H - Hide and Go Seek

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H - Hide and Go Seek

Err, well ... sorta ...

I couldn't think of any one word that began with h that was important enough in The Ankulen to warrant an entire post. Hide and Go Seek only made the title because the scene I'm currently writing involves four of the characters playing that game. It's quite an amusing chapter, to say the least.

But ... I don't think I can write an entire blog post writing about hide and go seek, even though the first half of the book is basically Jen playing hide and go seek with her memories. I'm planning on saving that topic for later

So ... I have, in desperation, pulled a dictionary off of the shelf, and will now go through it, word for word, and look for anything that was important in any way in The Ankulen so far.

Hack - Chris spends the first half of chapter 2 hacking at pricker vines and undergrowth with his sword ... as well as freaking Jen out over the fact that a eight-year-old is the one wielding that sword.

Hair - Jen has frizzy brown hair that only goes to her mid-back - if she stretches it out to full length. Tisha has wavy blond hair that falls to her feet. Chris has messy brown hair. Derek has black hair. Megan has curly red hair. Jen spends a good portion of the first half of the book running around with a stick in her hair, which provoked an interesting conversation between her and her mom.

  Mom frowned. "Why is there a stick in your hair?"
  I laughed self-consciously. "Oh, Walnut gave it to me after I helped him find his Home Tree. I'm told it can grow into a full-grown tree in minutes."
  "And why is it in your hair?"
  "Uh ... because I didn't have anywhere better to put it?"
  "Well, I hope you don't plan to make wearing sticks in your hair a habit."
  I shrugged. "Actually, I was thinking about trying to start a trend. Do you think it would take?"
  Mom shook her head. "No, I don't."
  "I thought it wouldn't." I gave a wistful sigh.

- The Ankulen

This conversation was partly inspired by my own attempts to start a "trend" as a child. Potholder hats.

Handwriting - Jen is writing The Ankulen out by hand. Errr, well, I am.

Hedgehog - Actually, no. There haven't been any hedgehogs ... yet ... *acquires that devious look that authors get when they have a plot idea*

Horse - Sir Erran rides a horse. I'm not sure about anyone else. We shall see.

Homeschooled - Jen is homeschooled. The story begins with her working on an impossible assigment that her mom is convinced she can do: write a story.

Hollow - Jen feels hollow without her imagination.

Hope - Because everyone needs some. Jen opts to take the more involved route while restoring her imagination, because it would give her imaginary people hope.

Honor - The Valiant Knights talk about honor a lot.

Human - Because Jen is only human, after all.

I have been Tagged again!

The Mad Elvish Poet has tagged me again with an eleven's tag, so I'll go ahead and answer the questions. Since Jack has also tagged all of her followers (which includes me) with the same tag, I'll do hers in one fell swoop.

(And weasel out of posting the "eleven random facts about me" part ;)

The Poet's Questions:

BBC or Kiera Knightly Pride and Prejudice?
I haven't seen the BBC version yet, but I'm not willing to put my complete stamp of approval on Kiera Knightly's version. It was good, I'll give it that, and I do like Kiera Knightly ... but until I've chased down and watched the BBC, I won't say either way.

Eowyn, Galadriel, or Arwen? Or, if you like, you can add Luthien and Nimrodel to the mix.
Uhhh ... I like all three pretty evenly. They're all wonderful in their own way. (And, unfortunately, I can't call the other two off the top of my head. It's been a while since I pulled the book off my shelf.

Fantasy or Sci-Fi? If Sci-Fi, Dystopian or straight up Sci-Fi?
Fantasy.

Mermaids or Faeries?
Sea Fairies.

Are you sick of 'or' questions?
Not yet. But I might if you keep asking them.

If you could have any color, style and type of hair you wanted, what would it be? (and no saying, 'I like my own.' nobody likes their own hair)
I'd like my hair to be longer and redder, but other than that, I have pretty much perfect hair. Honest! It's not so curly that it's impossible to brush, yet curly enough to be pretty. It's thick, but not too thick. Longer hair will come with time though ... but I'm still scheming up ways to turn it red 

Are you a dark/punk makeup person, a natural highlight person, or a who-gives-a-rat's-finger person?
I'm the person who has a box of eyeshadow in my room, but uses it to do face painting on the forth of July. True story!

Would you consider yourself quiet and shy, quiet and mysterious, loud and friendly, loud and annoying, or just a socialite?
I'm the person who'll sit on the side of the room until someone takes pity on me and then I'll talk their head off.

If you could go back in time, what time period would you go to?

Ooooh ... so many choices, so much history. I think I would like to go to Israel during the days that Jesus walked on earth.

Who is your favourite Doctor? If you have no answer, WHY HAVEN'T YOU SEEN DOCTOR WHO???

I have seen all of thirty seconds of Doctor Who in my entire life, and my opinion was ... creepy guy with glowing eyes is walking towards me. That does NOT look like the sort of TV show I want to watch, where's the cooking channel? I've since heard more about it, but we've also lost our cable since then, so the likelihood of me ever becoming a Whovian is pretty slim. Sorry, but that's just how it is. I don't watch much TV (and when I do, I like it to be a DVD. I can speed them up so I can watch them in half the time), and I'm picky about what I watch. I mostly watch the cooking channel. Oh, and the history channel if I see something interesting.

Besides, if I did become a Whovian, I have a certain character who would not be happy with me, since she holds to the firm opinion that her brother's the best doctor in the world (which he is) and therefore Doctor Who is a pretender. Honestly.

Did you cry at the Reichenbach Fall? Did you cry when Sherlock talked about the note, or when Watson gave his little heart-destorying speech?

I have not seen anything of the Sherlock TV series, for much the same reason that I don't watch the above. May I change the question to "Did I cry when he fell off the cliff in the books?" To that, I'll answer no. I just sat their stunned (as I had been listening to it) then I shook it off and shrugged. The author was dead, so there wasn't any chance of there being any new books anyways.

It wasn't until my Gma and Gpa got me a copy of The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for Christmas last year that I discovered that Sherlock had escaped death. I'm acutally not sure what to think about that, though I have really enjoyed reading it.

Jack's Questions:

1. Do you collect sporks.
No, nor do I use them very often. However, I do like Dr. Hovind's spork collection ...

2. Would you be an author if you had to write with a quill and ink, or would you give up and become a knight instead?
I think I would still be an author, since I do enjoy writing with my calligraphy pen and ink. The only drawback is the fact that it's harder to correct mistakes.

3. Do you have a puppy?
I have a dog. She's an eight year old terrier mix. Not exactly a puppy, but ... anyways. Her name is Toffee, even though she's black. We got her for Halloween - the same day mom discovered our little brother. That was an interesting day.

On a completely unrelated note, my aunt, who lives just across the yard, has kittens ... lots of kittens.

4. Can I come play with it?
Sure, if you're willing to make the road trip.

5. What's your opinion of spiders.
As long as they're no more than three inches in diameter, and they aren't on my pillow or on the railing to our stairs, I'm good. They eat roaches, I hear.

6. Why do you think there's a debate between apples and oranges?
Uhh ... because people like to debate strange things?

7. Should chocolate have oranges in it, or should they be kept safely as oranges, and let chocolate be chocolate?
I don't really care. It tastes good either way.

8. Which British actor would you like to meet?
I actually haven't ever given this thought. It's not my life's aspiration to meet actors. Personally, I would like to meet C.S. Lewis, but I hear he's dead, so maybe I could meet his stepson instead.

9. Do you garden in January?
Not usually. My mom wanted us to this year but ... it didn't happen.

10. What would you do if green snowflakes fell?
First, I would make sure that they aren't a rare form of Oobleck, then I would build a green snowman.

11. Would you fight a one-handed troll?
Probably not. I suppose it wouldn't be as bad as a six-handed troll, but ... still. I'm not much of a fighter. I'm more one for the pen.



Now for my questions. Actually the first eight of these are from my mom (long story.)

1. Who is your favorite princess of all times?
2.  What is your favorite movie that originated as a book or literature dating prior to 1900?
3.  If you had to leave everything behind, what ten things/books would you put into your backpack. Assume no electricity.
4. Are you modern to the core, or would you prefer to live in another time? When? Why?
5. If you were given $100, how would you spend it?
6. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?
7. If you were to visit me, what should I cook for supper?
8. What do you consider your best asset/talent?
9. If you have your own computer, does it have a name?
10. If you had full control, what would you name your first child (give both a girl's name and a boy's name)?
11. Dost thou have an accent? If not, how easy is it for you to fake one?

And for tagging ... (Sorry, I don't have eleven, but ...)
V. Kathie Ardnek.
Kiri Liz
Miss Melody Muffin
Rhoswen Faerie Wrose

Story Saturday - Winter's Home

I probably should have posted this back in winter ... but it completely slipped my mind.

"Winter's Home" was for a cover contest. I was given a word and told to come up with a title that contained it, a story to fit the title, and an amazing cover to top it off. I entered the contest because the girl running it looked lonely. I was sure I wouldn't win.

Wouldn't ya know, I got third place. I think it mostly had to do with the fact that my word was "Home" and the way I used it was very much not the usual thing you think of when you hear that word. The only reason it occurred to me was the fact that I wanted to use one of my own pictures - and a surprising number of my pictures were of snow-laden trees ... Apparently, I like taking pictures of snow ...

Hey! I have an excuse - we don't get snow very often where I live, so when we do, it's a big deal!

Anyways, I'll show you the award-winning cover, and then you can read the story. "Winter's Home" may or may not worm it's way into Jessica's Summer. I'll have to see.

Winter's Home

Spring's home is  a flowery pavilion. Butterflies flit here and there.

Summer's home is on the beach, with sand, sun, and fun!

Autumn's home is in the forest, where she can always have food to gather to protect against want.

But Winter is cold. She has no home. She has an icy fortress to which she'll retreat, but it is not a home.

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

Winter stalked up and down the halls of her fortress. It was Summer beyond her domains, and her power was at its weakest. She was always the most restless at this time. Finally, she got tired of inactivity.

She had her sleigh readied, then got in and took the reigns.

It took only a few minutes for her to reach the edge of her territory. Good ... good ... the snow wasn't melting. Still ...

She got out of the sleigh and surveyed the area on foot. There was something off here ... something that didn't belong here. She wrinkled her nose as she pulled back an evergreen branch. Evergreens were such nuisances, being so colorful and all. Yet, she put up with them ... 

Then she let out an annoyed growl.

There, laying on the ground was a small child, a girl, maybe three years old. Such was not an unusual thing during her own reign. During her own reign, the portals to her land were open. People, especially children, wandered here frequently.

It was no matter, however. Winter bent over to kiss the child, a kiss that would pour her cold into the miserable creature, and end its miserable life.

Yet something stopped her. She held back. What was the child doing in her lands?

For some time she just stood there, eyes fixed on the child. If she had been Spring, Summer, or even Autumn, she would have taken the child in, and made attempts at returning the child to its parents.

But she was Winter. Cold-hearted. Cruel.

Yet ...

She bent over and scooped the child up. She almost balked when she felt its wamth. The child was nearly blue, yet was still warm compared to Winter herself.

She carried the child over to the sleigh and climbed in. She would have to talk to her sisters about the child. For it to have wandered in during Summer's reign, that meant something was up.

Once in her fortress, she handed the child to one of her few warm-blooded servants. Even though Winter could stand cold - no, thrived on it -  those puny humans, especially children, could not. She handed the child to her servant ... and forgot about it. She had more pressing issues to attend to.

A few days later, a curious sound awakened her. Was that ... laughter? A child's laughter? Here? In her fortress?

Then she remembered the child she had rescued. Frowning, she went to investigate.

She discovered the child playing in the snow. Playing ... and laughing.

The faintest smile touched the corners of Winter's mouth. The edges of her frozen heart melted ever so slightly. The child could stay, she decided.

And that was how Winter's fortress became Winter's home.

G - God

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G - God

Readers of Sew, It's a Quest may have noticed that I don't really talk about God in that book A short exchange between Agatha and Friar Tuck, and a conversation between Robert and ****Plot Spoiler. Sorry, name is concealed.**** is it ... and those scenes weren't even in the original version!

The Author, as God is called in Bookania, is mentioned a few more times in Do You Take This Quest? and will probably be mentioned quite a few times in book 3 and beyond ... but ...

The Bookania Quests just aren't the richest allegories ever written.

However, The Ankulen is different.

While in the first half of the book, the only mention of Spiritual matters is when Jen refers to the fact that she was always the shy child in Sunday School, and when she feels uncomfortable eating without praying while in her imaginary land ... the second half does not shy away from the topic.

There is a reason I don't really mention the Lord in the first half - because Jen is not close to God. Yes, she's a Christian, and she knows what she believes and all that ... but ...

As long as she holds her imaginary friends at arm's length, she holds God at arm's length as well. He gave her her imagination, and for a purpose - and when she turns her back on His gift and that purpose ... well, she turns her back on Him, too.

No wonder she's so miserable.

I didn't know this the first time I wrote it, but I just discovered that Megan is a Christian as well ... but Derek ... most decidedly is not. 'Twill be interesting seeing how those twists will take things. I foresee Megan's sweet, childlike faith being very essential to Jen's own struggle.

At the same time, The Ankulen is an allegory. In Bookania, He is called the Author ... and it seems that I like that description of God. Jen is by no means a perfect representation of God. She's a fallible human, after all. But we're not perfect either, and, somehow, though imperfect pictures, we can better understand the perfect.

Taking Over the Keyboard.

Snippets time!!!! Again. Let's see what my brain managed to fling onto the computer in February. Don't forget that, if you want to participate, all you have to do is head over to Katie's Blog.

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  “Yes, their ears – they’re pointed, as if they’re fairies or elves or something.”

  “Elves and fairies don’t exist,” said Mrs. Arden, firmly.

  “Maybe they do, maybe they don’t,” commented Miss Pearstean. “All I know is what I see." 

- The New Division

“Do you think it’s safe?” questioned Melisza.

“Is anywhere safe?” returned Tabetha.

- The New Division

  I hear that my sister is being all dramatic and all that up there, with the present tense and stuff like that. I’d like to have you know that I jumped off the board on purpose. V gets freaked out over the simplest things. And I’m still not sure how V thought she was going to rescue me from falling with a stick.

  Oh, well. Anyways, this is Kendra, and I’m taking over the keyboard.

  Where were we?

  Oh yes, jumping into the gully.

- Behind the Rainbow

  “No, I cannot say that I do,” she admitted. “But perhaps your Ankulen can answer that question.”

  I lifted my arm to look at the Ankulen. “How?” I asked, skeptical. Did the Ankulen talk? Just what I always wanted – a golden bracelet that flashes and talks.

- The Ankulen

“But, V! I’m having fun! Hey – I can see houses from here!”

“Houses?”

“Yup! Do you know what that means, dear sister?” I gave my sister a questioning look since I was, for that moment, on her eye level.

“That someone might see you acting crazy?”

“No! That people live here! Oh! I see mountains, too – far, far away – and a rainbow!”

- Behind the Rainbow

“How do you know he’s a Harsha?” questioned Alistaar.

The man seemed taken aback. “His dark hair and skin are proof enough of his curse!” he spat.

“Curse!” exclaimed Jaqob, “what do you mean, curse?”

“All of the Harshia are cursed,” the man replied. “They love not Elonodi, and He loves not them." 

- The New Division

  “Huh.” I placed the spoon tentatively in my mouth. The flavor of the “mashed greenroot” was just on the sweet side of bland.  It wasn’t nasty … but it wasn’t amazingly good either. After a few more spoonfuls, I decided to examine my spoon instead. Eating something that I didn’t care for when I wasn’t hungry was a silly thing to do.

  The spoon was rather pretty.

- The Ankulen

Melisza’s pale blue eyes met those of her brother. “All right,” she said. “If you think we should.” Hand in hand, the Lilna twins stepped over the threshold into to the red world.

Tabetha and Jaqob gasped.

“What is it?” asked Melisza, a wave of panic washing over her.

“It’s … nothing …” said Tabetha. “Only … the orphanage just disappeared.”

- The New Division

Me? I was enjoying myself – hey, it isn’t every day you get to jump on a pillow the size of a house.

- Behind the Rainbow

“We can’t be the only people like us in the world,” argued Jaqob. “Even I can figure that one out. We had parents once, didn’t we?”

“Once,” agreed Melisza. “But they abandoned us. They obviously didn’t want us, since they haven’t come back to get us either.”

“Maybe we were too strange for them,” said Tabetha. “Maybe they got rid of us because we were deformed …”

“Four of us on the same night?” Alistaar pointed out. “If it were only one of us – or perhaps one set of twins, it would have been plausible … but we Lilnas are obviously not related to you Harshas.”

“Two sets of twins cannot be coincidence,” said Melisza.

- The New Division

Oh, and today I'm being interviewed over at the Homeschooled Authors blog.