For Lack of Anything Else...A Tag

A Simple Tag :D 

When can you remember laughing the hardest?
When my brother was gesturing about something at lunch and he had a cup in one hand, so he poured his milk right over his shoulder.  

There was also the time when we had pea pods for lunch, and we were eating off these tupperware plates with a bump in the middle.  My other brother pushed down the bump, but then the bump popped up and all of his pea pod ends skyrocketed into the air.  The look on his face was soooo funny.  I'm laughing now thinking about it.  

What is one thing you're excited about for tomorrow?
My friend's birthday party! And going to ride my other friend's horse Honee this weekend.  

How many posters are in your bedroom?
Well...three, I think.  I also have a fancy horse decoration, a whiteboard, and a mirror.
What is one place you'd rather be right now?
Hm.  Wearing a long medieval dress and galloping away on a destriar.  So...middle earth?
What can you smell right now?
Air.  

I just smelled the computer to see what it would smell like.  Weird ;D
Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Uh....my friend Whisper, I think.  (fake name, obviously)

What is the corniest movie you've ever seen?
I...don't know...I thought When in Rome was kind of corny :)
If you could choose one food to live off the rest of your life, never mind nutrition, what would it be?
French fries!
Where are you going next?
Probably to practice banjo or have family prayers in the living room.

-----

I tag:

Anyone who is now in the middle of writing a book! :)

-----

By the way, I will probably be posting more infrequently because of a sudden increase of school.  :P I'll get to it, though, don't worry!

Love always,

Ellyn

Peace Like a River - Leif Enger

This book is like a blueberry muffin – tasty, yet filling. The writing style is the tasty part. It wraps the story in memoirs of the characters (like Dad walking on the hand of God), humorous narrative, and unique and creative descriptions of the characters. (“A practical build, big up top, one of those men you realize why it’s called a chest – you had the feeling he had all the tools he needed in there and all in working order and daily use…” pg. 227)

The characters are wonderful. I shall now introduce to you the Land family. Dad is a man of few words who has an amazing relationship with God. Davey is a driven, determined older brother. Swede is nine – a lovable kid sister who is a precocious writer and a lover of the Old West. Reuben leads the story in first-person – he is a deep thinking 11 year old who has suffered from asthma attacks ever since birth. Throughout the story, more characters come in who are equally well developed.

A “special-feature” to this book is the scattered collection of poetry written by Swede. Her hero, Sunny Sundown, battles his way through various western adventures in pursuit of the elusive villain, Valdez. The rhythmic poems inspire some funny talks between Reuben and his sister, and also tie in to the main plot line.

Because of all this, you realize why this book is so filling. You can only read so much at a time without being overwhelmed. My problem was that I took too long of a break between readings, so at one point I had completely forgotten who one person was and why the main character was mad at him. For this reason, the book is going on my re-read list.

Concerning the plot-line, it is a relatively simple one – outshined by characters and narrative. But don’t take that wrong, it is perfectly acceptable in such a case. When two boys attempt to take down Davey’s girlfriend Dolly in the locker room, Dad’s there to knock their heads together and shoo them away. The two boys, however, threaten to get back at the Lands, and during one of their tries, Davey shoots one boy clean dead.

Davey is taken to jail, in spite of the consternation of Reuben and Swede. When he escapes before his trial, the family sets out in an old Airstream trailer, in hope of seeing God work a miracle in their lives.

And in the end, He does the greatest miracle of all.

"A Memory of Trees"

I took advantage of the beautiful sunset and fall scenery these past couple days.  All the photos were taken in our yard.  Really, I only snapped the picture.  God's the real artist here.  :) Which one is your favorite?

Fire-Bottom Clouds :)

Grand Silhouette

Pond Reflection

Reeds against the water

---

Just a Glimpse

Rainbow

Looking Upward

Fistful of Autumn

Looking Upward II

Black and White

Hannah from Aspire is hosting a black and white photo contest.  Go here to enter! :)

Here's my entry.

Character Organization

Thanks for all your comments on the last post! I was too excited to show you the organizing method, so I'm not going to wait until tomorrow.  :) My friend Sarah gave me this.  (She wrote a book about a blog, but she doesn't have a blog.)

Basically, you just give your characters labels.  A character can be more than one of these, too.  I'll give you the list and then explain the hard ones.

- Protagonist
- Antagonist
- Conscience
- Tempter
- Buddy
- Gamepiece (I added this one)
- Skeptic
- Emotionalistic
- Rationalist


Ok, so you have your basic ones at the top, and then after that is the conscience.  The conscience is like the person who makes the protagonist really think about what he/she's about to do.
The tempter is someone who tempts the protagonist. (duh.)  Sometimes it's the protagonist him/herself. The buddy is the best friend...I'd say that the buddy is usually a static character who doesn't change through the story, but I've seen books which don't have that.  Just an opinion there.
Gamepiece is the person who gets taken advantage of for the profit of the antagonist. (usually)

Here we come to the three that Sarah deems the most interesting.  They are also the three that I found hardest to understand.  The skeptic is the sarcastic person who questions what he/she observes.  The emotionalistic person just jumps right into things without thinking about them.  Goes by the "emotions", get it? :) The rationalist is the person who always has a well-thought out reason for what he/she does.

I'm getting really sick of saying he/she......

Anyway, I'll give you my lists for both stories.

Torn Heart

Protagonist: Jacha
Antagonist: Queen Livia, Lark, Vorrda
Conscience: Mala
Tempter: Jacha
Buddy: Violet
Gamepiece: None...Jacha, sort of....
Skeptic: Kiann
Emotionalistic: Jacha
Rationalist: Oren

New Story (Seaspear)

Protagonist: Ren
Antagonist: Captain Shiloh, SAMA
Conscience: Grailyn
Tempter: Captain Shiloh
Buddy: Grailyn
Gamepiece:  Merriam
Skeptic:  Grailyn
Emotionalistic:  Sahmo
Rationalist:  Grailyn

You can kind of tell which characters are more developed, can't you? :P But really, this is so much fun.  It makes me want to pull out my favorite books and classify all the characters.  So, hop to it, fellow writers! I'd love to hear what character classifications you do for your stories, if you'd like to share.  :)

Love,

Ellyn

On the Write Again

Well, it's been a few months since I finished Torn Heart, so you may know what time it is: new story time! If you followed my old blog, you might have seen my "potential story ideas" page.  If you have, I'm going with the ship story.  For all the rest of you...no more information given on the plot.  :D

I've always wanted to write a ship story with pirates!!! So excited.  I started writing back when I took my trip to PA, because when you're in a car for ten hours...you get tired of reading.  So I wrote.  Despite the ten hours there and back, I only finished about two chapters.  And they're short ones.  But that's because I really wasn't sure of the plot.  However, now I have it almost completely under control.  Right now, I'm doing my version of "outlining", which most people would call...well, a conglomeration of character sketches, drawings, and snippets.  Here's an example of how I'm planning my plot threads out this time.  Remember - JUST EXAMPLES.  :)

Conflict 1 (Action): Porridge is too hot for three bears -- They leave -- Goldilocks comes and eats it -- Bears come back and find her -- She escapes


Conflict 2 (Character Development): Goldilocks angry at parents -- Runs away -- Gets caught by bears --Realizes her parents just want to keep her safe -- She goes home and they make up

See? This actually works pretty well in that I don't feel confused at all about my plot so far.  Now all I have to do is write the story by intertwining all of my plot points (four), like braiding a rope.

Here's a list of "outlining" I have to do before I start writing again.  (I have already done the crossed out things.)


- Finish worldbuilding questions (you can use the same ones here) 
- Find picture of Merriam online (minor female)
- Polish Merriam's character sketch
- Finish Grailyn's character sketch (lead male)
- Research guns/cannons (This is the first book I've tried to write with firearms - should be interesting.)
- Write Sahmo a character sketch (minor male)
- Develop SAMAn group
- Research John Paul Jones (Maybe.  Don't ask.)
- Watch Pirates of the Carribean (Yay! I have an excuse to watch it! Hopefully my dad will let me...is there anything bad in it?)
- Find theme verse and maybe song for story (I did this for Torn Heart - my theme verse was Matthew 6:24, and my theme song was Half of What We Know, by Crooked Still.)

I'm having lots of fun with this part of the book - it's like the icing on the cake, especially since I love organizing and putting things in their proper places.  But soon I'll have the icing all licked up and I'll have to start on the actual cake part: writing.
Ah, well.  I'll just try to make the cake a chocolate one.  :)

Oh...do you want to know my theme verse and song? :)
Verses: Proverbs 18:15, and Matthew 7:1
Song: Sometimes in this Country, Crooked Still (Have you noticed I like them? :P)


P.S. Next time, I'll post a way to organize your characters.  It's really cool, so stay tuned.

Cheers,

Ellyn

Were You Worried?

Hallo.  Just a note to say that I did not die in a tragic car crash.  Neither was I carried up to the clouds by butterflies.  I have not been stuck in a tall pine tree with pine sap for a week either.

Nope, I've just been busy.  This week especially - we had a field trip today, to a "heritage lab", which includes stations of history reenactment.  It's sort of like my kick-off for fall, cause we always go just as the leaves are changing and the clouds are gathering.  I wore my sweatshirt and a leather jacket and I was still shivering.  But that cold felt good.  :)

Tomorrow, we start a new homeschool co-op and the next day I work at the library.  The next day will be a catch-up day for school, and then we have our old homeschool co-op the next day.

I haven't seen Indy in almost a week, and I miss him like mad.  I wonder how much of a winter coat he has grown by now.  I call him "Red Velvet" in winter, because although his winter coat is not really thick, it is very soft and very red.  As you might have guessed from the, ah, nickname.  I love horses' winter coats -they're so nice to bury your hands in come winter.  Me and Indy are going to have an epic winter this year.  Last year, I had fractured my wrist and was afraid to do much on him, but this time I'm going to take advantage of the soft, cushiony snow and work on my bareback skills :)

But look, now...here I am talking about winter when it's hardly even fall yet.  *rolls eyes* I really should be writing a book review for school, so I'll give you a quick re-cap of the weekend.

My friend was celebrating her 16th birthday, so we (me and a few other besties) dressed up in fancy dresses and went out to eat with her.  We made up medieval names for ourselves and decided to have a contest: who could call each other by their medieval names for the longest? Well I, who was called Gisella, got out right away.  It was fun, though.  After that, we took off our dresses and spent the night in a pop-out camper in their yard and watched our version of a chick flick - Robin Hood. (one of the old versions and very bloody).  I thought this was kind of ironic after the dresses.  :D That night, my friend and I stayed up talking until 5:30 a.m.  We talked about many things, both serious and a little strange.  Enya took up like fifteen minutes :)  Sorry I have no pictures; we were having too much fun to take any....

Considering the late - or shall I say early - night on Saturday, I had sort of a bad day yesterday.  I won't elaborate, but when I got home from our church Bible group (called a cell group), I went straight to my room and got out my journal.

Journaling with Enya in the background worked wonders.

So long, friends!

Ellyn

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

King Arthur makes it his custom to never sit down to a feast before he has heard of some great adventure or some needed quest, and you too will be tempted to do the same after reading this rich classic.

           This book includes the story of how Arthur became the great king he was, the quest of the Holy Grail, and tales of famous and less-known knights both, like Gawain, Percivale, Launcelot, Galahad, and the Knight of the Kitchens.  And of course, there are dozens of maidens fair, as they are the ones who bring tidings of adventure to the Round Table of Logres.    But don’t think all of the characters are good and chivalrous; the crafty Morgana Le Fay is always looking for a way to harm her brother King Arthur, and Sir Mordred may not be what he seems.

           Roger Lancelyn Green records the episodes of these legendary knights with a skillful pen – honestly, I can’t find anything wrong with it.  He writes in a slightly old-fashioned, yet smooth-as-silk manner that draws you right into the story, and I love how the knights uphold the honor of others and of God.  But beware, readers; it seems that all good things on this earth must come to an end, and the unity and friendship of the Round Table doesn’t last forever.  As I read the last chapter, my eyes were literally filled with tears.

           Could it be the best knight of them all who causes the downfall of Logres? Fie! Don’t let this question go unanswered - get your hands on a copy of this book even if you have to slay a dragon to do it.

picture is not mine

Crooked Still

A few days ago, I got to go to a Crooked Still concert with my dad.  This band plays bluegrass/folk music, and each song is designed to showcase the golden voice of Aóife O'Donovan.  Their music is great, but I also loved how as they played and sang, you could tell they were having a blast.  Not like it was just another concert.  And after each song, Aóife thanked everyone for the applause, seeming genuinely surprised and touched that we were clapping for her.  They played, "Ain't No Grave", and "You Got the Silver", and "Little Sadie," and "Distress" and "Come On Into My Kitchen", and much more.

Afterwards, I got to meet them all and, wow, were they nice! None of them seemed in a hurry - some held lengthy conversations with fans before moving on to the next person who wanted to talk.  But they noticed who was waiting for them.  They all signed my Some Strange Country CD, and then Dad bought me a T-shirt and I decided I wanted them to sign that too.  :) One of the guys, Dr. Liszt, even told us to email him if  we had any questions about the banjo.  (Me and my dad have been trying to learn for a while.)

They are not Christians, at least I don't think so.  They sing a lot of songs mentioning Jesus  and whatnot, though.  (Calvalry, Ecstasy) Just a warning in case you want to check them out.  :)

And now you have to meet everyone.  In the first picture, left to right: Gregory Liszt (banjo), Corey DiMario (double-bass), Aóife O' Donovan (vocals), Tristan Claridge (cello), Brittany Haas (fiddle)

Note: I do not own these photos - 

they are from the Crooked Still

website

The Apple (and other assorted things)

I found a perfect jewel of an apple on one of our trees yesterday night.  Amidst all the other apples, with bruises and mottled skin and huge chunks taken out of the sides, it was so beautiful it almost took my breath away.  Sound like a dangerous fairy tale? Don't worry, this one was genuinely dazzling.  The flesh was almost pure white and crunchy-crisp, and after I polished of the dusty pink excess on the skin, it shone so bright that it could have lit up a dark room.  The skin color went from blood red to yellow-green.

And then, I tasted it, and it was just right.

And then it was all gone.  But that's life.  

And that's what fall is all about.

---

On another note, here is yours truly as...guess, now...

A fierce Jedi warrior! I love the shirt I'm wearing in this picture.  When I put it on, first I was a sailor.  Then I did my hair and added one hoop earring and decided to be a pirate.  Then, I decided to be a Jedi.  

I do have a Star Wars past, even though I've only seen movies 4, 5, and 6.  My friends started a Star Wars club, and asked me to join, so I took the name of my favorite character, Han Solo, and obliged them.  There was a Princess Leia in the club too, so we had fun with that.  

And, that was quite random.  Here's something else in the same category.  (That means that if my whole post is random, nothing in it is random, right?)

In school I read King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table - review coming after this post - and one of my activities was to make a piece of chain maille.  I had seen one of my friend's friends wearing a chain maille bracelet, so I asked my mom if I could do that instead.  It was quite fun; though my fingers were sore afterward from bending the little metal circle thingies.  I had a needlenose pliers, but being me, I decided my fingers were easier.  It's a fun project, and I'd encourage you to try it - if you like that kind of thing.  And forget the patterns - make your own design!

                                           

I also finished listening to Shannon Hale's Princess Academy on audiobook.  What a great story! I can't stop gushing about it.  The title sounds sort of cliched and over-girly - no offense, Shannon Hale - but the book itself....! I might write a review later.  

I also really need to go ride Indy.  I had my first homeschool co-op yesterday, and then when I got home, I spent the entire afternoon cutting out squares for a patchwork quilt I'm making for school.  Today, my grandma and I might go shopping in a few hours, cause my dad's birthday is...creeping slowly up.  I should really go ride....I should ride.  I really should go ride.  

I guess part of it is that he bolted on me last time I rode.  Whew... I wish I could have seen my own face. But he only ran for a few yards and then I got him to stop.  He just stood there, like he was thinking in his little horsey brain, "Huh.  What was I scared about again?"

But I'm not really scared he'll do it again...I mean, I know I can stop him.  Lately, I've been loping bareback and bareheaded, which is a real big jump for timid little me.  Mind, I don't do that anywhere where he could spook - just in a pasture near his buddies.  And I don't think I'll ever ride bareheaded out of the pasture, even if I have a saddle on.  That would just be asking for trouble.

Well, I should go...and I'll try not to neglect my dear chestnut boy Indy.  :) He is a dear.

                                             

                                                       

The Perilous Gard - Elizabeth Marie Pope

A careless letter vaunting Queen Mary’s ill treatment of her sister, Princess Elizabeth, results in unjust banishment. Kate Sutton is sent off to Elvenwood Hall, otherwise called the Perilous Gard, to be put in the care of Sir Geoffrey Heron. Elvenwood is dusty and musty, and the land around it is forgotten and – possibly – haunted?

Sir Geoffrey leaves the Hall almost as soon as he arrives with Kate, but she strikes up an odd relationship with his brother, Christopher Heron. He tells Kate that he is guilty of killing Sir Geoffrey’s only daughter. Really, no one, not even Christopher, knows what actually happened to her. Could ghosts be the only explanation?

Meanwhile, Kate’s teacher at Elvenwood plots to take over the castle while Sir Geoffrey is away. He needs a way to get rid of Kate, and he knows just how to do it.

The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope is combined of mystic practices, spirits, interesting characters, and an air of mystery. This was a good story, but I found it a little hard to follow, partly because of the long, explanatory dialogue in some places. It also didn’t have enough action for me. But the plot is well thought out, and I enjoyed the ballad bits scattered throughout the text. Three stars is the rating that this book gets on my list.

Eras and Things

In school, I'm reading about the knight/chivalry period, and as I read I was thinking about how different our eras are.  We, in the 21st century, are a lot more advanced with computers, cell phones, overhead showers...but is all that good? It can be.  But it doesn't make everything.

In a way, I wish we could do away with all the sue-ing and court business and just put the guy who sold faulty DVD players in the stocks for a few days, like they did in the old days.  Except without the DVDs.  :)

And what happened to chivalry and hard work, instead of sitting in front of a TV playing video games?

Don't get me wrong, I love the time I live, where girls can wear jeans and run around and have a say in things, and where we can have our own Bibles and proper schooling, and blogs, and et cetera.

But I think we should look back and learn from history in more than the archaeological sense.  In some ways, our society has declined from what it has been.

--

Ellyn

Publicizing Your Self-Published Book

Self-publishing is becoming more and more popular these days.  One teen publisher - I think it was called Flux - was actually trying to persuade authors to come to them instead of self-publishing.  If persuasion is needed, you know that self-publishing has some benefits that publishers don't.  Here are some ways you can publicize your book if you don't have a publisher to do it for you.

If you want to sell your book on Amazon, or anything like that, you'll need to get an ISBN number.  This is a thirteen-digit number that goes on the back of the book next to the barcode, and it is used to identify your book and you.  Unfortunately, getting ISBN's aren't as easy as a click of the computer mouse.  Morris Publishing, the company we're going to use, says,

Morris Publishing cannot apply for you since we are the printer, not the publisher. Use caution – some companies offer "discounted" ISBNs; however, they will be listed as the publisher, not you.

Filing for a single ISBN can be done at www.myidentifiers.com for $125. Create an account so you can manage all your ISBNs. When you file for a single ISBN, you will receive it right away and can then assign book information that will automatically be filed with Books in Print, the main directory used by bookstores, retailers, and libraries.

1.  Okay, I don't know if this still goes on, but the Panera Bread chain used to have a deal where first-time authors could come in and advertise their books.  I really don't know all the details, and I looked for a hint of anything like that on their website....but no luck.  I think if you want to pursue this you'd have to contact them personally.

2.  Local bookstores - especially small chains.  My dad already talked to the lady at our small, local bookstore, and it sounds promising.  They just want to see the book before consenting to let me sell it there (probably for a modest slice of profit) to make sure it's not something I stapled together at home.  :P

3.  Coffee shops.  You can always ask! Never know what kind of opportunities could turn up.

4.  Book fairs.  If all goes well, I hope to sell my book at MACHE, the annual homeschool conference in our state.

5.  Amazon.  Go to the very bottom and click, "Sell Items".  (Well, duh.)  They do charge a selling fee.  Of course.  I'm not sure if I'll do this yet.

6.  Blogging! All of you know almost all about my book, and hopefully I'll sell a few copies through that.  No pressure... ;)

Well, all till next time! Tell me if you have any questions or anything and I'll try to find out for you.

----

P.S. I've been meaning to post this for a long time, but my friends Bethany and Elianna have started a wedding blog HERE! I'm sure it would make their day if you became a follower.

Thanks for reading,

Ellyn

Room Makeover Xtreme

My room - which I have been working on even before I switched my wordpress blog to blogger - is finished.  Complete! Except for curtains....

Here's what it looked like before.

This room, though fabulous and unique, is just not "me." So, I painstakingly peeled off all the wallpaper, and then scraped off all the little leftover bits of wallpaper with a paring knife.  Then, I threw dropcloths, my dad sanded the walls and spackled them, we primed them, my mom and I taped them, and then...we painted them.  

The wallpaper took about three months.  Of course, I wasn't working on it for hours every day - maybe more like half an hour each day.  And then we had all those vacations, and I had to save my fingernails for Larissa's wedding... but that is all over and done with.  

The room is done! 

And here, friends, is Ellyn's Domain....

  

The door....

And a close-up of the picture on it.  When I first found Gwyn's blog, A Celtic Cowgirl, I loved this quote on it so much that I drew a picture for it.

Doesn't it look so much brighter? It really is more bright than this, but the camera doesn't quite capture it the full effect.

I'm so blessed to have a room of my own, and I'm so happy it turned out this well.  

I LOVE MY ROOM!

P.S. And I promise that next time will be my self-publishing post.  It's been long delayed.  

Olive Tree's 200 Followers

Yes, Olive Tree has 200+ followers, lucky girl.  And she's hosting a giveaway to celebrate.  To see the rules and the prizes, go here:

If you haven't already, follow the blog and enter! :)

Melancholy Ellyn??

My friend emailed me a personality quiz a few days ago, and I just took it today.  Here are my results.  I highlighted the parts that are extremely me in red.  My sarcastic comments are in blue.

Melancholly

21 Sanguine, 50 Melancholy, 14 Choleric, 36 Phlegmatic

Hail to you who is Melancholly.

The depth to see into the heart and soul of life. The artistic nature to appreciate the beauty of the world. The talent to create a masterpiece where nothing existed before. The ability to analyze and arrive at the proper solution. The eye for detail while others do shoddy work. The aim to finish what you start. (<-- Haha.  No.  I don't always finish what I start...) The pledge "if it is worth doing, it's worth doing right." The desire to "do all things decently and in order."

Here is what is so totally awesome about you:
You are deep, thoughtful, analytical, insightful, serious, purposeful, genius prone, talented, creative, possibly artistc, musical, poetic or philisophical. You are considerate, conscientious, self-sacrificing, and sensitive to others. In the workplace you set high standards, pick up after others, are schedule oriented, organized, detail concious, persistent, and thorough. You like charts and graphs. You see the problems and find creative solutions. As a friend, you make friend's cautiously, are content to stay in the background, avoid causing attention, are faithful and devoted, deeply concerned for others, will listen to complaints, and you can solve people's problems.

This is a realistic analysis of what is wrong with you:
You remember negatives, hold on to hurt, sulk, get moody or depressed or guilty, you are too introspective, self-centered, with a low self-image, you feel persecuted and your mind is off in another world. In the workplace you may be too meticulous, or a martyr. You are not people oriented, choose difficult work, are hesitant to start, spending too much time on planning, prefering analysis to work, and you are hard to please with your high, high standards. You secretly have a deep need for approval. As a friend you live through others, (not that much of a hermit) are critical, withdrawn, hold back affection, don't accept compliments, you are unforgiving, suspicious, and you dislike those in opposition towards whom you are antagonistic and even revengeful.

And yet you are still wonderful. There is no blame here. This is just how melanchollies tend to be. This analysis is just a tool to help you understand yourself better so you can have more power to get what you want. (More power to get what I want??! That sounds dangerous...:P) Your negatives are difficult, but your strengths are the most powerful, the most disciplined of the 4 temperments. Without you things spin wildly out of control. Without you no one thinks before they leap into action. You are our Rock. (Rock?? Sure, whatever you say...)

If you'd like to take this quiz, go to this link.   But I guess it's on a dating site or something, so at the end, it will ask for your name and gender and stuff.  Don't give it to them unless you want to be matched up with a creep from a dating site.  Instead, click "Proceed to result".  If you take it, let me know what you get!! :)

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/the-personality-plus-profiler-test