Q&A Vlog Part 2

I'm waving hello from St. Louis, Missouri, where Realm Makers is currently underway! (If you couldn't make it this year, please read THIS POST on Musings of an Elf. It's everything I'd say to you right now.)


As promised, the second half of the vlog is here! Just a couple of notes this time:

1. The timeline is a bit off, because I mentioned, "by this time next week, I'll be at Realm Makers," not knowing that I'd split the vlog over two weeks.
2. The guest post I referenced is this one over at The Author's Chair.
3. All credit for the music (a song called Movement) belongs to Chasing Noise.
4. The dragon makes an appearance at last!

I hope you enjoy the rest of these ramblings. Do feel free to shout out suggestions for that question I ask a bit closer to the end. And if I haven't caught up on comments by the time this post goes live, I do apologize. I'll reply to everyone once I return home, and also share a giant Realm Makers recap like I did last year! Then it'll be back to regular content here on Adventure Awaits.


Once again, thanks for watching! You all are the best!

Q&A Vlog Part 1

At last, the vlog has arrived!

Thanks again for all the great questions, everyone! I had so much fun answering them, the vlog turned into . . . ahem . . . an hour-long video. So because no one wants to sit and watch sixty minutes of dorky chit-chat, and because I'm running short on time on my end, we're splitting this thing into two parts! If I can, I hope to get the second half ready for next Saturday, when I'll be at Realm Makers.


Little disclaimer: I filmed this on my phone, which was running so short of storage that I had to film it one piece at a time, upload to my computer, delete from my phone, and then continue. So there are awkward pauses in between that my miniscule video editing skills couldn't avoid. Just pretend we're facetiming or sharing Instagram stories or some other such casual thing, and let's not pretend that I'm some polished YouTuber. That would take a great deal of imagination.


So without further ado, here's the first segment!

EDIT: The background music is Lost in Las Vegas by Two Steps from Hell. Full credit goes to them!

Call for Questions!

Adventure Awaits turned three on March 31st, 2018! Yes, that was f o r e v e r ago. But it seems like something worth celebrating, and, well . . . better late than never.

Except I'm never late--I arrive precisely when I intend to. We shall just pretend I intended to arrive now. Shhh . . .

 

So to celebrate, why not follow in the footsteps of the great bloggers who have gone before me and--

 

Film a vlog!

. . .

. . .

Yes, yes, I can hear the crickets chirping! This is admittedly not the most original blogoversary idea in the history of the universe. But hear me out. Clichés are clichés for a reason. And I just finished reading Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, so hey, let's start our classy thievery of ideas right now. Here's why a vlog is a good idea:

#1. I've only ever filmed one vlog.

It was years ago. I dare you to find it in the archives. Actually, don't. I haven't watched it in a long time, but I suspect it's a leeeeettle cringey. Anyway! The point is, another one would be fun!

#2. Written communication is 2D, and video is 3D.

In writing, you can't hear my tone of voice or see my dorky face or any of that real-life goodness. I'd love to gather all of you around for a massive bonfire (as long as someone else starts the fire, because I'm terrible at camping skills in general) and roast marshmallows and talk about adventure and books and silly stuff and deep stuff and strange stuff! But the reality is we can't. A vlog is half of a real conversation, though, so that's one step closer.

#3. You want a chance to see the dragon living in my basement, right?

What, you thought I was joking in my bio?

So this is your chance to ask me questionssss, precious!

Now when I'm the one being asked for questions, this is usually my brain's cue to go blank, so here's a warm-up list to get you started. Feel free to ask me about:

• books
• writing
• The Brightest Thread (or any of my stories)
• books
• favorite movies
• why the flipping pancakes a writer would go to business school
• what it was like to be homeschooled
• Canada
• favorite beverage
• what my dragon's name is
• favorite authors
• life as an INFJ
• books
• more books
• the time I almost died (okay, I'm exaggerating)
• why I'm so much funnier in writing than in person (I'M SORRY, OKAY)
• how to balance creativity and the billion things Life seems to think are important
• um . . .
• books?
• seriously, just ask me anything. I'm up for the crazy, the deep and thoughtful, the surface-level, the ridiculous, whatever. (just probably not the super private stuff . . . like personal address or blood type. I can see you vampires lurking in the corner. Back, foul beasts.)

Go ahead and steal any of the above questions and/or make up a bunch of your own! The more the merrier, though I will try to keep things under control and not subject you to three million hours of my voice.


Leave all your questions in the comments! My plan is to get the vlog put together before Realm Makers in mid-July! (I'M SORRY, FRIEND, YOU'LL HAVE TO TALK LOUDER--THAT'S JUST THE SOUND OF LIFE LAUGHING AT MY AMBITIONS.) I'll be away from the internet for a bit first, but rest assured I'll be back to chortle at your amazing questions. So ask away!


Housekeeping Note: Next week's Subplots & Storylines post will be a couple of days late. See ya soon!

Quick Update

Just popping in to say a few things:


1. The Great Beast of Homework swallowed me whole and this is as much of a post you'll be getting this weekend.


2. Yes, it is very sad. Please cry many tears.


3. Actually, don't. There's no time to mop up the mess!


4. But the good news is there's a special post coming up in the middle of next week! Stay tuned for that!!!


5. In the meantime, tell me how your week was!

Autobiography of a Fantasy Character - Origin Story

Fantasy is my favorite thing to read and write, in case you hadn't yet caught on. But every genre comes with its own suitcase of tropes. I thought poking some fun at them (and at ourselves as fantasy lovers) would be entertaining, so welcome to the first post of a potential series: Autobiography of a Fantasy Character!

[image via Unsplash; graphic mine]

Once upon an unspecified time, I grew up in Quaint Village. It was a rustic, homespun sort of place where everyone was honest and hardworking and appropriately naïve about the greater world. The village lay nestled in a valley protected by mountains on every side, sheltered in every sense of the word.


When I was a very young boy, my parents died in a fire, so I lived with my uncle on his farm and spent my days herding sheep. Absolutely nothing else of note happened during my childhood.

Then I turned sixteen . . . and everything changed.

I began receiving visions, images of bloodshed and suffering that plagued both my sleep and my waking moments.


I also began manifesting mysterious powers. My fellow villagers were frightened and prepared to cast me out for witchery, when a hooded old man--


Oh, right. Allow me to back up. The only other notable thing about my childhood besides my orphan status was the old man who lived at the edge of the valley. He kept to himself, causing wild rumors about his past to circulate amongst the village folk. No one knew who he really was or where he came from, but his cloak and his staff made him look Very Important, so people left him alone. Except for me. I had one run-in with him as a child, which scared me out of my wits and also served to foreshadow future events.


Ahem. I turned sixteen, manifested powers I didn't understand, and was about to be cast out by a mob of villagers, when the old man spirited me out of harm's way. We hid in his hut, where he explained in cryptic words that I was special. Chosen, in fact. The world beyond Quaint Village was in dire need of a Hero to save them--and I was the only one who could do it. Of course.


But before I could ask more questions (like, "Why me?"), sudden war descended on Quaint Village. It appeared that my flare of powers had attracted a horde of not-quite-human soldiers. Gasp! The horror! They charged in, swinging massive blades, yelling in a guttural language, and setting fire to homes. And then they did the unthinkable.


They killed a sweet but personality-less friend of mine. A person named Incentive.


"NOOOOOO!" I screamed.


Charged with sorrow and vengeance, I struck out with my mysterious powers in a flash of light. These powers spun out of my control and conveniently decimated the entire horde of enemies, but also injured some of the villagers, including a resident bully who had hounded me for years.


Half of the villagers praised my victory, while the other half glowered with suspicion. (None glared quite so darkly as the bully.) The Very Important old man leaned on his staff and surveyed the damage I'd done, then muttered more cryptic words, something ominous along the lines of, "The old darkness has awakened." And then he said, "Meet me on the mountain. Your training begins at sunrise."

[via Unsplash]

That was how I met Mentor.

Afraid and confused, I climbed the mountain the next morning, where Mentor promptly began to rail at me for being late--as all teachers must do--and then launched into a flurry of tests to gauge my control over my powers. I failed every one of them. But each day, I climbed the mountain again for another training session. Mentor was gruff and difficult to please, but he sprinkled the physical lessons with nuggets of grandiose wisdom. He taught me how to harness the energy within me, control the visions, and wield a sword within a week. I was a fast learner. Chosen heroes have to be.


Every time I probed into his past, he dodged my questions, letting only one or two characteristically ambiguous hints slip out.


Once I had gained a basic level of training, another disaster occurred to keep the story of my life moving. More of those not-quite-human soldiers came to the valley, but this time they lay in ambush on the mountain where we trained. In the skirmish that followed, Mentor and I slew every enemy. The last one, as he lay dying, gurgled a warning: "The darkness is watching you, Hero. The final note will be sung . . ." And then he died.


Mentor looked shaken, which was unusual for him. Apparently the warning was the beginning of an old prophecy--about me, of course, as all prophecies tend to be. This is how it went.

Darkness watches the chosen one

Many wrongs have been done

When the final note has been sung

And night is day and old is young

Seize the keys that Villain flung

Mentor recited the poorly-written poetry with such doom and gloom in his voice that every word was branded perfectly in my memory after hearing it only once. I asked him what it meant, and all he knew was that the "keys" were said to be sealed in a vault far, far away in Distant Land. Or at least, they were supposed to be. The presence of these dark soldiers indicated that the keys had, in fact, been stolen. Nothing would be right with the world until they were restored to their rightful place.


"Who stole them?" I asked.


"Villain," Mentor snarled. He then proceeded to spend a chapter of my life explaining Villain's backstory.


Villain and his brother were princes in Distant Land, living in opulence and peace. But Villain's older brother always bested him at everything, causing a deep bitterness to take root in the younger brother. The more they fought, the more Villain desired the throne, for it would be the ultimate victory against his sibling. To gain the strength necessary to seize it, Villain began dabbling in dark magic and soon grew evil. He killed his father, his brother, and his brother's wife--somehow their infant child escaped his grasp--and seized the throne for himself. Now Villain reigned Distant Land with an iron fist. He enslaved his people and forged them into an army in the depths of the earth. And, Mentor told me, it appeared that he had snatched away the keys that kept the entire world in balance.


It was now my task to travel to Distant Land to find the keys, stop the Villain, and save the world.


If I refused, these dark soldiers would keep coming for me and endanger everyone I loved. I couldn't help but think of poor Incentive, killed in cold blood, or the visions of suffering that still attacked me, providing me with both the logical and emotional means to commit to my quest. So with unquestioned resolve, I swore to do just as the prophecy foretold.

My real journey began at that moment. But little did I know what great and terrible things lay in store . . .

To Be Continued, Perhaps . . .

Turtle Cookies, a Book About Thinking, and a Friendly Chat

[via Pinterest]

Happy Saturday, friends! Right now, I'm curled up in the corner of the couch, with the Christmas lights on and carols playing in the background and family members quietly chatting and doing their own things throughout the house. It's relaxing--which is wonderful after a week of final exams. I plan to soak in every minute of this break from school!


I've got time-specific posts planned for the next few weeks*, but nothing for today. So I thought, "Rather than hearing me yabbering on for a thousand words or so, why don't I find out how all my Adventure Awaits pals are doing?" I don't get the chance to make it to all of your lovely blogs as often as I'd like--and some of you are faithful commenters without blogs--so how about we sit down for a virtual coffee/chai/eggnog/whatever, and simply chat?


*In case you were wondering: something about Christmas on Dec. 23rd, Subplots and Storylines/yearly summary on Dec. 30th, and books of 2017 sometime in early January.

a view of the backyard

snow

Tell me--does it look like you'll get a white Christmas? I've noticed a number of my southern friends from America are rejoicing over uncharacteristic snowfalls. It's pretty average here in Manitoba . . . We had a lovely snow just recently that dressed the yard in fluffy white goodness. It's putting me in a Narnia mood, to be honest.

Christmas

Everybody's counting down the days and rushing  to finish last-minute shopping. But I hope you get to relax at least a little this holiday season. Do you have gatherings? Recitals? Other fun Christmas-y activities? What's one of your Christmas traditions, if you have any?

One of mine is getting a new tree ornament from my parents every year. This year's is a little white teapot with a blue paisley pattern, and the tag of a tiny "teabag" hanging out the top. It's properly adorable! I love tea--certain kinds, with chai being my main favorite--and this ornament goes with a different year's book ornament that's lying open with a cup propped on the pages.

break

Many of you are high school or college/uni students, so I imagine you're on break now, or will be shortly! Hallelujah! How did exams go? And for those of you in post-NaNoWriMo hibernation, are you recovering?


Christmas food

[source]

(Because I can't stop talking about Christmas today, apparently.)

I went over to my classmate's house one day during exam week, and we spent half the day studying, baking cookies, listening to Christmas music and Owl City, and watching Wonder Woman. Our shortbread cookies were rather epic. I brought over my family's cookie cutters, which are all normal, traditional Christmas shapes. A tree, a star, a candy cane, a gingerbread man, and so on. For some inexplicable reason, however, there is also a turtle. No idea why, but my friend and I probably made more Christmas turtles than Christmas anything-else! I also succeeded in making a snowman with a nose that stayed sticking straight up.

Do you do any Christmas baking? What's your favorite treat at this time of year? I'm currently salivating over my grandma's vinarterta she made for an upcoming gathering! It's originally an Icelandic dessert, and everybody's recipe is different, but basically it's dried plums between thin layers of cake. My grandma always tops it off with icing too. It might sound like an odd dish, but trust me--it's delicious.

books

What are you reading right now? Are you loving it? Hating it? "Meh"-ing it? (Shush, that is a word.) Goodreads pals, are you caught up on your 2017 reading challenge? I've got three books to go, which should be doable.

After a week of textbooks and practically zero fiction, I'm hungrily diving into The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, a quirky little book that Mary Horton sent me as a present a couple months ago. I've been saving it for the holidays, because it's one of those books you just KNOW you're going to love. You know what I mean, right?

And so far, this is a deliciously fun story with the whimsy of Alice in Wonderland, yet in a more modern-feeling world. I'm absolutely loving the wordplay and metaphors here.

"I guess I just wasn't thinking," said Milo.

"PRECISELY," shouted the dog as his alarm went off again. "Now you know what you must do."
"I'm afraid I don't," admitted Milo, feeling quite stupid.
"Well," continued the watchdog impatiently, "since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to get out, you must start thinking." And with that, he hopped in the car. "Do you mind if I get in? I love automobile rides."

and how are you doing?

Are you frazzled? Content? Excited? Tired? Christmastime brings with it a wide range of emotions for a wide range of people, so whatever it looks like in your little corner of the world today, just know that you are loved. Know that life (with all its bumps in the road) is pretty amazing. And know that God thinks you're worth sending His Son for.

Well, considering I promised not to yabber, I did a lot of talking! Let's hear from you now! Sit down, grab a turtle cookie, and chat away.

A Tour of My 2017 Bullet Journal

[Looks like I'm posting late again. I'd love to be able to say, "Check for new posts every Saturday morning bright and early at 7 am!" But it's been hard to stay consistent with how busy school has been. My apologies, and thanks for understanding!]

Introductory note aside, I thought we'd do something a little different today! Usually I stick to blogging about reading books, writing books, admiring bookshelves, discussing the nature of books, watching books (oh wait, I mean movies), et cetera. Basically everything that equals story. With the exception of Subplots & Storylines, Adventure Awaits isn't really a lifestyle blog.


Buuuut as we all know, life doesn't fit in boxes. What affects life inadvertently affects writing. When life is prioritized, writing tends to go better. When life is chaos, I struggle to find time to string together even a paragraph, and when I do get time, my brain is too tired to make good use of it.


So, ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to...

THE BULLET JOURNAL

Cue fanfare and trumpets!


This day planner/to-do list/calendar has been around for a while, but you may not have heard of it. Worry not, I shall do my best to get you well acquainted.


Before we begin, I'm not promising a miracle cure or easy fix. Bullet journaling may not even be for you. (Keep in mind, I'm the kind of person who LOVES lists, because they let me pin my thoughts down on paper where I can see them, manage them, and conquer them. You may be the exact opposite, which is great too.) But after keeping a bullet journal for the past year, and loving it, I'd like to share my experience. Who knows, it might help you put 2018 in ship-shape order!

what is a bullet journal?

They call it the analog system for the digital age--essentially, it's whatever you want to make it. A typical bullet journal functions as a day planner combined with a to-do list, with calendars and goals and similar things thrown in. You can actually buy an official bullet journal, or read all about the real thing HERE.


Some people get really fancy and make theirs an art journal as well, with artwork and photos and quotes and washi tape and stickers all over the place. Just look up "bullet journal" on Pinterest or Instagram and you'll find endless photos of aesthetically gorgeous journals. #jealous


What's great, though, is that you don't need anything fancy to get started. A regular old notebook works just as well. Spending hours on pretty art isn't necessary unless you want to do it. The key to a bullet journal is how you organize it.


Rather than repeat what's already on the website, I'll be showing you my own personal methods.


Before we get there, you may be thinking, "But I have my phone's calendar, notes, and apps to do all of this. Why would I go to the trouble of making a special journal?" If your phone's tools are working for you, great! I still use all of those things too, because my phone does go with me where my bullet journal does not. What I prefer about bullet journaling, however, is the way everything is in one place. And I find that the physical act of writing makes things easier to remember and more satisfying to check off.

the notebook itself

I first heard about bullet journaling from my pal Lisa (affectionately referred to as Lisa Pickle about 99.3729% of the time) in 2016, and thought it sounded quite fun. So for the last couple months of the year, I experimented in an old notebook, just to see if I liked it and how I wanted to set it up. Then in January 2017, I bought this pretty notebook from Chapters and dove in for real! *is secretly pleased that the cover matches my blog* This notebook is lined, but next year I really want to try a dot-grid notebook!

organization

Like I mentioned before, this is definitely the key to making a bullet journal work for you, and it's what sets it apart from regular planners.

I drew this legend on the first page to remember what each symbol means, but by now I no longer have to refer to it. Most of these are the official symbols, with one or two I made up for myself.

• (dot) = a task that is yet to be completed (this is what you'd use on a to-do list, for example)
• (x) = once you've completed a task, you turn the dot into an x to mark it off
• (>) = to move a task to a different list, scratch a right-facing arrow over the dot to signify that it's been moved elsewhere in the notebook
• (<) = when you scribble down a task during Monday, let's say, like "pick up cookies at the bakery" but it's really a task for next Wednesday, you later draw a left-facing arrow over the dot to signify that you've scheduled the task (as in, moved it to Wednesday)
• (a star) = priority task (self-explanatory)
• (open circle) = an event, rather than a task
• (dash) = a note, rather than a task or event

If it sounds complicated, it really isn't--and you can always simplify these symbols however you like. My migrating and scheduling symbols have kind of merged over the year to just a ">" that tells me an incomplete task was moved to a future list.

On my next page, I have an index or table of contents. Since I didn't know ahead of time where all my pages would end up, I just filled this in as I went along throughout the year, naming the pages and indicating the page numbers. This makes it easy for me to flip through and find what I'm looking for.

future logs

A future log is a six-month spread (again, set up however you like) that lists the major events and tasks coming up over the next half a year. I love this spread because it gives me a birds-eye view! Pictured below is my July-December future log.

(some dates blurred out for privacy)

You can see that I included birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, exams, important writing deadlines, and miscellaneous things like a wedding and a concert.

monthly spreads

I find this is the most fun to make, but also the most time-consuming! Every month I draw out a fresh calendar, which I fill in with my work schedule, school projects, events, appointments, birthdays, and more. Basically, it's like zooming in on part of your future log, but in calendar format.

(sorry, a wee bit more blurring here too)

I start by drawing out the calendar with a ruler and pen. Then I list my goals for the month along the right-hand side, turning the dots into x's once each task is completed. Lately a number of goals haven't been completed by the end of the month, so they're forwarded to the next month . . . and then the next month, and the next, until I finally finish them. Heh.


I also enjoy decorating my monthly spreads a little bit. It's fun to change it up every month with a new color combo.


At the bottom of the spread, I draw a few habit trackers, which I'll explain in more detail right away.


(Just a note: some people break their monthly spreads down into weekly spreads as well, but for me they're redundant and take too much time.)

habit trackers

This is another favorite thing of mine! And I sound like a broken record saying this, but habit trackers are yet another thing that are very individual. Some people use them, others don't. Some people track dozens of habits, others--like me--track just a few.


I chose to track my writing, blogging, reading, and bedtime habits. (Too many habits would've been hard to keep track of, and I suspect I would've fallen off the wagon if I'd attempted a dozen right away.) Each day that I write, work on blogging, read a book, or go to bed by 10:30 pm, I color in a square. (The bedtime habit has been an epic fail this year! Oops!) I've also seen people track exercise, devotions, how much water they drink, chores, and all sorts of things. And I may add one or two new habits next year. But the point is to make habit trackers work for you. They're meant to motivate you and give you an honest look at how you spend your time.

daily logs

Every night before bed, I write down what I've done that day, check my goal progress, and fill in my habit trackers. If there are several things pressing on my mind for the next day, I'll make a to-do list under that day's heading. This takes just a couple minutes, and it's relaxing to put the day to rest on paper.


My daily logs usually take just a few lines, unless I did a lot of varied things throughout the day. I'll write down things like school times, work shifts, and errands I ran; or the fact that I edited my WIP, read a book, answered blog comments, hung out with family, or went out to eat. I'm not strict with how I list these things.


In this way, I'd say my daily logs are more like a bare bones journal. But some days that have a lot going on turn into more of a to-do list . . . which might be more effective if I carried my bullet journal around with me everywhere I went, but for what I need, using it once or twice at the beginning and end of my day works fine.


By the by, I don't actually have a superhuman memory when I sit down to write those Subplots & Storylines monthly summaries. I rely hugely on my bullet journal!


Here's a glimpse at a couple of pretty average daily logs:

As you can see, I mostly use the dashes to indicate notes about what I've done. To-do items are x'd out if I finished at the end of the day, or forwarded (>) to a different day if not. I don't keep a strict amount of lines for each day--I just fill in each one as I go along.

extras

A bullet journal can be more than a planner and to-do list! You can also add less frequently used pages to keep track of anything and everything you want. I kept my extras to a minimum this year. Mainly, I made pages of books I've read, movies I've watched, future blog post ideas, and a few other topics.

(here's proof that your journal doesn't have to be perfect--you can see the whiteout in the header. xD)

(whatever you can read here is probably incomprehensible.
looks like I was keeping track of tv episodes too)

(spoiler alert!)

some tips and tricks

• I'm quite pleased that I managed to keep up this new habit of bullet journaling for a whole year! For me, the trick was to keep the notebook and pens/pencils right next to my bed so that it was one of the last things I'd see every day. It reminds to me to write in it every night.
• Track what's important to you. This applies to the whole concept, not just habit trackers. If all you want to write in your calendars are appointments and big events that you absolutely should not forget, fine. If you want to go into great detail and schedule in little everyday activities, that's also fine.
• Don't be afraid to change it up. I did stick to pretty much the same format throughout, but with my experimental journal in 2016, I tried a bunch of things to see what I liked.
• Make it pretty if you like, but don't feel like you have to.
• Make it functional. You can create top-notch aesthetics, but if your bullet journal isn't useful in some way, you may as well call it an art journal.
• You do you. Yep, I've said it about a hundred times in this post already, but if you're going to use a bullet journal, set it up in a way that works for you. What's your schedule like? How much time do you want to spend on this every day? What's the best time of day to use your bullet journal? What are your primary reasons for using it in the first place?
• Think outside the box! You could borrow the bullet journal format for something that's not a planner at all--it could be used for a writing journal, a notebook of strictly to-do lists, a collection of ideas, an address book, a homework organizer, whatever!

and that's it.

Thanks for coming along for the tour! I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into a little tool I use to manage life.

Now tell me, wayfarers: do you use a bullet journal? (If yes, let's hear your own tips and tricks!) Are you thinking of trying it out? How do you keep your time and projects organized? And honestly--am I the only one who likes lists so much that I put down already-accomplished things, just for the satisfaction of checking them off?? Come on, 'fess up.

Strangest Browser Searches Tag

Way back in the days of cave paintings and sabre-toothed tigers (ahem, last July) Madeline J. Rose tagged me with a thingamajig of her own creation, the Strangest Browser Searches tag! It's so fun when blogger friends make up their own tags, isn't it? And this particular tag is pretty entertaining too.

The rules:

• Get access to your browser history, and look through it
• Pick at least 5 of the strangest searches you've had to look up as a writer
• List them below with a short explanation as to why exactly you had to look them up
• Tag 2-5 other bloggers

I apologize in advance--due to my slow writing lately, most of my Google searches were boring things like "how to calculate equal payments" (for math class) and "what is a contra account" (for accounting class) and "who retains rights in traditional publishing" (for a paper I wrote in business communication class). I dug through THREE MONTHS of history for these, guys, and most of them aren't even that spectacular.


If you don't have anything better to do with the next three minutes of your life, read on!


Note: they're almost all related to my Snow White retelling, so perhaps you'll glean some interesting tidbits of previously undisclosed knowledge. Or just random trivia, but pffft, what's the difference?

snow white original version

I looked this up because it's been a long time since I read the real thing, and I always go back to the source material before writing a retelling.

list of cold words

Snow. Frost. Shiver. Ice. Blizzard. Wow, what a great list. I must've been in a writing slump if I needed synonyms for cold.

norse mythical creatures

I found me a fearsome lindwyrm, thanks to this search!

how big is a hamlet

I don't remember the answer, but Skadi's home (in my inconsistent first draft of Snow White) goes back and forth between a hamlet and a village, so . . . methinks the research wasn't very effective.

how to skin a rabbit

I found some kind of hunting website and actually scrolled through bloody pictures of every step in the rabbit-skinning process. Be very proud of me.

scandinavian sailing medieval times / medieval animal skin canoes

Skadi paddles around a fjord while thinking gloomy thoughts, so I wanted to be able to visualize her vessel.

mbti and guilt

Because Skadi wrestles with more than her fair share of guilt, and I wanted to see how her personality type deals with it. (What is her personality type again? I forgot.)

how long should a chapter be in a ya novel

Short answer: nobody knows! Suggestion: 2500-5000 words.

how serious is a wound to the side

Because what would a fantasy novella be without a stabbing?!

do big five publishers accept christian manuscripts

I don't think I dug deep enough to find the answer, but I think I was contemplating the great big world of publishing that day, and simply looked this up out of curiosity.

tips for fast signature

You should see the margins of some of my notebooks, or the scrap paper I used for math equations back in high school--I'm not ashamed to admit that I've practiced my signature for future book signings. Still not happy with it, and still wondering if I should change the style of it so that it's different from what I use to sign important documents. o_O But on another note, HOW do authors manage to sign hundreds of books in an hour?

lies characters believe

I remembered reading a couple of blog posts on the subject, but didn't know where they were, so I searched them down again to help develop Skadi's inner conflict.

meaning of Skadi / Wilhelmina name origin

Meaningful names are important to me! I love hiding symbolism in my stories--it's just another secret that only I know. That is, until I blog about it or until sharp-eyed readers pick up on it. But half of the fun of these secrets is divulging them, so I don't mind. Anyway, Skadi is my Snow White character, and her name belongs to a Norse goddess of winter and archery! Wilhelmina is a German name meaning willing to protect; it fits pretty well with a secondary character who's come up in two of my stories, yet has never been "on screen."

aurora winter bird lyrics

I'm pretty sure it was Katie Grace who introduced me to AURORA, a young Norwegian singer with an ethereal voice and songs that inspire my writer brain. This particular song, Winter Bird, reminds me of my Snow White story!

sinew bowstrings

Skadi is an archer (and no, I shan't apologize for using that cliché), so I took some time to research more primitive forms of bows and arrows. I also needed to know what kind of bowstring she'd likely have access to . . . and what kind of bowstring might snap under extreme heat. *insert malicious smile*

why don't i like my protagonist

You've heard me grouse about that issue more than once here, so I won't go over it again! Since reading over my novella, I think much of my problem was imagined/the result of less-than-ideal writing circumstances, so hopefully whatever small issues are left can be corrected when I edit.

other odd things I've researched in times gone by:

This was YEARS ago, but one time I spent an afternoon performing mathematical equations for my dragon novel, The Prophet's Quest. Two characters are given special seeds they're instructed to plant in a long, continuous line across one corner of the country, and it occurred to me about five million drafts later that I'd never actually figured out how many seeds they would need. So I:

• guesstimated the size of said fantasy country by comparing it to real life Britain or something like that
• decided how long dragon's tails are (because the dragons are told to plant the seeds one dragon tail-length apart)
• calculated how many dragon tails it would take to stretch across the section of land I'd drawn out . . .
• . . . which equals how many seeds are needed
• then I figured that the seeds were about the size of kidney beans
• so I went to the kitchen and counted out how many kidney beans fill one measuring cup
• converted cups to gallons
• estimated how many gallons of seeds each dragon could carry
• realized they needed A LOT OF HELP to transport all these seeds
• and so I invented a species of birds called seolfor that could each carry a gallon's worth of seeds, and threw a whole flock of them into the story to solve the problem
• WHEW.

And of course I've researched other, more typical writerly things like:

• gunshot wounds
• types of guns
• types of swords
• infection
• injuries
• facial burn scars
• healing herbs
• how far a human can walk in a day
• how far a horse can run in a day
• how long a person can survive without food/water
• how far a league is (because there's no better way to jerk a reader out of your epic high fantasy story than to have the king say, "I shall travel thirteen miles to thy secret abode of magical trees," so leagues it is)
• old cars from the 90's most likely to have engine trouble
• blood types
• what happens when you get a blood transfusion of the wrong type (bad stuff, okay)
• how long it takes to fly to _____
• how far a Beaver plane can fly on one tank of fuel
• how many people can a dragon carry if they're about four or five times the size of a horse
• how would a psychologist diagnose a kid who says he was a hero and fought battles on another bacon-flipping WORLD (answer: he's schizophrenic or has delusions of grandeur)
• ETC.

In short, the life of a writer involves many questions. Sometimes Google has the answers, sometimes not. I used to think that writing fantasy was a good way to avoid research, but HA, I've never been more wrong! At least I get to research pretty cool stuff this way.


(Sorry, I've run out of time to tag anyone today, since I have to run off to work, but if you like this tag, by all means snatch it!)

What's the weirdest thing YOU have ever researched, in the name of writing or not?

Retellings - Love 'Em or Hate 'Em?

With my mind on The Brightest Thread, I've been pondering retellings lately, retellings of all sorts and all formats. Books. Movies. Fairytale retellings. Superhero reboots. Book-to-screen adaptions. We've been seeing an influx of all of them--and perhaps a decline in original ideas, but that's another topic for another time.


What I want to talk about today is the vast spectrum of responses these retellings get from people. One retold fairytale or rebooted movie from the 90's might be adored, loathed, criticized, apathetically ignored, or anything and everything in between. Now, of course any work of art, original or retold, will elicit a variety of responses, but it seems that people become rather vocal when it comes to retellings.


Why is that?


I propose it's because of people's deep emotional attachment to the original story.


Take Beauty and the Beast, for instance. (And we'll remove the LeFou issue from the equation for the moment, so we can focus on the bare bones of a retelling without whatever social agendas a director might shoehorn into a story.) Some people loved it. Some people strongly disliked it. Others feel conflicted, because they liked some parts and not others.

[source]

Maybe the big deal is because a lot of the people who went to see the movie love the original tale of Beauty and the Beast--either the animated Disney movie or the Grimm fairytale or perhaps both.


Let's take a look at an imaginary person for a moment. We'll call her Jane. Jane grew up with a big fat book of fairytales, a book whose pages she wore ragged with use. She grew up watching B&B and sang "Tale as Old as Time" often enough to drive her brother mad. She's eighteen now, and when she saw the preview for the new movie, she was ecstatic. Getting to see her favorite story brought to new life with modern special effects and great actors? Of course she's thrilled!


On opening night, she settles into the theater folding chair, bucket of popcorn in hand, and her breath catches as the first scene starts.


Two hours and nineteen minutes later, Jane staggers out of the theater with her mind whirling.


Now, this could go many ways. She could be euphoric over the magical adaptation, the perfect songs, the many little nods to the original Disney film, the new twists.


Or she could feel angry and betrayed because of how, in her mind, the heart of the original was lost.


Or she could feel anything in between! But chances are good that she's going to feel something, and it's probably going to be a strong something. Because Beauty and the Beast is her favorite, and she wants the retelling to do it justice.


This goes for any adaption on the screen or on the page, and it's an interesting topic to explore whether you're the consumer or the creator.

[source]

I think of the plethora of superhero films. They reimagine the comic books. And some of them reimagine the first reimaginings of the comic books. I mean, we've had three different Spider-Mans in the last fifteen years. If you like superhero movies, you probably have a favorite rendition, right? Even if you never read the comics (I never have), you have a certain expectation of who Spider-Man should be, and you'll judge the movies accordingly. Nothing wrong with that; it's just how it is.

[source]

Or what about the Narnia movies? I adore them, even when they strayed from the books. And I adore the books too, just in a different way. That's another complexity in this world of retellings! Some people are weird enough to separate the art forms, and they love different takes on a story. I don't think of the Narnia movies the same way as I think about the books. I love them both for different reasons, and I'm on pins and needles waiting for more news on The Silver Chair. (Not to mention very sad that there's no chance Will Poulter will get to reprise his role as Eustace.)

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I'm writing a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, so I'm growing increasingly interested in what people generally expect of a fairytale retelling. How faithful do they want it to be? How many twists do they want? How fundamental can the twists be? Gender swaps? Role reversals? Genre bending? How many different ways can you interpret the heart of the original story? What is the heart? What do you highlight? What do you downplay? Is the original story a concrete framework, or is it a set of loose guidelines to play with as you please?

Stray too far, and you'll upset someone. Stick too close, and you'll still upset someone. Because Sleeping Beauty matters to this audience, otherwise they wouldn't pick up a book based on it.


I've already come to terms with the fact that I can't please everyone, so I'm not even going to try. But still, it's worth figuring out what expectations your audience might have when they crack open your book.


I don't know where I'm going with this post, really . . . I was just puzzling over why people react strongly to retellings, and I think I stumbled over one key reason. What do you guys think?

And when it comes to fairytales, what's your perfect mix of ingredients? Do you like them to stick close to the original one, or do you like a wild ride of twists and turns? Tell me your thoughts on retellings/reboots in general, too! Let's discuss them allll!

Magical Places

There are places I feel connected to, places that my restless heart grabs onto like a wandering magnet finding its match. I can't explain how or even why, whether it has to do with being an INFJ or if it's just me or if it's something everyone experiences. But there are places in this world that feel like home.




[Pinterest]

Firstly and most obviously: my actual, physical home. When I've been traveling or even just busy, and I finally drag myself through the front door, my whole self just sighs in contentment. (Or relief, let's be honest. #hobbit) It's lived in, our stuff is everywhere, it's comfy, all the sunshine streams through the picture windows in the front, and there are usually the voices of the people I love most filling the rooms.



[sorry, this one and the remaining pics are from Google Images; I saved them
on my phone and neglected to keep the URLS, so I can't give proper credit]

Trees. I'm not a super outdoorsy person, I'm not into camping (though I love the idea of being capable of roughing it), but there's something about a forest that draws me in. Green everywhere. A quiet thrumming of insect wings and birdcalls and paws rustling in the undergrowth and life growing. In a forest, it feels like an adventure could be hiding around any given corner, but it's also a place to pause and drink in the peacefulness.


Water. Not being in it so much as being near it. Put me on the shore of a lake or the bank of a river; send me on a wild goose chase to track down a trickle of water, and I'm happy. The sheer bigness of a body of water whose opposite shore is somewhere unseen past the horizon fills me with awe. Even the sound of snowmelt running down the drainpipes in springtime awakens hope in me.

Mountains. These crop up in my stories all. the. time. and I don't even live near any. I've been amongst mountains so few times I can count them on one hand, but they fill my imagination and utterly fascinate me. Just like forests, they practically sing adventure; and just like water, they are awe-inspiring.

Someplace in the middle of nowhere, on a clear night when the stars are bright and close and the Milky Way breathes brilliant dust across the sky. Living in the city, I don't get to experience this much, and sometimes I stare longingly upward and wish to be away from streetlights. But there was one night in particular, at a tiny cabin with my family, when we lay on the grass and just gazed at the stars for a while. I felt so small. So at peace. So full of wonder.


Cutesy coffee shops awaken a little bit of hipster in me. The smell of coffee grinds . . . the hum of conversation . . . the clink of dishes . . . oftentimes, the rustic timber and adorable knick knacks and the atmosphere of people pausing long enough to enjoy each other's company. Plus, it's kind of the picture-perfect place for a writer to pen those words. (At least, the romanticized writer that proooobably doesn't exist in real life.)


Great architecture & history. Preferably a castle (I've never visited one YET), but I'll settle for legislative buildings, museum buildings, cathedrals, anything made out of stone, anything with arches or domes or spires or tall, skinny windows. Yep. Take me there, and let me stay a good long while to soak in the stories seeping through the walls.

Whichever place on my list I visit, once I'm there, I want to be there long enough to enjoy it. These are the places that make my heart sing, that seem to speak a language without words. Somehow, they fill me with inspiration--magic tingling in my fingertips and fire glowing in my chest.

What are some of the places you love with all your heart? Do we share any?

Subplots and Storylines - November 2016

I don't know how it's physically possible, but somehow this month seems even fuller than the last!


November opened with my birthday, which I celebrated a bit differently than other years in order to fit with my school schedule. Later on in the month, we also celebrated my lil' sister's birthday.


I grew a bit more in my public speaking skills: I was called to answer Q&A in one of our communicators meetings, I was the timer for another meeting, and a classmate and I got to preach a mini message to the youth volunteers.


My class and I helped build our church's float for the city's Santa Clause Parade, which was so fun, especially because we also got to participate in the actual parade, walking alongside our beautiful float.


There was a last-minute event I volunteered at, a youth worship night, a youth talent show, Christmas shopping, friend stuff, and my first exam of the year.


And through it all, my little corner of the world disguised itself as London, with miserable rain mixed with melting snow, and some of the densest fog I've ever seen.

Movies

Very little this month. I watched the last episode of Once Upon a Time Season 4 with my sisters (oh my goodness, THAT ENDING) and saw some more of Season 1 with my parents.

Books

(I searched high and low for an image of my copy. This ain't it.)

Journey to the Center of the Earth // Jules Verne
I wanted to read one of the unread, second-hand books on my shelf, and randomly picked this one. It was more enjoyable than I expected, quite honestly. I remember not totally loving Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea during high school, and while Journey does pause now and then to dump facts on the reader, it keeps a good pace overall. And it was funny! Axel and his enthusiastic uncle, Professor Liedenbrock, make an amusing pair.

[Professor] "Do you remember a visit the famous English

chemist Humphrey Davy paid me in 1825?"

[Axel] "No, I don't. For the very good reason that I wasn't

born until nineteen years later."

Was the book scientifically accurate? Probably not, seeing as it was written in the 1800s, but it was still fun to pretend that Verne's theories could be true, to envision a whole new world beneath the earth's crust. My biggest quibble was the ending. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but let's just say the characters didn't accomplish quite as much as I expected they would.

Prophet // R.J. Larson
I loved it! I haven't read very many fantasies with a Biblical type of setting, so that was neat. I found it especially intriguing to follow Ela's journey as a Prophet of the Infinite, to see how it mirrored real prophets in the Old Testament. She was so compassionate even when she had to communicate the Infinite's judgment on people who deserved it. (That compassion is a trait I need to grow in.) I adored Kien, a charming ambassador who spends a goodly amount of time in prison and has a strong appreciation for food. Ela's little sister, Tzana, was sweet and sympathetic.


The plot slowed down a bit once or twice, or maybe that was just me taking a long time to finish the book. There was another seventy-ish pages after the big climax, so I was expecting a plot twist, but instead I got an abrupt segment of story that might have been better left for the beginning of book two. I also had some thoughts to sort through about the Infinite, who seemed loving but also enforced a works-based sort of faith among His people . . . but then I remembered that this is, in effect, the Old Testament, and a savior is not part of the story yet. (There might be one later in the trilogy?)


Don't let either of those things stop you from reading, though! Prophet is a wonderful, refreshing book that took the fantasy genre down a less well-trodden path. Between readings, my mind kept going back to the story--definitely the mark of a good book.

Writing

I felt a lot more productive this month than I have in quite a while! I wrote a poem for the first time in forever,* and wrote 9,497 words in The Prophet's Key. That's more than I've written since college started, so I was happy. I'm close to the halfway point in my outline, too. The villains are gaining the upper hand, so the whole situation is about to change for the worse for my protagonists!


*breaks into song (I listened to the Frozen soundtrack earlier this week, okay?)


I've also set my writing goals FOR THE REST OF 2016 (and a little bit more), so I am super pumped. I want to reach 80k by Christmas, which means writing almost 10k in three weeks. Then the goal is to utilize my Christmas break to add another 20k, which will bring the book to 100k. Then if I can finish the whole first draft by springtime/the end of college/sometime around there . . . I just may have enough time to rewrite The Brightest Thread into a full novel so I have something to pitch at the Realm Makers Conference.


O.O


Yeah.


I'm that crazy.


And as I look at the things filling up my December calendar, I'm questioning the sanity of that plan even more. But if you shoot for the moon and miss, you still land among the stars and all that jazz.*


*Except not really. Because the stars are light-years away. So if I miss the moon, you can find me floating aimlessly in space or headfirst in a crater on earth somewhere.

Learning

Just trying out a new feature in S&S. We'll see if I have enough material for it each month.


I learned about the DISC personality system in college, and found out that I'm a CSD. To give you some background, D=dominant/driver/determined, I=influencing/inspiring/impulsive, C=compliant/correct/cautious, and S=supportive/stable/steady. A CSD is otherwise known as a Contemplator. Basically, I like to get things done, and get them done well. I'm detailed and logical; have high standards; precise but competitive; sensitive to others around me; a natural peacemaker; etc. Reading through the full descriptions, I was amazed at how accurate most of it was! Now that I know the personalities of my other classmates, I hope to develop better ways to communicate with all of them.


I started experimenting with bullet journaling in an old notebook of mine, just to see if I like it. So far I do, though I'm not quite happy with the layout. Hence the term experiment. Come the new year, if I'm still enjoying the practice, I'll start fresh in a brand new notebook and go from there.

So how was your November? Anything out of the ordinary, or perhaps ordinary but still worth mentioning? Have you ever taken the DISC test? All ye lionhearted NaNo'ers--how did it go? And who's all cranking the Christmas carols now that we're in December?

Small is Beautiful

A couple months ago, Jenelle Schmidt totally made my day. She was joining in a "Small is Beautiful" blogging thingamajig highlighting the smaller, but still wonderful, blogs out there--and she included Adventure Awaits. Her words brought a big smile to my face. Blogging can be difficult, and attracting readers can be even harder, so to hear authentic encouragement from a follower is so motivating.


And so today I wish to spread that encouragement around by giving a big ol' shout-out to some small blogs that I love! You might discover a new corner of the internet, and it might just be such a fun place you'll want to stay.


Guidelines:

1. Feature 3-5 blogs with fewer than 100 followers.
2. Write 1-3 paragraphs about each blog, including information like what the blog is about, a brief bio of the blogger, and/or why you recommend their blog. Don’t forget a link to their blog!
3. Include an image for each blog, whether it’s a blog button, profile photo, header, or simply a screenshot of the blog.
4. Thank the blogger who featured you, and include a link to their blog. If you like, you can even include them as one of the blogs that you feature (especially if they joined the tag without having been featured by someone else).
5. Include the tag image somewhere in your post.

Optional: For extra visibility, share a link to your post on Twitter with #SmallBlogsTag. Don’t forget to follow the hashtag and retweet others’ links!


Jenelle, I'd love to feature you if you had less than 100 followers, but you've surpassed that number (so good for you!).

Lostfairy @ Animal Jam Jumble

Okay, I may be biased, since Lost is my littlest sister, but she has a fun blog. She writes about Animal Jam (an online game she plays) and occasionally the books she reads and stuff she does. She shares her artwork, which is detailed and completely adorable, and is also posting chapters of a story she's writing. Her blog is as quirky and fun as she is!

Sarah @ Ink and Paper Tall Ship

As a busy university student, Sarah doesn't post super often, but when she does, they're usually entertaining posts about writing or reading, or sometimes life-y things. One of her book ideas--which I've heard about personally--is a superhero flip book. As in, half the book is from the hero's perspective, and then you flip it over, and the other half is from the sidekick's. How cool is that?

Skye Hoffert @ Ink Castles

Skye writes honestly about writing, the difficulties of life, and miscellaneous other things like books, movies/TV shows, art, inspirational things, etc. Her photo shoots are AH-MAY-ZING. Serious photography skills here. She ropes her siblings and friends into dressing up and posing in the beautiful BC woods where she lives. This one is a recent fave of mine.

Mary Horton @ Sunshine and Scribblings

Mary is just a ray of sunshine wherever she goes, so it's no surprise her blog is like an instant shot of caffeinated happiness. She writes about her stories, reading, occasionally life, and yes, more books. Her book photo shoots are so cute and colorful! She has a love of Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Pride and Prejudice. Her posts and comment replies never fail to make me smile!

Amy @ The Parchment Path

This friend of mine just recently started blogging! She writes dramatically about--you guessed it--books and writing, including her own journey and some of the clichés that drive her batty. I've had the opportunity to help edit some of her work in the past, and it's neat to see how she's growing.

Blue @ To be a Shennachie

If you're looking for thoughtful reflections on life, history, and stories, look no further! Blue's ponderings (which she posts every few weeks or so) make me think. They're short and sweet, and often point out the little things in life we can be grateful for, even something as simple as the scenery we pass every day.

Jacky Rinsdorf @ Uninterrupted

A relatively new friend of mine also recently started her blog, where she posts her ramblings about anything and everything--her life as a farm girl turned student, things she's learning, places she wants to travel, and little stories she writes based on holidays/events (such Remembrance Day or Daylight Savings).

Victoria Grace Howell @ Wanderer's Pen

Tori's blog has become one of my favorite writing blogs--the advice she shares is always comprehensive and well-thought out. She frequently uses specific books or movies as examples of writing lessons, and has a "So Your Character Is . . ." series. She also reviews novels, and interviews her characters, and talks about the books she's writing. I can't wait till her books are published!

These are just some of the blogs I enjoy!

I sense a bookish theme going on . . . Anyway, go on and check them out! Show them some love! (I do have to mention there were many blogs that were around the 100-200 followers mark that I wanted to mention, but couldn't.) What are some of the smaller blogs you love?