Shakespeare Readings

Hello, everyone! :) My little sister turned fifteen on Friday! She had a couple friends over, and one of the activities we participated in was reading Shakespeare aloud. This is not the first time we have done this sort of thing together...late at night (or perhaps I should say really early in the morning.) We always have a grand time! :)

This time, our choice of reading in the middle of the night was A Comedy of Errors. It's extremely amusing, and also confusing. Yet it ends happily, so I must say that I love this play. :)

For the record, these pictures are actually from reading The Merchant of Venice, which is (for the present) Rebekah's favorite. This reading happened much earlier in the evening.

I was a part of this fun, but there are no pictures of me

Rebekah can be incredibly dramatic when reading Shakespeare. The other "players" were too (though I may have been the most boring reader of the bunch) but Rebekah puts her whole heart and soul into it sometimes.

The Missing Gobbler

I'm busy working on my latest project as an author, which is also a project for a class at school. My children's book, The Missing Gobbler! I'm having a blast. :)

I also happen to be collaborating with my amazing sister, critic, encourager, illustrator extraordinaire. :) 

This book is so much fun to work! And my illustrator is amazing, and amusing. She makes writing just that much more fun. :) Her running commentaries of her drawings are some of the funniest things you will ever hear.

I wrote this book years ago, when I was around fourteen years of age. The idea came to me one day while I was writing in my handwriting course. I was suppose to write a paragraph about a turkey who goes through a struggle. My "paragraph" ended up being pages long and that's how this story was born. :) 

For my college course I'm supposed to write a story, illustrate said story, and then the little story will be "published" and I'll have a hard copy to hold and admire. So, instead of spending precious hours writing a brand new story, I simply dug through my treasure box, found an old favorite to polish up, and here we are. And yes, I did do some polishing. Fourteen year old Amanda and nineteen year old Amanda do not always agree on how a sentence should be written.

As I've already mentioned, I'm having a blast reworking this story, and watching it "come to life" under Rebekah's skillful hands.

Always In Shadow Snippit

“You are so willing to follow me into battle?”

“Even unto death.”

August can certainly not get here soon enough for me! I can't wait to share Much's story with the world. I've had a great time editing so far (that process is unfolding a little differently than last time and I find it great fun!).

Spirit Refreshed

It's barely started, but this has been one of those weeks. Just bad.

Me, stressing out about things that don't even matter. Stressing about school, grades, homework...I've been a wreck on the inside. Angry. Life is just too much right now.

But it isn't.

I just read some beautiful words written by an inspiring young lady, Katie Davis. (She's not Davis anymore because she got married, but at the moment I don't remember her last name) She's a missionary in Africa. She was writing about all the hurt and suffering she's witnessed recently and how she is struggling to see God in the midst of her mess. All the murder, rape, abuse, and everything else she has to witness. And I'm over here complaining about low grades in school.

Her words touched me, deeply. You can read them here at Katie's blog. I can't even begin to describe the effect her post had on me. But it was a beautiful feeling, I can tell you that.

"to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life."

Always in Shadow is Almost Here

Anyone ready for Always in Shadow? I am! Just five months to go and the sequel to Lucy's Legend will be published! Just five months, and you'll have another book for your shelves. :) (and I'll have one for mine!)

I love being an author. It's one of the greatest joys of my life!

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about Always in Shadow lately, and am very eager to see it in print. :) In my impatience I feel the need to share a piece of it with the public! (Granted, this has technically been shared before, since it's the "coming soon" excerpt in the back of Lucy's Legend and I've shared a small part of it on my blog before...but I'm sharing it again anyway, because I can.)

Two days after they set sail, they were struck by a violent storm. The rain came down in torrents and great waves swept over the deck.

  “Robin!” Much yelled after his master. Robin was going up on deck and Much couldn’t understand why.

  “Much, stay below!”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Joan is near the bow of the ship. I must help her below.”

  Much followed his master on deck. The wind slapped his face and the rain pricked his skin like tiny needles. Through the haze of the storm he watched Robin running toward the bow of the ship. Joan was struggling through the rain to meet him.

  “Robin!”

  “I am here to take you below, my lady.”

  “Thank you!”

  They turned toward Much, but before they could go far a great wave swept over the edge of the boat. Much darted forward.

  The wave knocked Joan off her feet and Robin holding onto her arm went down after her. Much was able to grab hold of Robin’s other arm and held on for all he was worth.

  They were all three thrown right over the ship’s side. Robin grabbed the railing as they went over and held Joan tightly in his arms. Much’s grip slipped and he plunged into the icy water.

“Man overboard!”