Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Literary Heroine Blog Party Tag Questions



  Kellie at Accordion to Kellie is hosting her annual Literary Heroine Blog Party. Here are my answers to her question tag, but do not forget to hop over to Kellie's blog to check out the incredible giveaway going on and the answers to the tag other party participants gave on their blogs.

1. Introduce yourself! Divulge your life's vision, likes, dislikes, aspirations, or something completely random!

 I’m a sixteen-year-old Christian girl, aspiring novelist, and homeschool student.

2. What, to you, forms the essence of a true heroine? 
 As a writer this is something I love to mull over from time to time. What is a true heroine like? When I think of a heroine I think of someone who, at least in the end, is willing to put others before herself and to sacrifice herself in the place of those she loves, someone who has the courage to forgive those who fight against her.

3. Share (up to) four heroines of literature that you most admire and relate to. 
Jeanne de St. Caux of In the Reign of Terror by G.A. Henty
Lady Marguerite Blakeney of The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Anne Shirley Blythe of The Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery
Molly Gibson of Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

4. Five of your favorite historical novels? 
 Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
 A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
 Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace
 The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
 The Yearling by Margery Kinnan Rawlings

5. Out of those five books who is your favorite main character and why? 
 Hmm, my favorite main character would have to be Daniel from The Bronze Bow. I always liked Daniel, even though he annoyed me at times. He is a very loyal sort of person and in the end he realizes his mistakes and tries to correct them.

6. Out of those five books who is your favorite secondary character and why?
One of my favorite secondary characters from those five novels is Mr. Lorry from A Tale of Two Cities. He’s kind old gentleman and a firm friend, who tries to look out for his friends interest. I nearly died of laughter when he and Miss Pross were taking apart Monsieur Manette’s shoemaking bench.



7. If you were to plan out your dream vacation, where would you travel to - and what would you plan to do there? 
I would travel to Europe. I would tour England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland first, then cross the channel and tour France and Germany. After that I would journey to Italy and then go back up through Switzerland and back through Europe.

8. What is your favorite time period and culture to read about?
My favorite time period and culture to read about changes a lot, but ever since early last year I’ve had a fascination with the First World War and that era. Unfortunately, we don’t have many novels that take place in that time period, but I’ve been reading non-fiction books on the time period.

9. You have been invited to perform at the local charity concert. Singing, comedy, recitation - what is your act comprised of?
Singing.

10. If you were to attend a party where each guest was to portray a heroine of literature, who would you select to represent? 
I think I might go as Jo March of Little Women.

11. What are your sentiments on the subject of chocolate? 
I love it and I am very, very thankful that I am not allergic to it.

12. Favorite author(s)? 
Charles Dickens, G.A. Henty, Douglas Bond, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Martha Finley, and Sir Walter Scott.

13. Besides essentials, what would you take on a visiting voyage to a foreign land? 
 A camera, a pen, paper, and a sketchbook- who know’s I might feel like attempting to draw what I saw.

14. In which century were most of the books you read written? 
Either the 19th or 20th century.


15. In your opinion, the ultimate hero in literature is… 
Sir Percy Blankeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

16. Describe your ideal dwelling place.
A bright, cheerful cottage or cabin-like home with lots of windows and splendid views of either a garden, a skyline of mountains, or a beach. Or a renovated old plantation house outside of Charleston, SC, with a view overlooking the water, and a beautiful garden.

17. Sum up your fashion style in a short sentence. 
Comfy, somewhat preppy and still developing.

18. Have you ever wanted to change a character’s name?
Not especially.

19. In your opinion, the most dastardly villain of all literature is... 
Tom Jackson from The Elsie Dinsmore Series is quite dastardly, but I cannot think of the dastardly of the dastardly right now.

20. Three favorite Non-fiction books?
Aside from the Bible; War and Grace by Don Stephens, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, and How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer.

21. Your duties met for the day, how would you choose to spend a carefree summer afternoon? 
 I’d probably lay out a blanket in the backyard and either read a book or work on one of my novels.

22. Create a verbal sketch of your dream hat - in such a way as will best portray your true character. 
A light tan cowgirl hat. It is not large, but smaller in brim and size. The dark thin leather that hold it under the chin also is twinned as the hatband.

23. Share the most significant event(s) that have marked your life in the past year. 
Probably the realization that I’m growing up a lot faster than I’d like and I need to start figuring out what I want to do after high school, besides write novels.

24. Share the Bible passage(s) that have been most inspiring to you recently.
“‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’” - Zechariah 4:6
_________

Thank you so much for hosting this event, Kellie! I am so glad I was finally able to participate this year.

- Hanne-col

Thursday, February 21, 2013

I ♥ Thursday {No. 4}


I'm here to do another I ♥ Thursday and this is what I'm loving this Thursday.



The '50s TV version of the police show "Dragnet."


and I simply cannot wait until Spring so that I can go on a bike ride.


I love this painting called "Riding Away" by Harold von Schmidt.

_______________

 The Literary Heroine Blog Part is going on over at Accordion to Kellie right now. I hope to get my answers to the tag up sometime this weekend if I can.

~Hanne-col

Monday, February 4, 2013

2012 In Books

via Pinterest
 Inspired by some bloggers I read, I've decided to do a post on some of the books I read last year and point out some new favorites. I started out the year with the goal of reading fifty books and later extended that goal to include seventy books. I am very happy to say I met the goal.

I started out the year reading The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis for a writing class and it became an unexpected favorite. I went on to read Mere Christianity, also by Lewis, a little bit later for the same class.

 Some of the titles I've read from the historical fiction genre this year have been; Bonnie Prince Charlie by G. A. Henty, The Thunder by Douglas Bond, The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott, and The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. My favorites were most definitely The Thunder and The Yearling, both I heartily recommend.

 I continued to read several series I've been working on, such as L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series and Martha Finley's Elsie Dinsmore series. While I still have a couple of "Anne" books left, I have only one book left to the Elsie Dinsmore series. A new favorite series I've discovered this year is the Jungle Doctor series by Paul White.

 Some of my other favorite books from the year are; The Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N. Southworth, Father and I Were Ranchers by Ralph Moody, and the No Place Like Holmes series by Jason Lethcoe.

 My favorite author that I discovered this year would definitely have to be Kate Douglas Wiggin. My mom read aloud The Bird's Christmas Carol in November and I was quickly scourging our shelves for any more books by her. Mother Carey's Chickens and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm have now become favorites.

 On the lines of non-fiction and biographies, Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live, Running the Race a biography on Eric Liddell by John W. Keddie, and Daws by Betty Lee Skinner, are new favorites.

 I am already plunging into this year's reading goal and interested in reading some new authors and more of old ones.

 What are some of your favorite books that you read last year?