A delightful animated film about a young boy and and an old man who fly away to an exotic place in a balloon house...

...in other words, what's up.

I've been...

~Reading

Just finished Christy by Catherine Marshall (SO good, though not recommended for younger readers as it has some mature themes), am still plugging away in The Count of Monte Cristo, and just delved into Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange.  It's quite lovely so far-- I really enjoyed her Mr. Knightley's Diary, so I'm hoping this will be as good.  (Got any book recommendations for me, friends?  This time of year is when I read the most, it seems...)  I keep track of all my reading on Goodreads, which I'd recommend (I've used that word three times now... ugh, I need a synonym) to any bookworm.  Yay for book-sharing and bluestockings!

~Listening

Well, I'll tell you what I'm NOT listening to just yet, and that's Christmas music.... just pretend you can see me scowling.  (If you know me in real life that won't be hard to imagine.) I'm a stickler for Waiting Until After Thanksgiving, and this year is no exception.  Instead I'm listening to Audra McDonald whenever I get the chance, and remembering how much I love The High Kings.  Oh, and the Sherlock soundtrack. :D

(this is 3-year-old's and my special song-- well, one of them)

~Working

I've been at my nanny job for two years now... hard to believe the little munchkin who wasn't even walking yet when I started is now running around talking a mile a minute because he's THREE now and definitely not a baby anymore.  (Well... depends when you ask him.)  We're a close-knit pair, we are.  I'm also beginning a volunteer position at my library next week, so that's fun.  ;)

~Sewing

A lavender Civil War dress as a somewhat late fifteenth birthday present for Molly-- HOW IS SHE FIFTEEN ALREADY.  Visions of sugarplums a new Regency dress for a Jane Austen Christmas tea are dancing in my head but I'm determined to stick to just one project at a time.

~Watching

Anne-girl and I just began the BBC Robin Hood together, and though it's not really my usual cup of tea, I'm enjoying it heartily.  Much is my favorite character.  Also Will Scarlet.  Because, y'know, Harry Lloyd.  Do I really need to explain that.  Didn't think so.  I'm also loving In Earnest, a new independent web series based on Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest-- which is one of my favorite plays ever, so it's quite fun seeing it adapted into a clean and hilarious modern-day vlog series.

~Traveling

Recently returned from a jaunt to Kansas City (again!).  It was lovely to see my Rovirosa peeps again and I miss Ally and her siblings already... but we have a plethora of new inside jokes to console ourselves with.  Since none of them are blogging much anymore I could probably say whatever I want about them on here... but I'll refrain from sharing mor'ifying anecdotes :P and simply say that we had a splendid time and made idiots of ourselves and stayed up really late every night and played games and roasted marshmallows and went to play rehearsals and watched movies and the like.  It was quite good fun.

~Anticipating

Christmas, duh.  BUT THANKSGIVING FIRST.  Basically the entire holiday season.  *rapturous sigh*  And seeing relatives I haven't seen in ages.  And my first voice recital, because I'm really excited about that.  And seeing Cinderella (the musical!), our Christmas present from my grandmother.  And baking a ton of treats because that's what we do this time of year.  And the Victorian Christmas ball we're going to!!  Oh, and the new Night at the Museum movie.  No shame.  :D

(random quote I like)

~Planning

Melody and I have a really delightful project we're currently working on... which I should devote some time to this morning, haha.  What I'd love to be planning is a trip to go visit Melody, but hey, she was just here, so I need to bide my time.  And save my money.  Heh.

~Writing

Well, y'all know about Masked now.  :D  That's been keeping me pretty busy.  I've also been plugging away at a couple of movie reviews for this blog, which still haven't materialized.... but life goes on and things will be okay.  Yada yada.  Tomorrow is a brand new dayyyyy...

~Laughing

I'm always laughing over something because I'm a little too easily amused, but this song has had me in stitches recently.  For all you fellow low-pitched women out there...

(The chorus bit from I Feel Pretty is the best, IMHO.  And as a girl who can rock the Bishop's low notes in Les Mis and then be told by a young friend that I sound JUST LIKE his older brother, I can identify with that.  Haha.)

~Wondering

Soooooo is Sophie Hunter going to become Sophie Cumberbatch?  Isn't that the uppermost question in everyone's minds? :D  Personally if I had the opportunity to take on a name as unique and hilarious as that one, I'd grab it.  Despite having to spell and explain it to everyone for the rest of my life...  (HUGE congratulations to the happy couple, by the way, and NO I'm not in deep mourning or anything, to answer the solicitous inquiries of half my friends.  Snort.)

~Learning

That this crazy thing we call life is happening right here and not now-- that I'm not waiting for anything, but instead just discovering how to enjoy and accept each day as it comes without constantly worrying about the future.  Now is the time to seize the day, stare down the odds and seeeeeeeeize the day... you don't get anywhere by staying stuck in a rut fearing what's to come and worrying over what's already happened.  The God who controls the universe controls every aspect of it, including my own uncertain and small existence, and He has a perfect plan for each and every part of it.  Someday I'll fully grasp that.  Hopefully. :D

How's it been with you lately?  

"If I am a wild Beast I cannot help it. It is not my own fault."

I've been tagged by multiple people for the Janeite tag, which was making the rounds back in September (cough... cough cough cough... yes, I'm very late), and now I'm finally following through with it.

Here are the official rules (which of course I've bent to suit my own whims and inconsistencies)--

~Thank and link back to the person who tagged you.
~Tell how you were introduced to Jane Austen and share one fun fact about your Janeite life (this fun fact can be anywhere from "I stayed up all night reading Emma," to "I visited Chawton and met Anna Chancellor.").
~Answer the tagger's questions.
~Write seven questions of your own.
~Tag as few as one or as many as seven other Janeites and let them know you've tagged them.

So!  First of all, big thank you to Miss Elliot, Hannah, and Melody.  Since they've each tagged me with seven original questions, I chose not to answer twenty-one questions but instead to pick and choose my favorites from the bunch and just do seven all told.  (My blog, my rules. :P)

Second, the story of how I was introduced to Jane Austen... I've told this one on the blog before but it never hurts to repeat it.  I was 14, had outgrown a lot of the juvenile fiction at the library, was raring for something to read, and my mom said she thought I was old enough to try Pride and Prejudice.  So off I trotted to Borders (BACK WHEN BORDERS STILL EXISTED) with a gift card my grandfather had given me for my birthday, purchased the Modern Library of Classics edition of P&P, read it within a week, fell irrevocably in love and never looked back.  (And since that time I've read all six major novels, plus some of the juvenilia and unfinished works and what have you, watched most of the films, and co-run a blog devoted to the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries.  Phew.)

As for a fun fact... um... I've seen a play of Pride and Prejudice performed live.  It was awesome.

...Yes, that was lame.  I'm bad at fun facts.

So.  Questions.

From Miss Elliot

~If you were Elinor Dashwood, would you buy sugar or beef?

I'd buy sugar. Definitely.  You can live on vegetables, after all.  And I'm not much of a beef person, to be honest.  Or really much of a meat person at all.  I don't dislike it, of course, but I can often just take it or leave it.  (My brother regards this opinion with the shock and horror that his nine-year-old constitution requires him to bestow.)

~Do you think you have to love tea to be a Janeite?

...I think you have to love tea to be a human.
KIDDING.
No, certainly not.  But it doesn't hurt.  :D

From Hannah

~Which relative of any of Austen's heroines/heroes do you find most annoying?

Mrs. Norris from Mansfield Park drives me NUTS.  I hate that woman.  Sir Walter Elliot from Persuasion also drives me batty.  Ugh.

~Provide up to five of your favourite Austen quotes. (I know, hard! Just pick a few random quotes that you love. They don't have to be your absolute favourites.)

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?" (Pride & Prejudice)

"What dreadfully hot weather we are having! It keeps one in a continual state of inelegance." (letter to Cassandra

"From politics, it was an easy step to silence."  (Northanger Abbey)

"I cannot make speeches, Emma.  If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more."  (Emma)

"I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal." (letter to Cassandra)


From Melody

~Heehee... okay. How would you react if you were talking to a young man rather close to your own age and he announced that he was a fan of Jane Austen? ;)

I would marry him.  Duh. :D

...Okay, okay, maybe I wouldn't quite go that far quite so soon, but I'd definitely be more Interested in him than I would have been had he not said such a thing.  Heehee.  And obviously I'd press for more details and probably harass him with a million questions about favorite books and movies and quotes and what all.  Because I do that with most people I meet who say they like Jane Austen.  Heh.

~So pretend that all the Jane Austen adaptations made up to this point, are actually being filmed presently, and you have the option to be an extra in one of them.  Which would you select, and what scene would you choose to be in?

I would be in Emma 2009, and I'd be a lady at the Crown Inn ball.  And I'd contrive to dance really close to Emma and Mr. Knightley so I could watch them being cute. :D

~You're at a ball which is comprised of twelve dances.  As they are done two at a time, you will be able to dance with six of Jane Austen's gentlemen.  Three of them are desirable, three of them you do not like at all.  You get to pick.  Which six are on your list?  (They'll still be the ones to ask you, of course. They will magically know to do so, I guess.)

(This question is hilarious, by the way.  Excellent job, Tween.)

I'd pick...

1. Mr. Knightley
2. Mr. Elliot
3. Henry Tilney
4. Henry Crawford
5. Mr. Willoughby
6. Mr. Bingley

(And you can figure out for yourself which I'd think of as desirable and undesirable.  Haha.  Please note that I chose the undesirable ones with how-gross-would-they-be-to-dance-with in mind, not necessarily how-horrible-are-they-as-humans.  Heehee.)

Now for my questions!

~If you could mix-and-match any Jane Austen heroine with a hero from a different novel, who would it be?  (ex: Fanny Price and Mr. Knightley)
~What's your favorite quote from a Jane Austen movie that doesn't actually appear in the novel it's based on? (make sense of that if you can)
~What's your favorite hat or bonnet worn by a heroine in a Jane Austen movie?
~Which Janeite-related location would you most want to visit-- London, Bath, Steventon Rectory or Chawton Cottage?
~What's your favorite kind of tea?  :D
~Have you ever randomly stumbled across a fellow Janeite at a social event?  Tell us about it!
~Who's your favorite parent in a Jane Austen novel?

And I tag... anyone reading this who wishes to do it.  Leave your answers in the comments if you care to (even if you've already done the tag!).

Anon, Sir, Anon is HERE and NOW

I guess that would make it Now, Sir, Now...

...um, never mind, it was funnier in my head.

The point is that Rachel Heffington has a new novel out and it looks like a humdinger.  It's a mystery AND it's set in England AND it's got hilarious banter AND it's by one of my favorite authors... so yeah, you should go buy it and read it.

ALSO LOOK HOW PURTY THE COVER IS.

The 12:55 out of Darlington brought more than Orville Farnham's niece; murder was passenger.In coming to Whistlecreig, Genevieve Langley expected to find an ailing uncle in need of gentle care. In reality, her charge is a cantankerous Shakespearean actor with a penchant for fencing and an affinity for placing impossible bets.  When a body shows up in a field near Whistlecreig Manor and Vivi is the only one to recognize the victim, she is unceremoniously baptized into the art of crime-solving: a field in which first impressions are seldom lasting and personal interest knocks at the front door.  Set against the russet backdrop of a Northamptonshire fog, Anon, Sir, Anon cuts a cozy path to a chilling crime. 

Rachel Heffington is a novelist, a nanny, and a people-lover living in rural Virginia with her family and black cat, Cricket. Her first novel, Fly Away Home, was independently published in February of 2014, while her novella, The Windy Side of Care, was published by Rooglewood Press in the Five Glass Slippers anthology in June of 2014. Visit Rachel online at www.inkpenauthoress.blogspot.com

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL.
Rachel's also hosting a giveaway to celebrate her new book.  You can enter to win a complete party in a box! The Cozy Quagmire Party Pack includes everything you’ll need to have an evening worthy of guests such as Vivi, Farnham, and Dr. Breen. Prize includes P.G. Tips (Rachel's favorite British black tea), a $5 Panera Bread gift-card for toasting-bread, a Yankee candle, matchbook, and a paperback copy of Anon, Sir, Anon.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And for the business side of things-- you can purchase Anon, Sir, Anon in paperback format on Amazon, or in Kindle format at the same website.  (Revolutionary.)  Rachel's working on getting the book into Barnes and Noble, so stay tuned over at her blog for that!

Becoming Nikki Cover Reveal!

(Please enjoy this lovely picture of my author friend Ashley-- which I snagged from her Goodreads profile-- so that the picture of the actual cover won't show up in your Blogger feed.  Because I'm sneaky like that.)

So my friend Ashley wrote a book, guys. And she's publishing it.  AND I AM VERY EXCITED.  

I got the opportunity to beta-read Becoming Nikki when it was in the works, and I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud.  Or just sat there with a huge grin on my face. And maybe teared up a couple other times.  (Maybe.)  Ashley has a real talent for storytelling and I'm thrilled that her debut novel is finally becoming available for those outside her lucky beta-reader circle to enjoy.  (Nope, not rubbing it in your face that I got to read it before you did... why would you think that...)

Here's the cover!

What would you do if you were given the opportunity to rebuild a broken relationship?

Alec and Nikki Scott are the perfect ice dancing duo, executing flawless technique and brilliant performance abilities each time they compete. No one doubts their camaraderie, not even their closest friends.

But looks can be deceiving. Off the ice, their relationship is in shambles. Ice dancing is the only thing they have in common anymore... and Alec wants to quit.

Just as Nikki feels like their relationship can't get any worse, an unexpected tragedy crashes into her life. She's left struggling with a difficult choice as her opinion of her brother slowly starts to change.

Whatever she decides, she knows her life will never be the same.

So go add Becoming Nikki on Goodreads, stay tuned for the links to buy it when it becomes available, and don't forget to follow Ashley's blog here!

I'd Like to Share: November (and October!) 2014

As mentioned in a previous post, I dropped the ball for I'd Like to Share in October, so this month's list contains nominations from September AND October!  Double feature!  Yay!

In the Humorous category...

Miss Elliot nominated Anne-girl for Les Amis Meet Horace and Elsie (But Mostly Horace)
Emily Blakeney nominated Elizabethany for Symptoms of Mizziness


In the Inspirational category...

Ashley nominated Natalie D. Monk for Kate Middleton's Secret
Sara Lewis nominated David Mitchel for J.S. Bach Rides Through L'enfant Plaza
Miss Dashwood nominated Rachel Heffington for To the Girl Who Has Three Lives
Miss Dashwood nominated Maribeth for A Mighty Fortress
Naomi Bennet nominated Melody for The Gift of Friendship


In the Informative category...

Naomi Bennet nominated Emma Jane for The Six Stages of Writing
Hanna nominated Kelly Davio for Flannery O'Connor, Ambition and the Illusion of Spare Time


In the Just Plain Interesting category...

Melody nominated Jenn Granneman for Why Some Relationships Create Energy for Introverts


In the Miscellaneous category...

The Author nominated Miss Georgiana Darcy for I Have a Most Unaccountable Partiality For...
Livia Rachelle nominated Olivia for Let's Talk: Being in the Know is Not a Virtue


Congratulations to everyone who correctly identified Edmund Sparkler from Little Dorrit as the speaker of September's quote.   Can you guess who said this one?

"Ah, _____, you are full of the charitable feelings for the young ladies who are beautiful, hmmm? As for me, I am always full of the charitable feelings to the old ladies that have the maladies."

Next up on Yet Another Period Drama Blog... the long-awaited Janeite tag.  It's been languishing in my drafts far too long!