Random Things

Sorry for not posting in a while, life has been really busy. ^^

First of all, happy belated Thanksgiving! Mine was pretty awesome; my family and I went to my grandma and grandpa's for lunch, and hung out there for most of the afternoon. I watched The Ultimate Gift (one of my favorite movies) with my sister and older cousins and aunt.

Secondly, I reached my NaNoWriMo word count goal, 20,00, on the 23rd. NaNoWriMo was really fun, and I can't wait for 50,000 words next year. :)

Third, I re-watched The Return of the King last night with my younger sister and wow, I really love that movie. (I mean, seriously, who doesn't?) The recurring themes of friendship, perseverance, and sacrifice are what make The Lord of the Rings fantastic (it helps that the actors and actresses--along with the sets, locations and special effects--are the best). And of course you can't make amazing movies out of horrible books--Tolkien's books are even better then the movies (if you can imagine that). Directly after finishing the movie, I ran downstairs, pulled out The Return of the King and skimmed through it all. (Isn't Pippin hilarious? He had me laughing the whole movie).

Finally, I have an ear-infection. I get a runny nose, and, opposed to blowing it, I suck it back up, therefore clogging my ear-canals and infecting my ear-drum. *clutches ear* At these times, I'm very grateful for doctors and medicine. And pain-killer. (You would be amazed should you find out how much I've taken since the beginning of my ear-pains)

Namarie, and blessings,

An Excursion

Yesterday, we went to the library, and these are the books I came out laden with:

• The Visitation, by Frank Peretti (like all of Peretti's books, utterly amazing)
• The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, by Robert Andrews (SO excited to read this...I am a complete quotation junkie)
• The Deep, by Helen Dunmore (boring book...)
• The Indian In the Cupbard, by Lynn Reid Banks
• The Secret of the Indian, by Lynn Reid Banks
• The Mystery of the Cupbard, by Lynn Reid Banks
• The Tapestry Book One, by Henry H. Neiff
• The Tapestry Book Two, by Henry H. Neiff
• Daily Life in Victorian England, by Sally Mitchell
• Everest Book One, by Gordan Korman
• The Revenge of the Shadow King, by Derek Benz and J. S. Lewis ("J. S. Lewis"...sound familiar?)
• The Tolkien Companion, by J. E. A. Tyler (I'm re-reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and thought this would be good to have)
• The Illustrated Library of World Poetry (Not a big poetry fan, but this book was so thick [literally, like three inches thick] and the font so tiny [at the most, size nine, and the font is Times New Roman, so that makes it worse] that I had to get it...shows how nerdy I am, but whatever. *shrugs*)
• Laylie's Daring Quest, by Kersten Hamilton (I normally don't get books with such incredibly boring titles, but I couldn't resist. I've read this book several times and love the storyline. But I admit it, the title of this book needs to be re-thought out. And replaced.)
• Red Rock Mysteries Book Five, by Jerry Jenkins and Chris Fabry
• Red Rock Mysteries Book Nine, by Jerry Jenkins and Chris Fabry

Sixteen books. Six genres, if you count Quotations as one. Mysteries, Fantasy, Fiction, Non-fiction, Mystery, and (possibly) Quotations.

And I'm going through The Synonym Finder and jotting down awesome words so I can look back and use them in Midnight. I really need to get around to reading the dictionary, too.

NaNo Update: as of now, my story is 6,028 words, 18 pages. My format is double-spaced with 1 1/2 inch margins, and the font Georgia size ten.

Later,

Oh. My. Word.

I just finished reading the most amazing book I have ever read. It's called The Mirror's Tale, by P. W. Catanese. Here's the back:

Bert and Will, the twin sons of the baron of Ambercrest, are best friends. They do everything together and can't help it if trouble just seems to...find them. But the baron is fed up and has decided that seperation will keep them out of mischief. One twin, he proclaims, will stay in Ambercrest for the summer, while the other will be sent to The Crags-a fore-boding, rocky outpost on the edge of the kingdom. It is there, hidden in a forbidden black chamber, that one of the boys discovers a bejeweled and mysterious mirror. What is the precious object? And why does it make him feel so...powerful? Soon the twins' kinship is replaced by dark magic and deceit, and a kingdom hangs dangerously in the balance. What becomes of one who is ruled by the forces of evil? And can brotherly love conquer a consuming quest for power?

Oh my word, the back portrays the book so badly. I was doubtful when I picked it up, thinking, "Well, it doesn't sound bad, maybe just a little boring, I guess I'll try it..."
I was completely blown away. Completely.
I highly recommend it. Here is a foreboding quote that filled me with dread:

It was thirteen years ago on a night as dark and cold as a crypt. She [a servant named Margaret] remembered how she shivered in her bed, and then heard someone awake in the inky halls of Ambercrest, hours before sunrise. Not the stomping boots of a guard, but the silky shuffle of slippers. A pale, orange light appeared in the slender space at the bottom of her door. She was already there with a hand on the knob when the rapping began. It was the baroness. "Margaret, I am with child," she said. "I'm certain of it now." "Wonderful news, my lady. The baron will be please." Margaret noticed that even at this late hour with no one about, the baroness had taken a moment to compose her hair. "Yes," the baroness said uncertainly. "They say a woman's face glows with beauty when she is with child. Let us hope that is true." There was a soundless interlude, and Margaret worked her jaw sideways and pressed her gums together to suppress a yawn. "May I be of service to you, lady?" "Of course. I must have something to eat. And it must be...eggs. That's what the child wants, I feel." "Right away, Baroness." With a lamp to light her way, Margaret went down the wide stone staircase, through the great hall and the dining room, and out the door of the keep into the bitter cold. The short walk across the courtyard and into the kitchen tower sent needles of pain into her joints. "No sense in waking the cook for this, I can manage it," she muttured. The eggs were kept in a wooden bowl on a shelf. Only one was left, but it was a goose egg and quite large. She picked it up, but her fingers were still numb from the frigid air. The egg slipped from her grasp and broke with a splat on the stone floor. Margaret sighed. She knelt to see if enough of the egg could be perserved. Holding the lamp close by, she stared at it for a long while, wondering. She shivered again, but not from the cold this time. Spilled from the single shell were two yolks, like golden islands in a clear sea. This can only mean one thing, she thought. But then her smile settled into a thin frown. One yolk remained whole, but the other had not survived the fall. Its fine skin had split, and the inner yolk oozed out, slowly and shapelessly.

On the back, it said one brother went bad, and this was SUCH a good example of foreshadowing, I just had to share it with you all. ^^

And a NaNoWriMo update...I'm only at 1,116 words. *winces* At least I'm only doing 20,000, not 50,000. But even so, I need to go write. *sips tea and flexes fingers, preparing for vigorous writing*

I Can't Believe...

...that NaNo starts in two days!!

I've seen several NaNoWriMo Survival Kits and decided to do one.

1. My Laptop. Thank goodness for it. Did I tell you that I love you, Araldar? ("Araldar" actually means "Evil One" in the language of one of my stories...hm...maybe "Araldar" isn't such a fantastic name for my laptop...)
2. My Notebooks. My main notebook is this tattered one that holds about five plots, random quotes, Bible verses, great books, and excerpts from my stories. I have several others, however; unfortunately, I am very unorganized, and, if I have a "brilliant" idea, I just grab the notebook that's nearest to me. Therefore, I have several notebooks and I have to search all of them to find something specific.
3. My Bible. I have it sitting on my desk so when I get "nano-drepression", I can just look up an inspiring verse.
4. Coffee/Tea/Chocolate. I will most definitely be drinking a LOT more decaf coffee and green tea this month. *grins* The occasional cup of hot chocolate, perhaps. And a LOT of chocolate from the stash my mom got specifically for Halloween, but whose leftovers may be used for more productive purposes. ^^
5. The Work-Out Machine. Working out is a stress-reliever for me, so that contraption will be getting a lot more use this month. ^^
6. Gmail. All my friends on gmail better get prepared for some venting. *laughs*
7. Hannah. Hannah, I'm going to call you a LOT, and most of the conversations are going to be complaining about how far behind I am. And yes, we can always bury names if we get depressed. :) (Inside joke...)
8. My Family. Definitely. Where would I be without them? *grins*
9. My Diary. Oh my word, almost all the entries from this time forth until the end of November will be freaking out about NaNo.
10. My Characters. There would be no story without my awesomely-cooperative characters. One of my main characters, Jole, agreed to die without so much as a soft shriek. And another, Arayna, resigned to being stuck in jail for twelve years. And, of course, my evil character, Imandr, is really a good person at heart, but is determined to impersonate a deliciously-evil character just for me. *sighs* But of course, it's my eminently main character that's being stubborn...she's refusing to let Jole and Arayna die, and says she doesn't need to listen to me. *rolls eyes*
11. Books. Insanely inspiring books.
12. Gimp. *grins* thank goodness for Gimp.
13. Music. Lots and lots of music. I have a song for every mood. ^^

AGH! I'm so excited!! :) On Sunday, I'm setting my alarm for around six, so I can get a few pages done before church. ^^

Since I'm only doing 20,000 words, once I achieve that goal, I'm going to keep pushing and hopefully get 50,000 words so I'm ready for full force NaNo next year.

Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to be doing a lot less eating/playing/hanging out and a LOT more writing/scribbling/screaming? :D

One last thing (Note: this is an edit): An AWESOME giveaway at the Elvish Maiden!! Go enter! :)

Vision Forum Contest

Just wanted to alert you all of this awesome contest over at Vision Forum. It's a short story contest, minimum words 100, maximum 1,200 words (ugh! 1,200 words is NOTHING! How am I supposed to write anything in 1,200 words?!:P). You're required to make up a story based on the magazine cover (there is a picture of it so you don't have to order the catalogue or anything). You have until December first (I think) to submit your story, though I'm trying to get it done now, 'cause November's completely shot with NaNo. I have a basic plot idea for the contest, but the story's already five hundred words and I haven't even reached the OUTSKIRTS of the climax yet... *shakes head* Never was a good short-story author.

I did not have swine flu, and recovered very quickly and abruptly from my one-day sickness. Now I'm just left with a hacking cough. Which isn't half-bad compared to Saturday's troubles. ^^

I've Decided

*gulps then grins* Cassie, your comment evoked this: I've decided. I'm going to do the Young Writers Program for NaNoWriMo (I'm not old enough to do the regular adult program).