The Writer's Tag

Tagged by a fellow writer!

The Writer's Tag

What do you write your stories on?
My stories? Our Apple Macintosh computer. My snippets/poems/random? My ever-treasured notebook.

What is your favorite kind of character?

When writing, I tend to like girls who are really audacious, distrustful, and wild. (Who usually reform by the end.) But when reading, I like more girly characters who aren't afraid to fall in love or wear pretty dresses ;)


When you're asked what your story is about, what is your usual reaction?
Wait - this is a trick question to find out what my story is about, isn't it? Isn't it?

I usually say, "Oh, it's a fantasy without magic....and change the subject."

What is your biggest writing pet peeve?
Globby pens. Especially when you rest your hand on the paper and smear the globby ink all over the paper. I also don't like how the spell check marks your characters' names in red. :P

What is the biggest turn-off for you when reading a book?

Long, boring descriptions, infodumps, and zero romance.

Your favorite era in history?
I love learning about the American Revolution, cause it's such a great story about great people working together. Almost as exciting as a novel! ;) I like the Middle Ages, but in a vague sort of way...they've been so glamorized by time, so I prefer the times in the country I made up.

How many words on average do you punch out in one sitting?
I don't really count. Around 1,000, I'd guess, but sometimes more, sometimes less.

Are you a fast typist?
Yeah!

What do you do for inspiration?
I listen to inspiring music like the Narnia soundtrack. I also take walks outside and pretend I'm the character in my story - talking to myself, making the expressions, etc. Sounds embarrassing, but it works.

The truest writing quote you've ever heard:
"The story is always better than your ability to write it." - Robin McKinley

Do you outline your stories?

Not at first - after I'm a few chapters into the story I usually start thinking about it.

Is there someone in your life who shares your love of writing and whom you could spend hours talking about that very subject with?

My dad, first and foremost. Then, my writing club, the Inkblots, and also Margaret Rowena :)

I tag all the writers following me! But you can't just fill this out - you've got to add two of your OWN questions at the end! :) Have fun, and I'd appreciate it if you dropped me a comment saying you'll do the tag :)

- Ellyn

My Nest

Olive Tree did a post on her nest, so I took up the idea. A nest is a place where you go to cry, smile, write memoirs and stories, read, and other things. My nest, though special to me, is not really unique...it's my double bed. :)

I love my bedspread - it just reflects my personality so well. Above my bed, I have a stained glass window, which I can turn on todouble as a reading light! Cool, huh?

On the left of my special soft reading chair cushion thingie - I think it's also called a boyfriend pillow ;) - you see Iceberg the polar bear, Pickles the puppy, Suds the sheep, whom I sewed myself, and my two Webkinz, Cally and Ruby Belle. I don't do Webkinz anymore - my pets expired a couple years ago and I had started growing out of it, but I kept the stuffed versions because they are so cute :) On the right side of my pillow, you see a folder for my writing snippets, my notebook, and a big stack of books that I'm reading at the moment.

What's a nest without a cat to share it with?

I usually have more stuff on my dresser, but I sort of cleared it off for when we paint my room. You can see evidence of wallpaper on the left side of the photo. :P

Terrible picture of me. Eeeggh. And I never smile while I'm reading - this is just posed :)

---

P.S. Margaret Rowena awarded me!

Here are the Rules:

1.) Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER!! (WOOOHHOOO YEAHAHA! Zip idy doo daahhh)
2.) Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB Award:

• Write about your most embarrassing moment.
• Write a "Soundtrack of your childhood" post.
• Make your next blog a "vlog" (video blog). Basically, you're talking to the camera about whatever.
• Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make-up, etc.) and post it.

3.) Pass the award on to at least three, but preferably more, amazing bloggers. Don't forget to tell them.

I'm going to give you a morning picture. But...it's not morning. So look for it tomorrow!

I award...hmmm....

Heather

Caroline

and Ashley!

Thanks, Margaret :)

- Ellyn

The Right Fit

I recently got a new pair of riding boots for my birthday. My old ones are black - well, used to black. They are so worn out that the toes are almost completely white. So anyway, my mom and I went boot shopping.

Cowboy boots are not always comfortable at first. You have to break them in, so to speak. After you trod around the mud in them, ride in them, and trek back and forth from the stable in them, they begin to conform to your foot. This brought a familiar verse to my mind.

Romans 12:2 ~ Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test andapprove what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As Christians, we should not let our "boot" conform to the "foot" of the world.

The first boots I got for my birthday were really cute, but they had a decorative strip of leather over the ankle area, called a "saddle." I have very broad feet, and my foot could not even fit into those boots, even though they were technically my size. That's how we should be with the world. We Christians shouldn't even let them slip their feet into our boots.

Pie Day!

We went to the ____ Pie Day today :) What fun! Apparently, this town has an "Official Pie Day" every year, and this is the 21st year they've done it. I just love small town gatherings. We each got a slice of pie, and for the sake of variety, I was adventurous and got a slice of peach raspberry. I usually stick with the traditional apple and peach, but I was glad I didn't do that this time.

What else has been going on? Our cat, Icicle, came home two nights ago with a crooked jaw. He could not close his mouth, eat, or drink. We all knew that we might have to put him down if jaw surgery was too expensive. It was a sad night. However, the next morning, we took him in to the vet, and she found that it was only a dislocation. She put his jaw back into place, and now Icicle is home and happy. :) And that makes all of us happy too, because...what would life be without our amazing Maine Coon cat? It would be just sad, that's what it would be.

Indy and I have been riding a lot as well. I've been going to the stable in the mornings because its cooler, and I don't have to worry about him sweating too much. We are practicing our gaming skills, even though if I took Indy anywhere professionally, he would not be a gaming horse. Maybe reining, or western pleasure. But gaming is a good place to start. :) What used to happen was Indy would try to run sideways toward the gate whenever I turned around a barrel. (There isn't a way to close the arena where I ride.) While racing back, he'll get over-excited and run through the gate and all the way to the barn, if I can't slow him down. Once, he almost slammed me into the fence on the side of the arena. To solve the problem, I put one barrel at the end of the arena, and every time we stop at the barrel, he gets a treat. It really works, and he has calmed down a lot while we game. Our time during barrels went from fifty seconds + to around thirty-three. Which still isn't very good, I realize, but even so... :)

Torn Heart is officially finished. I don't have to touch it at all now, except the dedication page, the back cover, and the chapter titles. CHEERS!! But seriously, I don't know how people write sequels. At the moment, I am pretty sick of the world and characters I created. Which is to be expected, after reading it and editing it through four times. My big problem now is the cover art. Since we're thinking of self-publishing it, I have to come up with that myself. My idea is to have a friend model with a horse and a bow (which I have), and then I can edit the picture to look sort of...surreal.

Have a wonderful day, friends!

Necklace Giveaway!

Bee-yootiful jewelry on the line for giveaways! Go over to Aspire to enter.

I Wanna Write Something!

Have you ever had fingers itching to pick up a pen and start writing some fabulous piece of adventure and mystery?

And then have you thought, "But I won't be able to do anything with it. It'll just waste my time."

WRONG! The more you write, the better you write, so don't feel bad about writing little snippets with characters spirited up at the last moment.

But maybe you know this already, and you want to try and think of snippets to whet your imagination. Sometimes a novel seems like too much. I finished my novel, Torn Heart, and wrote the two chapters of my next one, Seaspear. But I don't feel ready to take that one farther yet. At any rate, here are some interesting writing projects for you to think about.

- Write a song about something that inspires you or how you feel and why. You don't have to show it to anybody - but sometimes its a good way to let your feelings out.

- Write a scene or a short story that's based on a song. Have you ever wished you had the big picture of a song you heard? Write it! I tried writing a story for "I'm Troubled", and it started out okay, but then it didn't seem to have the right feel to it. Maybe I'll take it farther, maybe I won't.

- Write a story based on a favorite Bible story. These are sooo much fun. I wrote one on Noah's Ark, and it helped me see the traditional tale in a way that I had never seen it before. Explore little details that you hadn't paid much attention to, and always go back to read the original story from the Bible. You may think you remember it, but most likely, there's something you've left out.

- Write a story based on a favorite fairy tale. Again, these are super fun. I did one on Sleeping Beauty that had a Christian/redemption theme twist to it.

- Write a poem. If you look out the window and have your breath taken awayby a gently waving field, or a smooth, unbroken layer of snow, capture the moment.

If you have any other fun writing things, please comment about them! I would also love to hear about the projects you're already working on. :)

Oh, and here's a picture of me on the Olympia. :)

To Love and to Cherish

I got back from Pennsylvania, slash, New Jersey, yesterday night. I am so glad to be back. I enjoyed being a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding, but I also got a little homesick, I think. Iam a country girl and nothing else. But despite that, I did manage to pick up some of the Philadelphia/NJ accent. Yeaeh. Unfortunately, on my return home, all I can remember is"yeaeh." Anyway, here are some pictures from the wedding, and our other parts of vacation.

May I present to you the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. ---- ! Alas, the tragedy of online security. Ican't tell you the last name. But I can give you their first names. The groom is Jimmy, and the bride is my lovely cousin, Larissa.

And here is yours truly as a bridesmaid. This was after the wedding, but before the reception. Jimmy and Larissa hired one of those little carnival carts to come and sell pretzels and Italian ice/sorbet things. On the East Coast, these are called, "wooder ices." :) Anyway, I thought that was a very cool idea.

Here are my two cousins, Larissa, and her brother Frank. Sorry, girls, he already has a girlfriend. ;)

I thought this picture was cute, even though we're all smiling for a different camera. I'm the girl on the left, in case you didn't recognize my kelly green dress. The other girls and the little boy are all my cousins in some way, shape, or form.

Here is my uncle and me. We both look rather frazzled because we had just finished dancing and losing brain cells from the ear-splitting, techno music.

After the reception, which, of course, was still going on when we left, my family and I drove back to our hotel. My eyes hurt and I was so tired that when we got up to our room, I collapsed on the bed. My hair was all crushed, and I groaned at the thought of getting up to drive and drive and drive and then stop for lunch and drive and drive and drive some more.

No, being a bridesmaid is not all punch and wedding cake.

Here are some pictures from our sightseeing day. This was actually the day before the wedding, but I figured that if you got sick of reading my post, I'd rather have you hear about the wedding first. :)

We toured a ship, the U.S.S. Olympia...

My brother, John

And a submarine, the Becuna...

Here's my dad next to the tiny little hatch that the submarine guys had to fit through.

We also saw the Liberty Bell. That was amazing, but I can't find the picture I wanted of it, and you guys most likely know what it looks like, so instead, here's a picture of me talking to a re-incarnated Ben Franklin :) He was sitting right across from his grave, too.

And now, since my brother is only a few steps away from dropping to his knees and begging me to get off of the computer, I shall oblige him. :) I might include more pictures in my next post, which I think will be somehow writing-related. Til then,

- Ellyn