Character Encounters May 2015

Hello, everyone! It took me a little longer than I planned to get this ready, but today I have another Character Encounter! This month's location is at the playground, so I knew immediately who I'd be meeting- after all, I have only a few characters who'd be likely to hang around a playground. Conveniently, they happen to be some of my favorites- though don't tell any of my characters I said that. So, without further ado . . .

If all of May’s beauties could be compressed into one single, glorious day, it would be this one. Birds chased one another across the cloudless blue sky, squirrels scampered through the green-clad tree limbs, and a few butterflies fluttered across the grass in search of flowers. A light breeze stirred the air, just enough to prevent the day from growing too warm.

For the brown-and-white dog at the end of the leash in my hand, however, none of these beauties held enough attraction to keep her from racing from one side of the path to the other with her nose to the ground as fast as I would let her go. I hurried after, wondering if this would be the day my shoulder finally dislocated. Lucy, my youth group leaders’ dog, was always energetic, but she seemed especially so today.

As we rounded the bend near the playground, oddly familiar voices caught my ear. I peered through the wall of trees between me and the speakers, trying to figure out who the voices belonged to. I felt certain I’d never actually heard them before, yet I knew them nearly as well as I knew my parents’ voices. Lucy, thankfully, slowed to investigate the bushes alongside the path, allowing me to take a good look at the speakers. Three little girls, obviously sisters, clambered about on the playground equipment, watched over by two older teens, nearly identical but for the fact that one had grey eyes and hair cropped to chin length, while the other’s eyes were violet and her hair was held back in a braid that fell just past her shoulders. I blinked, recognition dawning. But no, that can’t be . . .

The youngest of the girls, a four-year-old with wavy golden hair tied in two pigtails, spotted me and dropped off the monkey bars. She approached me shyly, her eyes fixed on Lucy. “May I pet the doggy?”

“Go ahead.” I took a firmer grip on Lucy’s leash. “Lucy, stay.”

Lucy obeyed, or maybe she was just too absorbed in smelling the bushes to disobey. The little girl tentatively patted Lucy’s head and then, apparently discovering Lucy wasn’t going to jump on her, started rubbing around Lucy’s ears.

The other two girls- obvious twins- dashed over after their younger sister. They glanced at me, their question obvious in their eyes. I nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Thank you,” one of them said, politely. The other went straight to petting Lucy. The one who’d spoken added, “What’s your doggy’s name?”

“Her name’s Lucy.” I kept one eye on the dog in question, who’d given up on smelling the bushes but seemed to be submitting to the petting happily enough. “She’s not mine, though. I’m walking her for a friend.”

“Oh.” The girl joined her sisters in petting Lucy. “I’m Cara, and that’s my sister Keely, and my other sister Hope.”

“Nice to meet you.” I noticed one of the two older girls- the one with shorter hair, who seemed to be about my own age- walking over to me. I offered her a smile. “Hello.”

“Hello.” She smiled tightly back. “Thank you. I hope they aren’t bothering you.”

“Not at all. Lucy’s enjoying the attention.” I took another good look at the newcomer. Her medieval-looking tunic and pants contrasted strongly with the modern playground set, as did the swords sheathed on her back, their hilts just visible above her shoulders. “I’m Sarah, by the way. And you are?”

“Dea Alyron.” Dea held out a hand. “These three are my sisters.”

“I know.” I shook Dea’s hand, barely restraining myself from shouting or doing some kind of happy dance. Dea Alryon! And that must be Gwen over there!

“I guess you would. You’re the Author, after all.” Dea eyed me a bit suspiciously. “Should I be worried about letting the little ones near you?”

I shook my head emphatically. “No! They’re safe! You all are!” Dea gave me a disbelieving look, and I added, “Relatively speaking. Anyway, I wouldn’t actually hurt them. I may be an Author, but that doesn’t mean I’m some monster.” I change the subject. “How’d you know who I am anyway?” I’m used to my Udarean characters recognizing me, when I let them, but encountering characters outside my novels is new to me.

Dea shrugged. “Outside our Stories, we characters know a lot more than we normally would.” She bit her lip, her gaze wandering back to the three younger girls. “Normally, though, I don’t care much about that. I’m more interested in just spending as much time as I can with my family, especially considering what you did to us at the end of Destinies and Decisions.”

Her tone could’ve been a weapon, it was so pointed. I winced. “Right. Sorry. It will get better, I promise.”

“Is it?” Gwen walked over to join us. “After all, we’re-”

I held up a hand, interrupting just in time. “Spoilers!”

“Right.” Gwen sighed in annoyance. “We are where we are, and at the moment, I don’t see a way out.”

Dea scowled. “Maybe if we’d left our snake of a brother and his girlfriend where we found them . . .”

“Maybe.” Gwen shook her head. “But it’s too late to change that now. Unless . . .” She glanced almost hopefully at me.

She must really be desperate. Recalling the situation she and the others are currently in, I wasn’t surprised. “Sorry. I’m not making that major of a change. Not now that I have a draft I like, at least. Like I said, though, it’ll get better. I pro-” Abruptly, the leash jerked from my hand. I turned and lunged after it. “Lucy!”

Lucy, apparently tired of petting, took off up the hill, straight for the road. I ran after her. “Lucy! Come! Lucy! Bad dog! Come!” Dragon’s teeth! Why didn’t I bring the remote for the electric collar? 

Dea passed me by, racing after Lucy as well. I heard the younger girls behind me. Lucy, however, seemed likely to outrun us all.

Then a wall of ice appeared in front of her. Lucy smacked into it and stops short, looking dazed and almost confused. Dea scooped her up, holding her tightly to prevent escape.

I slowed to a walk, breathing hard. “Thank you.” I turned back to see Gwen strolling up the hill at an easy pace. “And thank you as well.” I knew she must’ve made the ice wall; after all, she was the only ice Rider in the group. “If she’d gotten away . . .” I shook my head, not wanting to think about it. My leaders would forgive me; Lucy’s run away from them at least a dozen times. However, I still would’ve had to find her somehow. “I’d better get her home before she escapes again.”

Dea handed me the leash and waited for me to loop it securely around my wrist before setting Lucy down. “Probably a good idea.”

Lucy tugged, wanting to run free again. I clutched the leash with both hands. “Well, it was nice seeing you. Have a good day.”

“We will,” Gwen replied.

“Particularly since we’re here and not in the Story,” Dea added. She paused a moment. “But, if it’s really going to get better . . . could you hurry and write that part?”

“I’ll do my best.” Lucy’s tugging forced me to either start walking or be pulled over. I called over my shoulder to the siblings, “Bye for now! See you in the next novel!”

-----------

For the record, Lucy is very much a real dog who I walked on Fridays during the school year. And yes, she has run away from both me and my youth group leaders before quite a few times. Thankfully, she's always been found and caught (though never as quickly as in this encounter, I don't think!). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my Character Encounter! Feel free to write your own and join the link-up!

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Books Worth Listening To

Hello, everyone! As you might've noticed (and are possibly counting down to), summer- vacation season- is getting steadily closer. One might say it's started early for me, since I've spent a large portion of this week in
the van, going places. Bookwise, car trips usually mean two main things: trying to fit as many books as I can in my back pack (and hoping I've guessed accurately what I'll want to read while I'm away) and looking for a good audiobook to listen to while we're on the road. Audiobooks have always been my family's favorite way of in-car entertainment; they make the time go much faster, and have the added benefit of not making anyone carsick. Sadly, our most recent trips haven't involved much in the way of audiobooks for two main reasons: (A) we forgot to look for any audiobooks at the library, and (B) I'm driving and don't need to be distracted, so we didn't listen to the audiobooks we already had. Anyway, even if I'm not listening to an audiobook right now, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites that I've listened to before.

1. Howl's Moving Castle (as narrated by Jenny Sterlin). This, as you might've noticed, is one of my favorite books- but that doesn't automatically guarantee it a spot on my favorite audiobooks list. If I don't like the narrator's voice, even the most amazing story can be a terrible audiobook. (Case in point: The Lord of the Rings. I love the books, but I can't find a good audiobook version.) However, the narrator of Howl's Moving Castle? Absolutely perfect. Almost all the character voices sound just like I imagined them or better- especially Howl, who has a simply amazing accent. The only real exception is young Sophie, but as that's not a voice I hear for most of the book, it's only a small flaw. And the narrator's normal voice is just right for the almost-fairytale feel of the book.
2. House of Many Ways (as narrated by Jenny Sterlin). Since this is the third Howl book, and it's narrated by the same person as the first, its awesomeness is hardly surprising. All the things I love about Howl's Moving Castle are true of House of Many Ways as well- with the one exception that I never get to hear Howl's accent. Admittedly, he's in disguise for most of the book, but it's still rather disappointing.
3. The Chronicles of Narnia Radio Dramas (Focus on the Family). Ok, these are audio dramas rather than actual audiobooks, but they still count. Anyway, before I discovered Howl, these were my favorite audiobooks. The voice actors, the sound effects, the production in general- it's all very, very well done. They are adapted/abridged slightly from the original books, but that's always well done also. One other little thing I love about them: it's kind of random, but the melody they play at the start of each audiobook is lovely. It makes this picture in my head of literally being drawn through a portal into a book and really sets the mood for my enjoyment of the story itself.
4. Ben Hur (Focus on the Family). This is one of the few audiobooks I actually like better than the original. The Focus on the Family version of Ben-Hur cuts the classic down to a more easily enjoyable length, while still preserving the theme and message that make the book great. Unfortunately, my sister doesn't enjoy it quite as much as I do, so no matter how much I push to listen to it on car trips, we usually don't.
5. The Books of Bayern (as narrated by Cynthia Smith). These are the only audiobooks other than Ben Hur that I like better than the original. This is because I tend to read fast- and while that's usually not a bad thing, it does mean that I didn't appreciate the Books of Bayern, especially The Goose Girl, as much as I might otherwise have. Listening to the audiobooks forces me to take them more slowly, which means I pay more attention to what I missed originally.
6. By Darkness Hid and By Darkness Won, read and written by Jill Williamson. These aren't the best audiobooks I've ever listened to, but they're narrated by the author, which is really cool. I feel like I get a better idea of what the voices are supposed to sound like. They're also free on her site, so I definitely recommend checking them out there!
7. Jim Weiss CDs. Ok, they're not exactly audiobooks; usually they're more along the lines of short story collections. However, these were some of my favorites when I was younger; Jim Weiss is a phenomenal storyteller. I still have a lot of his CDs, and I kind of feel like I should listen to them again sometime, maybe while I'm knitting. 

 Do you like listening to audiobooks? If so, what are some of your favorites? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

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

http://bookworm716.blogspot.com/

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) 

Camp and Character Encounters

Hey’a, everyone! So, I didn’t mean to totally disappear this month . . . but with Camp NaNoWriMo (first prep, then actual writing) and other things that needed doing (like school and driver's ed), that’s kind of what happened. I do hope that I'll start back up with TTT and Random Fridays in May . . . but we'll see. Until then, posts will be sporadic.

Anyway, onto the point of this post! I recently started following Knitted by God's Plan and discovered Kendra's Character Encounters link-up/writing challenge. It sounded like fun; essentially, you write a short piece about how you meet up with one of your characters in a certain location. Better yet was this month's location: my character's own world. This works out very nicely for me, since I've managed to do that in-novel multiple times, canonically even. Well, a character based strongly on me has, but as the main differences between the character and I are that the character spends more time writing and less time staring at the computer and doesn't freak out quite as much about talking to people (mainly because she knows almost all the conversations are happening on her terms anyway), it comes out to about the same thing. And yes, I do have an excuse for putting in a self-insert character! What is it? Well, the best way to answer that question will be to tell you a little about my Camp novel, starting with the synopsis.

Tuira is a land without an Author. It has been for two hundred years, though the bards and bardesses insist that the land’s stories will be written once more. Now, however, the waiting has come to an end. A new Author has been appointed- but she’s not like anything the people of Tuira ever expected.
~~~~
No one was more surprised than Rinna when the new Author appeared to her, of all people- especially not since Rinna has been denied entrance to the Order of the Pen multiple times. However, that didn’t even begin to cover Rinna’s shock when that same Author informs Rinna of a threat to Tuira and to her position as Author. Before long, Rinna finds herself on an adventure that will not only decide Tuira’s fate, but challenge everything she ever believed.

It was inspired by the argument I had with a certain bardess in my Berstru Tales and another thought: what if characters in a story knew that their world was controlled by an author, and what if those characters could actually interact with their author? At first I thought it would only be certain characters . . . but then it became more interesting to have everyone in that storyworld know . . . and then it kind of turned into its own religion (which was rather interesting to make- it’s something I’ve never tried before now). Anyway, it’s been pretty fun to write.

Of course, since this novel is pretty much one big character encounter, I have a lot of options on what I could do for this post. I decided to do a certain conversation which I'm particularly (perhaps unreasonably) fond of. Keep in mind: it is still the first draft and therefore rather rough.

"Oh." Rinna adjusted her bag's strap again, trying to find the most comfortable position for it. "But . . . why walk? Why not just appear there? Why bring me along?"

"Official reason: this seemed more fun and I wanted to test my theory. Unofficially . . ." Sarah looked slightly sheepish. "I'm not sure what determines which Fourth Walls shatter when I appear and I don't want to take any risks. I mean . . . there's a lot of Fourth Walls in the High Temple."

"Oh. True." Rinna winced, imagining the crash if they all shattered at once. "Couldn't you just appear outside the Temple?"

"I could." Sarah shrugged. "But like I said, I'd rather do it this way." She glanced at Rinna. "You don't mind coming, do you?"

Rinna hesitated before shaking her head. "No. You want me to do this, so I'll do it."

"That's very kind of you," Sarah said, a hint of wryness in her voice. "Also, from a completely logical standpoint, somewhat foolish, since Authors tend to land their characters in a sea of boiling water."

"But not doing what you want would be worse, wouldn't it?" Rinna recalled what she'd heard the Bards say on occasion. "You'd force me to do it anyway, or manipulate me so I had no choice."

"Force you?" Sarah shook her head. "Never. I mean, I could. But outright forcing a character to do anything usually doesn't work very well. They resist and make the scene nasty and clunky and it's easier just to think of a different option . . . or, yes, manipulate them into taking the path I want them to and thinking it's their idea."

Rinna eyed Sarah suspiciously. "Is that what you did today? Manipulated me so I thought coming with you was my idea when it really wasn't?"

Sarah's gaze remained fixed on a point in the distance. "You were entirely free to say no at any time you liked. You can still say no now and I'll send you home. You can tell your parents that you found out I was crazy or not a real Writer or whatever you like. I'll go to the capital by myself."

Rinna shook her head. "But saying no would be out of character for me. You're my Author; if you ask something of me, I do it. And you told my family you're a Writer offering an opportunity for me to get experience and a better chance of joining the Order of the Pen- again, saying no would be out of character and you, my parents, and I all know it."

"Ah, true." Sarah assumed what was supposed to be a wise, learned, Jedi-esque expression but which really just looked silly. "However, you also fear protagonist-dom, and you recognize that this quest is a good sign that you're going to become one. Thus, you do have a certain amount of motivation to say no. It was just a matter of whether your rather misplaced devotion to me and not-misplaced desire to be a Writer would outweigh your fear."


"Which you counted on them doing." Rinna glanced to the side with a frown. Was it just her imagination, or did the rolling hills and groves of olive and cedar trees seem to be passing so fast they blurred?

"Well, of course. What kind of Author would I be if I couldn't predict what my characters will do in a given situation?" Sarah's walking stick swung and tapped faster, creating a rhythm just slightly out of sync with their footsteps. "But that doesn't mean I manipulated you. You still could've said no."

"But it wasn't very likely." Yes, the trees were definitely blurring, and when Rinna looked down, the ground whizzed by unnaturally fast as well. Rinna's stomach turned, and she looked up again, focusing on the horizon to fight the sensation of nausea.

"If you offered your brother your dessert in return for his doing the dishes for you, is he likely to say no? No. He's not. Is that manipulation?"

"Well . . . no." Rinna couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong with that comparison but she couldn't figure out how to put that wrongness in words. "So why did you want me to come?"

"As I said, I'd like your company and your help." Sarah shrugged. "The latter in particular- I need a native who knows who I am to warn me when I'm acting too odd." She smiled an odd, sly smile, almost a smirk. "Besides, I have a feeling about you. My stories seem to go better when you're involved."

Oh no. Rinna tried to keep the dread out of her voice. "You've decided you want me for a protagonist, haven't you?"

Sarah didn't answer- at least, not how Rinna expected her to. "You're not going to die, Rinna."

"That's not answering the question!"

"It is, just not the question you asked. I answered the question you should've asked- the one you're really asking- and the answer is now." Sarah's stick tapped faster, and the blur of the landscape increased. "No, you're not going to die- not by my pen, anyway. No, I'm not going to elevate you to some high rank you don't want or put you through a war or something like that. I'm not Sanderson or Martin or anyone like that. I said I'd do what I can to keep you safe and help you achieve what you want, and I meant it. That doesn't mean you'll never face trouble, or that the path I choose to get you where you want to be is the same as the path you'd choose. It just means I'm not just doing those things for my own amusement." She turned to look at Rinna, her expression for once completely serious. "You said you wanted to trust me before. So do it now. Trust me that I'll keep my word, and trust the Great Author who guides me. Can you do that?"
-------
I think that gives you a pretty good look at how my storyworld operates, as well as how the relationship between Rinna and me works! (Though, neither one is usually quite so meta as this conversation was . . .) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading that, and that you'll join in the Character Encounters link-up as well!

Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Shells and Watches and Gears, Oh My!

A few weeks ago, my photo club held a macro photography workshop. It was a lot of fun; the club presidents (who had set the whole thing up) brought in a lot of items for people to photograph and some backdrops/backgrounds to photograph them on, and everyone had four-ish hours to do pretty much whatever they wanted. I took a lot of pictures, which also took a while to edit . . . but I'm finally through with them, and I thought I'd post my favorites.

As I mentioned, the presidents brought in a lot of possible photography subjects. Some of them were what you'd expect for macro photography: flowers, fruit, shells, and such. Some were more unusual: slinkies, marbles, small pebbles, and other random bits and pieces they thought might make good macro subjects. But my absolute favorite thing to photograph there . . . was this:

All together now: STEAMPUNK!

There was a whole box full of this sort of thing: watches, clock faces, gears, keys . . . there was even an odd-looking device that was apparently the inner workings of an old clock, but I didn't get any pictures of it. Someone else was almost always using it when I wanted it- thus the only real problem with the workshop! However, there were plenty of smaller items to keep me satisfied, so I'm definitely not complaining.

I have a less eerie-looking version of this as well, but I think this one is a bit cooler.

Funny-ish thing with this picture: I was done taking it and about to put all my stuff away . . . when I realized that the back of the watch face looked even cooler than the front. So, naturally, I had to set back up.

Awesome as steampunkery is, though, I didn't spend the entire time taking pictures of it. Another of my favorite items was a nautilus shell, which was split into three cross-sections, and which I took several pictures of.

After doing a picture or two of just the one section of the shell, I got the idea to put one of the cross-sections on top of the other so that the curves went in opposite directions. The effect didn't work quite as well as I hoped, but it still looked fairly cool.

And a bonus alien nautilus (otherwise known as what happens when I play around with the presets on the curves layer):

Eventually, of course, I made my way back to steampunk, this time in combination with what I think was an old hard drive. Not knowing much about the inner workings of computers, I could be completely wrong.

Yes, I do have an affinity for the gritty, weathered look. How did you ever guess?

I accidentally put the clock face in this one upside-down. Oopsie.

And now we step away from steampunk again for some sparkle:

And also a twisted slinky:

For the record: the slinky was like that when it was brought in, and I'm very glad I didn't have to try to untwist it.

And we'll finish off with one last bit of  more elegant steampunk:

This picture, I would like to note, is one of my favorite shots, but it was also ridiculously hard to edit. See, the original version was tilted at about a thirty-degree angle from this one, and that is not ok. So, I had to rotate the crop so that the picture was more or less straight . . . which left large white areas that needed to be filled in. I managed to fill these in with some creative copy-pasting from uncropped versions of the image and the black brush for the background . . . and then Nik filters decided not to recognize half of what I'd done. Cue much frustration. However, I do like the end result, so at least all the aggravation was more or less worth it!

What do you think of my macro photography? Which image is your favorite? Is there anything you think I could've done better on any of these? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

The Underground: It's Just the Beginning; This Isn't the End

I should've seen it coming, really.

I joined the Underground, a forum created for fans of The Berinfell Prophecies, in spring of 2011. In the almost-four years I've been there, the site has gone down or messed up in some way about once a year. Sometimes it's from hackers. Sometimes it's because of spammers and the site's defenses against those spammers blocking the wrong people. Sometimes it's because the Underground has so many awesome people and stories and memories on it that it temporarily breaks the servers it runs off of. Each time something like this happens, it's frightening. But each time, someone steps in to fix the problem and bring the UG back online.

Each time- until this time.

On Friday, March 13- just three days ago- I tried to log on to the Underground and found it gone. There were no clues as to what had happened, only the message: The site you're looking for cannot be found. I tried again- still nothing. When the site was down the next day, I emailed Sir Hopper, the more active of the authors of TBP, to see if he knew what was going on. His reply: The server had been hacked. The UG as we knew it was gone.

From the very beginning, The Underground has been one of my favorites- if not my very favorite- sites on the internet. Why? I could list numerous reasons, but in the end, they all trace back to one cause: the people. The Elves of the Underground are, quite frankly, beyond amazing, and they've become some of my closest friends- never mind that I've never met a single one of them face-to-face. We've chatted together about everything and nothing, obsessed together over shared favorite books and movies and fandoms in general. We've shared our stories and our characters with each other and even written together- written epic, amazing stories, some of which were still in progress when the Underground went down. Most importantly, we've supported each other. Whenever one of our number was struggling, the others came alongside to encourage and pray for him or her. It didn't matter if the struggle was something big- depression, a potential move, a family member losing a job- or something small- an upcoming test in school, a need for inspiration in writing. We encouraged. We prayed. And we saw our prayers answered.

And now all that's gone.

Except . . . it isn't.

Just as the Elves of Berinfell didn't cease to exist when Berinfell was destroyed, so the Elves of the Underground remain even after the Underground is gone. And just as our namesakes salvaged what they could of their city and moved to a new place of refuge, so our Elven community has a new home: the Underground 2.0, Whitehall Castle Forum. True, it's not the same as the original Underground. True, we've lost a lot. But the people who made the Underground the Underground remain, just in a new location. If you're a fellow Elf who's been wondering what happened to your community, please come join us at Whitehall Castle. We miss you. And if you're not an Elf yet, but you enjoy The Berinfell Prophecies or just Christian fantasy and writing and awesomeness in general, come visit us- maybe even come to stay.

Rest in peace, original Underground. Long live the Underground: Whitehall Castle.
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

P.S. If you know other Elves who haven't yet heard this news and you have a way to contact them, please let them know about this change! We're trying to make sure all the elves have heard, but there are some people we don't have contact information for. Thank you!

Sarah's Genre-Savvy Guide to Fairytale Survival

Maybe you know how it happened, maybe you don't, but one way or another, you've found yourself not in your own familiar world but in that of a fairytale retelling- and a very Grimm world it is! Naturally, you want to find a way back home, but in order to do that, you need to know how to keep from getting yourself trapped, killed, or worse. But never fear! Sarah is here to help with 10 simple tips that will- hopefully- keep you in one piece and unbewitched until you're safely in your world again!

1. First and foremost, familiarize yourself with the local folklore. Most of them will probably have at least a grain of truth, if not more. Pay special attention to the creepy legends that no one likes to talk or think about and that are only mentioned in fearful whispers. These will, almost undoubtedly, turn out to be absolutely true in the worst possible way.
2. On a related note, supposedly magical forests, haunted castles, and similar places are rumored to be this way for a reason! As a general rule of thumb, these places are also to be avoided- the less entangled you get with magical places (and, by extension, the magical beings that inhabit them), the safer you'll be! However, as it's not unlikely that finding your way home will involve going to one or more of these places (for various reasons), you should be familiar with where they are and what stories surround them.
3. As I mentioned, getting entangled with fairy folk and similar tends to lead to trouble. However, the odds are that you will end up having to deal with them at some point. This leads to my next tip: do not tick off the fairies. Even the nice ones often have a tendency to overcompensate for perceived insults. Be polite and respectful- but don't be a pushover.
4. Likewise, be nice to the old people. This should go without saying, really- what kind of person goes around being nasty to their elders?- but it's worth mentioning. After all, old people in fairytales have a tendency to be magical beings in disguise- and even if they aren't, they usually have pretty good advice. So, yeah, respect them. If they're  Also: if you meet them on the road, offer to share your lunch. They appreciate that. 
5. Another thing: talking frogs are, invariably, enchanted princes or such. Other talking animals could go either way- cats and birds, in particular, tend to be shapeshifted fairy folk or just animals who happen to be able to speak like humans- but frogs will always, always be enchanted. 
   
    
6. This next piece of advice is a really, really major one: if you must make bargains with fairy folk, enchanters, or anyone who's magical or not fully human in any way, be extremely cautious. If possible, don't make bargains at all; at least 90% of fairytale troubles occur simply because a character strikes a deal with someone or something. Not all bargains are bad, of course, but make one with the wrong being and you'll find yourself having to pay a lot more than you want to. In extreme cases, they end with someone dying or worse. (Yes, there is worse. Twelve Dancing Princesses remakes, in particular, seem to be full of this.) So, whenever possible, do not make bargains with magical beings. Of course, sometimes it's either a bargain or immediate death, in which case, well . . . you're in trouble either way, but at least if you make the bargain, you might have a chance of escaping later on. Even so, if you must make a bargain, be as careful as possible. Do not, under any circumstances, leave loopholes that the being with whom you're making the bargain can exploit. Likewise, if you agree to give something up, make sure you know exactly what the something is; don't say something like "whatever is standing behind my house" or "the first thing that greets me when I get home." 
7. Also, as a wise cat once said, "Don't go giving bits of yourself to anybody." This can include hair, blood, teeth . . . even personal possessions, in the hands of certain beings. Best-case scenario, possessing a bit of you will allow the being to play Evil Twin and do a lot of nasty things that people will blame you for. Worst-case scenario, well . . . let's not go there. I can think of at least three possibilities, and none of them are pleasant to consider.
8. Moving on from bargain-making: do not eat the fairies' food, even if they offer it to you! This goes for any food or drink offered by magical people or beings in general. Usually, this will result in the fairies or other beings gaining some kind of power over you, or your not being able to leave "fairyland" (wherever that happens to be). In occasional cases, it'll just make you lose your taste for human food . . . but that's still not very good, as you'll end up starving to death. However, food offered by wizards and other humans with magical powers (other than witches) is generally safe.
9. If you get involved in any kind of quest, a good thing to remember is that things tend to happen in threes. So if you've faced two monsters, there will probably be a third (bigger) monster through the next door. Completed two challenges? There'll be another one coming. Met up with two mysterious old ladies offering you gifts? You'll come upon another one before you get wherever you're going. Keep this rule in mind and you'll have a slightly better idea what to be on the watch for.
10. Finally, the simplest solution will often work, even if it doesn't make sense. Remember: you're in a fairytale, possibly even in fairyland. Things work differently here. Sometimes, the faster you run, the slower you get anywhere, and the easiest way to see what can't be seen is to look for its shadow. Essentially, don't just consider the possibilities; think of the impossibilities as well.  

In the end, of course, most of these tips come down to respect, kindness, and common sense- and a bit of uncommon sense as well. Keep that in mind and you should have little trouble surviving your fairytale and finding your way back home- not to mention having a nice bit of adventure while you're at it.
Best wishes!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Random Fridays: Spring 2015 Reads

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Hello, everyone! This week's Random Friday theme is Spring 2015 Reads. In theory, spring should be just around the corner- though, the view outside my window says that warmer weather is still at least a few blocks away! However, whether or not sunshine and spring flowers will be arriving soon, lots of awesome new books are releasing in the next few months, and today, I'm going to share with you the ones I'm most excited for.

 1. Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman (releases March 10)
Shadow Scale is the sequel to Seraphina, one of my favorite reads of last year. I'm super excited to return to this world, to see what'll happen to Seraphina and her friends, especially Orma- hopefully, he'll be in this one and not off hiding because of the events of Seraphina. I look forward to finding out how the conflict between humans and dragons develops, as well as seeing more of Seraphina's world. (Reading about this on Goodreads, though, I did find out that apparently there won't be a third book in the series. I am highly disappointed.)

2. Out of Darkness Rising by Gillian Bronte Adams (releases March 15)
I just read Gillian's other book, Orphan Song, at the beginning of this week and absolutely loved it, so I'm really excited to read more of Gillian's writing. Out of Darkness Rising looks like it'll be really awesome. From the prologue excerpt and the book trailer, it sounds like it'll be along the lines of Tales of Goldstone Wood and The Door Within trilogy, both of which are favorites of mine. As a note, Gillian is running a giveaway of this book on her blog, so you should definitely check that out.

 

3. Omega Dragon by Bryan Davis (releases March 20)
I said this before, but I'll said it again: I cannot believe this multi-series is actually ending. The first book was published eleven years ago, in 2004; I read it in . . . 2010, I think? Maybe 2009? Since then, I've always assumed that there would always be another book coming out, another adventure of Billy, Bonnie, Walter, Ashley, and the rest of their friends and family. But now this is the last one. And ever since Mr. Davis released a sneak peek of the first chapter on his site, I've been a little scared that a lot of people are going to die in this one. Not that I don't believe that Omega Dragon will be amazing- I know it will be. Odds are, it'll be even better than I think it will be, because Bryan Davis is just that good. But I'm still worried for my favorite characters and sad that this is the end.

4. The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall (releases March 25)

Though I don't read a lot of contemporary books, I love the Penderwicks series. The Penderwicks in Spring takes place five years after The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, and I'm not entirely sure what to think about the time change. On one hand, I can see why the author chose to skip ahead, but on the other hand, I like Skye and Jane best (particularly Jane, with whom I've always identified closely) and I've heard that this book will mostly focus on Batty and Ben rather than the older sisters. All the same, I look forward to seeing what the Penderwick family is up to now, and I'm sure it'll be enjoyable.

 

5. Stolen Magic by Gail Carson Levine (releases April 21)
A Tale of Two Castles is my favorite of the Levine fairytale retellings, so I'm quite excited that the sequel is finally coming out! I look forward to seeing more of Mastress Meenore and Elodie. Also, if this is anything like A Tale of Two Castles, 'twill be a nice fantasy-mystery, a genre I've been wanting to read more of lately. I'm not crazy about the cover, admittedly, but I don't doubt the story will be good. (And now I need to reread A Tale of Two Castles to prepare!)

6. The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson (releases May 12)

I love Melanie Dickerson's fairytale retellings, and I'm looking forward to seeing how she handles the two stories that make up Huntress: Robin Hood and Swan Lake. Hopefully my library will get it in quickly, instead of making me wait like it has with The Princess Spy. 

7. Lion Heart by A. C. Gaughen (releases May 19)

Speaking of Robin Hood retellings, Lion Heart, the third and final book in the Scarlet series is also coming out this spring. Part of me is a little hesitant to read it because Lady Thief was . . . not my favorite book in the world. I mean, it wasn't terrible, it just wasn't as awesome as I wish it had been. All the same, I want to know how the series ends, so I'll most likely try to read Lion Heart. 

 

8. Illusionarium by Heather Dixon (releases May 19)
STEAMPUNK. Yes, yes, yes. I need more steampunk. And just to make it even better, Illusionarium is by the author of one of my favorite fairytale retellings, Entwined. I haven't been able to find much information about the actual plot, but it's steampunk and I love, love, love Heather Dixon's style, so that's enough for me. (Plus, I've been waiting for ages for Heather Dixon to release a new book, so, yeah. I'm very happy that the wait is over.)

 

 9. Draven's Light by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (releases May 25, 2015)
Last but definitely not least, we have a new Goldstone Wood book! Let us begin by taking a minute to appreciate the beauty of this cover. I mean, as a general rule, Goldstone Wood covers are really pretty, but Draven's Light is one of my top three- maybe even top two, since I can't decide if I like its cover or that of Golden Daughter better. Anyway, moving on. I'm excited for just about anything Goldstone Wood, but that's because the books are always really amazing, and having read the excerpt available on the book page, I'm sure that Draven's Light will be no exception. Apparently it goes back further in Parumvir's history than any other Goldstone Wood book to date, so that should be interesting. (Why must May be so far away?)

 

What new books are you looking forward to this spring? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Velone

About a month ago, my sister asked me if I had any ideas of what to knit next. I gave her the usual list- a hat, wristers, a cowl, and possibly some other things- and then added another suggestion: a dragon. This caught her attention, and I told her about the stuffed dragon pattern that I'd found a while back and never tried. She asked to see the pattern, and I showed it to her, and asked that if she did end up making dragons, that she make one for me as well.

Fast forward to last Sunday evening, and look what appeared on my bed:

Isn't he cute? His name is Velone, after a dragon in one of my stories. I actually specifically requested that my sister make my dragon to look like the character Velone, since he's pretty much my favorite of all the dragons I've written- and he's probably in or close to my top five of dragons in general.

Why? I'm glad you asked.

Velone, the character

Velone is a miniature ice dragon, which means he'll never get much bigger than a housecat. At the moment, being only about two weeks old (as of the end of Destinies and Decisions), he's small enough to fit comfortably in a largish coat pocket. In fact, he spends a good deal of time in a pocket, since it makes a good hiding/napping spot.

Velone is a Rider's dragon, bonded to Emma Alyron. Like Emma, Velone loves music. His favorite way to express himself is through humming: cheerful tunes when he's happy, slower melodies when he's thinking hard, and Emma's favorite songs for when he's trying to encourage her. When he's not trying to express a particular emotion or sentiment, his "default" tune is the first one he heard Emma sing in the moments before he hatched. Though she sang it as a lonely lament, it's since become a symbol of hope for both of them.

Velone might be tiny, but he has an enormous heart and a protective streak three miles wide. If something is threatening his Emma, he'll do whatever he can to stop it, and when she's feeling discouraged, lonely, or just not good enough, he'll hum, nuzzle her cheeks, and remind her of the truths she needs to hear. He doesn't entirely understand why Emma fears all the things she does, and he consistently nudges her to step outside her comfort zone, to be the person she could be rather than the person she sees herself as.

Writing about Emma and Velone is almost always really fun. Velone is very different from most of the other dragons in my stories when it comes to interactions with his Rider. For one thing, because he's so small, there's a lot more cuddling involved. (Yes, dragons do cuddle, or at least mine do.) For another, he communicates more through images, feelings, and humming than through actual words. This makes him a bit more challenging to write, but I enjoy the challenge. Also, as I mentioned earlier, Velone also serves as a catalyst for Emma's growth as a person, which makes their interactions doubly fun to write.

Do you have a favorite dragon or other mythological creature in your stories? Please tell me about him or her in the comments! As always, I'd love to hear what you have to say!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

P.S. Just in case, Velone isn't the only dragon my sister's made . . . she's actually been really busy. To demonstrate just how busy, here's a picture of all her dragons: