More About Me Than You Ever Wanted To Know

I've been writing some heavier posts this month. So today I'm breaking away from that with a little fluff.

A few weeks back T.B. McKenzie of Magickless passed on to me the Kreativ Blogger Award which I am honored to receive. Thanks, T.B.! One is supposed to list 10 things about yourself upon receiving this award. Here goes...

1. I've always hated my name because it is so common. Going through middle and high school there were 13 other Sarahs (or Saras) in my grade alone.

2. To compensate for this, I like to give my children unique names. Possibly too unique sometimes. No one can spell or pronounce my oldest son's name: Maedhros (It's pronounced My thros.) 

3. In high school I had two close friends who were also named Sarah. We called each other Los Tres Sarahs (And yes, I know that's not proper Spanish grammar, but I wasn't the one who took Spanish and came up with the name.) and we "fought crime on the side".

4. Los Tres Sarahs was also in the habit of randomly handing out coconuts to people during our lunch hour. It was always highly amusing to see their faces when you just walked up and handed them a coconut. By our senior year there was a waiting list to receive a coconut.

5. It may already be apparent, but I have a serious obsession with Middle-earth and J.R.R. Tolkien's writings set therein. I have a ridiculous amount of knowledge about that world and in particular about the Elves. For instance, I can rattle off the names of the seven sons of Feanor without a second thought: Maedhros, Maglor, Curufin, Caranthir, Celegorm, Amrod and Amras. I can also greet you in Quenya, the High Elven tongue: Suilanyel! or in Sindarin, the common Elven tongue: Mae govannen!

6. If I could trade places with any character in Middle-earth it would be Galadriel. She was the only main character that actually lived happily with the love of her life for thousands of years. Everyone else was either relatively short lived or had a tragic fate.

7. Despite my love of Middle-earth and all things Tolkien, my favorite book to read (and reread and reread) is actually Dune by Frank Herbert. And if I could write prose like anyone, I would want to write the way Frank Herbert wrote Dune.

8. In fact, I've always had a bit of a literary crush on Leto Atreides II from Children of Dune. Which is kind of creepy, because he's a kid. But he's also an adult. It's complicated.

9. I tend to get crushes on fictional characters far more easily than real people. (For which my husband is grateful.) Currently it's this guy...

Renji Abarai of Bleach.

10. I'm totally obsessed with the anime Bleach and everyone should go watch it. (Or you know, start watching it. There are 300+ episodes.) I'll be posting a writing lesson from Bleach later this week.

Whew. Ok. But wait, there's more. Miss Cole of Miss Cole Seeks Publisher tagged me to answer 11 questions.

1. When did you decide you wanted to become an author?

Fall of 2010. I've written since childhood, but it was never with the aim of becoming a published author. (I would often joke about "when I'm an internationally bestselling author..." but I never took it seriously.) It wasn't until fall of 2010 when I finally began to think to myself that hey, maybe this could actually be something I could do professionally.

2. What books inspired you to write?

In my younger years, it wasn't any specific book. I was just a constant reader and that naturally spilled over into writing as well. As a teenager I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and that made me realize that fantasy was my true love and from then on I wrote fantasy stories.

3. What are your other hobbies?

Reading, of course. Though I do less of that now than before I had four kids. I also love to sew, particularly costumes. I most recently made a princess dress for my daughter to wear to a Princess Ball at school. I am also a casual MMO gamer though I exclusively play The Lord of the Rings Online. From LOTRO stems my hobbies of making music to play in game and creating role playing events based on the lore of Middle-earth. (I know. Major geek.) You could also say that because of this I'm an amateur Tolkien scholar with a focus on Quendology. (I just made up that word. It means study of the Elves.)

4. Favorite film?

Wow. Tough question. I'm not really a movies person. I'll just go with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. That's been a favorite since I was a kid.

5. What is the worst film you have ever seen?

That's a hard one too. I used to work at a movie rental place for a while and we got to take home New Releases the weekend before they came out for free. So I've seen a good many horrible movies. I'd have to say The Scorpion King. Its general badness was heightened by the fact that The Mummy is a pretty enjoyable movie and while The Mummy played around with Egyptian mythology and history a bit too leniently, Scorpion King completely divorced its self from reality and common sense.

6. What would be your ultimate fictional crossover?

Harry Potter and Bleach. Hijinks and hilarity ensues.

7. What's your dream house like?

I used to think it was a castle. But now I think it's a Hobbit hole. 

8. Best trip you've ever taken?

Easily, the month I spent in Egypt the summer I was 17. Oh the places I went, the things I did, and the wonders I saw.

9. Got a favorite kind of cake?

I'm not much of a cake person. Though I like to get little chocolate ice cream cakes occasionally. Yum.

10. Are you sporty? What's your sport? And if you're not sporty, is there a sport you wish you were really good at?

I'm a champion at long distance chasing toddlers around.

11. What's your one hope for the future?

Only one? I'd say my primary hope is simply to live to a very old age with my family around me.

And I'm spent. That's already too much thinking for one day. So, if you comment on this post consider yourself tagged to answer the questions above (I can't think of 11 more right now.) and if you're on my blogroll consider the Kreativ Blogger Award passed your way.

Awards and Challenges and Blogfests Oh My!

Today is for playing catch up! I've been so out of the blogging loop, just barely hanging on, during the month of September. But now it's October and I think I'm ready to get back into the game!

First things first, even when I dropped off the face of the blogosphere and didn't post for a while, I had a few blog awards come in. That really made my day, coming back and seeing that. Dawn Allen and Kadie Kinney passed the Versatile Blogger Award on to me. And Deniz Bevan gave me the Liebster Award. Thanks, ladies! It really means a lot to me that you enjoy my blog enough to pass an award on to me. (I have this weird feeling that someone else gave me an award too, but I can't for the life of me remember where it was from. If it was you, please remind me!) It's traditional to share seven things about yourself with the Versatile award, but instead I'm going to share this awesome video:



And I'm passing both awards on to everyone in my Fantasy Campaigner group, whose blogs I need to visit more often.

Amanda Leigh Cowley
Leann D. Baldwin
Christine Tyler
Michele Helene
Notes from the Jovian Frontier
Rachel Morgan
J. A. Bennett
Mel Flowler
Stephanie at Word by Word
Heather McCorkle
Roger Eschbacher
Rebecca Ryals Russell
Alberta Ross
Eileen Wiedbrauk
Liz of Home is Where the Cat Is
Andrew Leon
The Golden Eagle
Concrete Pieces of Soul
The Kelworth Files
Ninja Owl
Hektor Karl
A. B. England

The final round of the year for A Round of Words in 80 Days has started this week and I'm giving it another shot. I failed spectacularly last time and learned the truth behind the old saying "Ambition should be made of sterner stuff". I'm going to curb that ambition this time, while still setting myself a goal that will give me a challenge.

My goal is to write everyday. And I don't mean blog posts or challenges or worldbuilding notes or outlines. I mean that I need to write narrative for one of my WIPs everyday. I'm not setting a word goal, because my days are just too unpredictable for that. But if I can manage to first establish writing something everyday for 80 days then hopefully it will become a habit and I can start setting myself word count goals in the future.

That's my hard goal. My soft goal to go along with that is that I would like to complete a short story, have at least a basic outline for all of the stories in my Apotheosis Cycle and finish worldbuilding the lands of Palis and Akhet. But these goals will be the icing on the cake.

Anyway, wish me luck! I'll be trying to keep my blog actually updated as to my progress at least once a week this time.

And last bit of business: blogfest announcements!

Tomorrow is the monthly Insecure Writers Support Group hosted by the fantastic Alex Cavanaugh. I know a lot of us could use the encouragement.

This week the Rule of Three Blogfest finally kicks off. You can post your first story installment either Wednesday or Thursday. I'll be posting on Thursday due to the IWSG.

Sommer Leigh is holding a month long MonsterFest where you can sign up any day during October to write a post about any type of scary creature from stories. I'll be posting on the 24th about Apep, the serpent god of Egyptian mythology, and how I'm using him as the inspiration and source of the Big Bad in my fantasy world.

And I'm spent. Have a great blogging and writing week!

Miscellaneous Paraphernalia: Blog on Fire and Giveaway Winner

I once had a teacher in middle school who greeted us everyday by telling us to put away our miscellaneous paraphernalia, by which he meant everything not relevant to his subject. Ever since the phrase has stuck with me. And so when I decided I'd do a post on the weekend full of all the little odds and ends that don't really deserve a post all by themselves (blog awards, blogfest announcements, writing updates, links I'd like to share, etc.) the phrase naturally came to mind. So here it is. This week's miscellaneous paraphernalia.

Amy at The Ramblings of Amy has passed on an award to me!

Thanks, Amy! I certainly hope my blog is on fire... but, you know, in the non-literal way. This time around these questions were attached to the award:

1) Are you a rutabaga?

No, but I may or may not be a truck.

2) Who is your current crush?

Would it be too sappy to say my husband? It would. All right then, Freddie Mercury.

 

3) Upload a heartwarming picture that makes you smile.

High Priest Seth Bathing

Not sure about heart warming but it makes me smile. Partly because on of my WIPs has a character based on Seth, but he's nothing like the picture above.

4) When was the last time you ate a vine-ripened tomato?

Never. Ew. Tomatoes are fine as sauce but nothing else. 

5) Name one habit that causes other people to plot your demise?

 Probably being an insufferable know-it-all. I maintain that I am NOT a know it all. I would never claim to know anything unless I had personally verified the information recently. I AM a bit obsessed with never being wrong though (I blame my father) which is why I go out of my way to be right. I suppose it comes across badly.

6) What is the weirdest, most-disgusting job you've ever had to do?

 Mom. It DOES NOT get any weirder or more disgusting than the stuff I have to deal with. Like the time I came downstairs in the morning to find that my 3 year old son had apparently been cooking in the middle of the night:

We think he was trying to make pancakes.

 

7) Where da muffin top at?

 Illogical! Illogical! Please explain! You are human; only humans can explain! Illogical!

8) What author introduced you to your genre?

J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings changed my life in several ways.

9) Describe yourself using obscure Latin words.     

Beatus, Directus, Fidelis, Gravitus.

Now my former Latin student husband can show up and tell me how I've used those words incorrectly. Well, he can go an complain to the random internet list I grabbed them from and give me a break.

And now I am passing the award on to...

TL Conway of TL Conway Writes Here
Nicole of Write Me a World  
Miss Cole of Miss Cole Seeks Publisher 

I found the blogs of these lovely ladies not so long ago and I've really been enjoying them. Keep up the good work, gals!

And now, with the help of Random.org, it's time to announce the winner of my Wonderland Blogfest Giveaway! The numbers have spoken and the lucky winner of the gorgeous handmade paper and the guest post/interview spot is.....

*drumroll*

Cookie! 


Congratulations. I'll contact you at your blog to work out details. 


Tomorrow I'm scheduled to participate in two more blogfests. 


There's Ellie Garrat's Star Trek as We Know It Blogfest:

• Leave your name and rank on the linky below (i.e. scienceofficergarratt).
• On August 22nd post your top five Star Trek characters and episodes and/or films, and tell us why you love them.
• Warp your way over to as many of your Starfleet comrades as you can and comment on their choices.
• Spread the word on all hailing frequencies, and feel free to post the image on your blog.
• Wear red at your peril.

And then Christine Tyler's Sparkfest:

What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer? 

What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?

Or, Is there a book or author that changed your world view?

And there are prizes!

• There will be three Amazon Gift Cards ($15, $10, $5) awarded to random participants!
• The blogger who writes my favorite entry will get an interview on my blog so they can tell us more about their awesome source of writerly inspiration!
• By networking with other writers, you gain followers and comments for your own blog.

There's still time to sign up before tomorrow! 

So does anyone know of another blogfest happening tomorrow? Then I'd be like d'Artagnan with his three duels in one afternoon. Ha! Masochism FTW!

Passing on the Love

I am always flattered and thrilled whenever I receive a blog award. It's a confirmation that, yes, I am doing something right here and people are enjoying it. There's little that makes me happier than that thought. And that's why I'm a writer.

Recently Nicole at Write me a World, an excellent blog, sent this award my way:

Nicole had this to say about me: "Sarah is a fellow fantasy lover and blogger-extraordinaire." Well, gosh. My blogging really hasn't been up to par lately, but I'll take this as motivation to get back in shape. Thanks so much, Nicole!


The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. The rules of the award are:

   1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
   2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
   3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
   4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
   5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!


Choosing who to pass awards on to is always the toughest part. But here are a few blogs that I think are very deserving:


...then she writes~ Heidi Windmiller is a self acknowledged "work in progress" with unique insights into the writing experience.


I Need to Write~ Theresa is a new blogger with a wonderful passion for writing.


Claudie A.~ Claudie is another devotee of fantasy with a lot of valuable knowledge and techniques to share.


Christine Rains- Writer~ Christine is a fellow "geek, writer and stay-at-home mom". The Trifecta of Awesome.

The Pen is Mightier~ Taylor Roseberry has the most beautiful header and a great blog. I find myself just gazing at that header though.

Speaking of having less than 200 followers, I have to say that since I only started blogging in February I am amazed by how well this venture has been going. I really expected to be shouting into the wind, my words lost to everyone but my dear husband, for a long time before I actually garnered any readers and commenters. This whole experience has been more than I ever hoped and you, all of you all over the blogosphere, are awesome and I love you.

As my follower count inches higher, I've decided that once I get to 200 I'll attempt to hold a blogfest of my very own with prizes and everything. I have a great idea for the subject. So that's something to look forward to and hopefully I'll get there before the end of the year!

Progress Report of a Cute and Delusional Writer

I keep saying to myself "it's just one of those weeks", but really, it's just one of those lives. I'm not sure why a mother of four is ever expecting her life to quiet down and become less busy. Probably because she's delusional. Also, apparently, cute. At least, according to Deniz Bevan of The Girdle of Melian who passed this award on to me...

This award asks you to list 5 books, movies or TV shows you've experienced in the last year.

TV show: Farscape. My husband and I just finished watching all four seasons together and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the wrap-up miniseries, The Peacekeeper Wars.

Movie: Ghostbusters. For years my husband was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, whenever I reminded him that I'd never seen this movie. Finally he brought it home from the library for us to watch together. It was quite good.

Book: The Wise Man's Fear. I was really looking forward to this as I had really loved The Name of the Wind, the first book in this trilogy. But this one was just a major disappointment. It'll take something special in the third book to make me like this series again.

TV show: Castle. I'm not normally a fan of murder mysteries, but we gave this a try because.. well, because of Nathan Fillion. And we were totally surprised, in the best possible way, by the greatness of this show. Can't wait for the show to return in the fall.

Book: The Westing Game. I just reread this kids book yesterday on a whim and it is still as good as I remember it. A really clever murder mystery/ puzzle game.

And I'm passing this award on to Rebecca Kiel, Stephanie Thornton, Michelle Gregory, and Jeanmarie Anaya.

ROW 80 Progress Report

I've made some important strides forward with my world-building this week. My world-building notebook is considerably fuller and I've worked out some of the geographical logistics that were giving me trouble for the story I intend to start writing this week. I intend to dive into the writing of that story tomorrow (1500 words a day for 5 days a week is the goal). It's a story with a "cast of thousands" so today I need to establish a few more of the secondary characters so I don't get stalled on names and such while writing. I think I'll be ready for tomorrow. Beginnings are always the hardest part for me so... *fingers crossed*

I'm really excited to get into it though. This story takes place at the effective beginning of history for the world I'm creating and it's the story that leads to everything else. It opens up the world and with any luck, you'll be able to read it before the year is out. All I need to do is manage to carve out some serious writing time without distractions. Sigh. I am delusional.

Blog Awards of Doom

You ever have one of those weeks where nothing really seems to come together? Yeah. Between a baby sick with RSV (he's been really good about it, though he doesn't much like his medicine) and doctor's orders to stop letting my two middle kids walk all over me (which is harder than it sounds) suffice it to say I haven't been able to wrap my mind around writing or even blogging at all this past week.

Recently I was given a couple of blog awards and I'm just now getting around to passing them on. I really like blog awards. They're an excellent kind of encouragement and I love the way every person who gets one pays it forward by sending the encouragement on. I admit to being more than a little thrilled at having my blog singled out for an award. I must be doing something right here.

Claudie A.sent the Versatile Blogger Award my way.

Thanks, Claudie! The rules for this award are:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you. (Here, have a box of thank-yous! *hands box*) 
2. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 0 - 100 deserving blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

Well, all right. You asked for it.

1. I have always hated my name because it is too common. There were 12 other Sarahs in my graduating class.
2. I love to sew. Primarily I like to make fantasy and historical costumes, though I do regular clothing and miscellaneous household stuff as well.
3. I can't cook. Not even a little. I don't know why but I just can't wrap my brain around cooking. My dear, wonderful husband does all the cooking in our house and he is incredible!
4. When I read I tend to get really absorbed into a book so that I'm not even aware of my surroundings. I remember once when I was a young teen reading the book Rebecca while in the car. I looked up from the book when we got to our destination and I had this horrible, frightening feeling for a minute because I didn't understand where I was or why I wasn't at Manderley.
5. I am terrified of spiders. To borrow a metaphor from Cracked.com: Spiders are descended from the first sin that man committed against God, which congealed into the most fearful shape in mankind's thoughts, and then scuttled away into the rocks to haunt his children for the rest of eternity. No one will ever convince me that spiders aren't pure evil.
6. I am wearing broken glasses right now because I have young children. My son broke my glasses once and I got them fixed, then he broke them again and I've gotten used to wearing them balanced on one ear.
7. My favorite color is red, but I'm not really sure why.

There, more info than you ever wanted to know about me. Now I get to inflict that task upon a few more bloggers. In keeping with the name of the award, I've decided to pass it on to a few bloggers I follow who do more than write.

Patricia Lynne blogs about books and writing, but also has an online store where she sells handmade jewelry.

Marjorie at Everything Emerald is participating in BuNoWriMo, but she's also an art student with a gift for photography.

Jenny at The Modest Peacock does it all, but it's her skill as a seamstress that has me most impressed and jealous.

So check out those excellent blogs.

Deniz Bevan of The Girdle of Melian (best blog name, BTW) mentioned me while passing around the Blog on Fire Award.

And I'm flattered. As far as I know, there aren't any requirements for this one so I'll just say, Thanks, Deniz! And pass it on to a few of the blogs that I particularly enjoy.

E.J. Wesley of The Open Vein has a great blog. His posts are always very well written and thoughtful. There are few blogs I look forward to reading more.

Margo Lerwill of Urban Psychopomp is a talented fantasy writer who has lots of great thoughts on the writing process to share. She recently self published a short story called Dis.

Will Foley of Tales of the Harbinger is another aspiring fantasy novelist with a gift for words. He posts lots of his writing experiments for everyone to see as he learns and grows as a writer. Talk about brave!

To wrap up this awards post, I would like to present a BRAND NEW AWARD that I just made up myself.

This is the Blog Award of DOOM! Because nothing's more fun than doom, right? Here's how it will work:

1. When you receive the Blog Award of DOOM your task is to post a short selection of your writing, 100-300 words, in which your favorite character suffers a horrible fate. It can be your favorite character from your own writing or from something you've read, it can be from a finished manuscript, a WIP or something you just made up on the spot. Your choice, but it has to be full of DOOM!
2. Pass it on to one other blogger and let them know their DOOM has come.
3. Remember that the person who passed the award on to you also received it as well. Go back to their post to read and comment on their writing sample. Make sure to thank them for sending the DOOM your way.
4. Whenever you use the word DOOM in your post, you must capitalize the whole thing.

I hope this is an award we can all have fun with. I'll get it started by passing it on to...

L.G. Smith of Bards and Prophets

Muahahahaha! Your DOOM is upon you!

Last but not least, check out these upcoming blogfests that look like great fun:

Elizabeth Mueller is hosting the Getting to Know Your MC Blogfest on June 24th.Answer three important questions about your MC: What is their greatest fear? What is their biggest accomplishment? What is their biggest regret?

Wicked and Tricksy is hosting the Something Wicked Blogfest from June 27th to July 1st. Name your three favorite spec-fic stories, tell why you love spec-fic, and make a prediction about where you think the spec-fic genre will go in the future.