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Subplots and Storylines – September 2016

Tracey Dyck 34 Comments

September was wind and golden trees and russet fields. Just as autumn transforms the trees, it shows its many faces in the heavens. From rain-smeared skies to crisp, pale blue ceilings to brooding banks of clouds shredded with the rosy-golden glow of morning, I relished every face she displayed.

As beautiful as the season is, September galloped headlong into October this year, folks. The month was packed with college starting, clearing out the garden, celebrating my parents’ anniversary, and more.

In case you missed it, my brother and I are in a one-year leadership/Bible program at a college run by my church. I’ve already learned so much in just one month, it’s amazing! My teachers challenge me, my teammates are wonderful and serious about getting the most out of this year, and the course material is great.

The way it’s structured is that part of the week is spent in class, and part is spent volunteering at church, in inner city, and in the specific ministry areas of the church we picked. I’m in youth, which is a stretch because ack, teenagers, but I’m really loving it so far.

Some tidbits of my college activities . . .

Early in the month, my class and I helped run a church carnival.

We went through an inner city “boot camp,” helping out at foodbank for the first time, touring the neighborhoods by bus, and handing out ice cream to inner city kids as they streamed out of school.

We’re learning about creativity, divergent thinking, leadership (which just means influence), excellence (which just means doing the best you can with what you have), teamwork, collaboration, the Bible, what truth really is, focus, attitude, et cetera. It’s all in modular style, so our teachers can hop around from one thing to the next depending on what we need to learn in the moment.

One big highlight of the month was our two-day camp retreat designed to get us to gel as a team while simultaneously learning hands-on leadership skills and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones. Pretty intense. You may remember from older posts that I’m not real keen on heights. Well.

I climbed a climbing wall. (One and a half times. Halfway up the difficult side, my noodle arms and I gave up, so I came down and then decided to try the easier side–and I made it to the bell at the top.)

I climbed a fifty-foot pole and zip lined down, which was scary and way fun.

I attempted a high ropes course, but that’s a longer story for another post, methinks.

Needless to say, it’s been quite the month. It’s crazy busy–as in, I’m spending 50+ hours at college (or driving to and from college), plus working two shifts a week. I guess you can see why this post is a day later than it should be! But even though my schedule is packed, I love almost everything I’m doing, so that makes it a little bit easier to wake up early every morning.

Somehow I had time to watch things.



The Jungle Book
I did not expect to like it as much as I did, which was quite a lot. I was never a huge fan of the original Disney animated film–not that I disliked it, more like I was apathetic about it–but this live action/convincing CGI remake was splendid. It’s visually beautiful and also does a great job with a solid storyline. By the end, I loved hearing the animals recite the Law of the Jungle.

The Battle of the Five Armies (rewatch)
At a last-hoorah-before-college sleepover with my aunt, we watched this together. Since finishing the Narnia movies together, it’s been our goal to watch all the Hobbit movies. This was her first viewing of it, and she’s very partial to Thorin Oakenshield, so you can imagine how that went.

Zootopia (rewatch)
I LOVE IT SO MUCH. The twists didn’t have me on the edge of my seat this time since I knew they were coming, but that was okay because it meant more room in my brain to appreciate the storytelling all over again.

The Flash (season 1) and Once Upon a Time (season 1 and 4)
My siblings and I are still watching The Flash and loving every episode. My sisters and I have slowed down considerably with OUAT season 4, but are still loving that too, and we started the show from the beginning with our parents. It’s fun to see the characters in their old roles, and Henry is so little and adorable.

Somehow I read nothing.

Okay, not nothing, just very little.

Five Enchanted Roses
Though I read the majority of it in August, I finished in September. You can read a full review HERE.

The Calling // Rachelle Dekker // book 2 in The Seer trilogy
This was a splendid book that took me a decidedly unsplendid long time (three weeks! what is wrong with me!) to read. Just like the first book, it delves deeply into the internal struggles of its main character–this time Remko instead of Carrington–against a backdrop of dystopian action. Just like the first book, the narrator phrases (Remko saw, Remko felt, etc.) bothered me a bit. But just like the first book, I was floored by the message and how it resonated with me. The Choosing was about true identity, and The Calling is about fear, another timely topic that Rachelle dealt with masterfully.

And of course I’m now antsy for the release of The Returning.

12 beta chapters
On supper breaks I had some time to read more of Emily’s The City and the Trees, which I aim to finish soon!

And so it’s no surprise I wrote piddly beans this month.

I finished the 100-for-100 challenge . . . and proceeded to not write a single word afterwards. Yup, I produced a grand total of 1,239 words in September. Knowing that I’m capable of creating ten times that in the same timespan needles me a little, but I also know that I needed the break to recover from challenge burnout and acclimatize to a new life schedule.

Maybe I can manage to write a little more in October?

Oh, and hey, if you missed it: I interviewed Christine Smith about her writing life, and she interviewed me!

Subplots of character growth

It’s been an intense month, but in a pretty good way. I’m being stretched, which isn’t always easy, but I prefer this over plateauing! It’s like those training periods in so many fantasy character arcs. Learning, growing, being challenged. Filling my toolbox with things I’ll need for the future. Because of all this thinking, I feel some blog post topics stewing in my brain, so I may plunge deep without warning this month. Is that good with you? (I know it is.)

So tell me of your own autumn quests! Any good novels you’ve read? Is the weather crisp and lovely where you are, or still swelteringly summery? How are your pursuits going, academic or otherwise?

This song has been in my head since I took a glorious walk this afternoon. ^_^

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Subplots and Storylines – August 2016

Tracey Dyck 32 Comments

August passed along much like the rest of this summer: ebbing and flowing with garden work/housework/real work and periods of rest . . . of ice cream and thunderstorms and hanging out doing nothing. I had almost a week off at the beginning of the month, which was great for catching up on things that had piled up (like my inbox. which is piling up again. such is life.) and enjoying a more relaxed pace of life.

My sisters and I had a “sleepover” together like we used to do, squeezing an extra mattress onto the floor, spending exclusive time together, giggling, and watching YouTube videos.

I went swimming twice (summer goals!) and came home the first time with a brilliant red sunburn. It took a week for the sting to fade, after which time I peeled like a banana. Ick. But worth it!

I filmed my first vlog and had a blast doing it. Once the technical difficulties were dealt with, I mean. You got to hear my Canadian accent (apparently I say ‘tag’ differently?), and we all got to feel like we were having a lovely conversation.

My cousin got married at an outdoor wedding with the most perfect weather.

I’ve been missing my car half this month, because it’s in the shop getting a rusty fender replaced. So it’s been back to the old vehicle shuffle lately, in order to get four people to work with one less car.

My sisters went to camp for a week and had a blast, thank you for asking, though the house was so quiet in their absence. To fill the time, we powered through a ton of gardening tasks. Apples. Salsa sauce. Beans. Corn.

There was also some spontaneous friend things–long walks and tea and playing Carcassone for the first time (which I lost). I discovered the yumminess that is Spice Dragon Red Chai. It has a cinnamon-y flavor and an awesome name, so it’s a win-win.

Watching

I watched more of The Flash (season 1) and Once Upon a Time (season 4). Both are excellent, and both have had very exciting developments lately.

Mockingjay Part 2 – I watched it twice, first with my dad and later with my brother. So good! It’s not a happy movie at all, but it provided a satisfying conclusion to the series, and it ripped my heart out once or twice along the way. If you’ve watched it, you’ll know exactly which scenes I’m talking about! Also, I’m continually impressed with how Jennifer Lawrence brings Katniss to the screen. She manages to convey so much depth and inner conflict and pain. The first time I watched this final movie, the pacing of the ending felt a bit off to me. But the second go-round, it was perfect.

Kung Fu Panda 3 – Probably the best of the three so far. I was tired when I watched it, so in a way it was still kind of “meh,” but the music was great and I do have to admit the movie improved over its predecessors. There were some funny moments too. (But seriously, how epic is THIS theme?)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Okay, confession: this was my very first Star Wars film. Ever. My brother had to pause it several times to explain things to me. I do know some Star Wars background–it’s kind of hard not to pick up on a few things–but stuff about the different sides and who was fighting for whom took a little brain work. All that aside, I quite enjoyed it! Han Solo and Chewie are hilarious together, and I loved Rey and Finn. Rey in particular manages to pull off that overly-hyped “strong female protagonist” thing while still retaining a feminine side.

Reading



34 beta chapters – I finished Christine Smith’s Burning Thorns (ahhhh, so gorgeous and heartrending!) and reached the halfway point of Emily’s The City and the Trees (poetic writing and a main character who shares part of a brain with me!).

The Realms Thereunder // Ross Lawhead
I was excited to read this because a) I own the sequel and it looks good, and b) the author is Stephen R. Lawhead’s son. Unfortunately, the book didn’t deliver quite what I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong, the concept was awesome–two young adults who discovered an underground kingdom as children, and are now dealing with life, either fighting monsters or trying to forget that ever happened. I just struggled to connect to the story on an emotional level, which kind of detracted from the plot.

There are two main storylines going on: Daniel and Freya as children in the underground city called Nidergeard, and Daniel and Freya as adults. A subplot deals with a mysterious guy tracking monsters and such in rural Scotland. I liked the grown up side (some elements reminded me of my own WIP), but then Freya’s parts grew dry and confusing. It was for a good reason, I found out later on, but while it was happening I skimmed a bit. Daniel’s parts were cool as he fell into Elfland and learned the peculiar rules of a magical forest . . . but then he randomly spends days and days with this coal-maker and not much happens until Daniel makes another move toward his goal of getting back home.

I expected to love the childhood half of the story because, come on, discovering another world beneath our own? Monsters? A quest? Unfortunately, I felt somewhat distanced from the characters, so it fell a little flat and seemed to wander.

The Scotland subplot was great, and I think it’ll feature more in book 2. The appearance of a dragon made me happy!

Overall, I’m just not sure what to think of this book. I really like the concept, but it was executed in a way that didn’t click with me. It could very well be a “it’s not me, it’s you” kind of thing. 3 1/2 stars? I’ll definitely still read the sequel.

The Runaway King // Jennifer A. Nielsen
It’s been a year since I read the first book, so it took me several chapters to remember things and get re-immersed in the events of the story, but once I did, this was a really fun book. Not quite as unpredictable as the first book (which was one of The False Prince‘s greatest strengths), but still twisty and cool. I really can’t say much about the plot because that would spoil the first novel, but there are pirates involved. And moral dilemmas. And cleverness. By the end, I was very much rooting for the main character! Five stars.

Peter Pan // J.M. Barrie

Such a delightful little book! I wish I had read it during my childhood, so that I would have lots of fond memories attached to it. Just as whimsical and funny and heartfelt as I expected, this book told a great story on the surface, but also had some profound observations on childhood to share.
When my sisters asked who my favorite character was, and if it changed at all during the course of the book, my answer was “Peter Pan” the whole time. He’s so charming and fickle and full of himself! He makes things up, he forgets everything, he’s vicious, he’s clever, and deep down he really does love Wendy and the Lost Boys (of which Tootles is my favorite).
And the writing style was such fun to read. It reminded me so much of my own childhood make-believe. Five stars!
Started reading Five Enchanted Roses
I’ve read the first four novellas so far, and have just started the fifth. I’m tempted to talk about all the stories now, but I’ll wait for the next S&S post. Actually, I just may post a book review sometime this month . . . For now, I’ll say that this is a beautiful collection!

Writing

I did session 10 of The Creative Way. This one was on device, which covered setting, storyworld, and genre all at once, describing it as the candy of the story. Very entertaining and informative. I also re-listened to session 1 with my mom and brother whilst cutting up peppers for salsa. It was cool to hear the intro again now that I’m partway through the course.

As for actual writing, my word count was down a bit this month: 8,025 words added to The Prophet’s Key. The end of the 100 for 100 challenge looms near, and I’m feeling a tad burnt out, to be honest. The last full week of August was my lowest weekly word count yet for this summer. I’m not too worried about that. Once the challenge is over and I’m in college, I’ll be writing less, which may mean that when I do write, I’ll be more inspired. Hopefully. Whatever the case, a break will be good. And sometimes you just have to keep marching on even when the words are bland. (Which is crazy because I’m currently writing an epic chase scene.)

Random writing observation . . . I think I’ve fooled myself about my writing style. In The Brightest Thread, I let myself be lyrical and imaginative–very fairytale-esque. But when I returned to my Journeys books, I felt that the style of that series was less pretty, more functional. And so as I’ve been drafting TPK, I haven’t done much in the way of imaginative description, and I think that may be one reason I’ve been having a harder time with this draft. I’ve been restricting myself.

Looking back on book 1, The Prophet’s Quest, I recently realized that I actually did write it with color and verve. Not in the same way as TBT, and not to the same extent, but it was still there. So perhaps I need to unlock that side of myself next time I sit down to work on TPK.

*random rabbit trail is over*

Oh yes, and I did some serious thinking over the last month or so in regards to publishing plans!

Farewell to August, bring on September!

It’s funny to think of August as the calm before the storm of college, because it certainly was busy in its own right. But September promises to be a whole new flavor of busy. I’m looking forward to the change of pace, to the beginning of a year of personal growth and new opportunities. Next time you hear from me, I’ll have three college days under my belt! I may re-evaluate my blogging schedule this month, depending on how it goes, but I do hope to keep posting here every week.

How was your August? Isn’t it sad that summer is coming to a close? Are you headed back to school of some sort? Any 100-for-100 writers out there–how goes the war? Pull up a log and sit ’round the fire, folks. Pass around the hot dogs and roasting sticks. (Having a bonfire seems like an end-of-summer thing to do, right? Now I’m making myself hungry . . .)

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Subplots and Storylines – July 2016

Tracey Dyck 23 Comments

July hummed and whirred with activity, a month sandwiched between the freshness of June and the heat of August. This midsummer season was brimming with all things alive . . . Watching Canda Day fireworks while slapping mosquitos, savoring the sweetness of just-picked raspberries, shelling peas until my fingers turn green, turning off the lights to better see the lightning forking across the sky, biking to the gas station where my brother works and getting blueberry swirl ice cream. This is full-blown summer, you guys.

Some notable threads weaving throughout July . . .

My sisters did two weeks of dog-sitting again, and I joined them a few times to play with little Mocha, a Pomeranian-Yorkie mix who’s always beside herself with excitement every time we show up.

My mom and sisters and I spent a day shopping in the city, during which time I let myself splurge a little on some clearance sweaters (fall is coming, unfortunately, and I won’t say no to new college clothes), a Ranger’s Apprentice book, some odds and ends, and two soundtracks (How to Train Your Dragon and Battle of the Five Armies EDIT: I meant to say An Unexpected Journey).

Work was full, and I opened and closed by myself several times. Opening is my favorite.

Our family garden’s pea season began late, and the bean season started early, so the two collided and we had to pick both on the same day several times. The beans have been especially prolific this summer.

I got to spend a great day with a friend who’ll be leaving soon for her second year of university several provinces away.

An aunt and uncle visited from the States, which was quite fun.

Last weekend, I felt a bit like a kid again. A watergun fight with the siblings, ridiculous jokes, parks, bike rides, and a library trip will do that to ya!

Read

Raising Dragons Graphic Novel by James Art Ville and Bryan Davis

After the monstrous length of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I needed something breezy. This seemed like a great choice. Being one of the Kickstarter supporters back when they were raising funds for this project, it was super cool and nostalgic to see the fruit of Mr. Ville’s labor. He did a great job reimagining Raising Dragons! I’m especially pleased with how Bonnie turned out. The story felt abbreviated, of course, because a 300+ page book needed to be shrunk down to 150 pages of pictures and dialogue bubbles, but it retained much of the heart of this beloved story. (And now I want James Ville to illustrate the rest of the books!)

The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead

OH MY TEA. THIS BOOK. I’ve been loving the Bright Empires series, and this, the fourth instalment, really really really raised the stakes. I’m talking “the universe will be in big, bad trouble if you don’t do something” stakes. As one of the characters said, “Cataclysm does not seem a large enough word to describe it.”

The book started a little slow, with quite a bit of recapping–which wasn’t all bad, since it’s been about a year since I read book 3–but once the crew gets together . . . things happen. Chapter 19 in particular marked the place where the plot started blowing my mind. One thing I love about this series is how Lawhead takes things from real life–science, theories, ancient history, geographical landmarks, etc.–and blends it almost seamlessly with the story. You’re not always sure where fact ends and fiction begins, and I love that.

Also I’m very much shipping two particular characters.

And I need book 5, The Fatal Tree, right this minute.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Just like Cinder, I often caught myself composing a list of fangirly comments in my head the way I do when I beta read my friends’ stories . . . and then remembering, “Oh wait, this is published and I don’t actually know the author.” There must be something about the hilarious and feelsy character interactions that reminds me of my writer friends.

Anyway, I liked the first book more, and prefer Cinder and Kai’s romance over Scarlet and Wolf’s. I’m just not an insta-love sort of person. Scarlet goes from pointing a gun at his head with the purpose to kill, to kissing him and trusting him with everything–in one day. Just one day. She is hotheaded and brash, I get that, but come on. This guy should not be trusted so quickly. That being said, Wolf has some adorable ticks like scratching behind his ear, and his fascination with tomatoes is also cute.

I guess I just identify more with Cinder, who’s more practical and logical. (I do feel deeply, but I have more restraint than Scarlet, and almost never throw myself headfirst into something without thinking it through first.) So I loved the parts with her and Thorne (THORNNNNE!). And Kai just needs a hug right now.

Beta Reading

Perhaps one reason my reading levels were down again this month is because I devoted more time to reading and responding to the chapters my friends have sent me. Knowing my inbox is swollen with beta stuff but not knowing exactly how much, I sat down to actually count them at the beginning of the month.

Seventy-plus chapters, guys.

Some are from months and months ago. WHAT. It has been decided that I need to catch up before college, and after that beta reading will be have to be rather infrequent for a while, I’m sad to say.

But! I devoured 22 beta chapters this month, including a novella retelling of Sleeping Beauty (yes, one of the entrants from last year’s Rooglewood contest), a couple short stories, miscellaneous bits of novels, and a chunk of another friend’s Beauty and the Beast novel. Lots of awesome story-ness all around!

Watched



The Return of the King

My brother and I absolutely loved it! And I cried again, more than once. I’m sitting here now, trying to come up with words to describe my reaction to this movie, and I’m almost at a loss. I must have used up all my words in my last post. TRotK was epic in every sense of the word, and seeing everything culminate in that huge, amazing ending was incredible. (With a goodly dose of bittersweetness as well, as the ship leaves for the Undying Lands and takes certain characters with it.) Oh, and Eowyn is now one of my favorite heroines!

Once Upon a Time (part of Season 4)

My sisters and I are about halfway through the season now, and we’re really enjoying it. I’ve decided the Frozen elements do integrate well (and Anna is the sweetest person); I strongly dislike the Snow Queen but loved the climax of her part in the story; and the Charming family is my favorite thing ever.

The Flash (first three episodes of Season 1)

So I started watching this with my brother, and it’s pretty great! I love Barry/Flash–his character is so earnest and warmhearted and down-to-earth. His relationship with his father is so good to see. A number of secondary characters are worming their way into my heart as well, and the motley villains are intriguing. I think this’ll be a fun ride.

Wrote

I finished the workbook stuff from session 8 of The Creative Way (the writing course by Ted Dekker that I’m taking) and also did session 9. Progress is sporadic, obviously, but still happening.

Another sort-of-writing-related thing was the Silmarillion Awards that took place this month! Narnia really stole the show this year, didn’t it? I had loads of fun hosting the Riddling and Poetry award, which culminated recently with Bilbo presenting the Silmaril to the Sorting Hat, and later on, me gushing about Tolkien and how much the books mean to me. Many thanks to Jenelle Schmidt and DJ Edwardson for coming up with this marvellous idea, and for inviting me to join them!

What I did on my actual WIP, The Prophet’s Key–that willful child made of rough edges and elusive magic, which I’m trying to capture–is write 11,399 words. A great month for me, considering work and whatnot! I finished drafting the Scotland scenes (sniffle . . . goodbye, Highlands–see you in editing. . .) and have just split up the crew, sending one half gallivanting to Australia and the other to Moscow, Russia. Hooray for writing about places I’ve never been to! And for tiring of research and then proceeding to write without gathering facts first! I will have plenty to shape up during editing, and that’s putting it kindly.

But I’m getting a teensy tiny bit better at loosening up and just focusing on getting the story out. Details can be fixed later. That’s the beauty of revisions. (#messyfirstdraft) I’m also happily suffering from bouts of wanderlust when I do research places. I honestly thought I’d never want to visit Russia. My mind has changed.

Also on the writing front, I’ve been reconsidering publishing tactics this month. But until I’ve sorted it out for myself (aka spent half a dozen pages journaling about it), I won’t say much more here. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be cruelly mysterious! Just wanted to record the fact that these thoughts arrived in July 2016. Once they take a firmer shape, I’ll explain myself more clearly. Promise.

That was July!

Full of green, growing things; a celebration of fantasy and Tolkien; books; and learning to write more freely. And I’m breathing a great sigh of relief, because I’m taking almost a week off now to kick back and unwind! I hope to get in some bigger writing days, catch up on more beta reading, and enjoy a more fluid schedule that allows time for little things like journaling or sketching or coloring or falling into a book for a few hours.

Keep a watchful eye on Adventure Awaits during August, as I have a couple of special things planned! One is something I’ve never done before, and the other involves another blogger. (Aren’t I such a tease?)

So how was your July? (Can you believe it’s August already? August. How in the world . . .) Did you enjoy the Silmarillion Awards? What’s one of the best books you’ve read this summer? Have a glass of lemonade and share the summery stuff going on in your world!

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Subplots and Storylines – June 2016

Tracey Dyck 27 Comments

I’m pretty sure I just wrote one of these S&S posts last week, yet here I am writing another one. I’m really not sure where June went. Presumably to that land shrouded in mist and starlight, that land to which all days and weeks and months must travel eventually . . . a land from which there is no return. The Land of Yesterdays.

*cue eerie music*

But before June slipped away to that scary place, it offered a joyful fruit salad of summer happiness. (Fruit salad? I have no idea what I’m talking about. I shouldn’t write things when I’m overtired.)

June was a month of  little family get-togethers, ice cream, barbecues, bike rides, and sun tanning. Rain made a regular appearance in between warm, muggy afternoons. One day we went to the local fair type thing . . . I went on only two rides: one I loved and one which my stomach regretted afterwards.

A bit of romance appeared in the form of a cousin’s bridal shower and a friend’s wedding (the friend for whom I helped fold origami flowers, if you recall).

I helped chaperone my siblings’ youth event, an Amazing Race-style game across town. It made me feel old, I tell ya, having all these kiddos yammering in the backseat of my vehicle. The event was pretty fun, though, and I was sorely tempted to compete with the youth in our last stop, the shoot-three-balloons-with-a-pellet-gun stage.

I took a first aid class (required for my new position at work). I hope I never have to use these skills, but it’s good to know them just in case.

My brother graduated high school, so of course we threw a party for him. He MC’d it himself–needless to say, I laughed till I cried. He’s now working at his first job, and I’m so proud of him.

Earlier in the month–I know I’m all over the place here, but bear with me–he and I had our college interviews . . . and we both got accepted! I don’t think I’ve mentioned much about my fall plans, have I? Here’s the scoop. We’ll be taking a leadership/Bible program together. It offers a really practical, hands-on approach with lots of getting involved in church ministries. The Bible school aspect of it goes side by side with learning leadership: people skills, management, personal growth, building and leading a team, working on projects, etc. I’m going to have a very busy schedule during those nine months, especially since I plan to keep a couple shifts a week at my job, but I have a feeling it will fly by. And honestly, I’m so excited for it!

You can see the paint can picture behind us. 🙂
Another June happening was my friend Kianna’s art gala. (I interviewed her a while back.) It was amazing to see an entire wall of her work displayed at the art center for public enjoyment. Some of the pieces were new ones I hadn’t seen yet. One of my favorite paintings depicted a bunch of paint cans, with girls made of paint leaping out in joyous splashes.

Movies & TV

My sisters and I began Once Upon a Time season 4–we’ve seen the first five episodes so far. I wasn’t too sure about the Frozen elements at first, but I’m getting used to it, and there are plenty of other awesome (or terrible, depending on how you look at it) things happening too. And a certain new character’s charm/lack of manners/apparent lack of intelligence is providing amusement.

The only other thing I watched this month was Zootopia, and I. LOVED. IT. It’s always great when you can appreciate a story on almost every level–the storytelling, the plot, the characters, the music, the humor, etc. This was one of those. The only downsides were a smattering of mild language, a naturalists club in which the animals run around in natural form (as in without clothing–it was kinda funny, but might be bothersome for some viewers), and you could interpret the movie’s message as one of tolerance/just-embrace-everything-because-it’s-okay. I choose to see the positive spin of the message, so all in all, I really enjoyed the movie. And I loved how Judy Hopps was voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin. I could totally picture Once Upon a Time’s Snow White saying some of her lines. Oh oh, and Nick Wilde was the BEST and totally reminded me of the fox version of Robin Hood. If you haven’t watched Zootopia yet, go see it.


Books

Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz // Book 3 in the Alex Rider series.

Even Alex admits in this book that he’s like a fourteen-year-old James Bond, and that’s a pretty accurate description of this series so far. (I haven’t watched James Bond, but hush.) MI6 keeps forcing Alex into dangerous missions, he gets a new set of gadgets with each book (like chewing gum that expands so you can use it to bust a lock, or a GameBoy that’s really a bomb), and he performs outlandish stunts at every turn. It’s like one of those summer flicks that you just watch for fun, not expecting much depth or realism. That being said, this book was a definite improvement over the first two, and seemed to break away a bit from the previous plot formulas.

Fresh strawberries and ice cream paired with the final chapters of a
beloved book. ALL THE HAPPY.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke // an amazing book of epic, 1,006-page proportions.

This took me three weeks to read, and I finished last night, reading the final chapters as fast as I could to see how it would all end. It’s obviously a very long book, but like one of the reviews printed at the beginning of it said, it doesn’t feel long. Somehow, almost every scene manages to be interesting and engaging. The character development is seriously top-notch, and I looked up halfway through the book to realize that I love a number of characters, but all of them are very flawed and not immediately likable. Norrell and Strange are both arrogant, but Norrell is fearful while Strange is reckless. I’d list some secondary characters too, but it’s best you discover them for yourselves.

The novel takes place in 1800’s England, during the Napoleonic Wars. Magic is long dead, reduced to the arguments of theoretical magicians who do nothing but study magical texts. And then Mr. Norrell comes along with ambitions of reviving true, practical English magic. Throw in some advisors who are about as useful as a broken foot, a new pupil in the form of Mr. Strange, and the story is well on its merry way.

Things take a much darker turn around part two as Faerie elements weave their way in. Let me tell you, the villain is someone you will desperately want to throttle. And magic, as the magicians discover, is far more dangerous than they ever knew.

That’s all I shall say on the plot front, folks. Can’t have any spoilers! I still don’t know how I feel about the ending, though . . . It was good. It was bittersweet. It was probably the best ending JS&MN could’ve had, and it fit the overall tone of the book. (I sound like I don’t like it, which is untrue. I’m just processing everything. When it takes you this long to recover from a book, you know it left an impact.)

Oh, before I move on: CHILDERMASS IS AWESOME. If you’ve read the book, you probably know why I like him.

Thanks to Sarah for speaking so highly of this book that I picked it up at a secondhand book faire, and to Deborah for flailing with me about it as I read it!

Writing & Blogging

It’s been a productive month, thanks to the 100-for-100 challenge held by Go Teen Writers. I’m in such a research-heavy portion of The Prophet’s Key that if it weren’t for the daily goal of putting in at least 100 words, I would probably have fallen into the quagmire of procrastination and slow progress commonly associated (at least for me!) with research. I set an alarm on my phone to go off at 8 pm every day as a reminder to write those words. Most days I hadn’t written anything yet when the alarm went off. Some nights found me in my PJ’s, spending five minutes pumping out a couple new paragraphs just to meet the goal before bed. But so far I haven’t missed a day (except for a couple of grace days–I’m allowed one per week.)

So. I wrote 12,085 words this month. Yay! On top of that, I researched British Columbia, Beaver planes, transatlantic flights, and Scotland. I’m by no means done with any of those topics, but I’ve acquired enough knowledge to actually be able to write this part of the first draft and feel like I have a slight inkling of what’s going on. Come editing time, I’ll be researching all over again to verify facts and flesh things out.

I was able to speak to a pilot friend of ours to get some tips on what could go wrong with a Beaver plane (yayyy for putting obstacles in front of your characters!). And I’m currently going back and forth with the lovely writer/blogger Emily about Scotland. She lives there, and was very willing to help me out with researching her beautiful country. (Thanks again, Em!)

I also made the decision to cut a character. Completely. It was a hard choice, especially since this guy has been around since the original draft from four years ago. But I’ve been struggling to juggle the larger-than-I’m-used-to cast, and it’s just going to get bigger as the story goes on. I realized that my pilot Rex Nelson, whom I have never introduced to you guys, was not truly necessary, so I’ll be assimilating the important parts of him into other people. Mr. Hawkins will get a pilot’s license and outdoorsman skills. An injury that happens to Mr. Hawkins will now actually happen to Aileen. A potential romantic thread I’d been planning for Rex will be given to a different side character from book 1. Rex’s epic character arc will be integrated into that of the aforementioned side character. Etc.

That last bit about the character arc . . . Well, I had finally made up my mind to cut Rex, and then in a flash I remembered what I had planned for him in future books. “Oh no. Now what?? I have all these solid reasons why it’s a good idea to get rid of Rex, but there’s THAT big, important thing that’s supposed to happen to him.” After a fevered brainstorming session, I got it sorted out by adjusting another character’s development, and voila. Problem solved.

A month or two ago, I also decided to cut out two of Josiah’s three siblings. I don’t think I’ve mentioned them much on here either, so this probably isn’t a big deal to you, but Tiffany and Zach are being taken out. His littlest sister Karilee is staying. I realized that Tiff and Zach served little to no purpose besides giving Josiah another sister and a brother for him to interact with. And I think I originally wanted to have a family of six to mimic my own family, but that’s not a good enough reason to keep extra fluff in a story. Especially when, again, a large cast is becoming a problem. So . . . bye, Tiff. Bye, Zach. I hope you two and Rex will recycle yourselves into some other story one day.

Mind you, all these changes are just in my head. I haven’t mapped everything out on paper at this point. And I’m even charging ahead with my current draft without stopping to write Rex, Tiff, and Zach out of the story. I’ll fix it in edits. This charge ahead approach is something the old me would definitely not have done.

In the midst of all that, I somehow neglected to do much on my writing course, The Creative Way. I listened to one audio session, but still haven’t done all the workbook questions for it. Oops. Thankfully this is something I can take at my own pace; there are no time constraints or deadlines. Still, I’d like to be more involved with it next month.

On the blogging side of things, the biggest thing is the Silmarillion Awards! Nominations are still open today and tomorrow (I told you wrong in my last post when I said that June 30th was the last day–ignore that), and soon afterwards the voting period will begin. So if you haven’t yet made the rounds to all ten blogs yet, better hustle before July 1st ends! The best fantasy characters and items need your support to make it to the next round. I myself am planning to make one last pass through all the posts, just in case I’ve forgotten anything.

And that was my June fruit salad.

It was all strawberries of summertime, raspberries of other people’s romance, apples of fun events, bananas of books, and orange slices of writing. (. . . don’t even ask because I don’t even know . . .) Art and magicians and characters getting the axe and anthropomorphic animals and fantasy awards, oh my! Anyway, ’twas a yummy mix, though I’m developing a hankering for a week of holiday-ish nothing so I can relax.

Tell me now, how was your month? And because I seem fixated on fruit today, what’s your favorite? Have you ever had to cut characters out of your story? Have you seen Zootopia? Read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell? Been on an amusement park ride that didn’t sit well with you? TELL ME ALL.

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