Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane?

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 No, actually it is April's Camp NaNoWriMo. *insert internal screaming* I decided to participate in said event earlier this month as a challenge to buckle down and finish my novel from November's annual edition. Now, April is nigh upon us and suddenly I find myself feeling overwhelmingly unequipped. I shouldn't with 61,000+ words already written in the manuscript and having the mental knowledge of exactly where the story is going and how it will end. I should be singing out "Let's get down to business" with confidence or, donning my newsie cap, "Now is the time to seize the day." Instead, I am madly scrolling through my manuscript and wondering if I am crazy to try and even attempt to tackle a 50,000 word challenge during one of my family's busiest months of the year.

*takes a deep breath*

 Maybe it is a little crazy and I will have some days where I am wondering why I am even doing this, but at the end of day (or month in this case) I am going to be glad I did it. I will be that much closer towards a finished first draft ready for edits and polishing. And, hopefully, I won't feel like it was a complete failure.

 For anyone interested, I created a beautiful new board for The Letters of Lee Ames (my current WIP) on Pinterest. The images never cease to inspire me and help me visualize the story's setting and characters. Such a board will prove useful in this upcoming struggle.

So, what have you been working on? Are you going to participate in April's Camp NaNoWriMo? If so, what is your NaNo username? I would love to see how you are progressing. I am Lady Agda.

Book Review: "Wanderlust Creek and Other Stories"

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  "From the author of The Ranch Next Door and Other Stories come six more short stories exploring the joys, heartaches and laughter of life against the backdrop of the Old West. In “Single-Handed,” a gunfighter’s courage comes in doubt when he refuses to explain to his friends the real reason he backed down from a fight. The capable proprietress of the busiest eating-house in town handles a day of disasters large and small in the light-hearted “The Rush at Mattie Arnold’s,” while in “Room Service,” a hotel night clerk finds himself in on odd position after he allows an exhausted traveler to stay in a reserved room. And in the title story, the novella-length “Wanderlust Creek,” a young rancher and his wife struggle to hold onto their land and their dreams in the face of adversity from weather, enemies—and even doubts of each other."

  Character driven westerns with a charm of the old fashioned (something usually only found in books from the period) is Elisabeth Grace Foley's speciality and she has served that special up yet again with "Wanderlust Creek and Other Stories". I had been looking forward to another collection of western short stories ever since I read her first collection, falling even more in love with the author's writing when I read her Mrs. Meade Mysteries, "Left-Handed Kelly," and "Corral Nocturne". Needless to say, I was delighted with this collection.

  "The Rush At Mattie Arnold's" reminded me of O. Henry, "A Search For Truth" held me spellbound, I almost teared up for "Room Service," and "Wanderlust Creek" has ensconced itself among my list of favorites from Miss Foley. While "Single-Handed" and "The Mustanger's Bride" were also highly enjoyable.

  These are not rough and tumble westerns a la what most people think of when they think about westerns. They are, as I said at first, character driven. It is that small driving force that can make all the difference. For instance I would not recommend "Destry Rides Again" Max Brand to certain members of my family because they do not like westerns, but I would recommend Miss Foley's collections to them. Miss Foley's stories are not bound by their genre. They more than just westerns. They are good stories that anyone at any age could easily enjoy.

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  You can visit Miss Foley's blog The Second Sentence, where she blogs about writing, books, westerns, and history, to learn more about her. She recently did a three-part series on color photography from the early 1900s to the 1940s and closed it off by featuring old videos from that same time frame.

Snippets From February

 Here are a few brief snippets I wrote during February. They are mostly from a western short story I have been working on.

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“Then just walk away.”
“I can’t and you know that.”
“Then go, Holt. Ride out of town and don’t look back.”

from The Gunfighter

He nodded stiffly. “I’m sorry, Matt.” His voice hardened.
 “It’s alright. I guess ‘cause I never knew them, losing them ain’t never bothered me much.”

from The Gunfighter

“Just a moment, young man.” Mrs. Reilly’s voice had something impenetrable about it, like a brick wall.

from The Gunfighter

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 Yesterday, I started reading Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon and had a difficult time putting it down when I had to head off to work. So far, it has been incredibly inspiring. And, I believe, it has successfully smashed the creative fog I have been stuck in for the past week.

 So, what have you been working on recently? Are there any good books you are currently reading or have recently finished?

As You Like It

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 Here I am for my second post in one week! *high five* Today, I am going to be sharing my contribution for the one and only Rachel Heffington's monthly link-up Chatterbox. If you are not acquainted with this monthly writing exercise, enlighten yourselves by reading the comprehensive instructions she created here.

 This month's topic was superstition. I knew I wanted to pick up doing Chatterbox again, but it took me a while to figure out what on earth to write. Finally, I decided to create a whole new cast of characters just for Chatterbox. The topic was not lending itself very well to my works-in-progress.

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  “Aren’t you going to go inside?” Camilla stood by the shop door, surveying her friend with knitted brows.
  “In a second,” Zoe replied, pressing her face close to the glass display window and soaking in the newest releases added to the bookshop’s selection.
  “C’mon. Brent and Tyler will hunt down the best books before we even enter the store. You know them.” Camilla grabbed Zoe’s hand and dragged her into the shop.
  Zoe pulled backed, her short red hair bounced and her fringe of bangs jerked to the left side of her forehead. “No, no. I always read the titles of all the new releases before looking for something to buy.”
  “But you’ve already read reviews for them all on Goodreads and can recite their titles backwards.” Camilla folded her arms and cocked her head.
  “I know,” Zoe whimpered. “It’s- it’s- well it always seems to help somehow.”
  Camilla’s left eyebrow arched. “It’s superstition.”
  “It is not.” Zoe’s chin jutted forward defensively.
  “Yes, it is.”
  “Is not.”
  “Is too.”
 “Not.”
  “Is.” Camilla leaned forward, her chestnut hair spilling over her shoulders.
  Zoe’s mouth twisted in her own version of stubborn defeat. “Okay, maybe it is.... a little bit. But who was born on a Friday the thirteenth?”
  “That is mere pettiness, my dear Watson.” Camilla tried to look dejected.
  Zoe’s nose crinkled as she smiled. “Let’s go find the best copy of As You Like It we can find. I still think we’ll get a better grade on our essays then the boys.” She linked her arm with Camilla’s and led the way to the play department.

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 I have to admit to falling quite in love with this group of four friends (even if Brent & Tyler were technically not even in the scene). :) Also, I did not realize this would be going up on a Friday the thirteenth until my sister pointed it out last night. I thought that was rather funny.

The Man With the Accordion Heart

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 In January I finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (brief disclaimer: I cannot recommend the book for everyone due to the amount of strong language used in the book) and have been floundering in my search to find a novel that can even compete a little bit with how well that one was written. It is a hard task and I am quite aware that it might take me a long while to find one that will come even close. I usually only find one book a year that blows me completely away. Admittedly, the year is yet young.

 One of the things in The Book Thief that really captured me were the characters. Hans, Liesel, Max, Rudy, Rosa, the Mayor’s Wife, and even the characters mentioned very briefly in a very few scenes, I could envision them all clearly. They were people with genuine flaws and strengths. They were real.

 As a writer, I want to present realistic and genuine characters to my audience. I write historical fiction with very few exceptions. It has always been my favorite genre to read and history was my favorite school subject growing up. I firmly believe you can learn many lessons applicable to the present day by knowing what happened in the past. But it is also very important that these characters not only feel real and genuine to my modern audience, but they need to be rooted in the time period in which they live. Zusak did an incredible job in making the varying characters in The Book Thief real people in Nazi Germany.

 Hans Hubermann, the main character Liesel’s foster father, disagrees with the Nazis, but he is afraid of them and what they might to do his family. Publicly he tries to appear complacent and passive; he does not want to anger the Nazis and bring them down about his head. That said, he has a difficult time standing by while the Jews are being degraded and persecuted. He paints over slurs graffitied onto Jewish homes and businesses even as their owners' urge him to go away for his own safety. This results in his application to join the Nazi party to be stalled; leaving him in a sometimes precarious position. The root of Hans’s intolerance for the persecution of the Jews stems from when a Jewish man saved his life during World War I. When, in the course of the story, that man’s son asks Hans to hide him Hans agrees. It is not only a debt he feels honor bound to repay somehow, but he knows it is the right thing to do. Even as he agrees to shelter Max, he is terrified of being caught. There are several more instances I would mention, but, for the sake of those who have not read the book or seen the film adaption, I will refrain. (As a quick side note, I would like to mention how much I loved Geoffrey Rush’s performance of Hans in the film. He was brilliant.)

 What about Hans, however, makes him so real? Is it his insistence on helping the Jews? How greatly he loves Liesel? The way he plays his beloved accordion? I think it is how very human Hans Hubermann is. He lives during Adolf Hitler’s Germany and the Nazi regime. He does not agree with the Nazis, but he is too scared to be vocal about it. But no matter how scared he is of being punished, he continually commits acts to assist the Jews. He’s scared and he won’t speak out loudly, but he still acts because he knows it is the right thing. Liesel is a lot like her foster father in this aspect. It is something that knits them closer together. If we lived in Nazi Germany, we would want to be someone like Hans or Liesel. We would want to be able to do the right thing, but we would be terrified of being punished and persecuted by the Nazis. Hans Hubermann, the outwardly unobtrusive and ordinary sign painter, is the sort of person we want to be. We identify with him and his fear. It is people like him that somehow bring us hope.

The Fifth Annual Literary Heroine Blog Party Tag Questions

 It is that time of the year again! Kellie of Accordion to Kellie is hosting the Fifth Annual Literary Heroine Blog Party and I am finally showing my face again to participate in the questionnaire. I do apologize for the lack of posts. Hopefully I can remedy this unseemly habit and reinstate my one post a week goal in March. But, without further ado, the questionnaire:

1. Introduce yourself! Divulge your life's vision, likes, dislikes, aspirations, or something completely random!
 I am a homeschool graduate, aspiring novelist, and Christian. I enjoy good films, excellent books, and fantastic food.

2. What, to you, forms the essence of a true heroine?
 Ultimately, a true heroine is a woman or girl willing to sacrifice her desires in order to put others before herself. She finds the courage to take a stand for her beliefs, even if it means making the uncomfortable choice. She is strong, yet vulnerable. 

3. Share (up to) four heroines of literature that you most admire and relate to.
 1) Anne Shirley Blythe of the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery.
 2) Liesel Meminger of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
 3) Jo March of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
 4) Abileen of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. 

4. Five of your favorite historical novels?

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 1) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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 2) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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 3) The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

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 4) Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace

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 5) The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

5. Out of those five books who is your favorite major character and why?
 Oh, that is a tough one! I am not exactly sure if I could name one as my ultimate favorite over the others, so I will select one of my favorites to showcase. Anyway, I will choose- drum roll please- Abileen from The Help. I really admire Abileen’s patience and courage. She makes a hard choice that endangers herself when she agrees to let Skeeter interview her about her life as a maid to white families in Jackson, Mississippi. 

6. Out of those five books who is your favorite secondary character and why?
 Hans Hubermann from The Book Thief. After watching the film adaption and reading the novel, I really came to admire and appreciate Hans’s sometimes foolish insistence on doing what he believes is right. I plan on doing a post dedicated to Hans Hubermann and some of the reasons why he is such a good character in the near future.

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. Bike through Ireland, explore London and the English countryside, and then visit the castles and historical landmarks of Scotland. I would like to explore Norway, and travel through the rest of continental Europe. I think I might top the whole trip off by visiting Kenya. :) What can I say, I have always wanted to visit the Serengeti. 

8. What is your favorite time period and culture to read about?
 It would the time period running from roughly about 1900 to the early 1960s.

9. You have been invited to perform at the local charity concert. Singing, comedy, recitation, tap dancing… what is your act comprised of?
 It will be a singing duet with my sister. We will perform our duet arrangements of several Judy Garland classics.

10. If you were to attend a party where each guest was to portray a heroine of literature, who would you select to represent?
 Hmmm, I think Jo March would come the most naturally because we are quite similar. But then again, it would be quite likely that someone else would choose to portray her since she is such a well known heroine. With that in mind, I think it might be rather fun to go as Callie Harper from Rachel Heffington’s Fly Away Home. :)

11. Favorite author(s)?
 Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Douglas Bond, G.A. Henty, Elisabeth Grace Foley, C.S. Lewis, and I have also greatly enjoyed the few works I have read by Rosemary Sutcliff.

12. In which century were most of the books you read written?
 Looking over the books I read last year, they were mainly from the 20th century. I have always read a large amount of books from the 19th century, and have more recently been exposing myself to more modern authors (e.g. The Book Thief, The Zion Covenant Series by Brock and Bodie Thoene, etc.).

13. In your opinion, the ultimate hero in all literature is…
 This is a complicated question. I would vote for Mr. Knightley (aka Alex Knightley from Emma Approved), but technically I haven’t even read Emma. That all said, I am going to vote for Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird. There are few fictional heroes who I admire as much as I do Atticus Finch. He is a man willing to do the hard thing because he knows it is the right thing to do.

14. In your opinion, the most dastardly villain of all literature is...
 Currently, I have to cast my vote for the Dragon Priests in The Peleg Chronicles series by Matthew Christian Harding. They really freaked me out.

15. Describe your ideal dwelling place.
 A nice flat or townhouse in Boston, MA or a house overlooking the ocean either on the west coast, Maine, or Charleston, SC.

16. Sum up your fashion style in a short sentence.
 Eclectic, a bit preppy, a bit bohemian, and always include a leather jacket, high heels, or combat boots.

17. Three favorite Non-fiction books?
 War and Grace by Don Stephens, City Notebook by McCandlish Phillips, and How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer

18. Your duties met for the day, how would you choose to spend a carefree summer afternoon?
 Stretch out on a blanket in the back yard to read or go hiking and birdwatching at a park with trails.

19. Create a verbal sketch of your dream hat - in such a way as will best portray your true character.
 I mostly wear berets or a summery fedora-esque hat I own, but I have always wanted to own a cowgirl hat. In a lightish tan color, not to large in size or brim but something a bit like Dale Evans usually sported in her films with Roy Rogers. It would have a thin, dark leather strap knotted to hold it under the chin, but which always twinned itself as the hatband.

20. Share the most significant event(s) that have marked your life in the past year.
 My graduation from high school.

21. Share the Bible passage(s) that have been most inspiring to you recently.
 James 5:13-18: "13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit." (ESV)

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Be sure to go check out other participants' answers to the questionnaire via the link up at Kellie's blog and enter her giveaway to win a custom made tulle skirt from Kellie Falconer Design!