know what Lewis’s thoughts on the whole “Problem with Susan” issue was. I’m not giving it away to you! You wouldn’t go find his completely awesome blog otherwise!
   Anyway, back to the ending, proper. It is, in my opinion, a very satisfying close to the series. It was a blissful, happy, euphoric ending. It echoed the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse to Tridentine Rite lovers like me). In fact, I am thinking about making myself a T-Shirt that says “The Rapture only happens to people who loved The Last Battle!” (DISCLAIMER: The author of this post does not believe in the Rapture as preached by certain Christian sects. She does, however, believe that reading The Last Battle will bring you pretty freaking close!)

Sadly, I have not read Lewis’s Space Trilogy often enough to include it in the runners. I haven’t even finished it. :’-( Still, enjoy my dear friend Rosalie’s description of Dr. Ransom here. ;-P *notices some people in the crowd gawking at the picture* *bangs them on the head with a newspaper* READ THE DESCRIPTION! NO GAWKING AT THE PHOTO!!! (I don’t care HOW attractive you may find Ewan McGregor, keep the fawning off my blog!)

Next up: Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet!

A Wrinkle in Time begins with the cliche beginning “It was a dark and stormy night.” It doesn’t stop there, though. It makes it its own. And in the end, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which vanish in a gust of wind.

However, A Wind in the Door gets the top place on this list, I think. It begins with “There are dragons in the twins’ vegetable garden.” and ends with the unforgettable:

“You were gone long enough. Did you count the stars or something?”

“We don’t have to count them,” Meg said. “They just need to be known by Name.” Calvin’s eyes met hers for a long moment and held her gaze, not speaking, not kything, simply being.

Then she went up to Charles Wallace.

Seriously! BEST. ENDING. EVER!

A Swiftly Tilting Planet, both beginning and ending, is tied up in Mrs. L’Engle’s adaption of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, called “Patrick’s Rune” in the story:

In this fateful hour
I place all heaven with its power
And the sun with its brightness
And the snow with its whiteness
And the fire with all the strength it hath
And the lightning with its rapid wrathAnd the winds with their swiftness along their path
And the sea with its deepness
And the rocks with their steepness
And the earth with its starkness,
All these I place
By God’s almighty help and grace
Between myself and all the powers of darkness.

Does that give you goosebumps? It does to me!

And finally, for the Hobbit  and the Lord of the Rings books. Now, I think that, while LotR’s beginning was interesting enough, it’s not quite the same as Hobbit‘s. “In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.” How’s that for a great opening? It certainly gets questions started as to what a Hobbit is and why it lives in the ground! However, since Hobbit is the prequel to LotR, it makes a lot of sense that way. Frankly, though Hobbit‘s ending is satisfying enough, LotR’s is, in my opinion, the stronger of the two. Both bring about great changes in the world of Middle-Earth. Hobbit sees the return of the King Under the Mountain and the cities of Dale and Esgaroth, while LotR has no less than the return of the King Elessar to both Gondor and Arnor, and the destruction of the One Ring and the overthrowing of Sauron to boot!

In Hobbit, it was Bilbo’s poem that made the greatest impression on me.

Roads go ever on and on
Over rock, and under tree
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass, and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever on and on,
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that have a-wandering gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows greenAnd trees and hills they long have known.

And in LotR, Frodo sums it up best: “We set out to save the Shire, Sam, and it has been saved; but not for me.”

In the end, both the Bagginses go into the West with the Elves, in search of Valinor, and Sam returns home to his wife and children. “Well, I’m back.”

Note to Ranger’s Apprentice fans:

I am so sorry, but RA is not eligible to run. Like the Space Trilogy, I haven’t read it enough to know the beginnings and endings very well.

Now for Brian Jaques’ work.

I especially love Mariel of Redwall for its beginning and ending. The book begins with an amnesiac Mariel arriving on the coast of Mossflower country, promising (as Liam would say) the search for the truth about her past. And it closes with the defeat of Gabool and the departure of Mariel and Dandin to go in search of adventure. However, The Legend of Luke and Martin the Warrior, not to mention Mossflower, were close seconds: Legend of Luke for its opening and closing sequences, detailing the building of Redwall Abbey, Martin the Warrior for its description of Martin’s barely-existent childhood and (SPOILER ALERT!) the cheek to kill off a character we really loved to drive Martin southward, toward Mossflower Country, and Mossflower for the arrival of Martin at Kotir in Mossflower and the closing defeat of Tsarmina, who had enslaved the woodlanders.

And as you’re probably already tired of this, I think I will stop after just one more.

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman trilogy.

WHY MR. JACQUES!? WHY!? *bursts into tears*

Each of these books is complex, detailed, involves a much intenser battle between good and evil (sometimes more openly manifested!) than the Redwall books, and remains vivid in the imagination for days and years afterward. (Why do you think I keep on forgetting and naming yet another protagonist “Ben”?! Hint: It’s not just Obi-Wan’s doing! *Obi-Wan shoots an annoyed glance in my direction*) It’s like… gah! I don’t know what to compare it to! Think Jedi Apprentice (Melida-Daan specifically), only little Obi-Wan has a dog and his destiny is tied to the sea, and gaaah the feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelsss…. *breaks down crying* *Obi-Wan relents and comes over to pat me on the back*

Okay, bad comparison. Let’s see. I think the closest I can get is it’s a bit like Treasure Island (which had a marvelous ending in its own rite,) a bit like what Star Wars would have been if the story centered around Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had survived to train Anakin, and the sorrows the Elves must face when the younger Children of Illuvatar die. It also has strong resonances with Ranger’s Apprentice (shut it with the whatever-apprentice similes, Erin, before you burst into tears again!) It’s the only series with a ‘young’ protagonist (SPOILER the protagonist is eternally fourteen) I’ve ever read where the hero had no permanent mentor. Sure, he has a mentor/father figure who dies, but after that other people mentor him as well… sort of.

The thing about these books is that the endings are always both sweet, and at the same time, heartbreaking, since Ben and Ned (that’s Ben’s telepathic friend, the dog) must wander the world constantly, helping those they come across, and they can’t let anyone know that they’re immortal. I just want to give them both a great big hug.

*sigh* Excuse me, please. I just wanted to make myself reread all those books. (Dare I say, oops?)

Thanks for reading (and especially for sticking through until the end!), and God Bless!

Teens Can Write, Too!: Accidental Self-Insertion?

Tags

a wrinkle in time, baroness emma orczy, bbc merlin, bbc sherlock, c.s. forester, characters, doctor who, dreamworks, horatio hornblower, how to train your dragon, j.r.r. tolkien, john flanagan, kung fu panda, kung fu panda 2, long rants, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, oh my what a long post, ranger's apprentice, rise of the guardians, star wars, teens can write too blog chain, the clone wars, the scarlet pimpernel, time quintet, villains, writer, writing

Hello, everyone! I’m taking part in the Teens Can Write, Too! Blog Chain once again. Why? Because it’s fun to connect with other bloggers, that’s why!

This month’s prompt is, “Which characters are you most like?” Well, that’s easy. The calculating, logical ones who don’t really “get” emotions. (Yes, really.) It’s seriously freaky, because people like Obi-Wan and Sherlock could be my alter egos. For some reason, though, girls like this are rare… it’s almost like there’s a stereotype that keeps people from writing girls like this. Unequal representation, I say!

More and more, though, I keep finding that the people I’m really most like (at least in my own work) are the villains. Don’t get me wrong, my own personal goals could not be farther from the villains I love to write. I don’t go around in my spare time planning world domination, or plotting how to turn my friends to the Dark Side (nope, no Palpatine for me, thanks!), or just randomly bumping people off. That’s not me.

I think it’s easiest to identify with people like us, which is why there is such variety in character types (put the Doctor, Obi-Wan, Jack Frost, Sherlock, Anakin, and Doctor Watson in a room together and what do you see?). But more and more, I find that my heroes tend to share only facets of my personality and develop minds and personalities all their own. I think that there must be something of the actor in a writer, something that allows them to take on the role of these characters and play them to the best advantage. It’s a rare ability–and perhaps, becoming rarer–to step into somebody else’s shoes, know how they think and act, and then walk a mile in those shoes. But I believe it can be developed–in the interest of compassion, people should take up creative writing as a hobby!

Villains, though, though painful to write, can be frighteningly easy to portray… basically, all you have to do for a villain is to summon up your selfish side, think of the times you hurt someone, and then transfer your self-hate to the villain on your paper. Though villains are characters too, they are mostly characters who slip where the heroes hold firm, and though we hate them for it, it makes them so horribly, frighteningly human, that sometimes it’s hard not to try to make your villain too sympathetic… (Forgive the rambling. I have the flu at the moment.)

I think that we can write because we are both the heroes and the villains of our own stories. It depends on the point of view of the outsider watching, really.

But as to the prompt itself (sorry for the long ramble that you didn’t ask for and probably didn’t want to read), the characters I think I’m most like (apart from the villains), would have to be the ones whom no one sees or can quite understand without some kind of shared intuition, also the ones who are unusually intelligent (though I don’t think I am myself; my IQ test came back as just “gifted”, nothing more. I just know better ways of thought, I guess?) Thus, I identify very closely with characters who tend to be more intelligent, or think differently than the people around them. Characters like Charles Wallace Murry…

If only we could still call on Asa Butterfield for this one. Gah. I HEREBY DISOWN THIS MOVIE AND DESIRE FOR A BETTER ONE TO BE MADE.

Sherlock…

Okay, not so much with this one, but I have been known to randomly make deductions about people.

Hornblower…

I just had to pick the one with this expression. D’awwwwwwww!

(For those who do not know Mr. Hornblower [and I pity thee!], he’s a British naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars and later, and is known for risky but brilliant strategies. I also identify with him because he consistently self-depreciates in his own mind, and I know just how that feels.)

And last but not least, Obi-Wan (and not just because he’s a misunderstood intellectual–I think I posted about that here… but because of the amount of grief he had to put up with from Anakin and other people besides. He’s sort of the older brother character in Star Wars, and I’m the oldest sibling, and I certainly can relate to all the nonsense he had to put up with.)

Yes, Rosalie, I borrowed your image. MWHAHAHAHAHA.

But there are other characters, too… Merlin, because, well, social awkwardness… need I say more?

Poor Merlin. The Master of Awkward. (Don’t we all feel like this sometimes?!)

Will from Ranger’s Apprentice!

Yes, I know this is certainly someone’s fan art… sawry….

I think I identify with Will because his coming of age story is very much one that we all understand… And I think I have the same sense of humor… Anyone else getting the feeling of deja vu?

No, I couldn’t pick just one. This is awesome fan art. Seriously. (And it doesn’t look like it’s copycatted from Lord of the Rings… wheeeee! ;-P)

Speaking of Lord of the Rings…

Sam is down-to-earth and loyal, and though I’m not really like Sam when it’s the down-to-earth bit, but I try to support my friends the same way he supports Frodo.

Teehee….

The main reason I’m putting this here is because I love the relationship development between Hiccup and his father, but the other reason is because I share Hiccup’s curiosity and eagerness to learn. Maybe not so much his inventiveness and willingness to accept and create new traditions, but still.

Okay, I know I should probably include some girls in here… grrr…

Marguerite Blakeney!

Because! (Actually, this is probably the one female character whom I am most like. She’s bright and intelligent and clever and tries to fix her mistakes and she gets to work with her husband saving lives!!! Okay, I’ll admit it. Percy and Marguerite is my real OTP.)

Ahsoka Tano!!!

“Snips” is the queen of sarcasm, and she’s a teenager who’s a Jedi and growing up in a war and totally gets teenager problems! Seriously. If Marguerite is my grown-up side, then Ahsoka is my teenaged, sassy, warrior-maiden side.

Padme!

Yes, Padme, purple is your color. (I still hate this dress, though.)

Like Obi-Wan, she had to put up with a ridiculous amount of grief, because Anakin is an idiot. (I don’t actually blame her for thinking that she might be able to change that… Whoopsie, unintentional Merlin quote…) I admire Padme because she’s courageous and willing to stand up for things other people don’t stand up for. But like the rest of us, she’s human and makes wrong decisions. And she’s actually a mature person. (Anyone else feel like something was missing from Revenge of the Sith?)

Mary Morstan Watson!!!!

I never did get a good look at this dress…

Talk about strong female characters! Mrs. Watson could quite literally wipe the floor with several of the guys in Sherlock. (I’m not specifying who, though…) Former CIA, assassin… And a lady who makes mistakes, but still tries to rectify them. (Noticing a pattern here?)

And last but not least, Tigress!

Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda II (deliberately taking them as one piece here) was a boon. Not only did it have a better plot than a bunch of other recent movies, it also had female leads (Viper, as well as Tigress) who were strong without overwhelming the male characters (which is a problem, in my opinion, equal to the lack of strong female leads in the first place!), funny without making racy jokes (TAKE THAT, SEXISM!), and, especially in Tigress’ case, had a strong character arc and were good at giving relationship advice, besides! (Added to that, the sequel actually lived up to–and even surpassed–the first movie. Will DreamWorks’ next KFP movie live up to its predecessors? Only time will tell…)

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post!

5th – http:// semilegacy.blogspot.com/

6th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

7th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

8th – http://sammitalk.wordpress.com/

9th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

10th – http://irisbloomsblog.wordpress.com/

11th – http://www.brookeharrison.com/

12th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

13th – http://uniquelyanonymous.wordpress.com/

14th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

15th – http://novelexemplar.wordpress.com/

16th – http://nutfreenerd.wordpress.com/

17th – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

18th – http://writers-place-for-you.blogspot.de/

19th – http://roomble.wordpress.com/

20th – https://taratherese.wordpress.com/

21st – http://thependanttrilogy.wordpress.com/

22nd – http://freeasagirlwithwings.wordpress.com/

23rd – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/

24th – http://theweirdystation.wordpress.com/

25th – http://teenageink.wordpress.com/

26th – http://www.adventuringthroughpages.wordpress.com/

27th – http://randommorbidinsanity.blogspot.com/

28th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

29th – http://dynamicramblings.wordpress.com/

and http://thelonglifeofalifelongfangirl.wordpress.com/

30th – http://fantasiesofapockethuman.blogspot.com/

and http://www.turtlesinmysoup.blogspot.com/

31st – http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/

and http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain)

Sunshine Award, Iteration Two

Tags

a swiftly tilting planet, a wind in the door, award, blogging, brian jacques, dee henderson, dragons, gardening, j.r.r. tolkien, john flanagan, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, ranger's apprentice, story dynamics, tea vs. coffee, time quintet

Once more, I have been awarded the Sunshine Award, this time by Robyn Hoode. Thanks, Robyn!

Now, to answer the questions…

1.What is your earliest memory? I think it is either going to the local Pumpkin Patch with my brother (who was a baby at the time) or demanding that my mother tell me a story.

2. What’s your favorite color? Green. And burgundy. But mostly green… dark forest green. 😉

3. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received? Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I think the best gift I was ever given was two of the five books in Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet. (The books were A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet.) Though I didn’t know it back then, those same books would spring-board both my fantasy and science fiction writing forward and help develop my imagination. Other than that, it was probably the time I received a camping stove toy as a child, or when I got the Lord of the Rings trilogy (though that was more of a reward for completing schoolwork on time.)

4. Who is your current (living) favorite author? Oh, wow. This is hard… Back before the late Brian Jacques passed away, I would have said him right off the bat… but I think that it’s really a tie between Dee Henderson (suspense/Christian/romance is her specialty; I mostly read it for the Christian and suspense bit 😛 ) and John Flanagan at the moment… *murmurs softly* Most of my favorite authors are dead… *hangs head*

5. Whatcha readin’ now? Right now? I’m working my way through the Ranger’s Apprentice series, and re-reading the books by Madeleine L’Engle mentioned above. 😉 Also, for new reading… lots and lots of non-fiction. :-S

Now, for my questions…

1. What is your favorite writing spot?
2. Tea or coffee?
3. Do you prefer to write at a certain time or in a certain kind of weather? (Shut up, Iris, I know you do…. That was the Halt moment of the day, by the way. ;-P )
4. Do you have a hard time coming up with these questions, too?
5. Are there any plants on the deck at the moment? (If so, what kind?)

And I hereby nominate Tara Therese, since she gave me the Scribbler Award and I really enjoy her blogging! 🙂

I would like to nominate PinkDoughnuts15, because her(?) posts make me laugh, and honestly, I have been there so many times.

Miko, because of short stories and general creepiness. 😛 And very good advice to boot. And she’s in college too!

IcedMocha34, because there was a push back when I first began blogging, and she gave it to me. 🙂

Erin, over at Laughing at Live Dragons, because Dragons!!!

I was going to nominate some other people, but now I can’t remember who they were. Besides, I don’t want to throw a second nomination at people I just nominated already… I’m sorry. I would like to apologize to everyone who would have received a blog award but for Erin’s memory blankness. (There’s always next time, right???)

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Pirates and Writers and Bedsocks, Oh My!: The Sunshine Award

Tags

a tale of two cities, arthur ransome, award, baroness emma orczy, bbc merlin, bbc sherlock, being christian, bible, blogging, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, castaways of the flying dutchman, catholic culture, charles dickens, christianity, college, doctor who, g.a. henty, humor, insanity, j.r.r. tolkien, john flanagan, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, randomness, ranger's apprentice, redwall, robert louis stevenson, roman catholic, sherlock holmes, sir arthur conan doyle, small rants, space trilogy, star trek, star wars, swallows and amazons, the chronicles of narnia, the scarlet pimpernel, time quintet, treasure island, who framed roger rabbit

I hope you are having a bright and happy day. Because this is a bright and happy picture. And I finally figured out how to insert a picture into a post without downloading it onto my computer! Yay me!

Anyway, Proverbs31teen has awarded me with the Sunshine Blog Award. Which is rather unexpected, ’cause the only award I’ve ever received before was the Liebster. (Four or five times, now. I’ve lost count. :-P) For this one, the rules are rather simple. Five facts about you, answering five questions, setting up five more questions, and nominating five other bloggers. From what I can tell, you don’t have to really nominate people with a certain number or less or more than a certain number of followers for this one, so this should be much easier. *crosses fingers, hoping she didn’t just jinx herself*

First of all, the five facts:

1. I snarked above, but unless your computer is not functioning correctly you probably can’t see it. MWAHAHAHAHAH.
2. Apparently my sense of humor is somewhat impaired; my dad thinks Who Framed Roger Rabbit is hilarious and I don’t even find it remotely funny. (All joking aside, if you don’t want your childhood permanently ruined and your innocence prematurely stolen, do not watch that movie! It is evil incarnate!)
3. Hot dogs, bratwurst, and fish fillets all taste different when eaten on a bun. Which raises the question, how much of the taste of your hot dog is the actual hot dog, and how much of it is the disgusting stuff they bake into the bun (and in the hot dog, too, if you bought the cheap ones)?
4. Apparently you have to send your information into this college’s website several times before it accepts you… *sigh*
5. As you can probably tell, my life is defined by job searching and college prep at this point.

And now, to answer the five questions…

1. You’ve got one day left of your life. What would you want to do? I think I would like to go to Mass with all my friends, and maybe meet a few of the people I know on the Internet whom I’ve never met in real life, and spend the rest of the day with my family.
2. Pirates or ninjas, and why? I’m told this is a “thing” now… I’m going with Sherlock on this one. Pirates, I think. Mainly because I mostly don’t know about ninjas, except that they make really popular Halloween costumes, and my only experience of ninjas is really from “Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu” (GO ZANE!), which is probably kind of sad, come to think of it… Besides, on the side of the pirates, I’m a big fan of Robert Louis Stevenson.
3. If you were turned into one of the Avengers, which one would you be most like? Some people I’ve talked to said Captain America. Others said Bruce Banner. I have never seen the Avengers movie, so I don’t really know.
4. What are your top three favorite Bible characters, and why? Oooh, John the Baptist, Moses, and Paul. (Our Lord TOTALLY goes without saying! And the actual apostles!!!) I’m sticking with more “secondary” characters, though, because, well, these people didn’t get much hype compared to the main players. Anyway, all three of them were amazing men who were rather outspoken but very courageous, and each had a message to get out. Moses is awesome because he’s a prefigurement of Christ, John got beheaded for telling Herod “no, you can’t marry your brother’s wife!” (and he also was preparing the world for Christ’s coming!), and Paul was a tireless preacher of the Gospel. (What is it with me and people who were beheaded? *smacks head against wall* Smooth, Erin, real smooth…)
5. (I’m going to be evil, too) What is your favorite book? Do you mean right-now-favorite, long-time favorites, or all-time favorites? (I have a lot…) Of course, the Bible goes without saying. 😉 For all-time favorites (drum roll, please!) it’s a tie between C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle and Lord of the Rings. I love The Last Battle for its beauty, apocalyptic feel, the resonances with the Book of Revelation (or Apocalypse, which is a totally better name in my opinion!) For shortness’ sake, though, I normally just say “LOTR FOREVAR!” and leave it at that. Probably ’cause LotR has about ten times as many pages… Long-time favorites? All the Sherlock Holmes books, Baroness Emma Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel and its sequels (and Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, because I can’t very well forget Sydney Carton when we’re in the French Revolution, can I?!),  Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons books, Brian Jacques’ Redwall (and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, which probably would top this list if I were seriously counting,) C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy and Chronicles of Narnia (in fact, anything by Lewis), Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet (I think that I like Madeleine L’Engle’s stuff because it reminded me of Lewis, and I have always loved Lewis), and the works of G.A. Henty (though sometimes I just want to re-write the endings because it would have been TOTALLY better with a different happily-ever-after GAH!). For my right-now-absolute-favorite? John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series. (YAY GILAN! AND HALT! AND WILL!!!) What can I say? I couldn’t live without books…

Finally, for my five questions:

1. If you had to choose between the Doctor, Sherlock, Merlin, Luke Skywalker, Matthias, Jim Hawkins, and Sir Percy Blakeney to go on an unexpected and otherwise completely unpredictable adventure with, who would you choose?
2. Who would you be more likely to say “You’re weird!” (complete with exclamation point) to: Obi-Wan, Anakin, Sherlock, Watson, the Doctor, Merlin, or Halt? (If you would be most likely to say “You’re weird!” to Halt, then you have my undying respect. Either you are very brave, or just plain crazy.)
3. Do you wear socks to sleep in? (You’d better bet your fluffy bedsocks you do, young’un, wot?!)
4. What is the best plot you’ve ever had that originated in a dream? (Yes, a sleeping dream. Daydreams don’t qualify. Sorry, Sir Percy.)
5. Have you ever been to Boston in the fall?

And now, I hereby wish to nominate:

Iris, because she’s awesome and encouraging and clever and reckless and everything a best friend forever should be!

Liam, because I couldn’t hit him with any Liebster awards. >:-D (If you were wondering about exactly how many times I’ve received the Liebster award, now, it’s four.)

Rachel Carrerra, because her work is amazing!

Shiekiah, because she deserves it and has written amazing stuff and draws amazing art and I really wanted to say thank-you-for-the-awesome-Bound-to-the-Flame-commissions 😉

Coruscantbookshelf (aka Rosalie), because she got me started blogging in the first place. 🙂

Thanks for reading this post all the way to the end. Thanks for nominating me, Proverbs31teen! Have a great day, everyone, and God Bless!

Liebster Award: Once again…

Tags

a wind in the door, award, camp nanowrimo july 2014, insanity, j.r.r. tolkien, life, long rants, madeleine l'engle, nanowrimo, national novel writing month, secret life, small rants, star wars

Once again, I have been nominated for a Liebster award, this time by Proverbs31teen, over at The World of the Writer. (See, I finally did it! For the fourth time in the history of this blog, actually!) You can read about the previous Liebster nominations here and here.

And now, to answer the questions…

1. Why did you start your blog? Has your reason changed since then? I started this blog mainly for the sake of sharing my writing and connecting with other writers. I occasionally use this blog to vent, but yes, this is primarily a writing blog still.
2. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a would chuck could chuck wood? (No fair Googling!!! There’s a real answer, though.) The same amount of woodchucks Chuck Norris would chuck, if Chuck Norris was chucking woodchucks. (My brother told me this years ago.) 😛 But really, though, as much wood a woodchuck cared to chuck, I suppose. 😛
3. If you could travel to any fictional world, which one would you go to? Probably to either Middle-Earth or Narnia. I wouldn’t want to land in the middle of the Empire era, were I to go to the galaxy far, far away. I love democracy far too much. 😛
4. If you could meet with any person (real, past or present) for coffee, who would you meet with? Ooooh… Does it have to be just one!? I definitely would want to meet Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson. Perhaps Napoleon Bonaparte, I don’t know. And now we get to the lesser known historical figures. I would like to meet Gabriel Garcia Moreno (president of Ecuador from 1859-1865 and 1861-1875), because the man was a genius (he actually balanced a horrible budget and helped to move Ecuador from dictatorship to democracy, among other things!), Jacques Cathelineau (you guys all know about my obsession with the Vendee rebellion by now, probably,) because he was an amazing leader, and Jose Luis Escriva. (If you don’t know about Jose Luis, then you need to go look him up, RIGHT NOW!!!)
5. If you could meet with any fictional character, who would you want to meet? Martin the Warrior and the Murry family (from A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels.)
6. Which country do you (or would you) most want to visit? It’s a tie between the UK, New Zealand, Mexico, and Russia. (Though, if I had to choose, I probably wouldn’t go to Russia.)
7. Mountains, desert, or beach? Mountains. That was easy. 😛
8. What’s your favorite genre to read? To write in? To read, I love family dramas, mystery, adventure, suspense, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, and dystopian best. I don’t care much for romance, especially romance with no side plots. To write, I have mostly written sci-fi and fantasy so far, with dystopian flavor and the occasional magic. I’m testing out suspense, though, with a little mystery on the side.
9. What’s your all-time favorite movie? Oh, War of the Vendee, hands down. With Courageous and Fireproof a close second and third.
10. What is your favorite movie quote? Book quote? Movies: “‘You brought the girls?’ ‘Yes! Er, was that wrong?'” (Gru and Nefario, Despicable Me), “So this is how liberty dies–with thunderous applause.” (Padme Amidala, Revenge of the Sith. Have not seen the movie, but still love the quote.) Books: “So do all who live to see such times, Frodo Baggins, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given us.” (Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings.)
11. Which name would you rather have: (for girls) Gertrude or Beatrice, and (for guys) Ernest or Humphrey? Beatrice. Call it a result of 1. too much Hogan’s Heroes, and 2. enjoying the works of Beatrice Potter.

Now, for the eleven facts…

1. I dislike paperwork. Strongly.
2. I dislike being coerced into certain aspects of Raya-care (such as bathroom breaks and showers) nearly as much.
3. I love being outdoors.
4. I want to go camping this summer.
5. I have no idea who to nominate.
6. I secretly time travel with unicorns.
7. I can’t think of a fact number seven.
8. Where did I put my notebook, again? I can be very forgetful.
9. I normally procrastinate horribly when tagged or nominated for awards. (Sorry, people. Anyway, forewarned is forearmed!)
10. The last statement was a pun. (If a droid told Grievous, “Kenobi is coming,” Grevious would split his two arms apart each into two halves, because forewarned is four-armed. X-P)
11. I love puns. (Sometimes even horrible ones like that.)

Well, that’s all for this Award acceptance. Seeing as it’s the middle of Camp Nanowrimo, and I’m behind in my novel, I can’t take the time to nominate anyone (besides, I don’t know who I’d nominate… I can’t think of anyone whom I haven’t already nominated) or come up with any questions, except for one:

What does the fox say?!

Bwahahahaaha!

Answer in the comments or on your own blogs, I don’t care. But just make sure to link me back to your answers if they’re blogged. ;-P The song is obnoxious, but the question messes with people’s heads. >:-D

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!