The Sword in the Stone

Today I'm going to share with you a movie that had a lasting effect on my childhood - particularly in how I clean my room and pack to go places.

According to my mother, I spent about a month as a kid watching this movie, then running upstairs to my bedroom to see if I could replicate the above scene. Even now, my cleaning/packing process always begins with the attempt ... Unfortunately, the song doesn't work ... but maybe, just maybe, I'll figure out how to do it. Until then ... um ... why don't we just move on and not discuss the mess my room is in or the fact that I always procrastinate until the last second to pack.

On another note, I've been singing the Bibbidy-bobidy song in pumpkin patches in an attempt to get myself a car ...

I really don't have much more of an impression of this movie. I do enjoy the ending scene though. It's rather funny. And I did kinda reference the fish scene in Do You Take This Quest?

These posts are in promotion of the newest book of the Bookania Quests, My Kingdom for a Quest, coming out February 14th. Click here if your interested in lending me your blog for the blog tour - I still have several open slots, particularly the last few days!

Dragons in Our Midst

I've read my fair share of Arthurian retellings, and today I'm going to share with you a series that I didn't expect to find it.

I found this series through Goodreads recommendations, and I thought it intriguing, it being a story of a girl and a boy who discover that they're half dragon. (Or, at least, he does, she's known for a few years. Hard to not know when you have a huge pair of wings sprouting out of your back.) Then I discovered that it was also Christian Fantasy, and I had to read it. I went to my library to ILL it - and to my delight, I discovered that it owned the book - as well as the sequel. (Beyond that point, I've had to ILL, though.)

So I was reading, enjoying the dragons and the Christianity and then - boom! Arthur and Merlin were there. In a flashback, mind you, but still. However, the main villainess is none other than Morgan le Fay.

The way Davis twisted dragons, Arthur, and spiritual themes is amazing. In the first book of the second series, you learn that Morgan was actually the wife of one of the fallen angles prior to the flood (how did she survive, well ... actually, she didn't, but you'll have to read the series), and Excalibur was the sword belonging to the angel guarding the garden of Eden. 

This is a set of series that I can't recommend highly enough. Sure, they're weird at times, but I love weird. If you love dragons, Arthur, or just Christian Fantasy in general, do read these books. Seriously, don't wait any longer. Go to your library, ILL them if you must, and devour. You'll thank me.

These posts are in promotion of the newest book of the Bookania Quests, My Kingdom for a Quest, coming out February 14th. Click here if your interested in lending me your blog for the blog tour - I still have several open slots, particularly the last few days!

Ink yet to Flow

There's thing that's been going around the authors and writers I follow. It's a wish list of sorts of books one would like to write, but isn't sure she'll ever get around to doing so. I've got a ton of ideas rolling around in corners of my brain, of course I'm going to do this.

So, in no particular order: My ideas. The ones I'll probably never get around to writing, but still burn in my heart just the same.

A historic retelling of Sleeping Beauty: I honestly don't know why nobody else has ever thought of this one, made this connection, but Henry II (the dad of Richard the Lionheart and John the worst king of Ennnngland) had a mistress named Fair Rosamond, who he kept hidden in a maze of sorts for several years until Elanor found her and she became a nun instead. Based on the fact that Rosamond is one of the names of Sleeping Beauty, and there are versions of the tale where he hid her away, kinda forgot about her and took another wife, my brain just naturally made the connection. This isn't the sort of book I'd normally write, but it's certainly a story that I'd love to see written.

Crystal Castle: Has anyone here seen Barbie's Diamond Castle? I've seen it several times, and my younger cousin (the one who inspired Chris) commented that it's a bit of a "Jesus story" as he put it. The two girls have to believe in something they can't see, and when they turned from the path, and took off their protection, they fell. He then wanted to perform his own version of it, so I started writing this play. Names changed, and so did the plot, becoming a bit more of a Pilgrim's Progress. I'd love to get back to this idea and pull at least a short story out of it, because it's rather sweet.

The Story of an Enchanted Sword: This one also came from my young cousin, he wanted an enchanted sword. I, of course, took it to the next level and decided that the sword was enchanted because some dark magic had tied the soul of the daughter of the man who forged it to it. Whoever wields it is promised twelve victories in battle, but then the girl asks them to destroy it, and thus break the spell on her. If they don't, in the next battle, they die. Pretty morbid, huh?

A Western Version of Sew, It's a Quest: This one is ... new. You see, the other day I pulled a blue jean shirt out of my closet and the thought passed through my head that it'd be exactly what Robin would wear in the wild west, which led to the wonder what it the story had been like had it been a western instead of a fairy tale retelling. Robin became the owner of the largest ranch in the town. Robert stayed her brother, but became a preacher (he'd been sickly as a kid, so had turned to booklearning while Robin followed their dad everywhere and learned the boyish stuff. Eric is the new sheriff who had gone to school with Robert. Rosamond - or Rose, as I think I'll change her name - is the new schoolteacher who has caught the eye of both Robert and Eric. I've got it all plotted out, complete with a snake of a villain and all that good stuff. I've never turned my hand to a western before, but I think this one'll be fun.

I mean, I never thought I'd write a Super Hero story, but HaV Academy twisted itself out of Sew, It's a Quest as well.

A story about Winged People: This is mostly so that I can have a board for all the lovely pictures of winged people on Pinterest. I have no idea what I'd do with this, but still, it's something I'd like to write someday.

Via Pinterest

A First Contact Sci-fi: I'd planned to write this for a Cats in Space contest thing that a friend was running, and I was going to enter. My entry was going to be a sorta prequel to my NaNo of '13, about how the Catalins, a people group who are a cross between Vulcans, computers, cats, and Orientals that I had created for that book, made first contact with humans ... and mistook our cats for the intelligent life forms on earth. Unfortnately, I barely got it started. I shall attempt it again this time, and this time finish it, because it's sure to be an interesting story.

A contemporary. I don't read contemporary books, because they're usually just a lot of drama about boys and "Important issues." However, I'm all for stretching myself as a writer, and having to write about an era and world I don't know very well is definitely something I ought to look into. Don't know what it'd be about though ...

Urban Fantasy: Again, to stretch myself. Have no idea what I'd like it to be about, but currently the closest thing I have is League of Royals.

A Book about Bed Monsters: This would have to be a picture book ... but have I ever told you guys that I have a monster under my bed? Well, she's under my desk now that I have a loft bed, but anyways, her name's Googi, and she looks a bit like Liz from Magic School bus, except that has a ruff of purple feathers. It's a ... game I play with my younger siblings.

A Book about Fairies and Leprechauns: No, not Unforgiven. I'm talking about an older story that was originally a game between me, my sister, and a friend of ours. It's a ... complicated story, but I'd like to pull it out and write it some day. But basically, if I remember right, it's about a girl who's mother was a fairy and abandoned her and her father when she was a baby, and then the mother returns, and then the dad becomes a leprechaun and ... it's crazy.

Amazons: About a band of women who shun men and travel the woods hunting. I don't know why, but I've always found this theme interesting.

Camelot! - The Musical

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A couple years ago, we studied King Arthur for school, and naturally my mom had my sister and I watched and read pretty much everything we could find about him. The musical "Camelot" was naturally one of them.

I couldn't find the song being sung in the movie I watched, but here's one of the actor just singing it. I think.

I really love most of the songs in this musical. There are a few that I'm a bit meh on (and hence can't remember), but for the most part, the songs are fun, especially the ones at the beginning.

Again, not the movie I watched, but this is one of my favorite songs.

I love how it begins, with both Arthur and Guinevere trying to get out of the marriage, running into each other, he realizing who she is, her trying to convince him to run away with her, him not wanting to tell her who she is. It's just so much fun.

It focuses on the second half of Arthur's life, after Merlin has left him. There are a few glimpses of Merlin at the end, in memories, if I remember right, but this mostly focuses on the triangle between Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot.

I don't care so much for the second half of the movie, once Lancelot comes onto the scene. Look, I understand that it follows the legend and all that, but I'm going to let you guys in on a secret - I hate that chapter of Arthurian legend. I like it when movies and books tweak and change things so that it's a non-issue, or Guinevere chooses Arthur before it's too late. I do like the reprise to Camelot.

As a musical, it's beautiful.

And I realize that I've managed to not include a single song directly from the version I watched, ah, well. Julie Andrew's great, too.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

I know most people posted this sort of post yesterday, but I was busy with my cover reveal, so you get it today. Moving on ...

I consider last to have been a good year. Not a great year by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a good year. I didn't fully achieve many of the goals I set before myself, but I'm mostly okay with that. I didn't foresee how draining work would be on me.

I'm most upset over the fact that I didn't finish those last few school goals. I've been working on Khan's Academy and reading the various books I'm supposed to when I can find the brain power, but brain power's been a precious commodity for me over the last year. But no, it didn't get completely done.

This year, I will reach a point where I can be declared done (even if it means just getting a GED) and then I'm going to take some college courses in things that I think will be beneficial. For the record, this doesn't include writing. I'm all about studying writing craft, but college is more about credentials, and I don't need credentials to write my books. I am, however, considering library science.

As for publication goals, I wanted to release my second collection and third Bookania. I'll say close enough on both of those. The Collection got out, though I shortened it to only three stories. This was partly because I didn't get the other two stories finished, and partly because the three stories that did make it were longer than I'd anticipated, and the collection was already thicker than the first.

The third Bookania is not out, however it's release is set for February, so I came close enough. I did finish the book last year, and that's what counted.

Here's the cover if you haven't seen it. The kindle book is available for pre-order, for 2.99. If you don't mind me coming over to your blog, I'll be holding a blog tour on the 14th - 21st, and you can sign up for it here.

I wanted to get 250,000 words written total this year. I got close! After sitting down with a calculator and all of my books, I counted up somewhere in the area of 215,000 words, which I think is pretty good, since it's about 30,000 more than last year, and most of those words are the 136,000 of Water Princess, Fire Prince, and was written in the last three months. Second place would go to Kingdom which gave me 30,000 words (I'd written 10,000 last year).

Speaking of WPFP, that was a goal I did succeed with! Not only did I finish the first draft and do up my attack plan for draft two, I churned out those 136,000 words that now are the second draft. Such an awesome feeling of accomplishment there. This is my baby series, and I'm really looking forward to officially sharing it with all of you. I've set the release date for August 31st, so now I just need to get it edited! (Translation: I'll be looking for beta readers come February/March. So go ahead and start volunteering.)

I'd also wanted to finish my NaNo from last year ... but that didn't happen. I managed to eke out another 2,000 words while visiting my cousin this September (thus showing how long it sat on my computer grinning at me) and now I'm stuck on the doctor's chapter again. Sigh. This is a book you guys are really going to enjoy, and I'm really looking forward to writing the sequel, I just need to figure out what I'm doing with the last 25,000 or so words of the first book.

I did not do great on reading this year. I'd wanted to read 150? I managed to read 67, and a lot of them short piddly books. I do have a bunch of half-read books on my kindle that I need to finish reading, that I stopped because they were too intense for my brain, but still. I did terrible. Three reviews a month (two for O.Scarlett, one for Clara)? Didn't happen. I wrote five on the O,Scarlett blog and nothing happened on Clara's.

Still, I don't feel dissatisfied with myself. I held down a job for nine months and left of my own accord and on good terms with them. (Honestly, whenever I stop by for a hamburger, my boss asks me when I'm coming back) I gave them my all, met new people, gained confidence in talking to strangers. I also attended my first public event as an author, sold a couple books, got my name out. My library intends (as far as I'm aware) to hold another event this year, and I'm looking forward to attending again. I've upgraded my kindle and tablet, bought a camera for my sister, and organized my thoughts on a few of my stories.

So what does this year hold? Hopefully, more reading and reviewing than last year. And I certainly have writing plans.

Beyond the editing of My Kingdom for a Quest and Water Princess, Fire Prince, there's a third book I'd like to get out, around Christmas time - a Bookania collection, containing all three novellas, all of the short stories, and some not-yet-released stuff that I haven't written yet, including the novelette about Casperl, a short story about Robin and Robert's birthday, and a short story about what Robert and Rosamond are up to during the events of Kingdom. There may be a third story, but I'm not sure yet. I also plan to include character interviews, maybe some bloopers, and if I can organize my brain enough to draw one - a map. I won't make promises on the map, however, it may be beyond my mental powers. As I stand right now, the collection will probably be kindle only. Sorry paperback fans ...

For this collection, I intend to put Sew through a thorough edit, cleaning up the Shakespearean grammar and awkward wording. My cover artist cousin and I are talking about updating Sew's cover to fit the other two better, and I may release it as a second edition when we do that.

While I'm editing WPFP, I'll be working on writing book two and plotting book 3. I want to have 2 out summer/fall of '16, and 3 in '17. Ambitious, but I believe in myself.

Jack and I didn't get Worth finished this year, mostly my fault since I let chapter 11 sit on my computer for several months. I'm now working on chapter 13, and am going to try to get it back to her before tonight. Wish me luck. We're going to try to get the first draft done this year, and maybe publish it next year (a tentative plan, but at least it's a plan!).

V. wants to get the first Ooladada book written, and I'm all for that, since I'm really looking forward to introducing Jen's group in book three. She just needs to get her first chapter to me, since our rethinking of the world last summer necessitates a complete start over.

The other thing I'm hoping to get written this year is Silivock, because it's the first book of the Mikadas, and it's a very important chapter. I've got this book well planned out, and had even planned to write it for NaNo this year before WPFP took over, however there's a part of me that's holding back. The reason? The conversation is going to be a challenge. The Character Conversation I posted with them last year was a bit misleading. Lillillil and Rikkard don't speak English, so they can't make plays on English words. Silions and Alisili are telepathic, and rely heavily on that for conversation. Even though the Silions are only touch telepathic, they are very physical people. Yes, there is a spoken language in Silivock, but it is a very formal language, relying on thoughts/emotion and various hand positions and facial expressions to relay its full meaning. It's a complicated language, it's intimidating, but this will also probably be the only book that really uses it, since all of the subsequent books take place after they've made contact with the Chai'ons and have adopted their much simpler language for most everyday things.

So, my great plans for the year, and let's hope that, as Robin puts it, I don't fall off the page.