New Year's Resolutions and More

I have rarely followed up on any of my New Year's resolutions, but every year I make them. This year I intend to keep at least some of them and I strongly believe that I can do it!


1. Get 10 followers on this blog.

2. Write the first draft of The Boy with the Ukulele 

3. Revise The Boy with the Ukulele 

4. Read 50 books

5. Participate, regularly, in blogger tags and such

6. Read the Bible daily


Because this post is so short, I will share pictures of my characters from The Boy with the Ukulele. In a future post I will share a little bit about them, but for now here is what they look like:

Corin (Ever) Edwards 

 

Henry (Fynn) Laramie 

(This is not exactly how I want Fynn to look, but it is the closest likeness to my idea  of him) 

Emmy Edwards (age 5) 

Salina Edwards (age 8)

Tyler Edwards (age six) 

There will be more characters in the future, but these are all of the ones that I have pictures for right now. Until I see you again, Happy New Year's and have a wonderful, joy-filled life! 

Favorite Books Of 2015

Merry Christmas! I hope your Christmas was as fun, relaxing and happy as mine was.

Today, because it is so close to the end of 2015, I'm going to share my top four books of the year. I wish I had more, but I've only read about 33 books this year so my top four (in no particular order) it is! 

 Corral Nocturne by Elisabeth Grace Foley 

I love Elisabeth's writing style, and I think Corral Nocturne really showcases it. It was beautifully written, the characters were full of life and humor and, honestly, reading this book was like reading the work of a friend. 

It is centered around a Cinderella plot, but is set on a ranch in the late 1890s or early 1900s. It's a plot that has been done many times, but never like this. If you like a good Cinderella story, historical fiction novella or romance then you should really check this little book out: Goodreads and Amazon. 

Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott 

I really loved this book when I read it back in March, but I cannot remember what happened, so here is my review from Goodreads of the book:

This was a lovely book. I don't know how to write a review that will do it justice. The characters were fresh and original. I loved how distinctly different all of the cousins were.

Archie - I loved Archie for his gentle-manliness, his loyalty and how he has this deep sense of right and wrong. My favorite part about his character is how remorseful he feels when he's done something wrong. It is so touching, and somehow even when he is a bit preachy I don't mind, because I love him so much! 

Charlie (Prince)- Now, Charlie is a character that I didn't love as much at the beginning. He bothered me, because of how he really can't seem to get it into his head that Rose wants to be respected and not treated like a child. Even after everyone else has gotten it, he doesn't and that really, really bothers me. He's so proud and his character just rubs me the wrong way. I am glad that towards the end he begins to change. It really makes me look at him differently and with a new respect. He does care for Rose quite deeply, and that stopped me from completely hating him. He has a long way to go to win my favor, but if he continues to improve then we might get along. ;)

Mac - At the beginning of the story you really don't know "The Worm" very well. He's a shy, quiet bookworm who is always reading. He's like myself, not really someone that you want to read about unless you know their private world, problems and passions. In chapter eleven you really get to know Mac in the best way possible. I love how the author wove him into the book. I loved it. I love how Rose really gets to know Mac over the next few chapters. He's a true gentleman and he grows from an irresponsible little boy into a respectable and altogether lovable young man. I think his relationship with Rose is the closest. It is so obvious that he cares for her. I love Mac. A lot.

Steve - You really don't get to know Steve very much except that he is quite proud of his top-knot and is not quite as gentlemanly as the rest. He is young, and has time to grow. I am excited to see who he grows into in the next book.

Will and Geordie - These two characters are younger. You don't get to know them quite as well, but somehow they seem more like gentleman than Steve. 

Jamie - Jamie is so cute and lovable and...cute! I just want to squeeze him!

Rose- Rose is the main character. It's hard not to love her right from the beginning, because there's something so charming about her. She so cute and earnest and she is always striving to be good. I love that about her. I know that she will grow into a charming young woman. She does strive to be good, but is not perfect by any means. She is a little vain, but that makes her even more charming to me, because I do not like characters who are perfect. They make me sick. Rose is always learning, even up to the last chapter which I absolutely love. Her character is so defined that by the end you love her no matter how preachy she is.

That being said...the book is quite preachy. It doesn't bother me all the time, but sometimes it becomes too much and I feel that I would like more old-fashioned fun and less (very)  old-fashioned morals. Some of the lessons that Dr. Alec teaches Rose for instance are a little old-fashioned and make me quite crazy. However, the preachiness of the book didn't bother me too much, because some of them were very good lessons that made me smile.

Taking everything into consideration, this book is sweeter than sugar without becoming too cheesy. It's a lovely little book, written by a lovely author.   

I also read the sequel Rose in Bloom which I also really enjoyed, You can find out more about Eight Cousins at Goodreads and Amazon.

The Penderwicks in Spring By Jeanne Birdsall 

     

This book...is a work of art and another delightful piece in the puzzle that is the Penderwick series. If you haven't read the first three books already then I demand that you do that right now, because they are my favorite books in the whole...entire...world and that is saying a lot. 

The newest installment in the Penderwick series is just as beautiful as the first three. The characters are all grown up now, even little Batty seems grown up. It makes me sad that I don't know every little detail of the years that went by, but not very sad, because I love this book so much. I thought that because the characters were so much older that I wouldn't have that same connection with them, but now that they're my age, I feel that I have even more of a connection with them than in the last book. Skye is older, but hasn't changed much. Jane is older and has changed a little bit. Rosy is the older sister that I wish I could be. Batty is...Batty. She's grown up into a funny kid with a character all of her own. I love her now, more than I ever could have in the previous books. Ben is darling and Lydia is so cute. Jeffrey, what can I say...he's grown up and that makes me both sad and happy. But mostly happy, because he is amazing and I love him. He's grown up into the young man that I knew he would be I'm so proud ;). He loves his music as much as ever and, guess what, he loves Skye as much as ever. 

All-in-all, I think this book is pretty amazing. Jeanne Birdsall has a beautiful writing style that never fails to put me in my happy place. :) These books are so real to me that I feel like i'm good friends with all of the characters. If you need a book that will make you cry, laugh and feel like you're walking though a never-ending field of wildflowers on a warm, spring day, then this is the book for you. I love it. Immensely. Goodreads  and Amazon.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 

This is another amazing book about one girl's love of reading and finding hope in the darkest of times and places. The way it was written is so different from anything that I've ever read before that I was instantly drawn in by the creativity of it. Even though it sounds strange, a book that is narrated by death can actually work but only if it is written as well as this book is. 

It's not only the writing style which I thoroughly enjoyed, but the beautiful characters. They were all flawed, completely imperfect human beings. Some of them I wanted to hate, but somehow I couldn't because they were beautiful in their own way. This is the summary from Goodreads: 

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

It is a beautiful story that made me laugh, cry and inspired me to write. Goodreads and Amazon


Those were my top four books of 2015! I also enjoyed many of the other books that I read this year, here are a few of them:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince 
To Kill a Mockingbird  
Rose in Bloom 
Moods 


~ Claire 

A Few of My Favorite Things

One of the hardest things that I've had to deal with in the process of beginning a blog is knowing what to write about. There are a lot of things that need to get done before Christmas and so I didn't have much time to put this post together. As a result of that I also couldn't think of anything to write, so I wrote this post. It's basically a big list of all of the different things that I enjoy doing.

Music 

1. Twenty One Pilots is a band that I discovered while at church camp this past summer. The first time I heard one of their songs, which was an interesting mixture of a bunch of different genres, I was drawn to it. While I was at camp that week, I heard a lot of their songs being played and I grew very interested in the band.

When I got back from camp I searched for Twenty One Pilots on YouTube and found that they had released three albums (actually they have released four, but the fourth one is no longer being sold). I absolutely love their sound which is different from anything I've ever heard before, and the message behind the lyrics in their music are insightful and layered. Whenever I listen to one of their songs I learn something new from the lyrics or I realize that the whole song is a metaphor for something else. Twenty One Pilots is a band that I would highly recommend. They have really made me think about not only music in a different way, but life. You can find them on YouTube here.

2. Coldplay is another band that I really enjoy. I've been listening to Coldplay since I was eight years old when I listened to the song 42 on my dad's Ipod. I instantly fell in love with their sound. Since that time I have obtained every album they have ever released and listened to every b-side on YouTube. I think one of things I love most about Coldplay is that I have known about them for so long and can associate each of their albums to a different time in my life (For instance I will never separate X & Y from refrigerator shopping) and that's really special to me. Plus, they write great music. :)

3. Other:  I also love a lot of classical music, especially waltzes (The Emperor Waltz, Blue Danube Waltz, The Sleeping Beauty Waltz), piano solos (Erik Satie, Clair De Lune, The Seasons, For Piano) and film scores (Ratatouille, Up, Harry Potter, Finding Nemo among others).
(Here are some other artists I enjoy and listen to a lot: John Mark McMillan, Adrian Von Ziegler, Switchfoot)

YouTube 

1. Blimey Cow is a YouTube channel created two brother ins Nashville, Josh and Jordan Taylor. It is produced by and stars the brothers and Josh's wife Kelli. Wikipedia describes the channel well:

The channel usually targets the idiosyncrasies of conservative Christianity, church, family, and romantic relationships.

That description pretty much sums up Blimey Cow. Their videos are hilariously sarcastic and I have really learned a lot from their videos. I appreciate what they're trying to do, especially because they do it well. You can find the channel here.


2. Katie Gregoire is another YouTuber who has taught me a lot. She's a warm, funny, silly college student who loves Jesus. I actually first heard about Blimey Cow through her. You can find her channel here.

(Other Youtubers I enjoy: Say Goodnight Kevin, Kid Snippets, Gabe Miller Music)

Those are a few of my favorite things. I hope you enjoyed them! I'll probably do another post on just my favorite books in a future post. Announcement: I will not be posting Christmas Week (but I might post something on Christmas for fun.) and possibly the week after. I'll keep you all posted. Merry Christmas! 

The Pre-Writing Process

Ah, pre-writing. That weird stage in a novel's construction where no actual writing takes place. Pre-writing my newest novel over the past few days (the Pinterest inspiration board for which can be found here) has been really fun. I love getting to know my characters better, structuring my plot and researching. Here are the three steps I took while pre-writing my novel: 

1. The Idea: The first step in pre-writing has to be an idea. It can be small or it can be close to a full plot. My idea began when I met my main character, standing in the backyard of an abandoned farmhouse and wrapped in a huge sweatshirt. 

2. The Characters: Once the idea presents itself, it's time to meet the characters. Sometimes I think of them before their story shows up, but usually I think of an idea first. When the characters do show up I slowly begin to discover who they are by writing a few "chapters" to get to know them. These chapters contain my characters getting to know one another, thereby letting me get to know them. These chapters are rarely keepers, but they help me get a grasp on my idea and my characters at the same time. 

3. The Plot: When I know the everything about my characters from their backstory to how they respond to change, I know it's time to plot. This stage takes a while. For the book I'm working on now, I  waited for a week before several ideas for an idea or two to present themselves. When I have enough information, I create my plot. Here is an example of how I plot. 

a. Begininng

i. The girls meet each other 

ii. The girls talk to each other

iii. The girls buy ice cream 

b. Middle 

i. The ice cream is stolen

ii. The girls run after the thief, but lose him

iii. The girls report the crime and the police laugh at them

iv. The girls track down the thief themselves 

c. The End

i. They find the thief 

ii. They confront the thief and see that he is giving the ice cream to his sick dog

iii. The girls forgive the man 

iv. The girls buy more ice cream for the dog 

4. Subplotting: After working out the main plot, I go back and add in the subplot(s) usually in a different color. It's probably the most fun part. I love to come up with little subplots. They're so much fun.   

a. Begininng

i. The girls meet each other 

ii. They help a lady walk her dog and get money

iii. The girls talk to each other

iv. The girls buy ice cream 

v. While waiting for ice cream, they see a man who is very poor and wants to buy ice cream for his kids. They give him some money. 

b. Middle 

i. The ice cream is stolen

ii. The girls run after the thief, but lose him

iii. The girls report the crime and the police laugh at them 

iv. The girls track down the thief themselves 

c. The End

i. They find the thief 

ii. They confront the thief and see that he is giving the ice cream to his sick dog

iii. The girls forgive the man 

iv. The girls and the man have a bonfire, complete with bluegrass music.

v. The girls buy more ice cream for the dog 

vi. The dog recovers and the girls adopt her babies. 

5. Research: This final stage of pre-writing can take the longest amount of time, or the shortest. Research takes many different forms. For me it looks like a lot of reading long articles about various parts of the U.S.A, getting a small grasp on many different laws and learning as much as possible about ukuleles. However, research could look different if my novel was about a fantasy world. I would have a lot more to do because I'd have to build my world from the ground up. 

That’s the end of my "pre-writing to-do list." I'm currently on the research stage which has been pretty fun so far. I hope to release another post on Thursday. I have Christmas Break for three weeks so I'll be spending more time on this blog. Have a wonderful day every one and happy writing! 

P.S - It's still Monday! 

Writing Resources

Over the few years that I've been writing seriously, I have discovered many resources that have inspired me to write and taught me a lot about my craft. I'm going to share a few of these today. 

Write To Done , Writerology , and She's Novel

These websites are full of super helpful articles about writing, from crafting characters with mental illnesses to articles on pre-writing. These websites have it all. If you're looking for a place to learn I would highly recommend all three of these sites!

The Second Sentence

This is one of the first blogs I stumbled upon while I was looking for articles on writing. It's the blog of Elisabeth Foley. She's a self-published author who writes historical fiction. She has a lot of great information to share about how self-publishing works and other writing related topics. I have really enjoyed reading her blog over the past year. 

Spilling Ink, by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter

A few years back I found this book at the library. I decided to give it a try and instantly fell in love with it. The moment I finished it, I ordered a copy from Amazon and now I read through it at least once a year. I always learn something new from it and it really encourages me to write. This book is basically a how-to-write-a-novel book for kids and it is so cute! The writing styles of these two women perfectly balance each other out and there is so much great information within its pages. It's a goldmine. There are sections on characters, plots, messy first drafts and the writing process. It's a wonderfully written, fun-loving book. I highly recommend it to writer's of all ages.

The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall

 

This book is the reason I wanted to become a writer. Never does a year go by when I don't read through the series. I can't remember a time when I didn't know who Jeffrey Tifton was, or Yaz and Carla. I've grown up with Jane, Skye, Rosalind and Batty and with every book I've grown to love them more. This book is a sweet story about a family's summer vacation and the friends they make there. But how did this book inspire me to become a writer? On the back flap of the book it says:

By the time I was ten or eleven, I'd run out of books to read. Each week I'd go to the library hoping that one of my favorite authors had written something new. Or even better, maybe I'd find a new author who wrote just the kind of books I loved the best. But most weeks I'd have to take home books I'd already read eight, nine or ten times. I promised myself then that I'd become a writer someday, to give readers like me a few more books to disciver and enjoy. 

That story, along with a natural love of books and writing them, began my journey as a writer from stapling together pieces of paper and writing picture books, to writing (or trying) a full novel. 

That's the end of this post! I have decided to change my schedule to Mondays and Thursdays. Those days work much better with my schedule. If you have any books or websites that were helpful to you when you started writing then please comment below. Thank you! 

Writing Projects: Past and Present

\I have a habit of starting way too many projects and never successfully finishing any of them. I did finish a novella two years ago and re-wrote it for NaNoWriMo last year, but that book was a complete fail. The plot was predictable and the characters were flat, on top of it all I just didn't have fun re-writing it. Needless to say, I've let that particular project go. Forever.

Since then I have started many books, all of which have never made it past the fifth chapter. It's not that any of them were any good, but I could never figure out a plot. Last summer (2014) I was going to write one short story per month. It seemed doable and I was really excited about it. I started out in June with an idea that was much too big for a short story and it blew up into a novel which I have never finished. Again, I liked the idea, but I couldn't come up with a plot. Not all of my ideas were good however. The story I wrote during the winter of 13-14 was a terrible idea. It was all about Peter Pan and this girl. It sounded like a good idea, but all I was really doing was writing my own version of the Peter Pan story from Once Upon a Time, which I was really into at the time.

Those projects are all in the past and I will not be reviving any of them. Here’s a list of the projects I'm working on now. There really aren't that many. 

• A four-chapter long contemporary novel. I really love the idea of this novel which I may share in a future post. It's the first idea in a while that I've gotten really excited about.
• Another contemporary. This one I'm writing with my sister. She writes a little bit and then I write a little bit. It's really fun, and based on a story idea from this summer.
• My writing journal. This project will always be on the list because I'm always working on it. After the project I started this summer and never finished, I was done with trying to write novels. I was discouraged by having so many projects and never finishing any of them. So I started a writing journal and began to write short snippets of description, dialogue or ideas in it.  It's really been helpful.

Well, those are my current projects. I'm really excited about all of them! Tell me down below if you liked this post and all about your own projects! Have a nice day. :) 

Currently Reading and To Be Read

So, for my first real post on this writing blog of mine, I'm going to talk about…books. Yes, I know it doesn't really make sense for my first real post, but books have really inspired me to write. Even the books that I don't like, I learn from them. So, really this post is about writing…sort of.

Anyways, this post is about the books in my life, what I'm reading now and what's on my to be read list.

I am currently reading The Clouds by Aristophanes which is, needless to say, a school book (actually a school play).

I am really not enjoying it. I've enjoyed most of the books I've read for school this year but this one is really just…not my favorite. It’s all about this man who is in debt. It follows this man as he tries to get an education so that he can argue his way out of his debts. When he finds that he is just too lazy to get an education, he makes his son get it. His son is actually successful and argues his way out of his father's debts. The downside to this is that he is now smart, so he beats his father up. His father is then so distraught that he burns down the "thinkery" where his son learned to argue.

The other book I am currently reading is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling. This is my first time reading through this series completely and I am really enjoying them. However, since school started I have not been reading as much as I would like to. I have been reading this book since September and I still have not finished it. I am so ashamed. But I will finish this series because I really am enjoying them.

Now on to the somewhat more exciting part of this post. My TBR list! I am really excited about this list. As soon I as I finish Deathly Hallows I plan on reading a lot of books. Here are the top four.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - So, I'm not really sure what this book is about, but I here that it is really good and I'm borrowing a copy from a friend so that is a must read.
Wildwood Dancing by Juiliet Marillier - This one is a re-read. Last year I read this book while standing in line for Disney World rides. Great fun. I really loved it. I'm re-reading for the sequel (Cybele's Secret), because I literally don't remember anything about it. ("I've read too many books" problem #1)
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson - This is another re-read. I read this late last year and I just discovered the sequel (Hattie Ever After).
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer - Just a book I wanted to try.

That's it for today! Please come back on Monday when I will (hopefully) have a post about writing up. :)

Schedule and Five Random Facts

Hello there! I know, this post is a day late. Sorry about that, but I woke up early today to write before the day got super busy. 

I decided that posting more than twice a week will be too difficult with my schedule, so I am going to plan on posting something every Monday and Wednesday starting this week. Perhaps you'll see a random Saturday post every once in a while, but these two days are when I'll plan on posting regularly. 

Since this post is rather skimpy I decided to come up with five random facts about me! 

1. I always pour my cereal before my milk 

2. I love playing the piano and am currently learning how to play Carol of the Bells. 

3. I love reading historical fiction, but cannot, no matter how hard I try, write historical fiction. 

4. I love clementines/tangerines, but I don't love oranges 

5. I love drinking my tea with sugar and milk. 

That's it, five random facts about me. :) I hope you enjoyed this post. See you tomorrow! 

This is the Beginning

I am so excited to finally start this blog! To actually be sitting down to write this first post makes me feel like I've accomplished something. It's been hard to get started because I'm so afraid that everything I write isn't good enough, that no one will ever read it, that I don't know enough about blogging or that I don't know enough about writing to start a blog about it. I had to realize that all of those worries were just excuses, that I was never going to get better if I didn't start. So here I am! :)

There are a lot of things that I want to use this blog for, namely, talking about writing. This blog will be all about my journey as a writer, and how to use my gift for the glory of God. Of course, writing isn't the only thing I'll be posting about. I also love to read, knit and play the piano, so I'm sure these interests will also make their way onto my blog. Mostly though, this blog is going to be all about writing--whether that be fiction or non, poetry or prose--and trying to improve it. 

I'm sure that this blog is going to be a ton of fun for me, but I hope it is for you as well. Please comment on this post if you have anything to say!

Have a nice day, and come back soon. :) 

Claire W. 

P.S - My plan is to start posting regularly by December. I'll have schedule up by Monday.

Image Source: Essence.com