A Quick Update

Hey'a, anyone who reads my blog!

The past almost-two weeks have passed more or less uneventfully except for a few things:

New books!- Two weekends ago, I finished the Blood of Kings trilogy. As I said in my last post, I listened to the first two books while I was knitting. My friend lent me the third book, which was even better than the first two, particularly since Vrell and Achan both seemed to mature quite a bit. I'd say more, but I don't want to give anything away. Anyway, last Monday (one week ago) I ordered two new books from Barnes and Noble: By Darkness Hid (since I wanted to have it in paper-and-ink form) and Starflower, the fourth book in Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Tales of Goldstone Wood series. In case you didn't know, the Goldstone Wood books are, in general, amazing, and Starflower definitely did not disappoint. (Well, at the end of the story, I was very disappointed that Bard Eanrin, the Wood, the Far World, Starflower, and various other aspects of the story weren't real. But what else is new?)

Knitting- I finished the cowl I was working on at the time of my last post the day before Valentine's Day. I then started a bandana cowl, which was the largest project I'd done yet. It also required circular needles, which drove me slightly nuts for a while. However, that project was interrupted when my youth group leader asked if I could make a button cowl (the first cowl I made) for him to give to his wife, and also offered to pay me for it! I was happy to do so, and finished that cowl last Saturday night. Then I finished my bandana cowl just this morning, and am currently wearing it. I plan to make another pair of wristers (or fingerless gloves, or whatever you want to call them) next. I spent most of the afternoon searching out patterns, and now I just have to pick which ones I want to make. Decisions, decisions . . .

Writing- I've written two short stories in the past two weeks, one on Valentine's Day morning and one last Sunday morning. I'm fairly pleased with both of them, particularly the Valentine's Day one, since it's an idea I had in my head for a while but didn't figure out how to do properly until that day. I'll probably post one or both of them on here at some point, and may also enter one of them in my library's writing contest. I haven't decided whether I'll do one of the two I wrote recently or if I'll enter Speak Life instead.

School- School in general is still going fairly well. My history is still trying to kill me, but I've managed to come out on top. My science (which I decidedly did not like at the beginning of the year) is getting better. I've started my Literature (which only takes up half a school year) and so far, I've been enjoying it. I'm supposed to be reading a Sherlock Holmes story tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.

Well, that's about it. Thanks for reading!

Calo anor na ven.*
- Sarah

*May the sun shine upon your road.

Finally, a Post!

Wow. I haven't blogged for a long time. Sorry, everyone. I wish I could say I was busy, and sometimes I was, but mostly I was just a procrastinator. Sorry again. And anyone who still reads this, thank you very, very much.

I had a lot of fun over Christmas break. Grandpa came down to visit for the holiday, and Mommy made ladylocks. (Ladylocks are pastry tubes filled with cream and with powdered sugar on top. They're absolutely incredible.) Some of my favorite presents included the Legends of Karac Tor series, a Skillet cd, and a Middle Earth map poster. Shortly after Christmas, my friend and I went to see The Hobbit a second time. I almost think I liked it better the second time, since I could anticipate what was happening better. New Year's Eve was spent at our friends' house and was also a lot of fun.

New Year's Day was mostly spent in two activities: taking down the Christmas tree and matting and framing my Hobbit posters. In addition to the full-size poster I got for Christmas, I got four free posters the first time I went to see The Hobbit. They all look fairly similar in design to this:

That's actually one of the posters, which obviously shows Bilbo. The other three have Gandalf, Thorin, and Gollum on them. All four, plus my map poster, are now framed, matted, and hanging on the wall across from my bed. This meant I had to rearrange the items already hanging on that wall, but I definitely think I like my room better this way.

School is going fairly well. I'm not overly crazy about my history, and a few semi-recent tests have resulted in me uttering the phrase "I'm dead" more than once. Thankfully, the last two tests have gone somewhat better, and none of my other subjects cause me quite as much pain.

In other news, I've decided to start knitting. This is mostly because I wanted something to do while I listened to By Darkness Hid and To Darkness Fled, audiobooks written and recorded by Jill Williamson. They were originally recorded as podcasts, but you can get all of both books free on her site. I'm very much enjoying both the books and the knitting. So far I've made five pairs of wristers, and I'm working on a cowl. I have another cowl design that I want to try after I finish this one, so that will probably keep me busy for a while.

I haven't been writing much, though I have been doing plenty of editing. I've finished editing my NaNo Novel, and I'm finally done with the first round of edits in my Camp NaNo Novel. I'm planning to try to write more for the next week or two before I start the second round of editing on my Camp NaNo Novel (which is probably going to be edited more times than any novel or story I've written since I wrote Rosa). I have been reading quite a bit. One of my favorite books I've read recently is Princess of the Silver Woods. It's the third book in a trilogy by Jessica Day George, and the first book in the trilogy, Princess of the Midnight Ball, helped inspire my Camp NaNo Novel. I thoroughly recommend the trilogy, though I haven't read any of her other books yet. I'm also looking forward to reading The Fairest Beauty, the latest book by Melanie Dickerson, another author I'd definitely recommend if you like remade fairy tales.

Well, that's about all. Thank you very much for reading, despite my long absences. I hope that I'll do a better job of fighting off Procrastination in future. Thank you again!

Nai haryuvalyë melwa rë.*

- Sarah


*"May you have a lovely day."

Hobbits, Dwarves, and other news.

Hello, everyone! I know, it's been a long time since I've updated. Not much has happened until this past week, and Procrastination has been winning all our battles. However, today, I finally have something blog-worthy:

I SAW THE HOBBIT!!!!!!!!!!

As many of you probably know, I'd wanted to see The Hobbit once it came out pretty much since I found out it would be coming out. I was originally hoping to (read as: wanting to but was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to) go to the midnight premiere, but I'd kind of given up on that by the beginning of this past week. That was probably just as well, since I was sick and short on sleep on Thursday night. I then planned to try to go see it with my friend sometime this coming week, but on Friday afternoon, my wonderful daddy surprised me by asking if I wanted to go see it with him! My answer, of course, was YES!

I absolutely loved the movie of The Hobbit. They did change a few things, and they added in quite a bit (especially in the way of orcs), but it was all good, especially since one of those added-in parts was the story of how Thorin got the surname Oakenshield. (The story can be found in The Book of Unfinished Tales, and it's one of my favorite stories in that book.) Another part I loved was the Riddles in the Dark scene, which happens to be one of my favorite chapters in the book. I also liked the Misty Mountains song (or the little I heard of it), and I wish they'd sung the whole thing.

I wish I could share my two favorite (very inspiring) quotes from the movie. Unfortunately, they're both near the end, and they'd both be something of spoilers. I will say that I absolutely loved Bilbo and Thorin. Actually, I loved all the dwarves. In the book, few of the 13 dwarves are particularly memorable. In the movie, however, you can't help remembering them. Each seems very much his own person, with his own stories outside of the general take-back-the-mountain plot. Of the dwarves, I think Thorin and Kili were my favorites.

In other news, Daddy gave me the job of making the calender we send out every year to some of his family, and that's been going well. I've been working on it since Wednesday, and I only have 4.5 months left to do. (I have the pictures and all for March; I just need to arrange them.) School has been going ok, though I'm glad Christmas break is approaching.

Last night (Saturday, December 15) was my Youth Group Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. We did a gift exchange like a White Elephant gift exchange, except that all the gifts had to be something you would want. I brought a McDonalds gift card in a jar of candy (Mommy's genius idea), which turned out to be a big hit. I ended up with two movie tickets, which I think you can all guess what I'll do with them. (The Hobbit just came out, and I've already said how much I love it, after all.)

Well, that's about it. Thanks for stopping by!

Isusarad 'elir!*

- Sarah

*"Merry Christmas" in Elvish

WINNER!

Hello, everyone! Who can guess what this post is all about?

Yep, that's right! I won NaNoWriMo 2012! That means that I wrote 50,000 words. It's actually 50,120 words, to be exact. I still have a little more of my novel to write before it's actually finished plotwise, but nowhere near as much as I had left when I finished my Camp NaNoWriMo novel in July.

In other news, Thanksgiving was very fun. We had a sort of potluck Thanksgiving dinner with our Bible Study, which was awesome. One of the families has a smoker, so we had smoked turkey, which is pretty much my favorite kind of turkey. Mommy made butterhorns and these turkey cookies that involve Rice Krispie treats, Oreos, frosting, and candy corn. Both were very, very, very yummy. After we were finished eating, my friends and I played Settlers of Cataan and two games of Phase 10. I also enjoyed seeing one of my friends who I haven't seen for several months.

The day after Thanksgiving was spent mostly in shopping and putting up the Christmas tree. We put the Christmas tree in the corner this year, instead of in the middle of the room, and I think it actually looks better that way. I also decided that this year, I'm going to write my own Advent calender. The main reason for this is that most of our Advent calenders have been done at least a half-dozen times each (or so it seems), and we've done my favorite one so many times that I've memorized it.

In other news, I plan to start listening to the Blood of Kings series, which the friend I mentioned earlier recommended to me. The author, Jill Williamson, did a free podcast of her reading the books, so I was able to download those. Now I just need to find some kind of project to work on while I listen to them. I've also been reading the Sherlock Holmes short stories. I'm really enjoying them, though I very rarely even come close to solving the mystery. Once I finish Sherlock Holmes, I'm going to reread the Legends of Karac Tor series. I read this series over the summer and very much enjoyed them.

Well, that's about it. Thanks for stopping by!

Namarie!

- Sarah

A Birthday and NaNoWriMo

Hello, everyone!It seems that my blog is mostly dead . . . at least with this post it'll be slightly alive! I apologize for not posting more. I think you'll understand why when you take a look at this:

That, in case you can't tell, is my NaNoWriMo word count, as of 3:45 PM today. Very spiffy, no? I'm having a ridiculous amount of fun with it too, especially since I'm currently pretty close to the climax. And have I mentioned lately how much I love some of my characters? (Particularly Gwen and Emma Alyron?) It does keep me fairly busy, though. Most days, I aim for about 1,800 words. As you can see, my average is a little above that.

However, NaNoWriMo isn't the only thing going on around here, though it might seem like it is sometimes. A few days ago, I celebrated my birthday! I had a lot of fun. My dad and I went to the Botanical Gardens in D.C. in the morning. Since it's an indoor garden, there were still lots of nice plants and flowers to take pictures of. I'll make sure to post pictures once I finish editing them. It'll be a few more days, though, since I only just started editing today.

Later that day, my family and I went to Anita's for dinner. Anita's is a New Mexican style restaurant that I love. I had a Taco and Taquito Dinner, which was very yummy, especially since it had been an extremely long time since I had a taquito. 

After dinner, we came home to eat cake and open presents. As you may recall, I got a recurve bow back in July, which was actually a very early birthday present. On my actual birthday, I also got a Barnes&Noble gift card, a box of chocolate covered cherries, The Princess Bride movie, and the Hobbit movie calender! I was extremely excited about the movie and calender. The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies, and I think most people know how obsessed I am with The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I absolutely love the calender pictures too. July has the absolute coolest picture of Elrond I've ever seen; he looks very action-y and yet very wise at the same time. That's kind of how I originally pictured him when I first read about him in The Hobbit: incredibly wise, and yet incredibly powerful. December's picture is of Legolas, complete with bow and arrows. I'm not sure if I like the elf or the bow better. The one thing I don't like about the picture is that Legolas is wearing black, and I just don't usually picture him wearing that color. (Aragorn or Elrond, sure. But not Legolas.) The dwarves are also growing on me, especially Thorin, Kili, and Bofur. I still don't like Nori's hair, though. 

After I opened presents, we had cake. Mommy made me a chocolate-cherry cake that looked like one of the notebooks I write my stories in. I was going to post a picture, but they're all on Daddy's computer, unfortunately. We also had cherry-chocolate chip ice cream with the cake, which was very yummy. Then we watched The Princess Bride. I think I like that movie more every time I watch it. After that, it was late, so I went to bed. All in all, it was an excellent birthday.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Namarie!

- Sarah

NaNoWriMo Excitement and Other News

Hello, everyone! It's almost Halloween, and guess what that means? It's nearly time for . . .

 

Yep. that's right. NaNoWriMo, otherwise known as "30 days and nights of literary abandon", otherwise known as "one of the two months in the year where Sarah goes slightly crazy with excitement and it's actually a good thing". (The other month, if anyone was wondering, is July, which is Camp NaNoWriMo.) Believe it or not, I'm more excited about NaNoWriMo than I usually am about Christmas or my birthday. (Ok, maybe not Christmas. The excitement there is probably about equal. But I'm definitely more excited about it than I am about my birthday, which happens to be drawing near.)

This year, of course, I'm about four times as excited about it than I was last year. Why? Here are the reasons:
♥ My plot and characters. I've wanted to write this plot for several months now, and my characters are some of my favorites I've ever created. This is my plot for this year:

Emma Alyron isn't fond of the danger and adventure so many of her siblings seem to relish. That's why she and her mother moved away from Alyron Village and to Port Metre in Beylend so many years ago. Now, with her mother dead, Emma is alone, friendless, and defenseless. She doesn't mind too much- at least she's safe . . . for now.

Meanwhile, Emma's ne'er-do-well brother, Jared, is in trouble once more. Having run up more debts than he can pay, he's fled from his creditors and headed straight to Port Metre, where he hopes his luck will change for the better. It seems to have when he runs into Emma and falls in with a group called the Circle of Eight, but soon he begins to wonder if he's jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

To make matters worse, Gwen Alyron and the Firhirt siblings are on their way south, in search of another Alyron brother, Jake. They too run into Emma, much to the consternation of both Emma and Gwen, neither of whom is very fond of the other. Gwen and the Firhirts' search is cut short, however, when friends arrive with news of a terrible emergency. Thanks to Jared, Emma knows a secret that could be the key to solving the emergency, but will she share it and not only help Gwen, but become permanently entangled in what she's been running from for so long? And that's not her only secret . . . will she risk everything for this? Find out in Secrets and Searches, the third book in Leilani Sunblade's Berstru Tales series.

 For the record, "Leilani Sunblade" is my username on two forums: The Underground (which I'll be talking about again later) and the NaNoWriMo YWP (young writer's program) forum. 
♥ As I think I've mentioned, I'm doing it on the official site this year. Basically that means that I have a place where I can get help from other NaNoWriMo participants when I get stuck. And if I get my novel finished and edited in time, I have the opportunity to get five free copies of it.
♥ One of my favorite authors, Wayne Thomas Batson, is also doing NaNoWriMo! Even better, the book he'll be writing is Dark Sea Annals #3! For those who don't know, the Dark Sea Annals series is pretty much my favorite Wayne Thomas Batson series of all time. Book 2 in the series, The Errant King, also has the double honor of being my favorite book by Batson, as well as having one of the most awesome covers I've ever seen. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I learned about this! (This paragraph was actually two reasons for why I'm quadruply excited for NaNoWriMo this year, by the way.)

In other, non-NaNoWriMo-related news, I recently received the honor of being chosen as a Sentinel (moderator) on The Underground, one of the three forums I'm on. The Underground is a forum based on The Berinfell Prophecies, one of my favorite series. Needless to say, I'm pretty happy about it, and I enjoy being able to help on the site. The other moderators are all quite busy and don't have as much time as they used to, which is part of why they were looking for a new Sentinel.

Editing my Camp NaNoWriMo novel is going well. I hit the 2/3 mark this morning, which I'm happy about. Since the last third of the novel is probably my favorite part, I'm hoping it'll go a little faster than before. Of course, I won't get it done by NaNoWriMo, but I'm hoping I'll be close enough to being done that I won't have much to edit after November and I'll be able to start editing my NaNoWriMo novel soon after finishing it.

Finally, I watched Ever After last night with my family. I enjoyed it, though I like the Narnia and Lord of the Rings movies better. I'd probably put it about on par with The Princess Bride. I'm hoping that we'll have time to watch another movie on Saturday, preferably one of the longer ones that we were going to watch last night but didn't because didn't have time.

Well, that's about it. Thanks for stopping by!

- Sarah

The Terrible Shriek of Princess Carrie du Kaye

Once, long ago, in a land far away

There was a fair princess called Carrie du Kaye

It cannot be denied that she was quite good

At doing the things all princesses should-

Like dancing and sewing and being polite

(Even to people she didn’t quite like)

And playing the lute and singing so sweet

And keeping clothes and hair so nice and neat.

But one thing about this princess just must be said:

When it came to a fuss, she could not keep her head!

At the mere sight of blood she’d faint dead away.

(Once she didn’t wake up for a night and a day!)

And if the smallest of bees should be flying around,

She’d scream and she’d cry until all heard the sound.

So, knowing this knowledge, it’s no wonder, you see,

That when one day a dragon dropped by at tea

And carried her off, away through the sky,

Princess Carrie du Kaye let out a great cry.

So very loud and long was her shout on that day

That it scared every bird so they flew far away.

They flew with the insects ‘til they couldn’t hear Carrie’s cry.

But the poor dragon was wondering why

He’d had to pick this fair maiden to snatch-

Surely there were quieter girls he could catch!

Her scream just went on, and for a half-hour he endured

Carrie’s carrying-on, with nary a word.

Then, finally, he thought to himself,

“It’s certainly not worth, it not if she were an elf!”

(Every dragon knows in these parts

That catching an elf is a sign of great smarts.)

“She’s far too loud; I can’t hear myself think,”

This he decided in the space of a wink.

So he turned back around just like that

And took Princess Carrie home in ten minutes flat!

And not even once did he e’er darken her door-

Nor any dragon, forevermore!

So that is the story of how and of why,

Princess Carrie du Kaye, with her terrified cry,

Forced a great dragon to take her home

And, furthermore, to leave her alone.

The moral of the tale: if by dragon you’re caught,

Give Princess Carrie’s tale a short thought

And scream long and loud so the dragon can hear

And hope that your screaming will very much hurt his ears!