"I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello...."

Saying goodbye to something means that you're always saying hello to something else.  In this case, it's goodbye to summer, hello to school.

Farmgirl tagged me, and I think that instead of just a regular tag, I'll make it my end-of-summer tag.

8 books I read this summer...

1. Eragon
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
3. Eldest
4. The Knight and Rogue trilogy
5. Chicken Soup for the Horse-Lover's soul :)
6. The Fellowship of the Ring
7. Fairest
8. Speak

8 Albums I Listen to All the Time... 


1. Crooked Still - Hop High
2. Crooked Still - Still Crooked
3. Crooked Still - Some Strange Country
4. Crooked Still - Shaken by a Low Sound
and yes, I'm obsessed.
5.  Enya - Amarantine
6. The mixpod on my blog
7.  Britt Nicole - Say It
8.  Cars Soundtrack

8 Things I loved about this summer................

1. Bluegrass and country music
2. British accents
3. The sound of horses' hooves
4. HGTV
5. Our hammock
6. Writing, with friends and alone
7. Beautiful sunsets
8. Working hard and feeling it

8 Things I've Learned This Summer...


1. The East Coast is not the place for me
2. I love spending time with Jesus!!
3. Be brave and - gallop!
4. Christian camp is an earth-shaking experience! (In a good way)
5. How to make fried eggs ;)
6. Grass grows fast
7. Great chicken-fighting techniques
8. Blogger is my favorite over Wordpress :)

8 Things I made this summer......

1. Lentil stew
2. My blog!
3. A mess....while taking down my wallpaper
4. A lot of artwork
5. Macaroni and cheese
6. A weedless strawberry garden
7. The rest of Torn Heart
8. Not much money :(

8 Favorite Online Hangouts...

1. Blogs
2. Song Lyrics 
3. Email
4. Christian Cowgirl
5. Phantom Stallion
6. Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue
7. Google images

  
  


















8 Projects I am going to hopefully complete this year in school... 
  

1.  A patchwork quilt!
2. Torn Heart - get it published and everything
3. Memorizing the book of 1 John
4. Geometry
5. A chainmail bracelet
6. Make a dress out of a sheet
7. Curtains for my room
8. A book of short stories and poems

  
  












8 Bloggers I wish I could have met this summer...


1. Gwyn - A Celtic Cowgirl
2. Caroline - A Writer's Life for Me
3. Ashley - A Cowgirl's Dream
4. Olive Tree - Of Horsefeathers
5. El´rania - Elven El´rania and her horse
6. Arries - Whispers of the Wind
7. Sarah - Cowgirl for Christ
8. Heather - a HopeFul Romantic


....And school goes on!




(My schoolbooks)

Sorcery & Cecelia - Wrede and Stevermer

If you like magic and if you like Jane Austen, you’ll love Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Two spunky cousins, Cecy and Kate, communicate with frequent letters that soon begin to include more than just gossip and the weather. A curious chocolate pot and a charm-bag arouse an almost mischevious adventure that gives Cecilia and Kate the time of their lives.

Wrede and Stevermer did not start writing this book with the goal of publication in mind. They were playing the Letter Game. The Letter Game is a writing exercise in which two people write letters back and forth in character. Stevermer says that the letters usually die out after two or three in most cases, but she and Wrede grew more and more excited about their story until they had completed it and were writing another – The Grand Tour. But they weren’t writing for publication – they were writing for fun, and their animation shines through.


The only thing that turned me off a bit to this book was the fact that the two authors’ writing styles are so similar that it is hard to tell them apart. Since the cast of characters around each girl is very similar as well, things get a little confusing. However, this story is humorous, enjoyable, and through it I developed a sincere affecton for Cecilia and Kate. Maybe I’ll even try the Letter Game myself one day.

A Day In the Life...

We got twenty-six new chicks via mail three days ago.  We have Gold Stars, which are the nicest breed of chickens around, and Australorps, which we haven't had before.

My mom sent out a spontaneous announcement to our friends and people from our homeschool co-op, so today we had a bunch of them over for hot dogs, and a tour of the "farm."  Those chicks are going to sleep very good tonight.  It felt so nice to have guests.  I love having people to our house, especially since we're in the country, and our house is like a resting place for people used to the busy city.  That's what I'd like it to be, that is. 

We also have had a huge bean harvest this year.  Even though we put the plants into the ground later, it didn't seem to make much difference.  Check this out.  

 

What else is going on? Hm.  I cannot think very hard at the moment, as I'm semi-exhausted.  Everything's a blur and it's only almost 4:30... I'm sleeping in our library area since my room is under construction.  Finally! I got all the wallpaper off, my dad sanded, and then I vacuumed and tack-clothed the walls.  Painting is still a long ways away - my walls were in very bad condition - but at least its in sight.  

Right now, I am critiquing my friend from writing club's novel, and I realized just how much I love critiquing.  I'm being a bit hard on her - hopefully she's not mad about all the red ink I used.  :D But if any of you have a novel you'd like me to edit, we'll work something out...I won't even charge! Lol.  

Oh, and tomorrow, my friend is coming over to model as Jacha for my book cover.  I hope it isn't too hot, or we will both die.  At least there's a cold pump at the stable.  :)

Here are two more pictures for your viewing enjoyment.  I'm sorry about putting off the self-publishing post.  My next one will probably be about the first day of school, but after that I'll try to get 'er goin'.  

Here's a picture I copied from a library book.  I copied the ship and the waves around it, but the other waves I kind of had to...improvise on.   :) 

And here is a boat that my brother got for his birthday.  Well, not really "got."  He and my dad built it out of wood and then painted it sky blue - brother's choice.  We had one like this, but it was my other brother's, and it got crushed by a falling tree.  We've had a lot of storms around here lately.    

I'll talk to you later! I am so tired...

Another Alternative to Publishing

I would absolutely love to be published.  In fact, I dream and hope that it will happen one day.  And I know you have to take a chance sometime.  But...

It takes so LONG! Usually one to three months to get a query reply - a query is a letter you send to the publisher asking if they'd be interested - and then the next step is sending your manuscript.  To get a reply to that is usually three to six months.  And even if you get approved after that, it usually takes a year for your book to be actually released into the big wide world.

And I'm thinking, "By that time, little ol' Torn Heart won't be my best! I'll have moved on and I won't be proud of selling it or talking about it anymore." I'm pumped up about it now, and so is my family.  So we've decided on self-publishing.  

-- My Pros For Self-Publishing --

1. Speed.  As I said before. 

2.  Control.  We'll have a lot more control over how we want the format of the book, what the cover looks like, etc.  

3.  Advertising.  I'll be the one advertising my book!  Some people would view this as a con, and in a way it is... but I think it will be way more fun to sell my book myself.  Of course, we'll have to buy the copies and work to make up what we spent, but I think we can do it. 

-- My Big Con for Self-Publishing -- 

1.  Less Publicity.  This is what I don't like at all.  Advertising myself may be more fun, but I can't go everywhere.  In fact, I probably won't leave my state, which means...difficulties.  There's a slight chance that my book might be picked up by a publisher-connected person, but that's a very slight one.  Like...very slight.  The author of the Inheritance series (Eragon) spend a whole year traveling around the U.S. promoting his novel.  Yeah, I'm the oldest of five children - that's not going to happen.  And since my barely-57,00-words-novel is not in style like the big, chunky, multiple book series are...*sniffs* (That's a pretty sensitive subject with me - the length of Torn Heart.  I just can't get over wishing it would be longer and trying to figure out how many pages it will be and how thick it will be once it is in book form.)  

That's why I'd like your prayers for this whole operation.  Please pray that I'll stop fretting and start working, and that everything will work out okay.  Also pray that if its God's will, I'll find some connections to help promote my book somewhere.  

Thanks so much! Next time I'll write a little bit about the promoting schemes I've learned for self-publishers.  

Now.  I probably shouldn't just leave you hanging about the poll in my sidebar.  I live...

Yep, that's right! I love where I live, too.  :) I'll probably always stay here.  

    

A Little Cheer

Another short post!

Just wanted to say that if you have never seen this video - even if you have seen it - watch it! It has such a good feeling to it.  All these people who don't even know each other teaming up spontaneously to do something fun together.  Sound of Music is one of my all-time favorite movies, so it makes this even more special.  I just wish I could have been a part of it. :)

Sound of Music | Central Station, Antwerp

  

The Writers Tea Shoppe

Just a short note to say...

You should check out my new blog! Gwyn from Celtic Cowgirl started it and I was the first to join.  It's a role-play blog, so we'd be honored if you followed our story!

I'm Sandy in the role-play.

- Ellyn

Fall of a Kingdom - by Hilari Bell

Watching a spoiled and spirited rich girl throw expensive ceramics is a spicy way to start a story, and that’s how the first book in the Farsala trilogy begins. The Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell is an exciting young-adult novel made complete with memorable characters, a skillfully-woven plot, and an old Persian legend retold.

The fearsome Hrum, whose empire includes twenty-nine countries (or so), has attacked the country of Farsala. The prissy deghans who rule Farsala are almost sure that they and their chargers will force the enemy to surrender. But some feel like a sacrifice to the djinn will help their chances.

Soraya, the commander Merahb’s daughter, is shipped off to be a sacrifice, along with her father’s secret promise that he will save her. As a result she must spend a year hidden in a peasant’s cottage, separated from her family and the luxuries of the court, while others do battle.

Jiann is Soraya’s half-brother and he longs for his father Merahb to call him son. He also disapproves the deghans’ quibbles over honor and glory, and wishes that they would concentrate more on winning the battle with the Hrum.

Kavi, simple peddler though he is, holds power of betrayal in his hands. He must come to an understanding within himself – should he support the deghans who, though he hates them, are his people? Or the Hrum Empire, which sounds just and fair even though it keeps slaves? Kavi’s life is suddenly more than that of a simple peddler.

Battle strategies are disposed on both sides, and they finally meet on a fateful day of death and blood. Farsala is in bad shape…and yet a hero rises in an unexpected place.

This is the first book I have read by Hilari Bell, but I will run for the next in the series as soon as I am able. The humorous dialogue and adept storyline are too much to resist.



Note: This book does contain some questionable content. It requires some maturity on the reader’s part.


Update: Since I wrote this - quite a long time ago - I finished the trilogy and was very happy with it.  I liked book two, Rise of  a Hero, the best, and I thought that Forging the Sword was very dull - until the end.  Oh, wow, wow, wow, it has a tremendous ending.  I get hyper just thinking about it.  My dad's one complaint, which I sort of agree with, it is sort of hard to identify with the main characters.  But otherwise, great fantasy!