Back to basics...

I apologise for the neglecting my project for a while...

I have been so caught up in the A-Z blogging that I stopped my original blog! 

But truth is, not much has changed...Except that, now that I've worked out why Harry Potter is so brilliant, I don't see any reason to read them all again. So I'm stopping half way through the 3rd book. 

Now, I generally don't like stopping a book half way through, but seeing as I've read it so many times, I don't see how it counts as that...

So I'm still reading the Magician's Guild Tragedy - near the end of the second! In my opinion, this book is better than the first, so hopefully so is the third of the trilogy!

Anyway, I would write more, but I'm off to cook a really interesting meal! - Pizza.

Best thing I could find in the fridge so I'll have to live with it!

M x

F is for Fables

My ‘F’ is for fables because I love them and because I studied them in a certain school when I was younger which has influenced my personality, my traits and pretty much everything about me without me knowing it!

Fables are not the same thing as myths. People tend to get themselves confused very easily. Fables are made up stories, like fairytales, intending to give a moral statement, while myths are stories that convey small amounts of truth. (However, some very religious people take myths as truths, but, for me, and for many other atheists alike, myths are not entirely true.)

Here is my favourite example of a fable:

Hansel and Gretel:

We all know the story:

-          Evil stepmother persuades father into leaving the two children in the woods because they no longer have the money to feed them...

-          Hansel and Gretel are very lost but then find a yummy gingerbread house

-          They then get captured by the witch inside

-          To cut the story short, Gretel tricks the witch and kills her and saves Hansel from a cage.

-          They are free!

The gingerbread house:

 

This gingerbread house was created by my brother and his girlfriend at Christmas. I thought it was a perfect rendition of Hansel and Gretel’s edible house.

The themes in the story a hugely to do with eating which is a huge fear in a child’s life.

-          The family are poor and cannot eat

-          Hansel and Gretel are hungry so start to eat the edible house

-          The witch tries to eat Hansel and Gretel

-          Gretel kills the witch by pushing her in an oven

E is for Ents

E is for ‘Ents’.

I was quite proud of this thought as it relates quite strongly to my novel project. Lord of The Rings has influenced me a lot in my ideas in any of the books I’ve attempted to write. I love the Ents in Lord of the Rings because of their slow nature – in their infuriatingly, slow demeanour, they still manage to make us laugh. This intrigued me because I thought it was very clever humour and I’ve never really been good and written humour - my humour is far more spontaneous.. .Well, my closest friends call it humour...others just look at me like I’m slightly odd.

Well, anyway, back to ents! I thought, although they are infuriating, they must be nice in their way because Merry and Pippin manage to make friends with them.

 This made me think...how nice would it be to have a tree friend? I would be able to see outside in the park under a tree alone, without looking unsociable or as if you have no friends because there you would be...talking with your tree friend!

I think it sounds marvellous.

So I leave you with this question in mind: would you like to have a tree friend? (Provided it wasn’t mean like a triffid. :S That wouldn’t be a very good friend...

(In case you don’t know what a triffid is, I advise you to take a look at the film The Day of The Trifids, one of the first every horror movies, so I’m told, just so that you’re ready in case your tree friend turns out to be a scheming triffid.)

 J M x

Dangaroos and Kangaroos

My 'D' post will be about dangaroos. (read on and it'll make sense) :)

When I was little (about 3), my parents used to take me to the zoo and show me the Kangaroo enclosure. They would read out a sign that said Kangeroos.

So when we got to the next enclosure, they would read out the sign saying "dangerous" but say it like "kangaroos" just with a 'd' instead of a 'k', like Dangeroos.

I would then ask, "what are dangeroos? What do they look like?"

My parents, of course, found this hilarious and played the game for about 5 years of my life.

It took me quite a while to work out they were messing around.

What cruel parents I had!

(This links to my project because I am interested in wordplay)

M x

P.S. I apologise... I'm in a very non-creative mood. I  watched The Reader on TV last night and thought how it was such an incredible story...then I thought how I could never write anything so good, even though I've always wanted to write such a masterpiece (as has any author). I can't write like they can. I don't think I can. Maybe with a lot of practice. Sometimes I kid myself that I can, but I can't really.

Sorry for such a down cast post. This may put any readers off entirely, but as I warned you at the start of my blog: you will have to read my ups and downs, my traumas and excitements. I warned you.

Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow...

An old friend (someone I consider my sister) is coming to stay tonight. I should feel better tomorrow :)

C is for Cupcakes

At first I said to myself that I would do one a day, even though I was a day late, but I've changed my mind. For some reason (couldn't say why), I feel a little left out being a whole day late. 
So I'm now catching up :)

My (C) is cupcakes because my life has suddenly become overrun with them!

My Mum has been invited to a wedding and has been asked to bring cupcakes...so she decided to do it properly.. and for about 7 weeks now, she has been obsessively trying to work out what makes a perfect cupcake.

Flowers, stars, leaves etc. etc.

I am so bored of them, a cupcake makes me feel sick every time I look at one!

:S

Well, this links to my fantasy novel project because I once found a picture of cupcakes with Beatrix Potter characters on them and, I think, Beatrix Potter has influenced my stories because they have made me want to give specific characters to animals.

 

Very loose link, but hey! I managed!

M x

Baby Beluga starts with a 'B'

Continuing on with the A to Z Challenge...

I would like to tell a story from when I was little.

When I was younger, I used to listen to the tapes of a Canadian Singer named Raffi. We would listen to him ALL the time. So much so that I could probably still sing all his lyrics.

A link to his website:

http://www.raffinews.com/

He would write songs for children and record them. I think he got quite famous, but I can’t be sure...I haven’t asked any of my friends if they listened to him...

Anyway, this title is Baby Beluga because it was my favourite song of his when I was little and it brings back amazing memories J

A beluga, if you didn’t know, is a type of Whale:

 

How does this relate to my novel project?

Well, only loosely... I guess I could say this is part of my childhood and your childhood will influence any story you write in some sort of a way... so this must have influenced me somehow!

A is for Anteaters!

I have decided to participate in the A to Z challenge!

(yes, I know I’ve started a day late...)

I will try very hard to link it to my novel project but that may not work out quite so well as I hope..

I thought it would be a bit of fun, so here goes:

I thought, people might like to learn their fact about the day...so today it will be....

A for Anteaters

I’ve always found these animals really intriguing because of their weird weird noses... or whatever you call them...

Anteaters are possibly the weirdest looking animals I’ve ever seen

...well, apart from the blob fish:

They’re kind of nasty to look at...

Anyway, back to anteaters:

Did You Know...

-         Anteaters, also known as antbears

-         All anteaters have elongated snouts equipped with a thin tongue that can be extended to a length greater than the length of the head; their tube-shaped mouths have lips but no teeth.

-         Anteaters are mostly solitary mammals

-         anteaters have the lowest body temperature of any mammal

-         In recent years, the anteater has emerged in children's books, television shows, and other forms of entertainment. One such anteater is Francis the Anteater.

I couldn’t find Francis, but I found some other Anteater pictures that might be interesting:

How does this relate to my novel project?

Maybe I could create a creature that either is an anteater or resembles one?

M x

Epiphany!

I had a sudden epiphany last night! I was reading Harry Potter 3 while thinking over my question, 'why am I so desperate to continue reading?' even when I've read the book many times before..
and then I realised...I just realised..
the way she does it is by keeping us (the readers) on our toes. There is always a sense of expectation...something is always about to happen!
Okay, granted, this hasn't answered my question: 'why are they so brilliant?' but it's helped me work out how to turn a page!
At the end of every chapter, J.K, whether she realised it or not, either left us on a cliff-hanger or left us with a sense that the episode hasn't yet finished. And somehow, she's done this for every page! I found myself constantly wanting to turn pages!
So, I will continue reading HP until I work out why they are so brilliant.
What is it about them that makes them so utterly believable?

I've started reading another book simultaneously. It's called The Magician's Guild and is by Trudi Canavan. Now I have a new question in mine.
'Why are these books such a slog?', 'Why are they so bad?'
I know this sounds like a relatively harsh criticism, but, the are truly terrible!
Badly written, badly explained... I mean, I care a bit - but only a bit - for the characters, but they can be so boring!
Cannavan has altered names that we recognise to a different spelling and a different pronounciation and has added in new names. She has also changed names of things like 'spiders' in 'faren'. (Now that just complicated things!)
For some reasons, this irritates me to no end! But I'm not going to say she shouldn't have done this until I work out whether I'm just quickly irritated or whether others have had the same reaction.
Although it is dreadful, I will slog through it...I want to know why it is so bad.
So, if anyone reading this has read them, please post with your opinions on the series.
For me, I start to think, if this can be published...anything can! My that might just be me...
M x