Book Peeves

Prompt: Book peeves. They're like pet peeves, but they're book related. What are yours?

My Book Peeves: 

1. When sequels aren't as good as the first one. (*cough*Inkheart*cough*)

2. When I know a classic is good but it takes forever to actually get exciting.

3. When it gets harder and harder to find joy in the books I used to love.

4. When people make rotten movie renditions of my favorite books.

5. When libraries see fit to put stickers on the good parts of a cover.

6. When libraries get a really good book and then never get the sequels. Not okay.

7. Waiting lists and overdue fines. The bane of my existence. 

8. Not being able to find a book you want and when you do, it's the movie version.

9. Annoying hardbacks. I love hardbacks for looking and admiring but they are a pain to try to read. Never a good position. 

10. Not knowing which books go in what order in a series. I hate when they don't have it clearly laid out. 

11. When the "praise for Eragon" (example) is on the back of "Eldest". I want to know what Eldest is about! Frustrating!

12. Abridged books. 

What are your book peeves? Share in the comments! 

Haiku Time {Prompt}

Have you ever written a poem? What about a Haiku? Yes? Good! You should be all practiced up for today! No? No problem! Today will be your first day!

If you don't know what a Haiku is, I shall tell you! A Haiku is a short poem that most always doesn't rhyme. The first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the last has five.

So for this prompt we are going to write a Haiku or two! They're really easy and it doesn't take long to write them. (Hint: That's why I chose to do this prompt. Fast and easy. Don't tell!)

I won't have a word for word prompt, you can come up with whatever you want!

Rules:

1. Write a Haiku.

2. Share it in the comments!

3. Tell your friends to come participate! Twitter, facebook, blog, word of mouth, you choose the method!

Here is my Haiku! I may write more but for now, this is all I have.

Time speeds past sometimes
Other times it drags slowly,
Why can't it stand still?

Donna Noble

Note: This post is Doctor Who related. If you are a hater like most of my IRL friends, please don't comment with hate. Just ignore this post! Easy! Thank you very much! :)

She didn't feel important. She was just another woman. She wasn't special. She had nothing to give.
Donna Noble. The Doctor's companion. His best friend.

"Doctor, you can stop now."

This woman had no idea the role she would play. She didn't realize how important she was.

She covered up her insecurity with the most fierce of temperaments. Sarcastic and witty. And perhaps a bit hard of hearing.

"You just want TO mate?? Well, you're not matin with me spaceman!"

Donna Noble is my favorite companion for five reasons. If you hate her or think I'm crazy, bear with me. I think I have some pretty good reasons.

Reason #1: She makes me laugh. I adore her humor so much. She is so fun to watch. I think Catherine Tate did a fantastic job!

Reason #2: She is relatable.  Donna is insecure. She sees herself as someone who couldn't possibly have any role to play. It makes it so much better because she was so wrong.

Reason #3: She's the Doctor's support. His best friend. There was never anything romantic between the two. It's so refreshing to watch a friendship instead of romance sometimes.

Reason #4: She may not have been the most beautiful of the companions, but sometimes I feel like she shined the brightest. She had a gorgeous smile and amazing eyes. Her personality and sensitivity made her stunning. She was the nice one in the library. She was sensitive to other's needs. She could see the hurt in others.

Reason #5: I won't give away her ending if you don't already know but I will say, it killed me inside. The look in her eyes, the Doctor's sacrifice, and Wilfred's promise. My heart just broke in two. She didn't deserve it. She had just begun to see herself as special. She was beginning to see her worth. I think that's what made it worse for me.

Donna Noble is an amazing character. No matter what anyone says, she will always be one of the best companions.

And so, so important.

A Sunday Quote

We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
-Friedrich Nietzsche

I agree Friedrich. Let's dance and be happy every day. :)

A Letter To Shasta

Hello there my dear blogglings! I have been quite busy recently. It's so hard to get anything done when I'm busy! Im behind on my writing and I haven't been able to come up with any blog ideas either. I should have planned better, huh? Anyway! I found this letter I wrote to Shasta from The Horse And His Boy by C.S. Lewis a while ago!

Dear Shasta,

I am ever so glad Lewis put you in one of his books. I have always looked up to you and your immense bravery. I'm not sure how you did it. I know I would have run away when the lion attacked Aravis! So how could you go toward it? And in the tombs! I would have died of fright by morning! Your perseverance has always amazed me as well. You ran so much. You could have just let Rabadash get to Archenland! But you chose to warn the King even though it cost you. It amazes me every time I read about it. How you must have felt! I can only imagine how good it must have felt when you gained a family and a kingdom because of that perseverance! Your humility too! You could have become such a brat of a prince! But you stayed humble. You must have been a spectacular king when you got older! How do you do it?You are such a wonderful character! I only wish I could meet you. Maybe some of your traits would rub off on me!

Very sincerely yours,~Beth

P.S. I cannot explain how happy I am that you and Aravis got married! You two are perfect. :)

Week Two to Actually Finishing Something!

Ah! One week has past since the Actually Finishing Something In July challenge started! I have very little to show for it but I love having motivation! :) Here's week two's questions and my answers! I would encourage you to join this challenge and maybe answer the questions on your own blog! You can find the original post here to link to it. 

1) How time flies! Did you reach your weekly goal?

Alas, I did not...My goal has actually changed a lot since last week. On the lovely Notebook Sisters blog they had a contest to win a 10,000 word critique! Me being fabulous at thinking ahead, entered. I really didn't think I was going to win so when I did win, I first had a party!!! But then I was stumped. My first 10,000 words are not typed up. So I have decided to change my actually finishing something in July goal to typing/rewriting the first half of my novel for that. Which is fine with me! I'm very stuck!

2) Is this challenge pushing and encouraging you to write more often?

It actually is! Except for right now when I should be writing and I'm not...

3) Did you accomplish most of your writing in the morning, afternoon, evening, or at random intervals during your busy day (i.e. waiting for your neighbors to go inside so you can jump on the trampoline without disturbing them)?

Mostly at night. This might be afternoons though. We will see.

4) Any particular musical tracks inspiring your prose?

Lord of the Rings! And Press Play. Which is a really weird combination if you think about it...

5) Share a snippet (or two) of your writing!

Ria scowled at him. "Im perfectly able to take care of myself thank you very much." 
Cooper hid a grin, not very well, and said, "Oh yes of course. My apologies."
Ria shot him an angry look and tried to stand up again. But it was still to soon. Her legs wobbled. She thought for sure she was going to fall again. But just before she did, Ria felt Cooper's arm go around her waist to keep her up. This time she didnt try to argue. She knew she would need a moment before she could stand alone.
Ria flushed. 
"Are you sure about that princess?" Cooper asked. 
Ria glanced up at him. He was grinning from ear to ear. 
"Oh be quiet." She muttered.

6) Share your three favorite bits of dialogue.

There's not much at this point actually. Sorry about that...

7) How are you going to move forward in this challenge? Are you changing your word-count goal, or other such battle plans this week?

Im going to try to write at any possible moment! ("Not every moment, but any moment!")

A Quote to Consider

I love quotes. I love reading them, I love finding them on pinterest, I just love quotes altogether. And since Sunday is the day of rest, it seems like a good day to mull over a quote. This will probably become a weekly thing.

Today's quote is from one of my favorite authors ever. If you've never heard of him for some crazy reason, please go look him up!

"No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."~CS Lewis

The New Recruit {Book Review}

My first book review post! I'm pretty excited!

I read The New Recruit by Jill Williamson. First off, here's a short summary. 

"Forced to choose between military school and a Christian spy organization, skeptic Spencer Garmond signs on with the Bible geeks. But before he even boards the plane for Moscow, Spencer realizes this is no Bible club. These guys mean business. Stumbling onto a case involving a gang of homeless boys, a chilling tattoo, and the always beautiful Anya Vseveloda, Spencer struggles to find the faith needed to save the Mission League from enemy infiltration.   - See more at: http://www.jillwilliamson.com/books/the-new-recruit/#sthash.ckL6QXzb.dpuf" 

I was stunned. When I first started it, I wasn't really sure what I was getting into. And to be honest, the first few chapters didn't pull me in as much as I thought they would. I think when I really started getting into it was when the other teenage characters came in. But by the end I was completely entranced. I was quite unhappy when it ended. It left a lot of things unanswered. I realized later it's the first in a series so they will resolve the loose ends. I had to make an effort to calm down. 

The book began with Spencer. (It took me forever to get used to that name fitting his character. I know a Spencer who is the complete opposite so I kept getting confused.) He is a boy who is against "churchers" and anything related to God. He is rebellious and loves basketball. Prone to get into trouble and low moral standards. I found very little in common with him and it was difficult to relate to him. Usually in books, despite annoying main characters, I have concern and empathy for them. I care what happens. But with Spencer, every time he did something stupid, (which was pretty much every other chapter) I felt frustrated. He annoyed me so much! But I did grow to have some concern by the end. He reminded me of what one of my best friends would be like without knowing Jesus. It kinda freaked me out. 

The Christian theme of the book was well done I thought. One of the girls I could hardly believe was public schooled. She fit the stereotypical "homeschooler". Skirts, radical, talks ALL the time. (I'm not saying that's what all homeschoolers are, that's the stereotype and she fit it.) I was very annoyed with her but I admired her for her bravery. Reading about her passion for unreached people made me want to go on a missions trip SO bad.

 

There were a lot of typos in the book I noticed. But it was written well.  I really liked the style the author used. She did a really good job breaking it into "reports" so that even though it was written in first person, she could still switch characters every once in a while.

The main antagonist was suspected to be possessed by a demon, which really freaked me out. The idea of demons has always scared me. Which is quite ridiculous because I know I serve a God who has already defeated them. But still, I was thrown because I never expected that to be as prominent as it was.

I thought it was funny there was a girl named Beth who is my opposite in everything. She's athletic and tough, blonde and wise. Not like me at all. :)

Overall, I really liked the book. I would definitely recommend it! I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Head over to amazon and check it out for yourself! 

Informational Bits

Hello! I'm so sorry there was no informationy type post today about writing or books or anything. I got kind lost watching Doctor Who. Whovians will know how that goes. Actually, there will be one! Here it goes! 

Informational bit #1: That whole bit about GFC and Google reader going away? Seems the rumors were wrong. It's still there. I was surprised for sure! If you know why they stayed, please share! I'm quite curious. 

Informational bit #2: I miss Amy Pond. That should be self-explanatory if you are a fellow Whovian. *goes to sob in a corner* 

Informational bit #3: I'll be posting some book reviews and character...for lack of a better word; character analysis's, sometime soon! I've been reading a lot and rereading even more! It's inspired me for a lot of posts! Be on the look out! 

Informational bit #4: I wrote a guest post! It was posted on Wednesday but it completely slipped my mind to let you know! You can find it at http://katie-writingblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/guest-post-beth.html?m=0 I'm so glad I got the oppurtunity to write it! Go check it out! 

Informational bit #5: I have nothing else to share. What a pity...actually! A reminder: If you would like to guest post here on Rainbows and Penguins, e-mail me at rainbowsandpenguinsblog(at)gmail(dot)com. Also, if you have any questions or requests, e-mail me! I will do my best to answer you! 

Have a fantastic evening! 

Independence Day Prompt!

I hope you all are having a fantastic Fourth of July! (In the US it's Independence Day but even if you're not from here, happy Thursday! :) 

I just want to take a minute to thank all the soldiers who have put their lives in danger so we could have freedom. It's a wonderful gift and I know I am beyond grateful for it! My thanks also goes out to the families of the soldiers who wait anxiously at home. It must be hard and I'm so grateful for their sacrifice. It makes me think of Jesus and the sacrifice He made so we could be freed from our sins. There is no greater love than that. 

Since it's Thursday and we haven't had one for a while, I was excited to do a writing prompt! But since it's a holiday, some of you may be super busy, totally fine! You can do this whenever you get time! :) Or maybe you'd rather not do it at all. That is also fine but sad, this is going to be a fun one!  ;) 

The rules are as follows: 

1. Pick a prompt (word for word or situational) 

2. Write for 15 minutes using said prompt. 

3. Post your piece in the comments! (You may have to use two separate comments if there's a lot of words. 

4. Tell your writerly friends about it! 

5. Have fun and enjoy your Independence Day! :) 

Prompt 1: 

The street was full of flags. 

Prompt 2: 

You (doesnt have to be first person) are at a festival. (Fictional place or real, doesn't matter.) describe what you see, touch, smell, taste, and hear. What are you celebrating? 

Good luck and have fun! :) 

The Inspiratron!

Clicking on the image will enlarge it allowing you to read the fine print. It's always advised to read the fine print. ;)

"Are you running low on inspiration? Has it abandoned you like that pet mouse you kept in the cupboard when you were five? Have no fear! The Inspiratron is here! The Inspiratron is a device designed to flood your mind with ideas when you're feeling low! Just put it on using the handy Velcro straps that fit around your chin and voila! You will have ideas and inspiration galore!  To get the Inspiratron all it takes is a simple phone call to 1-800-INSPIRED! Our phone operators will set you up with just three easy payments of $9,999,999,999.98! Call now!"

Pretty ridiculous, huh?

If you can't tell by the introduction, I've been dealing with low amounts of inspiration lately. I'm not sure what to blame for that but I do know from reading a zillion and one posts about it, I'm doing it wrong. I don't really need an Inspiratron. (Shocking, I know.)

Have you been low on inspiration lately? You probably don't need an Inspiratron any more than I do. (Even if such a thing existed) What you need is far more difficult than you may think. Inspiration, contrary to popular belief, is not a muse. It's not some fairy sprinkling magic dust on you whenever it sees fit. And there's no sense in waiting for that to happen.

Inspiration is trickier than that. Because inspiration comes when you hunt it down and capture it. Not when it decides to come eat out of your hand.

Surprised? Maybe not. maybe you've heard this before. But even if you have, what does it mean for you?

What it means for me is this: I can't just wait for inspiration. I have to firmly put my rear in the chair and make myself write. I wasted an entire year after my first NaNoWriMo just waiting for my inspiration "muse" to come grant me the rest of my book. What do you know? It never came.

I heard (or rather read) people say, inspiration only comes in the middle of your writing. So why didn't I listen?

Since then, I have tried much harder than that first year to just get it done. But I kept finding myself waiting. For what? I could have finished so many writing projects by now if I had only made myself do it. I suppose self discipline has never been my strong point. Gee, ya think Beth??

Now, I just want to be done. (That's what you get!) I have found myself thoroughly sick of my WIP. I've been working on it so long. I have been having a harder time going to it willingly. I find it harder to write scenes that should come easy. Right now, I'm stuck. I wrote myself into a minor corner. Something happened quite by accident. My characters have no idea why, which is good. The bad part is, I don't know why it happened either. And I'm in the middle of the scene where it should be revealed. Ugh. Just typing this I'm getting frustrated with myself for it.

My point is, when you find yourself not in the mood or just waiting to hear from your "muse", remember that the best inspiration comes with discipline. It comes when you're writing. 

Changes And Oppurtunities

Good day! I interrupt the usual program to tell you about some fantastical things!

First and foremost; The lovely Notebook Sisters are holding a Crit&Ed party over at their blog! It's all about editing and there's a giveaway! There will be posts about editing, posts with 250 words of someones work plus Cait and Mime's thoughts on the piece, and the giveaway is a 10,000 word critique by the sisters! I'm really excited for it if you can't tell! :D

Second; I love guest posts. I love writing them, and I know I would love to spotlight a few of yours! If you would like to be a guest poster on Rainbows and Penguins, raise your hand! 

For those of you who raised your hands, here are some guidelines. 

1. I'm not looking for anything specific but it should be along the lines of books or writing. Anything that falls under that catagory is welcome! If you already have an idea, great! E-mail me and tell me about it! If you don't, not a biggie! Pick a general topic and I'll try to help you figure it out! 

2. Write with passion! As long as you do that, your word will come alive. (Living books anyone?) 

3. Edit relentlessly. There's nothing like writing a fantastic post that should enthrall your readers and leave them spellbound! But it's so full of spelling and grammatical errors, few are likely to pay attention. I'll be proof reading because I know sometimes the author's eyes tend to see what they meant to write instead of what they actually did write. (And spell-check thinks if you mean "write" but type "right" that it's still correct. Sill spell-check!) I won't judge you if there are errors, don't worry. ;) 

My e-mail address is rainbowsandpenguinsblog(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm excited to hear from you! :) 

Thirdly, I have been scheming a little bit on some exciting things we could do as far as "special events". I've got a couple ideas that I hope will come to light sometime in late August. If you have any ideas or bloggy type things that you love, e-mail me or comment here! 

For now, if you have any questions you would like answered or topics you wish I would cover, shoot me an e-mail or comment on this post! I am by no means an expert but I will do my best to provide a satisfactory response! 

I absolutely love the community the Internet provides and I'm excited to hear from you all! 

Have a wonderful day!

"Actually Finishing Something [in] July" Link-Up Party

I love writing goals! It's so helpful to have a place where other people know about your goal and can encourage you toward it. 

I am a huge fan of Katie over at The Whisperings of The Pen and she's hosting an "Actually finishing something in July" party. Every Monday there will be a post with a link up and fun questions about your WIP to answer on your blog! 

I would encourage you all to head over and check it out for yourselves! The more the merrier! It's going to be a blast! 

I know accountablilty will be huge for me. Last year during NaNoWriMo, I was really close to losing. I was going to give up. But I had told my best friend about it. He was always asking how it was going and talking about my writing. It encouraged and challenged me to keep it up. I finished just in time and was able to win! One of the greatest feelings in the world is actually finishing something you've worked hard on. 

I'm really excited about this! It's going to be a great oppurtunity for me to keep going during the summer months. 

So here's my answers to the first questions! 

Week One Questions:

1) What is your writing goal? 

5,000 words. We'll see how that goes, I have a lot of stuff going on this month. But again, the accountability should help. 

2) Give us a short synopsis of your project. What makes it unique?

My WIP is about a princess who's sick of her royal life. Her father went missing 7 years ago and now, as she nears her 18th birthday, she learns from a new friend that he is alive. Determined to free him, she sets out with Cooper, the new friend, and an old one to find him. But can she trust Cooper? Is he really on her side? 

As far as uniqueness, The race of my characters is special. Long ago they lived in Arin, the land without tears. The people then could shift to any animal form they wished. But something happened. No one knows what. But the All-Father had to banish them from their home. They would lose their shifting ability and would be forever human. But the All-Father took pity and allowed them to choose one shape. The people decided that flight would be the worst to lose so they chose birds. They could change from human to bird at will and they have been that way ever since. 

3) How long have you been working on this project? 

Since November 2011...it's been a long time in progress. 

4)  How often do you intend to write in order to reach your goal by August 1st? 

I'm going to try to write every night but I don't know how easy it will be. But I suppose that's the point, challenging! 

5) Introduce us to three of your favorite characters in this project.

Victoria (or Ria) Eadell. Princess of Arinsia. She's 17 years old and has seen more grief than many in her kingdom. Her father disappeared 7 years ago and her life has been void of the happiness a girl of her rank and age should have. Despite that, she has always been an optimist and is encouraging to be around. She is cheery and laughs a lot. Very good at hiding her pain. 

Cooper Hwane. A handsome boy of 19. His family has long been the enemies of the royal throne. But Cooper and his mother are (sortof) secretly loyal to the Eadells. (It's complicated) When Cooper meets Ria, he finally sees a way to get back at his father and the Vul-Raks for everything they've done to him and to Ria. He is intent on helping her. But is that really all there is to him? 

Sandor of Domin. An elven prince from the seaside country of Domin. Handsome and charming. Instantly makes Ria feel at ease when she's around him. Proud and strong but with a definite soft side. His temper could be his undoing. He knows a secret way into Rak-Ar, the evil land and accompanies Ria, Cooper, and Marty on their mission. 

6)  Go to page 16 (or 6, 26, or 66!) of your writing project. Share your favorite line or snippet on the page.

Page 36: 

"Would you stay if your father was here?" Cooper asked abruptly. Now Ria stopped. 

"Yes, but he is not here. Thank you for the reminder of my greatest sorrow!" She began to stomp off but he grabbed her shoulder with excitement in his eyes. 

"I'm a Hwane!" He said, pausing to let that sink in. But Ria just stared at him blankly. Cooper grinned. 

"I know where he is!" 

7) Tea or coffee? 

Tea all the way. I'm actually drinking some right now!