NaNoWriMo

I know, I know. I've already written about NaNoWriMo. You can read that post here. But, I wanted to talk a little bit about the novel I'm doing this year!!

My novel is untitled, but I do have a summary: Annie Rivets has been a fangirl her whole life. She's always figured it was in her blood, since her parents named her Anne Shirly Rivets, after the main character in Anne of Green Gables. And while she loves a lot of fandoms, her absolute favorite live-and-breathe fandom is that of the Dimitri Tennyson series, about a British writer. Annie has read all the books, and can quote along with the movies. But when Dimitri shows up on her doorstep, lost and confused and with no idea how he got out of his book, Annie is thrown into a whole new world that she never expected. Dragging her best friend Riley along for the ride, Annie sets out to reunite Dimitri with his books. But what she doesn't realize is how hard it will be to let go of the person she's longed for for years, and how many hearts will be broken along the way.

I am really, really excited to get started on this new writing journey. It might be harder than usual to get it done in time, since I'm a college student now. BUT. I am going to try my very hardest to write every day, and to get as much written as possible. 

I WANT TO START NOW. 

I'm Back!!

Wow. I haven't blogged in a long time. I started college, I've been working on a novel, and editing a novella, and... You get the idea. I've been busy. But that doesn't mean I should neglect my poor blog! So, I promise I am going to try to be blogging more every day more often.

Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter is the tragically beautiful story of Abigail "Apple" Bailey, a pregnant teenager trying to escape her life. Her mother is a drug addict. She's been in and out of foster homes since she was twelve. She's been physically and emotionally abused her whole life. She's never met her father. Her only connection to him is a letter he wrote before she was born.

I'll keep this relatively spoiler free.

The movie starts with Apple cutting off all her hair, stealing all her mom's money, and escaping in a cab with her mother screaming after her "you need me." Apple goes looking for her father, and finds him in Jersey. He works on Wall Street, and has a wife and kids. He agrees to let her stay with him for a while, until she can get on her feet. But she takes off again after discovering that she's pregnant, and being told she can only stay with her father if she gets an abortion. After several weeks, she steals a car and gets in an accident. She wakes up in the hospital, where she talks to a priest. She's then placed in a home for pregnant teenagers who want to keep her baby.

This movie starts off grim, and stay that way for most of the movie. She breaks into the home's owner's office with the other girls at one point, which turns out to be a major bonding moment for all of them, as they read each other what's written in their files.

I thought this movie was a very realistic portrayal of how hard it is for someone with a drug addicted parent. I found Apple's mother June (Rosario Dawson, in a stunning portrayal of this drug addled, abusive woman) particularly pitiful. She always has dark circles under her eyes, and she's thin as a rail. She stalks Apple throughout the movie, trying to convince her to come home. She tells her daughter that she wasn't much older than Apple when she got pregnant, and that "nobody wanted me to have you."

The last half of the movie is so moving, and so beautiful, when Apple has her baby, and finally begins to heal from her past.

 Vanessa Hudgens shone in this movie. She was adorable in all three High School Musical movies, but this showed that she has real acting chops. Her repeated mantra of "I'm not scared... I'm not scared..." made my stomach clench every time she said it. She gives forth an extremely convincing performance, especially in the dinner scene with Brendan Fraser (her father), where she yells at him for never being there for her. Another one of the scenes where she surprised me was when she's in the hospital, with the priest. He's trying to convince her that God is looking after her, but she shoots back with "Where was God when I was suffering and being abused all these years?"


Yes, this movie made me cry. Yes, I would watch it again. It's a rare combination of heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time, without managing to be preachy. A beautiful movie.

Research

I don't like doing research for stories. I wish I just knew everything, because tracking down reliable information can be tedious, and, well... I write thrillers. I can't just Google "how to poison someone without any trace." It makes life difficult.

But, there are some ways that can make research fun! Some of the things that have been the most beneficial to me are cop shows, and, yes, Tumblr!

1. Cop Shows
I watched Psych, Monk, Sherlock, and Awake. Psych and Monk are both full on information about how to effectively murder someone, which is great when you write thrillers! Awake was a very psychological show, and it got you inside the mind of someone who might be completely insane. Sherlock is a wonderfully crafted mystery series, absolutely perfect for anyone looking to write mysteries. If you write cop stories, thrillers, mysteries, or horror stories, I would highly recommend these four shows.

2. Tumblr
Thanks to Tumblr, I found this website: Havocscope. It's a great database for black market listings. It doesn't actually give you links to buy things on the black market, I promise. It's a compilation of news stories about the black market.

3. WebMD
WebMD has an entire article about autopsies.

4.  cdc.gov
Centers for Disease Control. Lists symptoms for various poisonings. I have found it very helpful in the latest thriller that I'm working on.

5. Movies
One of the benefits of writing novels, is that you can watch movies for research. I am currently working on a story about a girl in the foster system, and to research, I watched the movie Gimme Shelter, with Vanessa Hudgens. A beautiful touching movie, it totally deserves its own post. And it will get one. But right now, I'm mentioning it because it was another way I was able to make research more fun.

What are your favorite ways to research?

Second Blog

I started another blog!! You can visit me here, at "This is My Serious Blog." But don't worry, I'm still going to be posting here! Don't worry. :)

Beauty

Our society has a really screwed up vision of beauty. I'm so sick of seeing photoshopped women on magazine covers, and reading that people call Jennifer Lawrence (among others) "fat." I mean, have you even seen Jennifer Lawrence??
I am sad that such a lovely and talented actress/singer as Demi Lovato developed an eating disorder. I am sickened that Disney Channel mocks eating disorders.

I have a lot of thoughts about this that are really hard to process, but I'm going to try my best. (Disclaimer: When I talk about "starving ourselves," I am not referring to myself. I am referring to women in general, and I only use the word "ourselves" because I am a woman. I have never tried to starve myself, and I have never wanted to. I like food, and on most days, I like the way I look.)

I don't want to just make the same comments that everyone else is making. I don't want to just talk about the skinny/not skinny stuff. I want to talk about the whole big women-being-exploited-in-the-media business. And it's messy, so brace yourselves.

Women are exploited daily in the media. By men, and by other women. They are actively abusing themselves. I see it every time I go to the store, and read tabloid headlines. How many headlines are there about men in unflattering clothes? None. Because these tabloids prey on women. Shouldn't women be sticking together and defending each other, instead of belittling and degrading each other?

Fat-talk plays a big part in this. It's putting yourself down, making negative comments about your own weight. It's nasty. And a lot of women do it. Why? Why do we feel it's necessary to apologize for our weight? Why do women fat-talk? Why does society tell us that "fat" is ugly, but "curvy" is pretty? Why can't we all just accept ourselves for we are? WHY DO PEOPLE CARE HOW MUCH WEIGHT KIM KARDASHIAN PUT ON DURING/AFTER HER PREGNANCY??

(Ahhh. This post is getting away from me, and it's not nearly as eloquent as I was hoping it was going to be. Like I said before, my thoughts about this are hard for me to process, and form into words.)

Back to the media. That's what plays the biggest part in this whole big mess. Because we see those magazine covers, and we wonder why we don't look like them. We see those girls who have barely-there waists, and stick figure arms, and we know it's not real. But we still yearn for it, anyway. We still starve ourselves, and throw up any food we do eat. Why? Why do we do this to ourselves? Are the bodies God gave us not enough?

There's this fake, photoshopped beauty that's forced down our throats by the media. And then there's real beauty. Real beauty comes in ALL forms. Be it a curvy girl, or a girl who hasn't eaten all week. They're both still beautiful. Real beauty isn't about what's on the outside. I don't care what you look like. I really don't. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. If you're crying in your room because you get bullied at school, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. If you cut yourself, YOU ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL NO MATTER WHAT. No matter what others have said about you. No matter how you feel when you look in the mirror. I'm going to tell you what the media won't: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.


Okay, rant over.

Bad Blogger

Okay. I'm going to make a confession. I'm a bad blogger. I forget about my poor blog, and I never know what to blog about. But now I'm done with school, and I am going to buckle down. NO MORE BAD BLOGGER. I am going to try to post every day, even if the posts are really short and meaningless. Because I love my blog, and I don't want to be a bad blogger anymore.

I'm graduating from high school this year, and it's scary. But I'm actually not as stressed about it as I thought I was going to be. Sure, for a while I was. But now that it's here, and I'm on the verge of being a high school graduate, I'm okay. God is showing me where He wants me to be, and I know what I'm doing. I'm actually getting excited for college, especially now that I know what I wanna do with my life (elementary school teacher).

Yay! I'm blogging again! :)

Psych

I have watched Psych for several years now, and I have a lot of feelings about it. I'll try to go with few/no spoilers.

My first experience with Psych was seeing ads for it in various places. I didn't really pay any attention to them; it was just another TV show to me. And then I had a friend tell me it was better than Monk, a detective show I was binge-watching at the time. So I started the pilot, and quit after the first fifteen minutes. Shawn was an obnoxious, unlikeable womanizer. Or so I thought. Then, I had another friend tell me that the whole show isn't like the pilot. So I went back, and tried it again.

I got hooked on my second watching of the pilot, and I proceeded to binge-watch the first five seasons on Netflix. I fell in love with Shawn and Gus, and their quirky friendship. There have been so many wonderful moments, that I can't even put them all on paper. There have been cliff hangers that left me on the edge of my seat and dying for the next episode (Santabarbaratown, anyone?), countless laugh-out-loud moments, and I've even cried a few times. Because this show is awesome.

This is the show that I turn to when I am stressed. It never fails to calm me down, even on my worst days. I'm currently rewatching from the beginning with my older sister, who has only seen a few scattered episodes.

I shipped Shawn and Juliet from the first minute she came on the show. I love these two together. Any little moment between the two of them had my heart racing. They have such wonderful chemistry, and all the problems they've had have only strengthened their relationship. Juliet is a very strong character, and one of my favorite moments with her was after the in Mr. Yin Presents, when she finally allows herself to break down.

I love Lassiter. I really do. He drove me crazy at first. I couldn't stand him, and I wished he would leave the show. But then I really started to like him, and I even had a (really weird) dream once that we were married, and had a three year old son. Lassiter makes me laugh, and even his arrogance has become endearing. His moment with Juliet in 1967: A Psych Odyssey almost had me in tears.

I think Gus kind of deserves his own post. He's so fabulous. "Heard about Pluto? That's messed up, right?" is his favorite conversation opener for an attractive woman, and it's overused. But that's okay, because it still makes me laugh every time he says it. Gus has come so far from season one, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to him. Or to any of them.

I waited, and waited for Psych: The Musical to come online (we don't have cable). For weeks, I waited. And then I just caved, and bought in on Amazon. I loved it so much. It had me in stitches, and I think it was such a great decision to make a musical episode. The cast all sounded good, especially Dule Hill, who does have broadway experience.

The finale... What can I say? The finale was basically perfect, especially the last five minutes (anyone else catch the Monk reference?). I was crying off and on through the whole thing. There's really nothing more I can say about it without spoilers.

I have laughed and cried with Shawn "Captain Crunch" Spencer, Burton "Magic Head" Guster, Juliet "Jules" O'Hara, and Carlton "Lassie" Lassiter. This show means so much to me, and I can't believe it's over.

Friend Writing

I am in a writing group with three of my dearest friends. I've known them for twelve years, and I love them to death. Each week we bring something that we've written, and read it aloud. We critique each other's writing, but also discuss what we like. One of the guys in the group always has new ideas for who should be killed off, and how. Especially so that I can "improve my Jane Austen era story."

I also share my writing with another dear, dear friend, Katie. (Hi, Katie!!) I've never met her in person, but we've talked on the phone, and been emailing for years now. I send her my writing, and I know she'll always be honest with me about what needs to go. She's made me a better writer, and I am so thankful to her for that. I couldn't ask for a better long distance writing friend.


So this was kind of a short post, but my plan is to do a new post at least once a week, no matter how short.

What I'm Reading

I've got a never-ending list of books, and not enough time to read them all. These are just a few of the books I've been reading.


I'm working my way through The Series of Unfortunate Events, and I'm loving them. I'm on book nine. I've never read them before, and Lemony Snicket's humor has me in stitches. I love the intricacies of the story, and the way the plot lines blend together almost seamlessly.

At night, I'm reading Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg to my little sister, Kay. I've read this book so many times, and I love it. Kay has never actually read it, and I love being able to read it to her for the first time.

I started My Ãntonia this morning, and I'm really enjoying it. There's not much I can say about it at this point, because I've only read the first fifty pages. But I love the style of Willa Cather's writing, and the forming friendship between Tony and Jimmy.

I cried for the last twenty pages of The Book Thief. I adored this book. Every character became so real to me, and I loved them all. Max, Liesel, Rosa, Rudy, Hans. Each one of them. I just wanted to scoop them up and keep them safe from everything.

In my TBR (to be read) pile, I have The Raft, which is a reread for my book group. I really enjoyed this book, by S.A. Bodeen. It's about a girl whose plane crashes, and she ends up on a raft with the only other survivor, Max, the copilot. Very intense, very good book.


What are you reading?

God Movies

God's Not Dead came out recently, and I'm excited to see it. So in preparation for that, I'm going to rate some of my favorite movies with God at the center.


1. Fireproof (2008): This is a sweet movie. Kirk Cameron plays Caleb, a fireman in a struggling marriage. He feels that his wife doesn't appreciate everything that he does, and vice versa. They decide they want a divorce, and he tells his father about it. His father then gives him a book called "The Love Dare", which is a forty day challenge to try and get your marriage back on track, putting God at the center. Caleb doesn't want to bother, but his dad convinces him to. As he goes through the book, his feelings for his wife begin to come back, and he realizes that he needs to break away from addiction. At the same time that he's trying to rekindle his marriage, his wife becomes interested in a man at work.
The acting in this move isn't great, but Kirk Cameron gives a convincing and emotional performance. 4/5 stars.


2. Courageous (2011): From the same company as Fireproof, this movie is an emotional roller coaster. It centers around four police men and their friend, who take a pledge to become better fathers, and better men. The four officers are waging a war on the drug lords of their small town, and at the same time trying to keep their children away from the gang members. This movie has hilarious moments, but it also made me bawl like a baby. Tragedy strikes one of the families, and let me tell you, it's a doozy. But it's worth it in the end. 5/5 stars.


3. October Baby (2011): Another one that makes me cry. That's 3 for 3. October Baby focuses around Hannah, played by Rachel Hendrix, who never knew she was adopted. Her parents don't tell her until she collapses on stage at the beginning of a play. She discovers that she survived an abortion attempt. She confides in her best friend, Jason. He then convinces her to go with him and a few other friends on a trip for spring break, and he tells her that they can try to track down her birth mother along the way. Sweet, touching movie. 4/5 stars.


4.  Bella (2006): This is one of my favorite movies that I have ever seen, and my favorite on this list. Tammy Blanchard plays Nina, a woman who has recently discovered she's pregnant. She works with Jose (Eduardo Verastegui) at a restaurant where he is the chef. Jose's brother Manny is the manager, and he fires Nina after she's been showing up late and sick. She storms off, and Jose goes after her. She then tells him that she's pregnant, but that she's going to abort her baby. The movie takes place over the course of two days, with flashbacks to a day in Jose's past when his soccer career came to a screeching halt. This movie is so beautiful, and so well done. I love, love, love it. 5/5 stars.


What are your favorite God movies?

The Civil Wars

This post is about music. Mainly The Civil Wars. Because I love Joy Williams and John Paul White. I think that their voices together are magical. They're both so insanely talented, and I was so sad when they broke up. But that's not what I'm here for. I'm not going to gossip, or spread rumors about why they broke up. I just want to talk about the music.

Barton Hollow was their first album, and let me tell you, that was something special. The first song I ever heard by this dynamic duo was Poison and Wine and it's still one of my favorites. This album has so many great songs aside from Poison and Wine, like Barton Hollow, Falling, I've Got This Friend, and To Whom it May Concern. I just can't get over how well their voices blend together. It's so pure, and so different from anything else out there.

The Civil Wars was their second and final complete album. This album has a very definite flow to it, and it really tells a story. My favorites from this album are The One That Got Away, Devil's Backbone, and Sacred Heart. The whole album is fantastic, but these three are definitely my favorites. They're probably the saddest tracks on the album. But don't be turned off by that; they're worth a listen.

They also appeared on Place at This Table with T Bone Burnett, but I haven't listened to those songs. They had several EPs, with some fantastic tracks on them.

I would definitely recommend listening to The Civil Wars. No matter what music I bounce around to, Joy Williams and John Paul White are the two I keep going back to.

Inspiration and Characters

I want to talk about inspiration, and writing when you're not inspired.

I hate writing when I'm not inspired. Sometimes I feel this sudden inspiration, and I "just have to start writing right that very second because my entire future depends on it and if I don't start writing I'm going to forget and I need to write right this very second--" 

But sometimes I feel no inspiration at all. I want to write, but I have no ideas, and I don't know what to say. I know anything I write will be stupid. 

Sometimes, I don't even want to write. My inner editor will get its hands around my throat, and tell me I'm a horrible writer, and I shouldn't even bother. 

But if NaNoWriMo has taught me anything, it's that you have to write, even when you don't feel inspired. Even if you're just putting words on the page, and they're all stupid. Even if you feel like every word is a drag, and you're not getting anywhere. It doesn't matter. You have to keep putting words on that page. It's like Neil Gaiman said: "This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard, and you put one word after another until it's done. It's that easy, and that hard." And he's right. It can be that easy, and it can be that hard. More often than not, it's going to be that hard. And the words you type are, more often than not, going to be bad. But if you love writing, you have to do it. You owe it to yourself to write on those days when you feel dry. I have written so many things that I love, but I wouldn't have these things that I love if I didn't write when I'm dry. 

Inspiration can come from anywhere. A picture, a word, a sentence. It can come from a stranger, or from your best friend. I have an entire board on Pinterest devoted to pictures that inspire me. Books inspire me. Movies. TV shows. I love to write, and I love thinking about writing, and talking about writing. I love reading. Words are my bread and butter. They're my oxygen. I can live without a lot of things. I recently diagnosed myself with lactose intolerance, and I'm learning to live without as much dairy as I want to be eating (I love ice cream). But I can't live without my words. I need them. My music, my books, my characters. I love the characters that I have created. They're like my children. And the characters that I didn't create, but that I love, are some of my dearest friends. Lizzie Bennet and Harry Potter. Katniss Everdeen and Liesel Meminger. I have laughed with these characters, and cried with them. I can't live without my friends, created by words.

LBD

To a nerd, LBD does not mean "Little Black Dress." It refers to "Lizzie Bennet Diaries," the 10 hour modern vlog adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice." I absolutely adore this series. All the actors are stunning, and portray their characters perfectly. If you haven't seen this series and don't want spoilers, you might not want to read this post. :) THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.


I'll start with the good: Darcy. Darcy, Darcy, Darcy, Darcy, Darcy. I can't say it enough. I love Darcy, and Daniel Vincent Gordh is perfect. Seriously. Ahhhh. Up until episode sixty, we only see Darcy as portrayed by Lizzie, her sisters Jane and Lydia, and her best friend Charlotte, through "Costume Theater." This is Lizzie's way of telling stories. We also see her and her sisters portray Bing Lee, Caroline Lee, and occasionally each other. But when we finally meet Darcy, face-to-face, he does not disappoint. The actor managed to capture the way he'd been played in previous episodes, complete with drawing his chin in when he's nervous.

Lydia is also wonderful. She's a partier, with a definite sweet side. But her wild side wins out more often, causing friction between herself and her well-meaning older sisters. She constantly clashes with Lizzie, who disapproves of her partying and her "boyfriends." Lydia's story will break your heart, but I'll get to that later.

Jane is an absolute sweetie, and her boyfriend Bing is, too. They're the perfect match, much as they are in the book. Jane playing Darcy in Costume Theater, and fake texting when "he" saw Lizzie almost made me die laughing.

Gigi Darcy is played by the adorable Allison Paige, and she sort of represents the fans. She ships her brother with Lizzie, and does everything in her power to get the two of them together.

And now, to Lizzie. Ashley Clements is a fabulous actress, and she played Lizzie to perfection. She knew exactly what she was doing when she took this role. Lizzie is hilarious, and you will love her instantly. But she will also drive you out of your mind when she's being her usual judgy self.


And now to the bad: George Wickham. Played by the wonderfully talented Wes Aderhold (who is much nicer in real life), he is the king of all jerks. He's manipulative, and a liar. I really, really dislike him. He first took advantage of Darcy's little sister, Gigi, and then moved on to preying on Lydia.

Caroline Lee is basically just a brat, who never thinks about anyone but herself. That's all I have to say about her.


The romantic: Okay, I could go on for hours about this. I'll start off easy, with the "what was romance in the book, but isn't in the series." Mr. Collins is hilariously played by Maxwell Glick. In this version, he does not so much propose to Lizzie, as ask her to be his business partner. I mean, come on. We all know he has a girlfriend in Canada. Right? She is real, right?

Jane and Bing have a painful relationship. It starts off great, but then he suddenly moves back to LA, without so much as a goodbye. He breaks her heart, even though she made him snicker doodles. Snicker doodles! Lizzie is horrified, much as she should be. Jane spends three days in her room, has a good cry with Lizzie, and then starts to recover. She's finally moved on when Bing comes back, and, well. We all know that true love forgives.

Lizzie and Darcy are so... I don't even know. I don't have enough words for how much I love them. And I'm afraid that if I try to explain, it'll break the internet. They start off hating each other. She finds out from his friend Fitz that he broke up Jane and Bing, and she's furious. Rightly so. Lizzie calls him a heartless robot, ON HER VIDEOS. Yeah, that's a good idea. When they're arguing after he awkwardly (but so adorably) confesses his love for her, she yells that if he wanted to know how she felt about him, he should have watched her videos. Oops. A few months later, Lizzie is working on a project for grad school, and she ends up shadowing at Darcy's company Pemberley Digital. Here, he's nothing but nice to her, and he even partakes in Costume Theater with her. She meets his younger sister. she begins to fall in love with him. But then she's called home by an emergency, involving Lydia, and a certain tape that George Wickham is selling on the internet. I don't want to completely spoil what Darcy does to help, but let's just say that being a rich CEO really helps. When Lizzie finds out what he's done, she calls him, and he comes to see her, leading to lots of feels. I literally screamed when I was watching episode 98.


And now, the heartbreaking. Which, basically, is Lydia's entire story. I already said that she and Lizzie clash over Lydia's partying, but when Lizzie gives her a book called "Where Did I Park My Car?: A Party Girl's Guide to Becoming a Successful Adult," things come to a head, and Lydia snaps. She doesn't understand the Lizzie is just trying to help, and sees this as a personal attack. She storms off to Vegas for New Years, where she reconnects with George Pigface Wickham. A little ways into the series, Lydia started doing her own videos, and the last several include George. Here we watch him manipulate her into falling in love with him, and cutting off contact with her sisters, who are in LA and at Pemberley Digital. We are powerless as we watch Lydia fall deeper in love with each episode, all the while believing that he loves her, too. He tells her things like "I'm here for you, but where are your sisters?" But when the "Lydia Bennet Tape" website goes up, Lizzie comes home to confront Lydia, thinking she's in on the plan. But the second Lydia lays eyes on the site, she breaks down. She had no idea. This is about where you realize that Mary Kate Wiles (actress playing Lydia) is stealing the show. But you don't mind, because she's an insanely talented actress. I cry every time I watch episode 87. Lydia has realized that he never loved her, and she says she thinks she might be a monster. "Because if he's all bad, then what does that say about me?" She truly believes she got what was coming to her, and it breaks my heart every time. "I thought I was, for once, good enough for somebody." This is about the moment I lose it, and I start to sob, and so does she. "Why didn't he love me, Lizzie?" This video is the first time Lizzie says "I love you" to her little sister. This is when their relationship begins to heal.


So I guess my feelings about this series are still pretty strong, even though it's been almost a year since it ended. I hope you were able to understand all my ramblings. :)

My Home Girl, Jane

If you know me, you know that I love Jane Austen. Love, love, love. I have read all her books, and seen a bunch of the movie adaptations. So I'm going to talk about some adaptations! They're not going to be in any particular order, aside from sorted based on book. I will also rate them. It's not going to be a super critical rating, so they'll probably all end up with either five stars, or one.


1. Sense and Sensibility (1995): This was the first Jane Austen movie I ever watched. My first introduction to the wonderful world of Jane, and I fell. Hard. From the first few moments, I was hooked. I was blown away by Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, and Kate Winslet. The scene that stuck with me the most was when Colonel Brandon carries Marianne home through the pouring rain. 5/5 stars.


2. Pride and Prejudice (2005): The first version of Pride and Prejudice I watched, and the version that caused me to fall in love with the story. Absolutely gorgeous version, with beautiful cinematography, costumes, and acting. Matthew Macfayden as Mr. Darcy and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet have fantastic chemistry. And, oh man, that first proposal in the rain? Oh, and what about the second proposal, at dawn?? That man knows how to propose. Seriously. 5/5 stars.


3. Mansfield Park (2007): Mansfield Park is probably my least favorite Austen novel. I just didn't really connect as much with Fanny Price, which made the novel hard for me to get through. But, it's Jane. So I still really enjoyed it. And this version, with Billie Piper as Fanny and Blake Ritson as Edmund Bertram was very sweet. I love Billie Piper. 4/5 stars.


4. Pride and Prejudice (1995): Oh my goodness. Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy? Doesn't get much better than that. He slam dunked the role, and stole every scene he was in. This version is so great, partly because it's an older BBC production. So even though the costumes and scenery may not be the best, the main acting is phenomenal. Mrs. Bennet does start to grate on you by the time you're into the second hour, but that's okay. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth more than make up for it. If you asked me to pick between this and the 2005 version, I would disappear in a cloud of smoke to avoid having to choose. 5/5 stars.


5. Northanger Abbey (2007): So, so sweet. I love the book, and I love this movie. J.J. Fields as Mr. Tilney and Felicity Jones as Catherine Morland were just so adorable. Seriously, precious. I so relate to Cathy as she deals with an overactive imagination from reading too many novels. I cringe when she suspects Mr. Tilney's father of murdering his wife. And, I mean really. Felicity Jones is too adorable. 5/5 stars.


6. Emma (1996): Okay. So, I liked it. It was cute, and Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley was a very nice choice. But, Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma? She didn't grab me. I couldn't sympathize with her like I could in the book. And Mr. Elton, portrayed by Alan Cumming, kind of drove me crazy. 3/5 stars.


7. Persuasion (1995): 1995 was the year for Jane Austen productions, wasn't it? This one is so lovely. I've never found Ciaran Hinds to be particularly attractive, but he stole my heart as Captain Wentworth. And Amanda Root was so cute as Anne Elliot. The tension between the two of them was very well done, and it was a super sweet movie. 5/5 stars.


8. Emma (2009): Easily my favorite version of Emma. Beautiful, well acted, and just all around gorgeous. This is the movie that made me fall in love with Jonny Lee Miller. Romola Garai was the perfect Emma, and so far above Gwyneth Paltrow. Jonny Lee Miller and Romola Garai together were magical. I want them to get together so bad, I could cry at "badly done, Emma." I would watch this version over and over. All four hours of it. 5/5 stars.


9. Pride and Prejudice (1980): I couldn't get through the first two hours of this five hour mini-series. David Rintoul as Mr. Darcy was stiff as a board, and super forced. Even when I skipped ahead to the second proposal, he barely smiled. Elizabeth Garvie's Lizzy Bennet seemed really weird, and very different from how you imagine Lizzy to be. 1/5 stars.


10. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012-2013): Got ten hours to spare? Looking for a modern day version of Pride and Prejudice? This is what you need to watch. I laughed at almost all every episode of this Youtube series. It's so wonderful. Lizzie (played to perfection by Ashley Clements) is a 24 year old grad student, and the whole story is told in vlog format. While you don't actually see Darcy (the stunning Daniel Vincent Gordh) until about halfway through, "Costume Theater" will tell you everything you need to know about him. Maybe. I have never loved Lydia Bennet before Mary Kate Wiles portrayed her. Her story line is vastly different from in the book, and honestly, this is by far my favorite Lydia that I've seen. Mary Kate Wiles and Ashley Clements will have interactions that will make you laugh, cringe, and sob your face off. 5/5 stars. (This series actually deserves its own post. Stay tuned for that.)


11. Emma Approved (2013-?): Emma Approved is a fairly new Youtube series, made by the same company that made LBD. Emma is played by the wonderful Joanna Sotomura, and she really is exactly like in the book. In this version, Emma is a life coach, and is documenting her work/life. She and Alex Knightley (Brent Bailey) work together. They have a lot of very convincing sparring matches, but still manage to convince the audience that they're in love, even though they may not realize it yet. 5/5 stars.


What's your favorite Jane Austen adaptation?

NaNoWriMo

I didn't think I could do it. I really didn't. When I first heard of it, I was surprised anyone would do it. And then a few years later, I suddenly decided I was going to write an entire novel in November of 2011. I wanted to write about a teenage girl facing an unplanned pregnancy. So I did. And it turned out... okay. Sure, it was very choppy, and so first drafty I couldn't even look at it for weeks afterwards. And I still haven't had the courage to revise it. But that's okay. Because I wrote the whole thing. And I loved doing to so much, I did it again in 2012.

And that one was awful. I wanted to write about a dystopic society that had reverted back to 1800s restrictions. But I also wanted to write a sci-fi novel. So it turned out to be sort of in between, and since I couldn't decide what I wanted it to be, it was ten times choppier than the first one. But I still loved the process. So, I did it for a third time a few months ago.

This time, it was awesome. It's been a long time since anything I wrote flowed that much. Yes, there were times when I got stuck, and there were things I didn't like about it. But I love the finished project. It's about a girl who goes into the Labyrinth to fight the Minotaur, but she's disguised as her brother. I went into it thinking it was going to be very much an action/thriller novel, but it so wasn't. It turned out to be much more about the characters, and their relationships with each other. And I love that book. I love, love, love it. I'm working on the sequel right now, and there characters are my babies. They really are.

Writing With Music

I write with music. Always. I just do. I don't feel like I can't write without music, but I really love having it play in the background.

I know people who say they can't write with music, and my mom can only write with instrumentals. But I will listen to anything and everything.

But what I listen to really depends on what I'm writing. If I'm breaking my heart with a character death, it doesn't help to have "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid" bouncing in my ears. I need something like "With You" from the musical "Ghost." Right now, just so you know, I'm listening to "Better Dig Two" by The Band Perry.

When I was writing my most recent NaNo (working title: Labyrinth) I put together a playlist specifically for that novel. That was all I listened to while I wrote that novel, and I haven't listened to it since. I now have a playlist for my other writing. It's mostly sad songs, because, honestly, that's what I write.

First Post!

Hi!
This is my first post (obviously) on my new blog, Come, Do Battle With Words. I am very excited, because I have not actively kept a blog for a long time.

On this blog, I will talk about writing, reading, quoting, and being considered a "nerd."

I will tell you a little about myself! My name is Liz, and yes, I am a nerd. But I don't take that as an insult. I think being a nerd is cool, because basically it means you get excited about stuff, and you like learning. What's wrong with that? I am a nerd about many things, including Harry Potter, Jane Austen, BBC Sherlock, Doctor Who, and Rick Riordan books.

I am a writer, and I have written a total of three novels through NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and two novellas before that. I am currently in the process of writing several short stories, as well as the sequel to my 2013 NaNoWriMo novel. I am also trying to work up the courage to dive back into my 2013 novel, and begin revisions.

So, I guess I should thank you for visiting Come, and I hope you will comment and visit again!