Tuesday, December 31, 2013

happy new year

as I write, fireworks are going off, one by one with a loud POOM.
I have just finished watching 'The Reichenbach Falls', the last episode of season two in Sherlock. I'm a bit of a wreck at the moment, and I can't believe that I'm going to be like this soon, as I'm nearing the end of Merlin and someone told me that when their friend finished, they were a complete mess. *reminds herself not to join a new fandom soon as there will be more wrecks* *does it anyway*

I finally finished my Five Glass Slippers submission and sent it in. What a relief!

season three of Sherlock will be airing on U.K. TV tomorrow and the U.S. gets it on the 19th, I 've heard. AUGH.

I still haven' t been able to watch the Time of the Doctor (last episode of season seven) but my friend found the clip where *spoilers here* eleventh Doctor regenerates*end spoilers* and now I know for sure that I'm going to be another mess soon. I started tearing up from that one little clip.

WHY, Steven, WHY. I blame all future wrecks on Steven Moffat.


yep. very happy new year.


anywho. that's all.
(DESOLATION OF SMAUG. Go see it if you haven't.)

-me

Friday, December 20, 2013

why, hello there...

Hullo, readers!

      We've been ridiculously busy over here; Christmas is only five days away?!
      I only have one more gift to get, people are piling in...I still can't believe Christmas is in the next few days. Last year it dragged by!
      But I might know why it's gone by so fast...

       When we got back from Tampa, Michelle and Christie with Michelle's two boys came over from Virginia (Christie spent Thanksgiving with them) and Stephanie came over and then we decorated...we had to wait until almost the tenth of December to decorate because Michelle wanted to decorate with us.
         Then Stephanie left and came back with her brother and we 'splored New Orleans some more; saw the new movie 'Frozen' and walked around a place lit up with lights everywhere; played card games and laughed too much; and watched movies. I finally watched 'The Mummy' too!
        Stephanie returned her brother and came back with 'Star Trek: Into Darkness', which I convinced Rachel to let me watch as well. It was amazing. I loved it.
       Then with friends, we went to the New Orleans 'Celebration at the Oaks' at City Park. City Park is a place for rides, but Celebration at the Oaks is not only when you can ride the rides at night, but it's completely lit up. It's amazing. We rode the Ferris Wheel and it shut down when Stephanie and I were near the top. (needless to say it got working again) We had the best view, and though we were a little bit scared, it was magical. I mean, that's just the memory of one of life's mini adventures. I loved it!
         
         But whew, the month...it just flew by. Guys, I'm still in shock.
        I have a favorite actor now. I had a couple, yes, but this time I can pull one out, out of those. Augh. Tom Hiddleston.

  
This is him in Delayed Gratification with Cookie Monster, which is hilarious by the way.

 
He drew a picture of himself as Loki to make money to donate to charity; look at him! He's so pleased with the drawing he took of picture of it. He named the drawing '"Loki" by Loki'.
One more picture.
 I love you.
He makes me laugh all the time because he's so silly and laughs at himself all the time.
Seriously, I've never seen any guy as polite, gentlemanly, and hilarious (and sweet) as Tom Hiddleston. He really is.
He loves being Loki; while other actors are like: People assume things about you because of the roles you play, even when what you act like on-screen is not true about you at all.
Then there's Tom Hiddleston (of course, he's Loki): (off-screen) KNEEL BEFORE ME! I have an Army! I am the GOD OF MISCHIEF!
He has so much fun.


 And to end this post, a giveaway!

 You are invited to a Winter Giveaway with Gillian Adams over at ofbattlesdragonsandswordsofadamant.blogspot.com. Enter the giveaway for a chance to be one of three winners of awesome fantasy books!


i am laughing and fangirling so much right now. 
This is his completely silly personality showing. I'm serious, I used to do my silly smiles just like that.


Sunday, December 1, 2013

i like to roam around...

Whew what a busy last two weeks! We went up to Zephyrhills so my dad could teach for three days. We had a wedding right afterwards, and on the day of, my dad, Sam, and I hiked 9.1 miles right before we had to get ready.
Then we had thanksgiving at my uncle and aunt's house. That, as usual, was so much fun. Suddenly we're home and it's been a week since the wedding! WHAT?
     Now it's Christmas!! YAY! We were told that we're not allowed to decorate until my sister and sister-in-laws could come home, which is sometime next week.

I decided that to pass the time after school while I wait to decorate, I'm going to see Catching Fire and watch lots of Merlin. Hey, I did a lot of socialising at Thanksgiving. Now I disappear into my world of writing and drawing and reading...and watching Merlin and Doctor Who. I MISSED THE DAY O F THE DOCTOR!! Noooo! I'm determined not to see it until Christie can join me...

Geronimo!
-me

Friday, November 15, 2013

Giveaway Days

Gillian Adams extends an invitation...

You are invited to a Winter Giveaway with Gillian Adams over at ofbattlesdragonsandswordsofadamant.blogspot.com. Enter the giveaway for a chance to win two fantasy books!

I hope you enter! Gillian is a wonderful writer (trust me, I've read one of her short stories) and I love her Villainy Posts. Follow her!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

fall...

Demi Lovato and Queen
-
the smell of cookies fresh out of the oven
-
perfect weather for tree-climbing the highest tree
-
s'mores
-
Spartan Race
-
sweaters
-
Christmas shopping
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books
-
early mornings
-
dreaming
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Doctor Who
-
tea
-
how about you?

Thursday, October 3, 2013

2 and 1/2 years...

Hey y'all!
Guess what.
I've had this blog for two and a half years. Since I was eleven!
My blog has really grown a lot this past year. It started out really small, and for those of you who followed me when I started it, thank you so much. 
     Upon looking at the posts I used to do, I cringe. I was really annoying. I might still be annoying now, but hopefully, not that annoying. Yikes.
     Anywho, to celebrate, I'm hosting a giveaway! A Congratulations To Myself I've kept this blog and a Thank You So Much For Following My Blog (especially if you put up with me when I was younger. Ugh.)

     To enter, you have to be a follower; the widget will tell you.
But, if you would, I wouldn't mind if you told a couple friends about it! People like giveaways. I like giveaways. I like winning them too.
     I'm giving away a handmade item, made especially for you! A Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice quote bookmark. I hope you likes!










a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
Take the Jane Austen Quiz for an extra entry! (click link)

Also, for anyone who has not read any Jane Austen books, I've made the giveaway where it ends in 1 and 1/2 weeks to give you a little time to pick up a Jane Austen book; after all, you want to name a favorite quote and movie to gain more entries!
One and a half weeks is also plenty of time to tell other Austenitis' about the giveaway, too.
It's not super special but it's fun to do and bookmarks are the best!


-If a book is well written, I always find it too short.---Jane Austen.

update--I realized that I wrote 'how ardently I love and admire' instead of 'how ardently I admire and love'; I'll make another one correctly and send it. I probably drove some Austentitus people crazy!
Also, I can do blue with orange or blue with purple colored bookmarks!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Obsession Post

Most of you know about my undying love of Doctor Who. Have I ever 'splained how it began?

I thought this would be an interesting post, because I'll have pictures and...and and and. Doctor Who is the only movie/TV show in the world that has ever ever made me cry.

It was my sister, Rachel, who first introduced Doctor Who to our family. She got Christie into it, and when I got older, she showed me and Sam the first episode she ever watched of the Doctor. It's tradition now to show people that one episode first.
 
It's called 'Blink'. 
Beware the Weeping Angels.
It's my favorite episode out of them all. I've seen so so so many times. I can quote every one of the lines, I know exactly what's going to happen next, and there's this one part that gets me every time.
"You're not looking at the angel."
"Neither are you."
 

If you're a Whovian, you know which part this is. Oh yeah.
For the Non-Whovians, the Angels are Quantum Locked. They can't move when someone is looking at them, but when you're not...they move in literally a blink of an eye.
"Don't turn your back.
Don't look away.
And don't. blink.
Good luck."
You need to watch this. You will love it. So much.
So, yeah, then I seriously got into the show. 
The Doctor is a time-traveler in a blue police box called the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space). When normally, someone would die from this thing or that, he regenerates; he is the same man, same memories, but different face.
 Okay, so, it started fifty years ago (I know right?) and then it stopped after a long time. Then, back in the early 2000s, it came back with the Ninth Doctor (Ninth Regeneration)
 
That's him and his companion, Rose.
Ninth is the one who introduced me to the Doctor.
  
(that's Rose again) Tenth is the one we all fell in love with. 

Eleventh became my best friend.

  
Twelfth is the newest; he'll be appearing in the future seasons. 
I don't know what he's like, but I like him in real life because I watched some interviews.
He's appeared in a previous Doctor Who episode as someone else before but he wasn't being the Doctor and that's a lot different...

           
The one episode that made me cry. It was pathetic, really. I had stayed up late watching episodes while everyone else went to bed and I watched this episode. I finished it, crying it so hard I was hiccuping.
I've never ever cried for any other film in all of time and space. I'm okay with saying I did; I think that was when I officially declared myself a definite Whovian. You can't say I'm not a fan.
Okay, so I watched it again last night. I was like, "I feel like watching it, I've seen it before, I know how it ends and what happens later in the series." Yeah. I'll be fine.
I watch it with my kid brother. It ends and I tell him, "You can have the computer now." and I walk out into another room. And burst out crying. That one stupid episode I just had to watch. 
I calmed down, okay? I go on Instagram, thinking I need to do something else and calm down. 
Someone's kid drew something and their mom decided to take a picture of it and post it on Instagram. They drew a TARDIS.
That was it. I'm not usually hysterical like that. All this to tell you, you will love Doctor Who so so so so much but your Whovian world will crash and burn sometimes.

I think my two most feared enemies would be the Weeping Angels and the Cybermen. I am really scared of the Cybermen.
 
ugh they scare me!  

Beloved TARDIS.

I think my top favorite show is Doctor Who. Now they're coming out with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It will never pass Doctor Who but so far (and I mean just the pilot is out) it's pretty cool.

My next Obsession Post will probably be Divergent. Yup. It's going to be Divergent. What do you think of the Obsession Post idea? It'll vary from latest obsessions, to TV shows, to movies and books. Not like random things, and sometimes they won't be obsessions but what I'm really into (like stunts. Stunts are very cool.)

So, anyone else?

Monday, September 23, 2013

Goddess Tithe Cover Reveal


 Author Bio:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a kindle of kitties, and one long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, including Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower, and Dragonwitch. Heartless and Veiled Rose have each been honored with a Christy Award, and Starflower was voted winner of the 2013 Clive Staples Award.








Back Cover Copy:

The Vengeful Goddess 

Demands Her Tithe

When a stowaway is discovered aboard the merchant ship Kulap Kanya, Munny, a cabin boy on his first voyage, knows what must be done. All stowaways are sacrificed to Risafeth, the evil goddess of the sea. Such is her right, and the Kulap Kanya's only hope to return safely home.
Yet, to the horror of his crew, Captain Sunan vows to protect the stowaway, a foreigner in clown's garb. A curse falls upon the ship and all who sail with her, for Risafeth will stop at nothing to claim her tithe.
Will Munny find the courage to trust his captain and to protect the strange clown who has become his friend?



Cover Design Intro:

I had the fun of designing this cover—finding reference photos, inventing the composition, applying the text, etc.—but the actual artistic work was done by talented cover artist Phatpuppy (www.phatpuppyart.com), whose work I have admired for many years. It was such a thrill for me to contact and commission this artist to create a look for Goddess Tithe that is reminiscent of the original novels but has a style and drama all its own.

The boy on the front was quite a find. I hunted high and low for an image of a boy the right age, the right look, with the right expression on his face. Phatpuppy and I worked with a different model through most of the cover development stage. But then I happened upon this image, and both she and I were delighted with his blend of youth, stubbornness, and strength of character! It wasn’t difficult to switch the original boy for this young man. He simply is Munny, and this cover is a perfect window into the world of my story.

You can’t see it here, but the wrap-around back cover for the print copy contains some of the prettiest work . . . including quite a scary sea monster! Possibly my favorite detail is the inclusion of the ghostly white flowers framing the outer edge. These are an important symbol in the story itself, and when Phatpuppy sent me the first mock-up cover with these included, I nearly jumped out of my skin with excitement!



Intro to Illustration:

There are eight full-page illustrations in Goddess Tithe featuring various characters and events from the story. This is the first one in the book. I decided to share it with all of you since it depicts my young hero, Munny the cabin boy, under the watchful eye of his mentor, the old sailor Tu Pich. Munny is on his first voyage, and he is determined to learn all there is to know about a life at sea as quickly as possible. Thus we see him utterly intent upon the knot he is learning to tie. Tu Pich is old enough to know that no sailor will ever learn all there is to know about the sea. Thus he looks on, grave, caring, and perhaps a little sad. He might be looking upon his own younger self of many years ago, fumbling through the hundreds of difficult knots his fingers must learn to tie with unconscious ease.
I enjoyed creating all the illustrations for Goddess Tithe, but this one was my favorite. I love the contrasts of light and dark, the contrasts of young and old . . . youthful intensity versus the perspective of age.


Excerpt from the Story:
Here is an excerpt from the middle of the story. In this scene, Munny has been ordered to Captain Sunan’s cabin to clear away his breakfast . . . an unexpected task, for a lowly cabin boy would not ordinarily dare enter his captain’s private quarters! Munny hopes to slip in and out quietly without attracting the captain’s notice. But his hopes are dashed when Sunan addresses him, asking how their strange, foreign stowaway is faring:

__________

“And what do you make of him yourself?”
Munny dared glance his captain’s way and was relieved when his eyes met only a stern and rigid back. “I’m not sure, Captain,” he said. “I think he’s afraid. But not of . . .”
“Not of the goddess?” the Captain finished for him. And with these words he turned upon Munny, his eyes so full of secrets it was nearly overwhelming. Munny froze, his fingers just touching but not daring to take up a small teapot of fragile work.
The Captain looked at him, studying his small frame up and down. “No,” he said, “I believe you are right. Leonard the Clown does not fear Risafeth. I believe he is unaware of his near peril at her will, suffering as he does under a peril nearer still.”
 Munny made neither answer nor any move.
“We will bring him safely to Lunthea Maly, won’t we, Munny?” the Captain said. But he did not speak as though he expected an answer, so again Munny offered none. “We will bring him safely to Lunthea Maly and there let him choose his own dark future.”
“I hope—” Munny began.
But he was interrupted by a sudden commotion on deck. First a rising murmur of voices, then many shouts, inarticulate in cacophony. But a pounding at the cabin door accompanied Sur Agung’s voice bellowing, “Captain, you’d best come see this!”
The Captain’s eyes widened a moment and still did not break gaze with Munny’s. “We’ll keep him safe,” he repeated. Then he turned and was gone, leaving the door open.
Munny put down the pot he held and scurried after. The deck was alive with hands, even those who were off watch, crawling up from the hatches and crowding the rails on the port side. They parted way for the Captain to pass through, but when Munny tried to follow, they closed in again, blocking him as solidly as a brick wall.
“Look! Look!” Munny heard voices crying.
“It’s a sign!”
“She’s warning us!”
“It’s a sign, I tell you!”
Fearing he knew not what, Munny ran for the center mast and climbed partway up, using the handholds and footholds with unconscious confidence. Soon he was high enough to see over the heads of the gathered crew, out into the blue waters of the ocean. And he saw them.
 They were water birds. Big white albatrosses, smaller seagulls, heavy cormorants, even deep-throated pelicans and sleek, black-faced terns. These and many more, hundreds of them, none of which should be seen this far out to sea.
They were all dead. Floating in a great mass.
Munny clung to the mast, pressing his cheek against its wood. The shouts of the frightened sailors below faded away, drowned out by the desolation of that sight. Death, reeking death, a sad flotilla upon the waves.
“I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Munny looked down to where Leonard clung to the mast just beneath him, staring wide-eyed out at the waves. “How could this have happened? Were they sick? Caught in a sudden gale? Are they tangled in fishing nets?”
There was no fear in his voice. Not like in the voices of the sailors. He did not understand. He did not realize. It wasn’t his fault, Munny told himself.
But it was.

____________





Giveaway:

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