The Authoress Turned Seamstress....

This author is learning a new skill....sewing! And it's amazing. :)

Okay, so I've only had one night of sewing lessons so far. But I really enjoyed it! Some day I'll have amazing creations to show off, I'm sure. ;)

But, for your entertainment....I'll present my pathetic sewing achievement from my first night of lessons.

Aren't my little lines so lovely? I even did a curve AND a square. Yes, I know it's not much. But that's how it goes, right? You start small and build on it. I have a VERY talented teacher, so I expect to be a master seamstress by the time we're through. :)

You should totally check out my awesome teacher's  blog, too. :) This is it! http://cherishingmyrole.blogspot.com/ For the record, she is AMAZING. :)

Outlines. Wait, What?

So today in English I wrote a story. That's totally up my alley, right?

Perhaps not.

First of all I have to say, I had a blast in class. It was a group project, which was amazing. I've never 'written' (note the quotation marks...I'll get to that) a story by collaborating with friends. It was crazy, and we were laughing a lot, and mostly it was just bananas. But it was a lot of fun. It's definitely something I would love to do again.

Now, the main thing that was NOT "up my alley" was plotting. Outlines. Pre-planning. Really, what is that? I don't understand the language you are using! See, that isn't how I write. So today, as amazingly fun as it was, was a stretch. It was a very good thing I had two classmates to throw out ideas and help write the story, because I would have been stumped and stuck and would not have known how to even begin. You see, we didn't WRITE the story. (That was the point of the quotation marks...) We made an outline. We discussed characters, wrote a sort of synopsis and planned out what would happen in the story, the major events. And that. Was that. Which was totally weird and new for me, but fun all the same. I am actually considering writing that story now, just to see how it goes. Because I've never done something like that in my life before. I'm curious to see if I can actually accomplish it.

Although...I may have to choose a different story to plot and pre-plan, because the one we came up with today was not really my type of story. Though it could be highly entertaining for me to write it.

The story we wrote is about a guy named Fred. He's from Zimbabwe and the setting is in the year 2034. Yes, we were totally making things up on the fly and going for as random as possible. Maybe that wasn't our actual thought process (let's be as random as possible) but it is kind of what happened. So, here's the story:

Fred's mother is murdered by the owner of a bank. So Fred goes to the bank teller, Louise (who happens to be in love with him) and together they rob the bank. And then they have a few crazy/weird adventures trying to get away to live happily ever after...which doesn't work out so well, being criminals and all.

There's a lot more to the story than that, actually (we went crazy in class!). But I don't want to give it all away just in case I am actually going to write it.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post (is there one?) is that I did something new today, something I actually enjoyed....and I'm curious if this new concept of writing a story will actually work for me. Because when I write, I just make it up as I go basically. That sounds terrible. Never mind. What really happens is that I read the story, the same way you would, except I am reading it at a slow pace as it appears on the screen before me. So, that didn't sound any better than the first try. I give up. I just don't pre-plan my stories. They flow out of me before I even know they exist...I don't have time to pre-plan. It's just suddenly there for me to read.

So...that last paragraph sounds rather absurd....

ANYWAY....I'm going to give this whole outlining thing a try. And I'll let you know if I succeed. :)

Meeting the Prince (The Adventure In Sunara)

I am feeling generous, so while writing itself has been put on hold, I am going to give you something to read. :) This is more of The Adventure in Sunara, the original version from Hadassah's point of view. Enjoy!

 And then she saw a little boy running towards them, followed by a young woman and a little girl. Caspian scooped the little boy up in his arms and kissed his cheek. “Ryan, how is my son?”

   “Dood. I’m dood.”

   Caspian turned to Hadassah and Joelle. “We have guests, Ryan. This is the Lady Joelle and the Lady Hadassah. They have been sent by Arking from the other world to visit us. Ladies, this is my son, Prince Ryan.”

   Ryan clapped his hands. “Dests! I love dests!”

   “Guests, Ryan.” His father corrected.

   “Dests.”

   Hadassah laughed. “He’s a darling. How old is he?”

   “He is three.” Caspian said.

  A young man approached the group. “Your majesty?”

   “Yes, Lord Felix. What is it?”

   “The council is meeting very soon. We thought you were going to skip out on us again when you left this morning to ride with Alastair.”

   “I had considered it, Lord Felix. But I’m coming. We have a new matter to discuss. We’ll hold a banquet tonight, in honor of our guests. What do you say, Alastair?”

   “I believe that is a good plan, sire.”

   “Yes! Banket! Banket! Banket!” Ryan chanted.

   The King gave Ryan to the young woman who had followed the Prince. “Gidget, he’s in your charge again.”

   “Yes, sire.”

   The King patted the little girl’s head. “Keep my son in line, will you, Inez?”

   The little girl giggled and curtseyed. “Yes, sire.”

   “Gidget, would you escort our guests to rooms for their convenience? I will send Lilianith to them after the council.”

   “There is no need, sire.” Alastair said. “For here she comes now.”

   Caspian nodded. “Yes, there she is. She’ll understand the situation without being told. I believe Lord Felix is anxious for us to join the council in the chamber, Alastair.”

   The King, Alastair and Lord Felix walked away. A beautiful young woman with blond hair that flowed gently to her waist appeared. “Hello! I am Lilianith. I’m the late queen’s sister. Prince Ryan’s aunt. I’ll show you to rooms where you will stay.” Lilianith kissed the cheeks of both Joelle and Hadassah. “Come Gidget, Inez, we must make our guests comfortable.”

   The cheerful young woman led Hadassah and Joelle through a maze of hallways, all paved in marble mosaics, up marble stairs and down more hallways. In all of the large windows hung long purple and red sashes, tied back with gold cords.

    Joelle squeezed Hadassah’s hand and whispered. “This is insane! We must be dreaming!” 

Day 2 Accomplished

I'm really NOT going to give you an update on College every single day. But I couldn't seem to stop myself from posting right now!

College, after day two, is still awesome. I love being on campus. I had a lot of free time this morning before my first class so I just sat on a bench and people-watched as well as wrote (I just do that when I have nothing else to do, whether it's meaningful writing or just stupid stuff). It was so beautiful outside today, and yesterday too and I just enjoy sitting in the sunshine on campus watching young people race around to get to classes or stand around talking to their friends. I don't know why, but this makes me happy.

And again today I ran into many of my friends, so my ridiculous fear of being completely isolated is proving quite groundless. For which I am eternally grateful. :)

And I do enjoy my classes, as I expected I would. Oh, and I had a blessing today! My math instructor did not use any language this morning! Yay! One less thing to worry about. :)

And I've already done extra credit for one of my classes...on the first day that that class met. I'm feeling accomplished here. :)

First Day of College

I have survived my first day of college.

And don't freak out...I even enjoyed myself! :)

I was shocked by the language (very unpleasant) on campus though. Yes, I did fully expect it. But I was still shocked. I may have to silently cringe my way through my entire math hour.

But other than the language, college is amazing so far. (Yes I know, it's only been one day...) I immensely enjoyed my classes, most especially my English and Lit classes. And my Lit instructor is the best lady EVER. I'm so excited about that class, it's going to be amazing. :)

My biggest fear of college, aside from working in a classroom (totally new environment for me) was that I would be completely surrounded by strangers and totally alone. Now, there are plenty of people on campus I don't know. And in most of my classes, I am completely surrounded by strangers. But I ran into/hung out with six of my friends today before and after classes, and I even have one very good friend IN one of my classes. So, I am not alone.

In summary, my life is basically awesome right now and I am enjoying college so far. :) Here's to tomorrow!

College Is Coming

Classes start Monday. Oh my goodness. I'm about to actually start going to college!

I'm fairly eager to start my classes, honestly. But I'm still a little nervous about being on my own surrounded by strangers. Granted, I have plenty of friends who will be on campus too...I just don't have classes with them so I'm feeling alone. I got my books yesterday, so I'm starting to feel like this is really actually happening in reality and it's not just a distant, foggy future. I can't decide if this is a scary thought or an invigorating one. I have a new chapter of life that just opened before me and I'm getting the same eager/happy/helpless/scared feelings that I get when I start a new chapter in a book and I stare at the little blinking cursor waiting for something to happen.

I will keep you posted on how school goes once it starts. :) Writing will have to slow down and be put to the back shelf for a while...I don't know how long. I will definitely try to keep up some writing, and I'm still working on getting my first book published. But classes are going to be my main focus very soon, so you'll just have to be patient about the whole book thing.

The Mother of the Prince (The Adventure in Sunara)

Okay, big news. I've started rewriting my not yet completed story that I love! I am writing The Adventure in Sunara, but I have changed a few things. Mainly, I'm writing from someone else's perspective this time around. :) I'm enjoying myself. I don't have much of it done yet, actually. But I'll give you a brief snippit to enjoy (or hate as you please. I like it, but you don't have to).

Ryan leaned against the stone wall and peered out the window into the dark night. The moonlight reflected off of the white stone that marked his mother's grave some hundred feet below him.

Ryan stood there for a long time, silent and still as the shadow of a statue.

The castle was silent. Everyone was sleeping, which Ryan ought to be doing himself.

Ryan slowly turned from the window and sat at the oak desk in his room. He pulled out a parchment and taking a deep breath he dipped his quill and began to write.

My Mother was the Queen of Sunara. Her name was Hadassah. And this is her story...the way I saw it unfold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father was not happy. Ryan did not know why, but father was not happy.

Ryan was four years old and the Crown Prince of Sunara. Not that that fact mattered to him at all. He only cared that Gidget gave him peaches with his breakfast instead of boring apples.

And that folks is what I have for you right now. :) I'm crossing my fingers that this time the story will sprout its wings and soar....but we shall see.

Where Are We Now? (The Adventure in Sunara)

Hadassah realized the rain was no longer falling.

She opened her eyes. She was on her hands and knees in warm, green grass.

Hadassah sat up. The sun was shining down on her. She was in a field dotted with flowers. An utterly unknown field.

Joelle was close beside her, looking around. "Hadassah...where are we?"

"I don't know."

"The trees are beautiful."

"Where is Sally?"

Joelle turned around and around, silently and slowly spinning in circles. "She's not here. Are we...dead?"

"I'm not sure...I say! Our clothes are dry."

"So they are. Odd."

"This is not exactly how I imagined going to heaven would be like."

"It is beautiful though." Joelle said. "Look at those purple flowers!"

"And that butterfly!" Hadassah pointed. "It looks as though it is made of diamonds. See how it sparkles?"

The two girls soon heard the unmistakable sound of horses approaching. Hadassah grabbed Joelle's hand and they stood silently together.

Two riders appeared over the crest of a hill some yards away. 

But no, only one was riding a horse. The other was...

"I can't believe my eyes." Joelle breathed.

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There you have it. I'll put more up sometime soon, so you won't be left hanging too long hopefully. :) I'm really loving being able to share this story that is so dear to me, so I hope you are all enjoying it. :)