C.S. Lewis

(photo of C.S. Lewis found here.)

"Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

                                                                                           ― C.S. Lewis


I thought this quote was especially nice for people who enjoy writing/reading Young Adult novels.

Happy Thursday!

Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor? Yes, please.

There is nothing quite as funny (sad/disturbing/annoying) as the things most women warriors wear in video games. They defend their homes, they fight off danger at every turn but their outfits rarely reflect this. Instead they get low cut, barely there outfits that they couldn't bend over in, let alone wield a sword and actually fight in.

Megwrites linked to a seriously awesome tumblr this morning and it made my day--Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor.

You know, for a fighter who might actually want to be able to move in her clothes. 

source (From Paizo's Pathfinder. You'll notice she's wearing ACTUAL clothes, which might PROTECT her from things.)

It's going to be a good day.

Friday Confessional--Week 14

Thanks to a jalapeno cutting incident, this week got off to an interesting start. But after being forced to fall asleep sitting up with my hands in bowls of ice milk (true story), my week had nowhere to go but up.

I wrote (4,00 words) and dealt with some lingering plot problems. And ignored other lingering plot problems that are not yet solvable. Hopefully I'll be back with another video next week, but this week I just focused on writing and had many great times with the kiddos.

One of the things that made my week happy (besides two functioning, jalapeno burn-free hands) was Eric Slager's Minimalist Muppets.

I'm pretty much a sucker for anything muppet, and these are pretty awesome. My favorite--besides all the members of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem in the second row--is Sweetums (bottom left)....and the eagle next to him. And the chicken. Okay, all of them.

Happy Friday! 

Friday Confessional--Week 13

This has been one of those crazy weeks for us. Which was, partially, my own fault.

In a moment of aspiring homemaker-dom, I signed us up for a Preserving Share with our local CSA. The idea was to stock my pantry with things I'd canned MYSELF, forgetting that I have never canned anything in my life. Since signing up, I've made carrot pickles (or watched my husband make carrot pickles) and had a strawberry jam disaster.

And then on Monday I received 12 pounds of sour cherries.

So, yeah.....that's pretty much been my week. Between batches of jam, I did manage to do some writing (6,000 words this week) and tend to some other child-related craziness. I feel like my WIP has reached a really interesting point plot-wise that I'll discuss more in next week's video.

But for now, I am off to start my last batch of sour cherry preserves. And spend more time with this little guy, who tried to prove to the folks at Panera tonight that he was the world's happiest baby.

Happy Friday!

Friday Confessional--Week 12

Can I start off by saying that I'm amazed I've made it to week 12?

This has been the most productive 12 week writing stretch I've ever had (or the only 12 week writing stretch I've ever had, but whatever.)

Today I share my word count and.....my vegetable count. Because CSA shares are awesome.

Happy Friday!

Friday Confessional--Week 11

Writing short stories did not prepare me for writing a novel.

I always thought that it would. It was all writing, wasn't it? It seemed natural that writing would be good preparation for even more writing. But it turns out that a novel is a whole different beast all together.

Here are a few things about writing a novel that have surprised me so far.

Happy Friday!

Friday Confessional--Week 10

This week's video sort of got hijacked by baby cuteness. I've been trying to explain to my mother how obsessed the baby has become with books. He is crazy about them. All I do these days is read board books over and over. And over and over.

I know several of them by heart and I just lie on the floor and recite them as I turn the pages.

Now, I know my mother believes me (hi, mom!)--I just don't think she BELIEVES me. But that's cool, because here's my proof.

Happy Friday!