Beautiful People - Karis

Yes, I'm finally getting around to answering this months questions for Beautiful People. Part of the reason it's taken me so long is because for the longest time I just didn't even feel like writing. It was bad, I was pretty much getting nothing done. Then yesterday morning happened.

Every week I get together with some writing friends of mine at a local coffee shop and we work on whatever writing projects we've got going on. While drinking coffee. Talking... observing all the strange people. I've been outlining for the novel I'll be using for Camp NaNo in June. It's great, only it had a ton of plot holes I couldn't bring myself to fill. Until yesterday morning. Talk about inspiration migraines. Anyway, since then I've been outlining a ton, which includes character analysis. Thus, this Beautiful People post is finally going to get done.

Now that I've explained that in full detail, I'll move on to the questions.

Karis is my hero's best friend, and later becomes his wife. She used to work for Prince Trinn, but she disobeyed him one day. He had all her beautiful hair chopped off and she was stoned out of town. Lovell, the hero, found her in the woods and he's the one that got her to leave the trees again. He showed her that anyone can be forgiven, no matter what they've done. She showed him that love is a real thing.

1. What is their favorite type of shoe? 
She doesn't wear shoes. She hates them. She had to wear them all the time while she was working for Prince Trinn and now that she's free of his command she avoids them as much as possible. She probably hasn't worn a shoe for several years.

2. Do they journal?
Nope.

3. What's their favorite animal? 
A dog. She loves dogs, and always manages to find time to scratch a strays belly.

4. What does their average day look like? 
When she's living in the woods it's pretty simple. She pretty much just goes with whatever happens to come her way. Living at home though, she spends a lot of time with her family, and doing chores for her Mother, or just playing games with her sisters.

5. Night owl, or morning person? (Optional: What time do they normally wake up, and go to bed?)
Night owl, she always seems to be more alive once the stars have come out, and she loves the moon. She'll generally stay up as late as she possibly can, even though she also gets up early. In other words, she doesn't sleep much.

6. Do they have a sweet tooth? 
She doesn't really have sweets. So, not really.

7. What colors are their bedroom? 
When she lives in the woods she sleeps in a cave. When she lives at home she sleeps in the same room as the rest of her family. No beds, they sleep on the floor. The walls are brown.

8. Can they cook? 
Yes, when she's actually got food to cook with.

9. What is their favorite household chore? 
Getting water. It means a walk, often times by herself. It gives her time to think.

10. Favorite kind of tea? 
She doesn't really drink tea. If she did she'd probably like something fruity, or maybe peppermint.

I'm Yours, and Writerly Musings

First of all, I love this kid. 

This video has 53,468,658 views. 20 of them were probably me. 
I haven't been doing a lot of writing lately, although I should be. My plan is not only to convert my NaNo novel of 2010 into a film script for Script Frenzy, but I would also like to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this year. Both times. Thus, on top of the rewrites I should be doing to The Way We Think, I should be outlining. Ha. 
By the way, if you go to the Script Frenzy website and use the Plot Machine on the main page, you'll probably laugh. I did. 

While drowning in the Caspian Sea a wedding photographer with Tourette's puts his life on the line to save the ant colony. 

The great thing about writing is that nothing is really impossible. The other great thing, is everything you can put the characters through. You would think drowning in the Caspian Sea was rather life threatening, but just wait till we reach the ant colony. That's where you'll find the real danger. 
I have been working on a bit of a short story. It's based off of a quote Fin and I found on the internet. You can read the entire thing here (it's rather long). It inspired something along these lines. 

He reached the little shop within twenty minutes. A sign on the door warned him to step down as he entered. The first thing he noticed was the air. Not just the smell of an old book, or turning pages, but that thick air that surrounds them and makes them feel that much different. The second thing he noticed was the cat, sitting next to the cash register. Perhaps he'd chosen the place to rest, not only because he could easily keep an eye on those who entered, but also because every other surface on the counter was covered with books. Piles of books. The long haired creature blinked lazily, as if Reed held no interest for him, and yet the soft green eyes remained locked on him. Watching his every move. Reed found an uncertain smile on his face and a few words stuttering from his lips. "I... just wanted to... to look around." He stopped when he realized he was talking to a cat. He wasn't sure if there was any other human in the building. Not only could he hear no evidence of it, but he could also see none. 

I'm sure I'll get to my outlining eventually. The week before Camp NaNo begins perhaps? 

Which Author Would You Meet?

If you haven't gotten the chance to read over the details of The Author's Giveaway, you can check it out HERE. Fin, Sam, and I are will be giving away some pretty awesome stuff, generously donated by Esty shop owners. 

So, to gain an entry in the giveaway, answer the following question. You can either leave a comment with your answer, or write about it in a blog post of your own, and then leave a comment with the link to your post. 

If you could meet any author from any time period, who would it be?

Ah, what a question. So many authors, so many time periods. This question is actually pretty easy for me though. Charles Dickens, without a doubt. I think that man would be awesome to chat with, and I'd love to hear some of his thoughts on writing. Somehow I get the feeling it wouldn't be the structured plot points, with character arcs and a diagramed outline posted on his wall. Yes, I think chatting with Dickens would be glorious. 

To gain two more entries in the giveaway, be sure to visit Fin, and Sky's blog to answer the questions posted there! 

Thanks to Mr. Nolan

It was a little over a year ago that I watched Batman Begins for the first time. I loved it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. Coming from a Batman lover, and a complete film credit, I knew it was different. I just couldn't figure out why. There was a new element I hadn't expected.

"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely." -Henri Ducard

Fast Forward several months to when I first saw The Dark Knight. It impressed me more than the prequel. That sense of something new had doubled. A story hadn't just been told. It had been told well. This was when the name on the case started popping out to me a little more. Christopher Nolan.

Since then, along with many Dark Knight fans, I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Dark Knight Rises. I've been waiting, and I've been expecting a lot. I've been expecting to see the same thing I did in the first two movies.

Over this past week I've watched, for the first time, two Christopher Nolan movies. The Prestige, and Inception. With each one I started to realize it wasn't just the Batman movies that were different. It was Christopher Nolan. It was the result of the touch from a master's hand.

Christopher Nolan makes movies that seem to completely transport you into another world. The world of the characters who's stories you are being told. He weaves a tale you weren't expecting, but that's not all he does. He gives you the characters to love, the journey they must survive, and the eyes you see it through. He gives it to you, but to thoroughly enjoy it, Chris expects something back. Some thought.

I admire Christopher Nolan's directing skills. I salute him for making his movies the way he wants to make them, the way they should be made, not the way  the world would like to see. I mostly admire him for asking just a little in return. Please don't sit down and watch his movies expecting to relax your brain. With each new film, he gives you a new puzzle to solve.

Directing film is an art I believe Chris Nolan has mastered. Then again, that's just the opinion of an abnormal teenager.

Week 2ish

This post is a bit late. Week two has come and gone, but oh well. Let me just say, I expect to reach the 50,000 word goal the same way I did last year. In a futile attempt to beat Fin in getting there. Sometimes I wonder how normal people have fun.

Wordcount: I shall fill this in later. I'm keeping Fin in terror at the moment.

Favorite Place to Write: The coffee shop, still. Especially when I've got writer friends with me.

Most Productive Place to Write: That would still be my bedroom. On my bed. With earphones in my ears.

Favorite Snack: French fries from McDonald's. I know, I'm weird.

Music:

Awesomeness

Guys. I'm not a fan of Glee, or The Glee Project. At all. However, I am a fan of this guy.

It also makes me pretty happy to hear this guy sing.

This guy has just always been awesome.

In other news, I'm sick. Therefore, I've posted music videos instead of racking my mind for words to type. I feel no shame.

Introducing The Way We Love

October. It's that crazy month where all the writers begin to realize NaNoWriMo is only four weeks away, and they better come up with some kind of plot if they want to make it to 50k. After being interviewed by an honest to goodness newspaper man on the subject, I was forced to decide what I would be writing this year. As a spur of the moment choice, my beloved characters of old won out.

I'll be torturing Grant, Luna, Ranen, and Weston for another year, at least. They'll be returning in The Way We Love, sequel to The Way We Think.

Since making that decision, I've been totally stoked about NaNo. I've even started outlining. Who cares if I've only got a few weeks and I'm just now on the first chapter.

So, who's doing NaNoWriMo? Keep checking back because Beautiful People will be geared towards NaNoers this month. Don't worry if you aren't planning on undertaking the craziness of the challenge, we'll have plenty of questions for you as well!

Braindead

I haven't been writing much lately. I've been reading. I actually haven't been doing much of that either though, so it's a lame excuse. Oh well, I just keep telling myself you've gotta have a break before the big bust, right? I would certainly call November the big bust of my writing life, and it's coming on fast. At this point, I'm not even really sure what I'm gonna write either. I've got ideas, but there's no saying that won't change. Like it already has three times.

I've got to get up early to go to work tomorrow, so I'm not even really sure why I'm taking the time to write this post. This could be one of those moments when I could be writing, or reading. I'm writing a story about gypsy's, a highwayman, and poor villagers. I'm reading Wuthering Heights. I'm enjoying both.

I guess I decided to post because I felt like I wanted to, the only thing was, I didn't know what to post. So, I decided to follow the example of My Sam and not think about it. Just write, right? We won't go into how much she inspires me right now, just know that she does.

Speaking of being inspired, I'm in love with music right now. Oh wait, I'm always in love with music. Let me rephrase that, I'm in love with Barrage right now. This is one of my favorites. It's called Allen's Bar.

This ones pretty good too. Until We Meet Again.

I'm in the midst of refurbishing my room. Well, I have been in the midst of it since we moved into this house, but it's getting closer. My Daddy is going to build me some awesome bookshelves so I'll be able to get my books off the floor and I'm hoping to find a nice, big, comfy chair to stick in the corner. I love big comfy chairs. Especially when surrounded by books.

Jane Eyre and Robin Hood

Remember when I posted that picture of Jane and Mr. Rochester and every single person who left a comment knew who they were? Yeah, I didn't think I was going to stump to many people on that one. Anyway, this is that post I was talking about, but I'm also throwing in a few words on Robin Hood so grab your popcorn and get ready for a seriously opinionated persons view on various films.

Let's begin with Jane Eyre, shall we?

Jane Eyre (2011)

I actually already wrote a review about this. You can read it here.

Jane Eyre (2006)

Out of the three adaptions I've watched, this is by far my favorite. Masterpiece Theatre certainly knows how to please fans of the books. I love Mr. Rochester, I love Jane, I love the entire thing. It's just awesome.

Jane Eyre (1996)

I think you'll gather how I felt on this film when I say, I didn't finish watching it. It was almost comical. The plot was rushed, the characters were butchered and the acting was a farce. I skipped to the end just to see if they had managed to pull it together by then. They hadn't.

Moving on.

Robin Hood (2010)

Ever since I heard this movie was coming out I was interested. After all, its Robin Hood! The fact that Russell Crowe would be playing the infamous outlaw made me rather dubious, I tried to tell myself Ridley Scott knew what he was doing. In a way, I think maybe he did. I actually kind of liked the softer side Robin seemed to have in this movie, while still managing to be his irritating self. I liked the new twist on the story, that Robin Hood wasn't originally Robin of Loxley at all. I love this quote,

"Rise and rise again until lambs become lions."

It keeps running through my head and I find it rather inspiring.

However, as much as I liked about this movie, it just didn't come together for me. By the time it was over I had decided I didn't really like it. I'm not completely sure why. Maybe it just wasn't my kind of Robin Hood.

"Sometimes the Questions are Complicated and the Answers are Simple."

I played with a seven year old today. He told me he was a doctor and promptly pretended to cut my knee open. When I told him that there was nothing wrong with my knee, and asked why he had cut it open he simply shrugged and said,

"I'll fix it... somehow." 

Gotta love the confidence of a child.

Books Inspire

Day 4 - A novel or author that has inspired something in your writing style.

While I can make this easy and just say Ted Dekker, and Charles Dickens, I have to go a bit further than that. Honestly, almost everything I read inspires me. Even if it's a bad book. It inspires me to go and write something better. If it's good I try and figure out why and if I can take on that quality in my own writing. The two kinds of books this doesn't work with...

The AMAZING

When a book is so amazing I don't even pay attention to what made it so good. I'm so caught up in the story I don't even think about it. By the third, or fourth time I read it I can get down to that stuff.

The GAG-worthy

You know. The ones that I read the first chapter and stop. If I even get that far. Sometimes I only get to the first line, if I made it past the paragraph on the back... if I even picked it up to begin with.

A writer should be able to learn something from almost every book in my opinion. How to do something, or what to avoid. Books in general are my inspiration.

Join the 15 Day Challenge over at Eat... Sleep... Write!

Three Favorites... Again

Day two of the 15 Day Writer's Challenge over at Eat... Sleep... Write. If you're a writer I encourage you to check it out and think about joining us!

Day 2 - Your favorite male author.

Another difficult one that I'll have to narrow down to three choices.

James Herriot

I've never really been a great fan of animal stories. While my family enjoyed the stories of Rascal, and Where the Red Fern Grows, I found them rather boring. I don't remember a time when I didn't like James Herriot though. I've grown up listening and reading his stories, based off of his real life experiences as an English country vet.

We had Every Living Thing on tape, and I think that's probably the most listened to tape there ever was. The stories are certainly worth hearing, but what makes them captivating is the way he writes them.

Not only that, the books make a pretty amazing tv series.

Charles Dickens

Look at this guy. With a face like that, how can you not write a whopping good novel? I've actually only read three of his books and am currently in the middle of the forth, but the ones I have read are amazing. This guy has got to be the master of plot. As I was reading Great Expectations, the first book I've read of his, I was thinking it was good, but by the time I got to the end I was blown away. Things unfold that you never would have expected.

Not only that, the books make some pretty amazing Masterpiece Theater adaptions.

Ted Dekker

I'm not even sure where to start with this guy. I guess from the beginning. Thanks for getting me into this addiction Beth.

Ted Dekker opened my eyes to the world of thriller novels. His was the first books in a long time that I clung to the spine of during the wee hours of the morning. I finished Black overnight.

The awesome part is, he's not only still alive, but he's still writing!

Not only that, the characters on the pages seem so real already, it gives me chills just thinking about a film adaption.

The Best Antiques Are Old Friends

Everything has been kind of crazy lately. Fin and I have a friend visiting for a few days. Life has been filled with pictures,

and buying awesome old books from antique stores.

Those books would be Kipling: A Selection of His Stories and Poems Volume I & II, and Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle. I love Kipling. I love Robin Hood. 'Nuff said.

I've also been outlining.

Yes. I've finally gotten into it. It helps when both of your friends are also working on outlines. Coffee Shops with inspiring atmospheres also come in handy.

Random Bursts of... Random

Hi. Remember me? I'm the author of this blog. This sadly, rejected blog. I'm actually okay with it though, when I decided to start a blog again I told myself it wasn't going to be a priority. I wasn't going to worry about gaining more followers, or posting regularly. I was just going to write. Strangely enough, I've enjoyed authoring this blog more than any others I've ever written.

Summer has been moving rather quickly for me. I just wanted to post a quick update of what's going on for me.

• My family just got back from a spur of the moment camping trip. Spur of the moment as in, my parents woke up Monday morning with the idea, and we left that afternoon.

• I am now an official homeschool graduate. The party was smashing, even for a crazy introvert like me.

• In two days I'm going to see someone awesome. I haven't seen this someone for two years, which is far to vast a time. Fin and I have a mutual best friend who we just happen to think is crazy amazing. She moved awhile back, but she's coming back to visit. For five days. We've got to make up two years, in five days. Life is about to get crazy.

• Beautiful People is coming. It had totally slipped my mind until today, but never fear! We'll hopefully have a new variety of questions posted soon. Speaking of BP, if you have any suggestions for questions, please feel free to comment on either mine, or Sky's blog letting us know what they are!

• If you're looking for a blog to fall in love with, may I suggest Dancing Again... authored by the beautiful Lynette Kraft. I absolutely love reading about her adventures as a mother of nine. She inspires me to embrace the little things in life.

• I've been meaning to really start outlining for draft 2 of Ash Valley for weeks now, but I think I'm finally really getting ready to start for sure. I've had almost the entire summer to break from serious writing, but I'm ready to get back in the groove. I'm thinking 750words and all. Enough casual, I want to get something done.

Life is an Occasion

Strange fact about me: one of my all time favorite movies is Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

Dustin Hoffman (one of my favorite actors, and on my list of awesome people), Natalie Portman, a Mutant, and a toy store. I'm telling you, that's an incredible combination.

One of the things I love the most about this movie is its simple theme of living your life to the fullest. Being you, not what people expect you to be. After all, as Mr. Magorium says...

"Life is an occasion. Rise to it."

This was not a movie I expected to be impressed with. In all honesty, I thought it would be cheesy and poorly made. Since then I've watched it to many times to count. I have a tendency of quoting it in every day conversations and not thinking twice about it. The humor, the choice of words, and the lack of a predictable romance just add all that much more to the collection. I could go on for awhile, but I won't. I'll leave you with this quote. Probably my favorite in the entire film.

"When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written 'He dies.' That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is 'He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with 'He dies." And yet, every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words 'He dies,' but because of the life prior to the words." -Mr. Magorium

Just The Facts

Hi. I'm just here to say...

• God is good. Without a doubt.
• The Oregon coast is to beautiful to put into words and inspires like you wouldn't believe.
• Second families can bless you more then you would ever imagine possible.
• Writing song lyrics in giant letters on the beach was added and scratched from my bucket list in one day.
• It is possible to get a book, copyright date 1908, for a dollar.
• Adorable four year old boys on horseback melt my heart.
• Coming home from a trip to find a brand new MacBook Pro on my bed would make my night. Oh wait... it did.

Music and Writing Combined

If you've been looking for a good writing prompt, love music, and are reading this, you'll want to continue... reading.

I love music. I'm almost always listening to it in some way. My I-Pod (his name is Danny), the radio, CD's, or just singing. I love music because it inspires me. So, I came up with this little idea. A writing prompt centered around music.

1. Make a playlist on your i-pod. If you can't make playlists, or don't have an i-pod make a list of your favorite songs on paper. I chose not to add any songs that are not sung in English (considering it's the only language I speak) and most of my Christmas songs. I also decided not to go with any of the classical pieces, or soundtracks.
2. The next time you want to tackle a writing prompt, or just feel like writing, but aren't sure what to write about, go to your playlist and put it on shuffle. Put the first song that comes up on repeat and listen to it at least once completely through before you start writing.
3. Write. Write the story that the song tells you. Write about what it means to you. Write about everything you've ever thought about this song before. Just write. Don't think. Set yourself a time limit, or just write till you can write no more.
4. When you're done, collapse for a moment to catch your breath and then delete that song from your playlist.

Every time you need a writing prompt go back to that playlist. I have 243 songs on mine. Should take me awhile to get through, but I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun with it. Will you?

God's Love is Like a Meteor Shower

A little known fact about me. I'm an Owl City fan. At first I thought his music was just really weird, but now I think it's weird and awesome at the same time. I think maybe that's what Adam Young was going for... at least, I hope so.

Anyway, I've been listening to this song over and over again lately. It's short, only two verses. I love the words though.

I can finally see

That You're right there beside me

I am not my own

For I have been made new

Please don't let me go

I desperately need You

I am not my own

For I have been made new

Please don't let me go

I desperately need You

Give a Girl a Fairy...

Today I watched Shakespeare Retold: A Midsummer Night's Dream. I enjoyed it although I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Puck made my day. That's about it.

Frankly, I'm not as impressed with Shakespeare as I told myself I would be if I could just get myself excited about it. I now get excited about Shakespeare. I am not impressed. A good tale he could certainly tell, if only slightly predictable. My thoughts in one comment? I enjoy Dickens so much more.

Not only that, Shakespeare has done something terrible. He has filled my mind with fairies. Give a girl a fairy and she'll ask you for a princess. You'll give her a princess and she'll think of a castle. So you'll build her a castle and she'll need a dragon to get her princess to the castle. Once her princess is at the castle she'll discover it's owned by an evil dark lord and she'll need a prince to get the princess out again.... the list goes on and while I should be working on my countless other projects, I've been writing a fairy tale all day.

Oh, and one last thing. If you listen to Owl City's "Hot Air Balloons" while writing a fairy tale you'll end up in an unbelievably whimsical mood.

Dear Summer...

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time." -John Lubbock

"In summer, the song sings itself." -William Carlos Williams

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer...

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape

Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"No price is set on the lavish summer;

June may be had by the poorest comer."

-James Russell Lowell

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade." -Gertrude Jekyll

Oh the Summer night

Has a smile of light

And she sits on a sapphire throne.

-Barry Cornwall

... please come soon. Love, me.