No, I'm Not Going to Watch The Rings of Power

 So, here's the thing. Y'all know I love The Lord of the Rings. Y'all also know that I'm not crazy about movies, but that I try to be generous when it comes to book-to-screen adaptations, even when they're not perfectly faithful to the book. I love the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films, even if they didn't do Faramir anything like justice. I watched the Hobbit movies in theaters and argued in their favor even when some of their decisions made me more than a little upset. And when I learned that there was going to be a new TV show based on The Silmarillion and other pre-LOTR Middle Earth writings coming in September, I was pretty optimistic. But the more I've heard, the more certain I am, even as early as it is: I am not watching The Rings of Power — and here's the reasons why.

No, I'm Not Going to Watch The Rings of Power (And Here's Why)

1. They literally cannot be really faithful to the source material. Does that sound overly harsh? Yes. But the showrunners have admitted as much — they don't have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or anything outside The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and the Appendices. That means they're filling in a lot with their own inventions. I will give them credit for stating outright that this is basically a high-budget cinematic AU fanfic (though they said it in a fancier way); it's kind of refreshing to have that established at the outset. But that's not the show I'm looking for
2. They did this to Elrond:Look, out of all the characters in the show, Elrond is the one I have the most investment in. And this . . . this is not Elrond. He's described in the First Look article as a "politically ambitious young leader," and . . . no. No. No. I live with the character assassination of Faramir in the LOTR movie because the movies are, in most other respects, true to the books. I will not accept them doing the same to Elrond in a show that's not going to make up for it in almost all other respects.
3. I don't trust Amazon. Look, I'm not here to critique Amazon in general. I'm not even here to comment on how they've done with some of their other recent fantasy-book-or-story-to-movie adaptations. I'm here to say that I don't trust Amazon to get what The Lord of the Rings and the Middle Earth books in general are really about, as evidenced by the fact that they compared it to Game of Thrones, of all things. Honestly? In the hands of someone who understands the themes and the stories and the concepts Tolkien was trying to convey, this show could be good — even with the very drastic changes they're making, even with the amount of original content they're adding, even with how they're treating Elrond. But I don't trust Amazon to get that, and I don't trust Amazon to pick showrunners who'll get it either. (Again, they called Game of Thrones the "spiritual successor" to The Lord of the Rings. Spiritual disowned-wastrel-nephew, maybe. Hardly a successor.)
4. I don't want The Lord of the Rings to become Amazon's MCU or Star Wars. Maybe this sounds weird to people. I don't know. But while I liked the MCU movies (up until I stopped being able to keep track of them) and I enjoy most of the interactions I have with Star Wars and Star Wars-adjacent stories, they're . . . kind of a lot. It's one thing after another, produced so fast that you barely have time to realize a series is running or a movie is releasing before it's over, and from what I've heard, that speed is reflected in the quality of some of the shows. And, look. All three storyworlds — The Lord of the Rings, the MCU, and Star Wars — have the potential to support this volume of story. But I think that the people behind the new MCU and Star Wars stuff aren't consistently respecting the story or the fans — they're doing this because this is what sells, and they'll keep stretching the material further and further as long as it keeps selling. I don't want that for any of these three storyworlds, but I want it least of all for The Lord of the Rings.
5. There are other shows I'd rather watch and stories I'd rather enjoy. You know how long my backlist is? It's so long. Even if you leave off shows I'm currently watching, even if you restrict the list to only shows and no movies, no YouTube series, no other forms of media, there's a lot I want to see. There's a lot I know will be good because it's been recommended to me by friends I trust. So, I'm not going to put time and effort into a show I wouldn't look twice to it if it didn't have The Lord of the Rings pinned on to the title when there are so many other stories I could enjoy instead.

So, that's my take. Is there a possibility I will change my mind in November, once there's several episodes actually out and I know if my worst fears have come to pass? Maybe, if literally everyone says it's great. And I am still holding out hope that the animated War of the Rohirrim movie will make up for the failings of The Rings of Power, since it at least has some of the Lord of the Rings leadership on board. But for now? I'm pulling out before I can be disappointed.

Are you planning to watch The Rings of Power? How are you feeling about what we know about the show so far? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

February is Fantasy Month: Fandom VS. Fandom

 

So, today's post (and last week's post) was supposed to be about spoilers. Specifically, it was going to be about how spoilers affect how much someone enjoys a story. I did not finish writing that post. Instead, I started second-guessing myself, and in the end, I came to the conclusion that one analysis-type post in a month is enough and that the spoiler thoughts can wait until I have my thoughts in better order.

Instead, I'm tackling two of the Fantasy Month prompts at once and taking on some of the biggest battles in fandom — or, rather, between fandoms. We've probably all had to answer the Marvel or DC or Star Wars or Star Trek question or something similar at some point. And for this week's post, I'm taking on five such questions (three of which were helpfully supplied by my wonderful friends via text and Instagram), rapid-style. Which fandoms will prevail? Let's find out!

 

Fandom vs. Fandom

1. Marvel vs. DC? In most cases, I am an MCU girl through and through. I don't have time for unending angst and grittiness in books, much less movies, and Marvel gets that. Plus, they have Thor, Captain America, and Doctor Strange, who happen to be my three favorite superheroes. The exception? If you compare the two fandom-favorite "families" — which is to say, Irondad/Spiderson and the Batfam, the Batfam wins every single time by virtue of having a reasonable amount of canon backing and being delightfully chaotic and dramatic. (Granted, I've never actually picked up a Batman comic book or watched the animated series, so it's technically a secondhand fandom, but I've read enough of the actual comics reposted to various internet sites that I practically feel like it should count as a proper one of my fandoms at this point.)
2. Star Wars vs. Star Trek? Firefly. The answer is Firefly. Is this a cop-out? Maybe. But Firefly is my story, and I'm sticking to it. And it basically has the elements I like best from each of the other stories (the unpolished-ness and adventure and action and underdog/rebel narrative of Star Wars; the variety and exploration and some of the philosophicalness of Star Trek) wrapped up together with heists and found family — and, look, Han Solo is awesome, and I like Jean-Luc Picard, but Captain Mal Reynolds is where it's at.
3. The Lord of the Rings vs. Narnia? First off, I didn't think this was a competing fandom set, but it was suggested to me twice, so I'm going with it. Technically, I should probably say LOTR — when people ask me for my top three favorite series, LOTR is always in my answer, and Narnia is almost never. But I've also lived much more in Narnia than I have in Middle Earth, in that I've known it longer and read and listened to Narnia many more times. I suppose I'd have to say that LOTR is my favorite in terms of story and world — but Narnia is still, in many ways, home.
4. Disney/Pixar vs. Dreamworks? I wasn't going to do this one because I couldn't think of any Dreamworks movies I'd actually watched. And then I decided to double-check that and realized that wait a moment, Dreamworks did How to Train Your Dragon??? And that put enough weight on Dreamworks' side of the scale that the question was worth answering. Disney/Pixar still wins by virtue of Tangled, Beauty and the Beast (the original one, not the live-action one), and Big Hero Six. Also by virtue of not being responsible for a certain stupid movie about snails. But, if I actually watched all the animated movies I've been meaning to see for, oh, going on ten years now*, Dreamworks would have a very good chance.
5. Harry Potter vs. Percy Jackson? I'm pretty sure these aren't competing as much as they did similar things for consecutive generations, but I do know that both fandoms are still very active, so! I prefer Percy Jackson (specifically, Olympians and Heroes of Olympus; I didn't read anything after HoO ended) . . . mostly because Harry Potter uses a particular trope that just rubs me all the wrong ways, while Percy Jackson got an initial boost from my enduring love of mythology. Plus, I just like the PJO/HoO characters better than the Harry Potter characters. 

What's your position on any or each of these debates? Are there any big fandom vs. fandom questions that I missed? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

*This is list is also known as "All the movies that my friends/the internet were obsessed with back in 2013 or so.

January 2018 Doings!

Hallo, all! So, January is a weird month. The first half, the holidays are over and you're on break and everything's chill. You've got plenty of time to read or write or whatever you want to do, and you're only really limited by the hours in the day. And then halfway through the month, you head back to school, and suddenly it's all due dates and reading assignments and your professors start off the first non-syllabus class with "so your first project is . . ." and it's honestly a little overwhelming. And it doesn't stop. It doesn't even slow down. You just get used to having too many things to do and accept that it's going to be that way for the next several months. And, on that note, let's look back and see what my too-much-to-do looked like!

Writing!

• If you remember, I said at the end of December that my first writing goal of 2018 would be 15 hours of writing and editing over the whole month, or about half an hour per day. I didn't quite make 15- I ended up with 14.86 hours- but I think I still did pretty well. Most of that was spent in editing, but I did have a few really awesome writing days when I got in a solid hour or two.
• That said, after spending all of November and December working on Blood in the Snow edits and all of 2017 in general working on either writing or editing 30K+ stories, my inspiration kind of revolted against long projects. So, a lot of my actual words this month were tied up in four short stories.
• Two of those short stories are for the Indie e-Con writing contest, which is kind of cool in that it gives you a prompt that seems pretty characteristic of a particular genre and then tells you to not write in that genre. The other two short stories are just random bits of narrative that I came up with. One, "I'll Take the Lashes," I posted here earlier this month. The other is urban fantasy involving dragons and was going to be posted here, but then it informed me that it has a sequel, or might possibly be the start of a novella, and now I don't know what to do with it. So, yeah. That's a problem.
• I did manage some editing on Fight Song, though! Updates will hopefully resume by the end of February, assuming I don't get hijacked by short stories. I'm currently in the middle of what is simultaneously one of my favorite and least favorite scenes in the novella- favorite because I like what happens as a result, least favorite because it contains a more physical fight scene and is therefore very hard to write.
• And I finally downloaded Grammarly, after being told by multiple people that the ads actually aren't lying. I'm . . . not sure how I feel about it. For the web, it's great. For Word . . . Well, it's better than the default spellcheck, which was starting to mark errors that weren't there, but it's not as context-aware as I'd been led to believe.

Reading!

• So, the picture is a little deceptive, because it says I read ten books, but one of those was a short story (A Blazing Seal of Approval; it's fun and on C.B.'s blog; go read it), and another I actually only read about 300 pages (out of 1200-some) of in January and the rest in December. For those who can't guess- yes, I'm talking about Oathbringer, which is amazing and awesome and the best in the series and ADSLKJFLKSDJF. There's intrigue and politics and epic battles and Kaladin and Important Revelations and Shallan and Dalinar having crises and humor and Lift and new places and an absolutely magnificent climax and more info on surges and Wit and screaming spren. Also, Taravangian is a dragon-kissed snake and I want to scream in his lying face.
• Anyway. Obviously, nothing else I read this month could top the magnificence of a new Stormlight Archive novel, but there were some other pretty fun reads. The rewritten My Kingdom for a Quest is good, though I almost think I like the new Sew better. Exiles wasn't my favorite in the series, but it did show us around more of Ilyon and put more spotlight on Daniel, both of which I enjoyed. I also finally got around to Magician's Rivalry, which Deborah O'Carroll has been recommending to me for absolute ages, and I quite enjoyed it. The Prisoner of Azkaban was also good, but it suffered from the fact that I've seen three million and fifty-one Mauraders headcanons on Pinterest and therefore know exactly who Sirius Black is and what he did and did not do and yeah. Also, Remus is kind of a wonderful person and needs a hug.
• As you might notice, I did start rereading Tolkien, but only finished The Hobbit this month. Then Fellowship of the Ring got interrupted by my newspaper-review book for the month, An Enchantment of Ravens, which I just finished yesterday and am a little in love with. It's an excellent story on its own, with a sensible artist heroine and a dramatic faerie prince (as if there were any other kinds) and intrigue and excitement and snark. However, it also critiques a trend I'm growing increasingly tired of and frustrated with: recent literature's obsession with fair folk and other magical, immortal beings. Now, I will readily admit that I enjoy a good portrayal of the darker side of faerie courts as much as anyone, and faerie princes tend to be snarky-but-noble, which is just plain fun. However, I do think that a lot of literature lately has taken those things to an extreme, and An Enchantment of Ravens nicely shows the folly of such obsession, with a heroine who succeeds not by finding some hidden magical power within herself but by her own humanness.
• And, yes, as you've noticed, I didn't really manage a classic for every three new books . . . hopefully February will go better.

Watching!

• I started off the year right by watching the Lord of the Rings extended editions with my sister! Other than FotR in September, I haven't watched the trilogy in a couple years, so revisiting it was definitely awesome. And the fact that my sister was watching for the first time made it extra special. The Lord of the Rings trilogy remains my absolute favorite movie ever (yes, I qualify it as a single unit), and it just gets better the more times I watch it.
• Otherwise, my watching has just been more of the usual: lots of Fairy Tail! The S-Class Trials arc was pretty awesome, even if it did include an angsty emo villain. Actually, come to think of it, there were multiple angsty, emo, or just weirder-than-usual villains . . . but there was also Gildarts and Loke and Freed, who haven't been getting enough screen time lately, so I'm not going to complain. The current arc, Key of the Starry Sky, is . . . less impressive. Still not bad, though, so far.

Life!

• So, like I said, the month started out pretty chill: writing, reading, watching LotR, and so on. My dad and I attended a portrait photography workshop, which was . . . well, not exactly what I expected, but still cool.
• And then I headed back to college and CUE THE PANIC THE CLASS SYLLABUS SAYS WHAT?????
• So, yeah, long story short: I decided to pick up a minor in graphic design, having been assured that my total lack of drawing skills wouldn't matter except in maybe one class. Then I looked at the syllabus for what should've been one of my two easiest classes this semester, and I HAVE TO KEEP A SKETCHBOOK what I did not sign up for this!
• Thankfully, the professor is very understanding and assured me that I don't have to be a good artist to do well in the class; I just have to improve. And, since there's nowhere to go but up from my current skill level, I should be fine. It's still magnificently stressful, though. So is Professional Editing, which is absolutely, without a doubt, my least favorite class of the semester. The material isn't hard to understand, but it's arguably the least creative of anything I've learned so far in my major, and it requires a particular type of patience which does not come naturally to me. It's not that I hate editing as a whole; I'm happy to go over a friend's paper or story or whatever else and help them make it better. I actually enjoy that, but my enjoyment comes more from my investment in the person (or sometimes the story) than from the actual editing. Do I get some satisfaction from correcting a mistake or finding a way to make an idea more clear? Sure I do. But that satisfaction is compounded according to how much I care about the piece I'm editing or the person I'm editing for, and so the class, in which I'm pretty detached from everything I edit, causes more stress than pleasure.
• On the upside, the two classes I thought would be most stressful- Documentation Design and Adobe Illustrator- have actually been super fun and chill, so that's nice. Apparently "documentation" includes a lot more than I thought it did? So I just finished making a cookbook with recipes that can be made in the college dining hall and I'm super happy with how it turned out. And now I'm working on a quick reference guide to go along with the cookbook. And I can make things in Illustrator now,  and they look actually nice and it's so satisfying even though half of what I'm doing is really just tracing or shape manipulation and yeah. I love it.
• In non-class-related news: I got to do a lot of board- and card-gaming this month, which was super fun! One of my hallmates owns Exploding Kittens, and my roomie got Codenames for Christmas, so I've been playing a good bit of those. Plus, the roomie introduced me to Fluxx, which is a super-fun card game with ever-changing rules and objectives, and I love it. Hopefully I can find an excuse to play it again soon . . .
• I'm still doing martial arts, of course, despite a few hiccups with the instructor not making it to class. Thankfully, another student (who also teaches martial arts when he's at home) filled in and showed everyone some jiujitsu-based self defense. While I really like the usual instructor, and I look forward to his return next week, I enjoyed getting some lessons from another perspective. The substitute instructor basically built on what we'd already learned in the class, showing us what to do if some of the self-defense we'd learned didn't work and how to actually use some of the other moves we'd gone over, along with answering random questions about how to defend ourselves in this, that, or the other situation. And the way he had us practice felt sort of like sparring, which was exciting . . . and also exhausting, but you know. It was still good.
• In addition to continuing martial arts, I decided on a whim to finally give swing dancing a try as a sort of reward for finishing my first big project of the semester. Friends have been telling me since last school year how fun it is, but I just never made time to try it. Now that I have, I really enjoyed it- but I'm also glad that I waited, so I could have someone show me the basics one-on-one, instead of trying to catch up with the rest of the group. I'm definitely going to continue to go to the class the rest of the semester, as long as time allows.

February Plans!

• Aaaaand now it's February, which is arguably the dullest month of the year. For being two or three days shorter than all the other months, it always feels astonishingly long. Classes will keep me plenty busy, though; I have reasonably large projects coming up in almost all of them.
• Outside of schoolwork, I intend to keep my half-hour-a-day goal but modify it slightly. I'm now aiming for a half hour a day, five days a week. That'll give me a bit more buffer for when schoolwork (and, occasionally, events) keep me busy but still ensure that I'm keeping a regular schedule.
• I also hope to join in on the February is Fantasy Month festivities hosted by Jenelle Schmidt. Last year, I didn't do much, but hopefully that'll change this year. We'll see. Jenelle is hosting word wars on Facebook, so I'll definitely try to take part in those, if nothing else.
• That's . . . pretty much it, honestly. Like I said, February isn't all that exciting a month.

How was your January? Any plans for February? Are you excited for February is Fantasy Month? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Quotes Challenge Day 3

Hello, everyone! Today is the final day of the Quotes Challenge- and, coincidentally, it's also September 22, Bilbo Baggins' birthday. Anyone want to guess which author I'm quoting today? Yep, J.R.R. Tolkien, through Bilbo, who else? And, because I'm turning this into a mini-celebration of LOTR, you don't just get one quote . . . you get three.

“Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on,
Under cloud and under star.
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen,
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green,
And trees and hills they long have known.”

 -Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit

“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why.”

- Samwise Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings

"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” 

-Faramir, The Lord of the Rings

 And my final three nominations are: Katie Grace, Ryebrynn, and (although she seems to have halfway disappeared) Ghost Ryter. To the nominees: as usual, you are free to do this or not do this as you please. If you do it, I look forward to seeing your quotes.

Noro go hul, bado go Eru, and hannon le for stopping by!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Books I Need to Reread

As you may or may not know, I'm big into rereading books. Even if I already know what's happened, there's still the delight of rediscovering the story, of finding the hints I missed before, and of reconnecting with the characters. At one point, when I had a more limited to-be-read list, I'd make sure to read my favorite series at least once a year. As the number of new books I had to read increased, however, my time for rereading decreased, so at this point, some of the stories that I loved, I haven't touched in quite a while. I've been trying to remedy this, but there are still several books and series I haven't gotten to. And today, I thought I'd share some of my top need-to-reread series with you.

1. The Lord of the Rings and The Silimarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
As I mentioned, there was a time when I read The Lord of the Rings at least once a year (rarely more, though- even for the most enthusiastic reader, they're kind of long), but considering how much I love the trilogy, it's been an awfully long time since I've read it. I really do need to fix that soon- particularly now that I have a pretty new matching set. As for The Silimarillion, I've read it exactly once all the way through, and I skimmed a great deal of it. Now that I'm older- and, I hope, have more patience- I want to give it another try.
(Note: The above picture is not my "pretty matched set." My copies are decidedly less fancy, rare, and expensive. Though that doesn't stop them from having super pretty covers and being a very comfortable size for reading. The above image is the product of asking Google Images for a picture of LOTR and The Silimarillion together.)

2. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I used to like this book very much indeed, but after a well-meaning parent used it to turn a book club into a lesson in story structure, I didn't touch it again for, well, longer than I should've. I wish I'd let go of that memory sooner, but better late than never. Admittedly, I did listen to the Focus on the Family radio drama in the car last weekend, but it was so abridged that I felt like all my favorite parts had been cut short, or else left out entirely. All the more reason to reread the book sometime soon!

3. The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker
I read this series for the first time about five years ago and obsessed over it for several months- during which I also explored several of Ted Dekker's other books, none of which I liked quite as much and some of which freaked me out a lot. I've read the trilogy once or twice since then, but not recently. I'd like to reread it sometime soon, now that I'm older and have a different, hopefully more mature, perspective on it.

4. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Cyrano is my favorite book (well, play) that I've had to read for literature, and it's also one of my favorite classics. I haven't gotten around to reading it since the year I had it in school, since my copy is in the back of that year's literature book. However, my sister is going to be reading it for her literature this year . . . which means I'd better reread it so I can join in her discussions! (I'll join in the discussion whether or not I've read the book, probably, if I get a chance- but at least that way I'll remember better what I'm talking about.)

5. The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rodgers
This is a short little trio of books, a fantasy version of the Biblical story of David. I read them perhaps four years ago, but haven't reread them more than once or twice since then. I'd love to rediscover them, though; they were some of the more unique books I've read. Unfortunately, my new library only has the first one . . . I am very much not happy. Hopefully, my old library has an online version I can borrow . . .

6. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
I have a confession to make: I haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia all the way through in quite a long time, despite how much I love the series. I've read single books now and then, and listened to some of the audio dramas either on trips or while knitting, but not the whole series. Obviously, that needs to change.

7. The Echoes From the Edge trilogy by Bryan Davis.
At one point, this was my favorite Bryan Davis series- it even beat out Dragons in Our Midst, which was an impressive feat. Is it still my favorite? I'm not sure- which is one reason I need to reread it, so I can find out. Also, it's a pretty awesome trilogy (I'm certain of that), and I haven't read it in a few years.

8. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis.
I read these books the summer after I read The Silimarillion, I think- it's been a while. I'm sorry to say I really didn't appreciate them at the time. Out of the Silent Planet I liked well enough, true, but Perelandra seemed a bit odd, and by the time I got midway through That Hideous Strength, I was struggling. I'm fairly certain the main reason I finished was I thought "It's C.S. Lewis, and therefore I ought to like this." Recently, however, I've met enough people who really like the Space Trilogy that I feel I ought to reread it.

9. The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie by George Macdonald.I loved these two books when I was younger, but sadly, they were some of the first to get lost in my new-book flood. Recently, however, I've been seized with occasional urges to reread them . . . which I've utterly failed to act upon. I do want to fix that, though, because they, like Narnia, are the sort of books that are always worth rereading.

Do you like rereading books? If you do, are there any books you need to reread? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Two Weeks in Rivendell: WSS Support Staff

Of all the amazing locations in fantasy books, Rivendell has always been one of those I've most wished to visit. Its peaceful beauty and the respite it offers from the cares of normal life draw me to it, making me wish the valley of Imladris were real.

I never realized that it- or somewhere very like it- is, and not only that, but I've visited there a half-dozen times.

White Sulpher Springs, the eastern conference center for Officer's Christian Fellowship, is not home to elven lords, nor is it located near the Misty Mountains (though it is found in the Allegheny Mountains, which get pretty foggy in the mornings). But the things that really make me want to visit Rivendell are found there all the same. It's a beautiful place, particularly in the early mornings, when the air is still cool (even in August), the sky is just waking up, and there's still mist over the forest-covered mountains. Nearly every morning, I'd do my devotions in a rocking chair on the back porch and stare out at the sky, the hills, and the gravel road that winds past pastures and into the trees. It's peaceful, a place apart from the troubles of everyday. There's delicious food, singing at every meal and throughout the day, good company, and good discussions.

And, for me, it's Rivendell in another way: a Last Homely House to welcome me before I bid farewell to Virginia and set off for whatever adventures New York has to offer. And as Rivendell provided rest for Frodo and  Bilbo and a place for them to prepare for the rest of their adventure, so White Sulpher Springs gave the same to me.

I wasn't at White Sulpher Springs to relax- not by a long shot. I was staying there as part of Support Staff, a team of sixteen highschoolers (eight guys, eight girls) who work around the hotel and help keep it running. The guys work outside, chopping wood and mowing lawns and such. The girls take care of cleaning and meal prep; in the two weeks I was there, I vacuumed halls and stairs, dusted almost every room at least once, washed far too many windows, cleaned bathrooms (a less unpleasant job than it sounds), prepared and served drinks, set tables, washed silverware (not a task for the squeemish- the water gets very greasy very fast), and more. It was hard work- but not as tedious as I feared. 

And once our chores were done- and most days, that happened by noon, or perhaps two at the latest, excluding dinner prep- we were free to do as we pleased. There were events most days which we had to help with, true: International Night on Monday (I got to wear a kilt!), ice cream social at the old hotel on Tuesday, Western Night on Wednesday (at which I learned how to square dance and do the Virginia Reel, both of which are more fun than I expected), a picnic and games on Thursday, new guests on Friday, and afternoon tea on Sunday. But the events are fun, and staff is not only allowed but strongly encouraged to enjoy them- a good thing, since we occasionally outnumbered the guests.

And almost every night, after dinner and worship music and before the speaker for the retreat started talking, there was Family Hour, a sort of talent show for guests and staff alike to use their gifts to praise God. I read The Mercy Song one night; many people sang or played some instrument. One Support Staff girl, Anna, who's fluent in sign language, signed to a new song almost every night. Then, on Monday nights, after the speaker's message was over, we had Skit Night, a chance for all sorts of hilarious. On one of these, I got to read The Pen and the Sword- and it was amazing. I've never been confident speaking in front of people, but that evening, well- I was already wearing a kilt, and I love my poem, and I just decided to go full-on bard, being as dramatic as possible with my introduction and poem, and I owned it.

And when there were no events and no chores, I had books to read or poetry to write- or, if I wanted, friends to hang out with. The Support Staff girls did more than support the hotel; we supported each other. I can't even begin to name all the times when I or another girl was struggling with something and one or more of the others stepped in to encourage whoever it was. The encouragement took many forms: a helping hand with chores when someone was tired or overwhelmed, a listening ear when someone needed to talk, hugs and strengthening words and comfort food on the second Wednesday when square dancing went sour for two of us (one of whom was me- Accidental Exile syndrome kicked in, for the only time in those weeks). Sometimes, the person doing the encouraging didn't even know how big of an impact they'd made. But always, someone was there when we needed them.

Oh, and on the note of awesome people: I got to meet an online friend of mine, Jenna, since she was Assistant Supervisor for the Girls' Staff. She's even more awesome in real life than online: funny and kind and patient and creative. The first International Night, she wore a Laketown costume she'd made for when she went to see one of the Hobbit movies, and one afternoon, we got to chat about life and books and just random stuff, and it was lovely.

But White Sulpher Springs, like Rivendell, is more than a place of peace and enjoyment. It's a stronghold against the dark, and for me, as I mentioned before, a place of preparation for the journey ahead. The first was evident in devotions every morning, in worship songs in the evenings and at every meal, in frequent prayer, and in so many other things. The latter? Part of that preparation was indeed all the things I mentioned before, the chance for peace and relaxation before insanity hits. Another part was the encouragement from others who've been where I am. But the biggest part was the lessons I learned, one in particular: choosing joy, and what that looks like.

Part of the lesson came indeed from the devotions and formal lessons. But most of it came, actually, from the work I had to do. I, being an average teen, don't particularly enjoy housework. Having come there expecting to work made it a little easier, but there were still days when I just didn't want to do anything. When I had to choose joy or choose to sulk. Before, I'd always had this idea- even though I knew better- that choosing joy meant being happy about what's going on, or at least being happy period. But it's not that. Joy isn't being happy about work or hardship. It's singing anyway. 

See, I usually have my iPod when I work at home. But electronics aren't allowed for WSS Support Staff. So if I wanted music, I had to sing it myself. On good days, I did, so long as no one was around to object- I had a few songs on repeat for most of the two weeks: some Andrew Peterson, one or two Celtic songs, some Owl City. But on bad days, one day in particular when I was tired and my whole body ached and I just wanted to sit down and moan, singing was hard. 

But I did it anyway. And, funny thing, when you're singing- particularly when you're singing Andrew Peterson's "Nothing to Say", it's hard to be miserable. You can still be tired, you can still be sore, but sadness? That's hard to hold onto because your focus goes elsewhere.

I'm no longer at White Sulpher Springs; I'm at my house, in the midst of packing so we can say final goodbyes and leave for our new home. My personal life is currently contained in thirty-three boxes, two backpacks, and a suitcase. At the end of the week, I have two goodbye parties- one hosted by my youth group, the other by my Bible study. And after that- I'm gone, heading into the Misty Mountains (or New York, however you want to look at it) and hoping I don't run into any orcs or goblins or freak blizzards.

But no matter what happens, I'm going to keep singing.

Random Fridays: Top OTPS

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Hey'a, everyone! Quick update for anyone curious: I did win Camp NaNoWriMo- just in time, as my desire to read all the new books I've been getting from the library was starting to overwhelm my motivation to write- and have spent most of the time since reading, working on school and driver's ed (almost done! with both!), and attempting to get back into the flow of editing Between Two Worlds. Anyway, today is another Random Friday, this time with the theme of top ten (or however many) OTPs. For those of you who don't speak fandom, "OTP" means "One True Pairing", and it refers to a fictional who you or another fan support above all other couples involving one of the involved characters. (Conflicting OTPs can often lead to heated arguments, but that's a discussion for another day . . . hopefully, anyway!) Conveniently, my OTPs generally end up being canon, so this list is going to be more like my favorite fictional couples.

1. Aethelbald and Una (Tales of Goldstone Wood). Probably my favorite literary couple in the world, the Prince of Farthestshore and the Princess of Parumvir are absolutely wonderful together. Aethelbalds's constant, persistent, sacrificial love and Una's gradual realization of just how deep that love is lead to some of the most beautiful scenes I've ever read. (I'm tearing up just thinking about them!)
2. Faramir and Eowyn (The Lord of the Rings). Aragorn and Arwen may get all the attention in the movie, and Beren and Luthien may be Tolkien's great love story, but Faramir and Eowyn hold first place in my heart among the couples of Middle Earth. I love the way they give each other what they've each been longing for. Faramir gives Eowyn the honor and respect she's searched for, while at the same time showing her that there's more for her life than what she's imagined. And Eowyn, in turn, gives Faramir the love and acceptance he's been lacking from his family.
3. Bard Eanrin and Dame Imraldera (Tales of Goldstone Wood). What Goldstone Wood fan doesn't love Eanrin and Imraldera? I love the way they interact, teasing each other and pretending not to have feelings for one another . . . even though we all know they do! Of course, that just makes the occasional tender scene even sweeter, and it means I can look forward to the day they eventually admit that they love each other (and have it actually be a success, not an ill-timed disaster).
4. Howl Pendragon and Sophie Hatter (Howl's Moving Castle). Howl and Sophie are absolutely hilarious together. I love the way they play off each other, arguing and yet not really mad at each other. The way their relationship develops from dislike and indifference to true love is wonderful. I also love how each brings out the best in the other, making both better people. And, of course, they have one of my favorite romantic lines ever: "I think we ought to live happily ever after."
5. Achan and Vrell (Blood of Kings trilogy). I like how Achan and Vrell start off as friends before moving into romance territory, and their teasing each other makes me smile. Admittedly, I did get rather annoyed with them while waiting for them to get their respective acts together- but as I've mentioned before, that just makes it all the more sweet when they finally stop being stubborn and officially get together.
6. Elend and Vin (Mistborn trilogy). I could list a lot of things I love about these two: their willingness to sacrifice for one another, always putting the other first, their determination, the way they each drive the other to grow and become better, the way they balance each other out so well. They're each perfect for each other, fitting together like two parts of a puzzle, and working together, trusting one another even when everything seems crazy.
7. Walter and Ashley (Dragons in Our Midst and sequel series). There are other couples in these series who get much more attention than Walter and Ashley, but the jokester and the genius are and always will be my favorite. Like a lot of the couples on this list, they seemed an unlikely pair at first- but by the midpoint of Oracles of Fire (maybe sooner), there really is no doubt. Their love, courage, and faithfulness are inspiring- and their interactions are both funny and sweet.
8. Jacin and Winter (The Lunar Chronicles). Ok, so we've seen less of this couple than any other LC pair- but I know Jacin, and I read the sample chapters of Winter, and ohhhhh they're so sweet and protective and adorable and loyal and just perfect together. 

And I am going to stop the list there, even though it's not top ten, mostly because I've listed the all the couples I get the most excited about. Who are your top OTPs? Please tell me in the comments, or feel free to make a Random Fridays post of your own!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Random Fridays: Let's Talk About Writing

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Hello, everyone! I wasn't planning on doing Random Fridays at all this month, what with Camp NaNo and school and all that sort of thing. However, I realized this morning that this week's theme is writing, and, well, I can't pass that up, now can I? Emma left the exact topic fairly open, so I thought I'd talk about where I get my inspiration.

One major source of inspiration for me is roleplays. Some of you may know that my Berstru Tales series were inspired by the Battle! thread on the Underground. Most of the main characters were directly taken from that roleplay, and many of those that weren't (Dustin, Hunter, and Aleta) were still very heavily based on characters from the Battle! thread. (For any Underground elves who are curious: all three characters are inspired by Liessa's characters. Dustin and Hunter came from Ben and Cris, obviously, and Aleta, less obviously, was semi-based on Audri.) In fact, I think there's only three or four major characters who didn't, in some way, have their origins in the Battle! thread.

Another story that was strongly (though much less obviously) influenced by a roleplay thread is Poison Lies. The main characters were roughly inspired by three characters on the Character Chat thread on the Underground- not just any characters, though. These three were (and still are) some of my favorite characters made up by my friends, and they tend to cause me (and each other) a lot of heartbreak.

As I've mentioned before, another source of inspiration for my stories is music. I've written a great many characters, short stories, scenes, and even a whole novel, based on songs. Lately, music in and of itself has directly inspired fewer and fewer of my projects, but it remains an important factor. Part of the reason is that it's had less direct effects is likely that I'm writing fewer short stories, which are the main works that I write based off of songs.

A third place I find inspiration is, naturally, in books. How exactly the books inspire my writing varies, however. Sometimes the book inspires my novel directly. For example, my Berstru Tales dragons were heavily influenced by the dragons in The Inheritance Cycle, and The Lay of the Nightblade was partially inspired by Tolkien's Lay of Beren and Luthien. Also, several aspects of Danger in the Tower, my 12 Dancing Princesses retelling, were inspired by Entwined and Tales of Goldstone Wood.

Sometimes, however, books influence my novels less directly by first influencing my daydreams- and for the record, my daydreams are somewhat like novels themselves, particularly in that, if I'm interrupted during one, I'll pick up again later where I left off.. My most recent NaNo Novel, Between Two Worlds, was taken largely from one of my favorite daydreams, which has changed somewhat over the last several years, but has remained essentially the same. The main idea- the girl captured and broken by an enemy who then remade her into a tool for that enemy's own use- was largely taken from a combination of The Wingfeather Saga and Heartless. Naturally, exactly how this happens has changed from those stories to my daydream to my novel, but the basic idea remains fairly similar.

Where do you find inspiration? Please tell me in the comments, or feel free to make your own blog post. I'd love to hear about it!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

A Hero's Measure

Not too long ago, I was challenged by Allison Ruvidich to name my ten favorite literary heroes. This, of course, brings up the question: What makes a hero? Allison chose to define it by a character's courage, a fairly good measuring stick, since it'll affect so many of his (or her) choices. I, however, decided to take a different route: picking the first ten characters who come to mind when I think of heroes, and then trying to pinpoint one particular heroic trait that I think each exemplifies.

1. A hero is humble. Frodo Baggins (The Lord of the Rings) is a humble hobbit of the Shire, and he never makes any claims otherwise. When he agrees to take the Ring to Mordor, it's not out of any desire to be a hero. He simply recognizes the responsibility before him and accepts it. Throughout his quest, he seeks guidance from those wiser than he whenever he can. And at its end, he desires no grand accolades; he simply wishes for peace and home.
2. A hero is loyal. Of course, as we all know, "Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam"! Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings), like Frodo, isn't in this quest for glory. He's in it because he made a promise: to stick by Frodo to the bitter end- and that's exactly what he does, no matter what stands in his way.
3. A hero is imperfect. Prince Lionheart (Tales of Goldstone Wood) isn't half the hero he might like to be. He tries, true, but ultimately fails . . . and he knows it. It's not until he acknowledges that he can't do it on his own that he becomes the hero he's meant to be- but once he does that (in Moonblood), the change is evident immediately as he charges off to save his friend with no thought for himself. It's also clear in Shadow Hand, when he sets aside his own plans and accepts that his Master has given him a different Path than what he expected.
4. A hero serves others. Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings) may be the rightful king of Gondor, but the paths he chooses to walk are anything but the marble halls of a royal castle. No, he instead spends his days as a Ranger, protecting the Shire and other northern lands from fearsome foes. It's a cold, hard, lonely life, and he gets little thanks for it- many of the folk he protects, in fact, treat him with suspicion or hostility. Yet he willingly keeps on doing it. And later, during the Fellowship's travels and his encounters with Rohan, he does not force his way to a position of leadership but rather puts himself under others, serving in whatever ways he's needed. Even when he finally reaches Gondor, he does not go marching in to reclaim his throne; instead, he enters the city only to help treat the wounded.
5. A hero faces the impossible. Most people would think twice before taking on the psuedo-god who's ruled the world for the last thousand years. Not Kelsier (Mistborn). He gladly accepts the challenge- not just of figuring out how to overthrow the Lord Ruler but of figuring out how to kill him. Even when his own team thinks it's too big a task, he convinces them to give their best. And even after calamity strikes and all his plans seem to have fallen apart, he doesn't give up. And in the end, it's because of his willingness to attempt something seemingly impossible that something even bigger is set in motion.   
6. A hero protects others. From the very first time we meet him, Kaladin (The Stormlight Archive) always seems to be trying to protect someone: his squad, his brother, his bridge crew, the list goes on. If he's not, he's probably dwelling on how he couldn't protect everyone, how people keep dying around him even though he'd willingly take their places. At one point, despair over these failures drives him to almost give up- but he doesn't. He keeps doing his best to protect those who need it- even, in the end, some people who he'd have been glad to see dead.
7. A hero sets an example. Professor Charles Hamilton (Dragons in Our Midst) is pretty all-around awesome, but he's at his best when guiding and teaching Billy and his friends, sharing both his (extensive) knowledge and his faith. The effect of his influence is clear through all the books; without Professor Hamilton's guidance, Billy and other characters would neither have succeeded in their quests or have grown in their faith as much as they did.
8. A hero does her duty. Masayi Sairu (Tales of Goldstone Wood) has been raised for a single purpose: to protect her eventual master- or, as it turns out, mistress- but when it comes time for her to fulfill that purpose, it's little like what she expected. Nevertheless, Sairu does her best to carry out her duty, even though she doesn't know who or what she's protecting her mistress from. She stays true to her task no matter what, even when it means giving up her dreams, even when it brings her into conflict with a foe she never prepared to face. 
9. A hero loves the unlovable. Dame Imraldera (Tales of Goldstone Wood) could qualify as a hero for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason is her willingness to love others. We see this first in Moonblood, as she cares for Lionheart, whose largest claim to fame at the time is making some very major mistakes. It's even better shown in Starflower, in which Imraldera's ability to love others- even monsters, even dragons, even villains- is a deciding factor in the story's outcome.
10. A hero makes sacrifices. At the beginning of The Door Within, Captain Valithor is already well known throughout the Realm as a hero, perhaps even a legend. He's the best of the Allebian knights, Sentinel to King Eliam himself, and his exploits in battles against the forces of Paragory show why. But what truly makes him a hero is his willingness to sacrifice, to put others before himself- no matter what the cost might be.

I should probably pass this along, but I don't know who to tag. So, I'll open it up to whoever wants to make a post answering the question: Who are your top ten favorite literary heroes? Of course, if you don't want to make a post, that's fine too, but I'd still love to hear your answer in the comments.
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Writing Music

Hello, everyone! I don't know about you, but for me, music is very important when I'm writing. In fact, I struggle to write without some kind of music in the background, and what the music is can make or break my writing session. Since NaNoWriMo is starting tomorrow (EEP!), I thought I'd share some of my favorite writing music.

The Lord of the Rings soundtrack

This is usually my go-to playlist when I'm settling in for a long writing session, particularly if I'm away from the computer. The Lord of the Rings soundtrack pretty much defines epic music, and it can work with almost any story and scene. It's also really good for long stretches, since it's almost guaranteed to outlast any writing session.

Narnia soundtracks.

Before I discovered The Lord of the Rings soundtracks and Celtic music, the Narnia soundtracks, specifically those for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, were my main writing music. Now I mostly listen to them when I need something different, but I still really like them. My favorite track is Evacuating London, but I also really like The Blitz and A Narnian Lullaby.

Celtic Music
There are several different Celtic artists whose music is great for writing, and which I listen to depends mostly on my mood and whether or not I have access to YouTube. Here are three of my favorites.

Riverdance

This is probably my favorite Celtic music in the world: the Riverdance soundtrack. It's less versatile than some other music- I certainly wouldn't listen to it while writing a battle scene, for example- but it's still good for most instances. My favorite track is Shivna, though I'm often too caught up in the words to actually write during that particular song!

Adrian von Ziegler

I mentioned Adrian von Ziegler and his 2 Hours of Celtic Music last year during NaNoWriMo. At the time, it was my go-to music for word wars and just writing at the computer. I've branched out into other artists since then (one of whom I'll mention in a moment), but I'm sure I'll still listen to his music quite a bit next month. In addition to his Celtic music, I also like his 2 Hours of Fantasy Music.

Brunuhville

I just discovered Brunuhville this past summer, but his music quickly jumped onto my favorites list. Like Adrian von Ziegler, he composes Celtic and fantasy music. In some ways, I actually like Brunuhville's music better than Adrian von Ziegler's, though I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe it's the feel of the music, as Brunuhville's songs tend to be lighter than those written by Adrian von Ziegler.

Lindsey Stirling

Lindsey Stirling's music is awesome. Her earlier songs are bright and beautiful; her latest album is more dramatic but still amazing. Her music videos are also pretty cool, particularly her latest ones- admittedly, they can distract from my writing, but they're inspirational in their own way. I also love her video game covers and her Mission Impossible cover for when I need something a bit more sneaky or quest-y sounding.

What's your favorite writing music? Please tell me in the comments; I'm always looking for something new to listen to!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Top Ten Tuesdays: Deserted Island

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Hi, everyone! I love this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic: Characters I Would Want With Me on a Deserted Island. Doesn't that sound like it could inspire some awesome fanfiction? Good thing this is write-whatever-you-want week for me in Camp NaNoWriMo, because I might be in trouble otherwise. Anyway, let's get started!

1. Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. If I'm going to have to survive in any situation away from civilization, Aragorn would always be my first choice. As a Dunadain Ranger, he'd certainly know how to make sure we both survived until help arrived. Plus, he's awesome. 
2. Bard Eanrin from Tales of Goldstone Wood. As a faerie and a Knight of Farthestshore, I feel fairly certain that Bard Eanrin could find a way off the island without much trouble at all. Even if he couldn't, at least I'd have excellent company while we waited for help.
3. Kale from The DragonKeeper Chronicles. Kale and her minor dragons would definitely be a lot of help on a deserted island! Even if she couldn't make a gateway to get us out of there, her hollows are stocked with all sorts of useful things, and she is a fairly talented wizard. Also, she seems like she'd be a lot of fun to be around, so she and I could help each other keep our spirits up.
4. Finnick from The Hunger Games trilogy. THG characters do not make a lot of my Top Ten Tuesdays lists, but in this case? Finnick would be an excellent person to have around. Being from District 4, he knows plenty about the sea and fishing and stuff, and as a Hunger Games victor, he obviously knows how to handle himself against danger. Plus, he's one of my favorite characters from THG. 
5. Howl Pendragon from Howl's Moving Castle. Howl could, potentially, be very useful to have around in a crisis- after all, he is a very powerful wizard. On the other hand, he might be rather less than useful, considering that he tends towards laziness and unwillingness to be pinned down to anything (like taking me with him once he finds a way off the island). Either way, alternately fangirling and arguing with him would certainly keep me too occupied for me to freak out! 
6. Dame Imraldera from Tales of Goldstone Wood. I tend to forget about her past, but all things considered, she would quite possibly know a good bit about how to stay alive. And she's awesome- I would love to meet her and talk to her, even if I had to get stuck on a deserted island to do it. And as long as she's with me, I know Bard Eanrin will be trying to find a way to rescue us. 
7. Hadyn from Legends of Karac Tor. I don't know how much help Hadyn would actually be, but I like him, and I think he'd be good company if I were trapped just about anywhere.
8. Ewan from Legends of Karac Tor. For pretty much the same reasons as Hadyn. Any chance I could be stuck with both brothers so I don't have to choose? 
9. Vrell Sparrow from the Blood of Kings Trilogy. So we'd both be pretty much useless in this situation. We'd figure it out. And Vrell can bloodvoice, so we'd at least have some help. In general, though, my main reason is that I think she and I would get along pretty well.
10. Jason Silver from my novels. Ok, this is kind of cheating because I'm pretty sure these are supposed to be from published books, but I currently don't care because Jason's one of my favorite characters I've ever written. He'd probably drive me crazy within a few days- but I'd drive him crazy right back, because I'm his author and I know his secrets and it would probably end with him trying to deny everything I said and I'd just be silently laughing at him. Or maybe not so silently. But yeah. And at least as long as Jason was around, I'd be certain help was coming. He has certain connections that make that a certainty.

Well, there are my picks. (Should I be concerned about the fact that my list is mostly guys?) What about you? Who would you choose? Please tell me in the comments, or make your own blog post! Thanks for reading!
Garo arad vaer!
 -Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

My Lorien Cape!

Guess what! I made a cape! It's modeled after the Lorien capes from The Lord of the Rings. Of course, mine obviously isn't made of elven cloth, and the style is a bit different (it's longer, for one thing), but I'm still very happy with it.

Full view of cape, hood up