That Really Long-Delayed Post About Stories and the People Who Make Them

My first real movie crush was on Nicholas Hammond as Friedrich von Trapp in The Sound of Music. I was nine, he was fourteen (the character, at least), and he was fictional and I was real, so the relationship really had no future, but I thought he was super cute.  (Still do.  In a weird nostalgic I-am-way-too-old-for-him-now way.)

Round about the same time as I saw The Sound of Music for the first time, I experienced the magic that was the Kevin Sullivan adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (still one of my top five favorite movies).  I'd read the children's version of the book before, and then my mom read aloud the Real Thing, but the movie clinched the deal-- I was an Anne fan forever.  And eventually a diehard Gilbert fan too... but not right away.  He was, you know, sort of old.  (Like, nineteen or twenty in the second movie. ANCIENT.)

After a while, though, I began to come around and appreciate Gilbert Blythe for a little bit more than just saying mildly funny things now and then.  For one thing, I was beginning to develop a somewhat greater and more refined taste for romance (i.e. Mushy Stuff, because This Was a Kissing Book), so Anne and Gilbert's relationship warmed my little heart.  For another thing, I was beginning to develop a slightly greater appreciation for the Aesthetically Blessed among us-- in short, it hit me one day that Jonathan Crombie was also super cute.  (This opinion has not changed in the past ten years.)

Come on.  I'm human.

That, combined with Gilbert's personality, charm, sense of humor, kindred-spirit-ness-- oh, did I mention his adorably curly hair-- and down-to-earth common sense, made him one of my favorite literary and film heroes of all time.  (See this post for a little more on that.)

So even though Friedrich was my first real movie crush, Gilbert was the one who endured.  The older I got, the more I liked him.  (And it wasn't just the hair-- although of course that helped.)

All this ought to have been clear to me as the reason why I was so devastated when Jonathan Crombie passed away last April.  But at the time, it wasn't, and I couldn't figure out why I was so sad over the death of a person I'd never met.

I think I first found out through the Sullivan Entertainment Twitter... and then a news article on his death... and then an instant message from Melody.  I remember telling my mom that night while making my lunch for work the next day, and actually breaking down crying while sharing the news.  "I don't even know why I'm so upset," I wailed, trying not to drip tears into my refried beans (because face it, that would be gross-- even if I was the only one eating them).

My mom was, bless her, sympathetic, and didn't tell me to stop crying into my lunch bag over a person I'd never even seen in real life. "Well, that story was a huge part of your childhood," she said, "and so it's natural for you to feel attached to the characters, and since he played one of the characters, that's the closest thing in real life."

{{At this point in the post it is worth mentioning that I started writing this about three weeks ago and then got distracted and never finished it, and now it is February 17th and I am finally finishing it. #perseverance

The problem is that I am now having a little more difficulty remembering where I was going with all this.  Reason #293827 why I should write better blog post outlines than "why people who make stories are important & it is sad that Alan Rickman died."}}

Right. Alan Rickman.

So I've actually only ever seen him in one whole movie, and that's my beloved Sense and Sensibility, as the perfect and best version of Colonel Brandon.  Yes he was too old.  Yes he could have been Kate Winslet's dad.  Shut up.  He was still awesome.  And David Morrissey is fine and all, but come on.  He was in a movie up against Dan Stevens.  We all know who wins the 2008 version.

(And yes I still love the 2008 version-- see review here-- but that's not the topic of this post.  *gets distracted rereading the review*  Wowwwwww I was a lot younger then.  ....anyways.)

And then he passed away in mid-January and, well, it was really sad.  Again, I'd only seen one of his films, yet I still felt as if the world had lost someone very special.

After Rickman's passing, the Internet pretty much exploded with tributes and eulogies and musings on the impact he had on the theatrical world.  There's a theater in the city where I work that has a poster in their window display with the quote at the beginning of this post.  "A film, a piece of theatre, a piece of music or a book can make a difference. It can change the world."  (And yes, I just retyped that quote so that you wouldn't have to scroll all the way back up to the top to look at the picture again.  YOU'RE WELCOME.)

I've always loved that quote, and this one-- which I hadn't read before all the tributes came along-- is just as good.  

“And it’s a human need to be told stories. The more we’re governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible.”

- Alan Rickman

Stories.  That's what it comes down to.  That's what makes these people special-- they told stories that resonated with us.  They used their talents to bring fictional characters to life, and it was magical.  Most little girls have a crush on Gilbert Blythe at one time or another.  (Come on, admit it... you did too...) Naturally a lot of that is due to L.M. Montgomery's writing of a character whose all-around-great-guy-ness resonates with so many people, but a lot of it is also due to Jonathan Crombie's talent in making Gilbert seem real and alive.  We want to believe that people like Gilbert exist... which is why that kind of character becomes so beloved by so many.  Same goes for the Jane Austen heroes... well, except for Edmund Bertram but DON'T GET ME STARTED ON EDMUND BERTRAM.


Ahem.

That's what storytellers do, though.  They give happy endings, even if they aren't realistic.  (People argue at times that Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon wouldn't have been truly happy together and that she was just settling for him... I will argue that one until I'm blue in the face, but this post is not the place for that.)  They restore order with imagination. They instill hope, again and again and again.

(That is NOT a Walt Disney quote.  It is a Kelly-Marcel-and-Sue-Smith quote-- from the writers of the screenplay for Saving Mr. Banks, one of the best movies of this decade.  But the somewhat-fictionalized character of Walt Disney said it in the film, so... yeah.)

Probably one of my favorite movie quotes of all time, that line sums up why stories are important--- why artists and novelists and playwrights and actors are such valuable contributors to society.  Because they give us something beyond day-to-day reality, something hopeful and happy and thought-provoking.  Is there always a happily ever after in real life?  Or, even, in a novel?  No.  But in a story, any story, there can be, because a story is limitless.  Because even if the people in it aren't real in one sense of the word, they are real to the reader. To the viewer. To the person sitting in the hushed theatre audience.  They are real because a long line of other people-- actual living people-- have made them so, from the first idea set down on paper to the costumed actor speaking lines to a camera.

And that, to me, is nothing short of incredible.

End of cheesy post.

The January Book Round-Up

I realize that saying I'm going to make this a monthly institution is like saying that I'm going to get up at 5 AM every day-- in other words, a million little pieces of the universe will conspire against me to make sure it doesn't actually happen.  But for January at least, I'm going to try and recap what I read this month, what I'm still reading, and what I think of what I've read.  Have I said "read" enough now?  Yes? Good.

Read: Destination Unknown, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Bronte Plot

Abandoned: Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse, All the Light We Cannot See 

Currently Reading: Wives and Daughters, Pioneer Girl, Beginning at Moses

2 out of 5 stars

Destination Unknown wasn't quite my least favorite Agatha Christie mystery-- that distinction would have to go to Postern of Fate, which was doubly disappointing because the plot was lackluster AND because it was about my two favorites of her characters, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford.  I expected better for T&T.  Destination Unknown is a standalone novel, and the detective (something Jessup) is forgettable at best, but the main character, Hilary, was actually quite likable.  (I should clarify that I listened to this as an audiobook on my way to and from work, and didn't actually read the printed text, so if I spell the names wrong, it's because I didn't bother to look them up.)  There wasn't actually a whole lot of mystery mystery though (i.e. no one was doing much detective work... just sort of following enigmatic people around and being taken to remote scary institutions and pretending to be other people's dead wives) and I like mysteries to challenge my little gray cells.  I definitely enjoyed this more as an audiobook than I would have as a regular old lump of text, however, because Emilia Fox (Georgiana Darcy!) narrated it, and she's very talented and fun to listen to.

4 out of 5 stars

Guernsey was actually a reread-- a third-time reread, in point of fact, but I definitely enjoyed it.  I can't give it the full five stars though, because unfortunately this is one of those books that doesn't live up to the hype I've given it myself in my head.  It's such a great premise, and it's told in one of my favorite (and rarely-seen) formats-- that is, it's all in letters.  Epistolary.  It's a book for bookworms, about bookworms, and it takes place in the English aftermath of WWII, a time period you don't hear as much about in historical fiction.  It's full of fun characters and a few good quotes, yet each time I read it I come away wishing it were a little... better, for lack of a more descriptive word.  (There are, obviously, more descriptive words out there.  But I'm not in an industrious mood tonight and have not bothered to go hunting them down.)  It has so much potential, and that's where a large part of those four stars come from, but it doesn't quiiiiiite live up to the potential.  For one thing, it's not terribly gripping.  For another, it's hard to keep track of all the characters, interesting though they may be.  I think some of this may have to do with the fact that Mary Ann Shaffer was unable to finish her manuscript, and her niece Annie Barrows took over and helped her to turn it into a final draft.  Maybe more character development and a clearer narrative was in the works, but couldn't come about for one reason or another.  Regardless, this is a fun novel (despite a few themes that I'm not thrilled with-- don't recommend for younger readers) but it's not as fun as I would like it to be.

And I saved the best for last!  Katherine Reay is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary writers-- Dear Mr. Knightley is still the best of her books, in my personal and not-so-private opinion, but The Bronte Plot held its own.  It made me think more than her other two did (DMK and Lizzy & Jane, and yes you should read both) and messed with the lines of ethics more than either of the others, while still managing to keep the heroine, Lucy, likable and sympathetic.  (I'm still more partial to Samantha from DMK.  But that's an aside.)  Reay's previous two novels focused primarily on Jane Austen, and so I was a tad disappointed that this book revolved mainly around the Bronte sisters-- Charlotte Bronte was notoriously contemptuous of the immortal JA, and Wuthering Heights is what I consider to be one of the most time-wasting claptrap-jumbles of high school required reading.  Therefore, I went into reading this with, shall we say, a slight Bias against the authors I assumed would be forefront in the story.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The Brontes figure in the tale, yes, but as themes rather than almost-a-character as Jane Austen did in DMK and L&J.  The idea of the Bronte sisters, women with courage to endure, was a larger part of the story than their actual works, and I liked that. (I should note that Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books of all time, and I would love the opportunity to visit Haworth-- just in case you think I have some sort of personal vendetta against the Brontes. I just happen to like Jane Austen better. I'm only human.)

The male main character, though, didn't really impress me.  He wasn't unlikable-- in fact there was nothing about him that was actually off-putting, but I just didn't think much of him simply because I didn't think about him much.  I was rooting for him and Lucy to get together, but more because I wanted Lucy to be happy than because I felt they belonged together.  Sid, the middle-aged owner of the antique shop, was far more interesting than James-- even if James did like Jane Eyre.  :D

All in all, definitely a good book.  And it made me want to visit a moor in Yorkshire as soon as possible.  Dare I say that I also kinda want to read Wuthering Heights again now, if only to see if it's as awful as I remember? ;P

Some quick notes about the other books on my list-- I enjoyed what I read of Pioneer Girl so far, but since it's still a new title at my library, I had to return it after 7 days and didn't get to finish it, so hopefully in February I'll get it out again and be able to move past the interminable foreword. :P  Wives and Daughters is as enchanting as ever-- Melody and I are reading it together and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.  Beginning at Moses isn't very well-written, but it's an interesting look at Jesus' role in the Old Testament.  I'm actually quite interested in All the Light We Cannot See, but stopped it after just a chapter because that, too, was an audiobook, and the guy who was reading it was annoying me no end.  Too... many... long... pauses.... between.... each... word....  Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse, like Guernsey, had good potential as an idea but jumped around too much in the (minimal) storyline for my taste, and the lack of moral structure in an early-1900's conservative Catholic setting was eyeroll-worthy.  I don't like abandoning books, but I got so fed up with this one that I just took it back to the library.  There are other ways to spend my time.

Looking forward in February to... Death Comes to Pemberley!  I actually own this, but haven't read it yet.  My sister and I just started the BBC miniseries and I'm loving it so far, so I'm anxious to read the book afterwards.  What are you reading these days?

P.S. Thank you one and all for your lovely responses to the reader survey!  I've closed the poll after receiving 52 responses (wow!) and will be compiling the results and blogging about those... soonish.

A Very Short Post Containing Mostly Titles

The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers "I've read it already" to be a conclusive argument against reading a work.

~C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

 



Okay, NOW I've returned to haunt you.  Welcome back! The blog changes are somewhat self-explanatory, so I give you leave to poke about and see what you shall see.

Back? All right, let's continue.  Today I am going to talk about Plans for the New Year, although I don't intend this to really be a list of resolutions-- just plans for this blog in 2016.

On my to-read list for this year, in no particular order... (rereads starred)

All the Light We Cannot See

Wives and Daughters*

When Books Went to War

Rilla of Ingleside*

Gone with the Wind*

1776

The Five Red Herrings

The Wilder Life

Pioneer Girl

I Am the Messenger

Ballet Shoes*

Unbroken

All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane

The Great Gatsby

Jane Eyre*

Lady Susan

The Grand Sophy 

 

Ideally I'll write/ at least a few lines of review/reaction for each of those books, but the best-laid plans of mice and men...

 

And on my to-watch-and-hopefully-review-on-the-blog list...

 

Cinderella 2015*

Copperhead

The Paradise (BBC series)

Wives and Daughters*

Lark Rise to Candleford*

Under the Greenwood Tree

 

I hope you've been able to keep your seat during this riveting narrative... the rest of posts for the year won't all be like this, I promise.  But it's fun to make lists in January, if for nothing else but to look back on them dismally in December and lament how little was accomplished. Heh.

 

What are you hoping to read and watch this year?

The To-Read Pile for 2015

"But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself."

-C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

Every January I make new resolutions about what I'm going to read in the forthcoming calendar year.  I've been doing this for at least seven or eight years (so we're talking as far back as sixth or seventh grade... yikes), and generally not meeting the standards I set for myself every year or even remembering wehich books I'd intended to read (cough...), but since the advent of my Goodreads account in 2012 or whatever it was, I've gotten a lot better at keeping track of the books I go through. Last year I set myself a goal of reading 50 books throughout 2014, but I only managed 36... this year I'm conveniently ignoring last year's record and setting another goal of 50 books.  Heh.  But this year I'm adding a little twist... the 50 can consist of any books I choose, provided I read all the books currently on my (and my sister's) shelves that I haven't yet read.

There turned out to be twelve titles spread between two bedrooms whose pages I had not yet covered. (...That sounded punnier in my head.)  This doesn't sound like very much, but believe me, after years of reading and rereading every single book we had in the house that was within my reach, having twelve books in my (and my sister's) possession that I still haven't read yet is kind of mind-boggling.

Also, to be completely and totally honest, there are more than twelve books in our house that I haven't read.  My parents have lots that I haven't ventured into yet, and even my sister has a couple more that I wasn't interested in.  (I knowwwww I should read Ivanhoe at some point.  But except for Anthony Andrews' face, which was pleasing to look upon, the movie bored me, and the book is really long and I just don't feel like getting into it right now.)  So these twelve books are just the ones that I actually, y'know, have inclination for.  (And they DO include all the unread books on my own shelves. Just for the record.)

Anyways. So.  On to the books and their stories.    The stories of how I got them, that is-- I'm not including novel summaries in this post.  You can go look 'em up under your own steam later if you want to.

We begin with The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a snazzy little number I picked up at a library booksale for 50 cents. Or maybe it was 25. I don't remember.  It was a pittance, anyway, and the book is a classic and I figured I'd better get around to reading the rest of it after actually enjoying the excerpts I had to read for 11th-grade World Lit, so I bought it.  It's fat and pink and looks scholarly on my shelf, despite the somewhat cartoonish cover.

Villette by Charlotte Bronte was another inexpensive find at a local used-book store.  Jane Eyre is one of my top favorite books ever ever ever, so it's about time I got around to reading more by the same author.  I've actually gotten about ten chapters into Villette (about a year ago), which is no large feat because there are about sixty-eleventy-hundred chapters all told, but what I did read was enjoyable, so I'm looking forward to picking this up again.

The Small Rain and A Severed Wasp (sequel to the former) by Madeleine L'Engle were FREE.  FREE GRATIS AND FER NOTHIN'.  My aunt was cleaning out her basement and doing some major downsizing on her bookshelves, and when I was at her house last August she marched me into the rumpus room, sat me down in front of the shelves, handed me a Coffee Bean Direct tote bag (that's the company she works for-- and hey, look, I gave them a shout-out! There ya go, Aunt Meg! It's a thank-you to them for giving you so much free tea which you then pass on to your loving and grateful niece!) and told me to take whatever I wanted, because she needed all the books OUT, and naturally I obliged because I am an obliging and helpful sort of person, hence my newfound possession of two novels I knew very little of, besides the fact that they were written by Madeleine L'Engle, whose Meet the Austins I enjoyed immensely and whose A Wrinkle In Time was kinda weird but really well-written.

I am the queen of the run-on parenthetical sentence.

I had the privilege of winning The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes in Hamlette's giveaway last summer, and though I read the greater portion of this extremely captivating book while at the beach during said summer, I still haven't finished it.  I tend to get caught up too easily with library books which have a ticking deadline, and the patient already-owned books on my own personal shelf get shoved to the wayside in the process.  Sorry, Exploits.  I'm coming back, I promise.  

I saw the movie of Lorna Doone two years ago (and reviewed it!) and Anne-girl has read the book and enjoyed it (I swiped this one from her shelf, speaking of which) but I still haven't gotten around to doing so.  It's not going to be quite exactly my cup of tea, I think (Anne and her Wilber are not quite sure what exactly my cup of tea IS)-- for I am told there's a part where John Ridd rips a tree up by the roots or cracks it in half or something just for the heck of it, and that kind of superfluous he-man-ism doesn't really make for enthralling reading in my book.  (Ha. Haha. See what I did there.)  BUT I'm willing to give it a try.  We shall see.

Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil G. Brinton has the distinction of being the very first sequel to Jane Austen's work-- it ties together Emma, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park at least, and perhaps the other novels too.  I can't remember now-- I got about a third of the way through this a couple of years ago when I bought it, but it went by way of Exploits and lost its popularity to a library usurper.  Now I'm determined to pick it up again.  (This was another find at a used-book store.)

Oh, look, and I got The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan at a used-book store too. Don't pretend you don't see a trend.  This one was published in like 1917 or something and I got it for a dollar, so I felt it was a good bargain and I like reading plays, so it should be fun.

P.G. Wodehouse is, has been and will continue to be one of my favorite authors of all time.  I don't actually know anything about The Little Nugget, but if it's half as good as the Jeeves books or the Blandings Castle books or The Plot That Thickened or any of his other stand-alones, I shall be quite satisfied.  This one is Anne-girl's, by the by.

More Letters from Pemberley is a sequel to Letters from Pemberley by Jane Dawkins, and I haven't yet gotten my hands on the original, but I intend to do so, and then I'll read the sequel.  (Can you guess where I picked up this little purple volume? Can you? Can you?)

Alison's Adventures by Lucy C. Lillie is so very old and out-of-print that it isn't even listed on Goodreads. (GASP.)  So naturally when I saw it at a-- all together now!-- USED-BOOK STORE, I simply had to buy it.  Look how pretty and cute and published-in-1918 it is.  Now THAT's my cup of tea.  (Spoiler alert, Anne and Wilber.)

The Man in the Iron Mask is a sequel to The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, and I still haven't even finished The Count of Monte Cristo, let alone The Three Musketeers, and between you and me I would rather eat a Three Musketeers bar than actually read the book, but that's neither here nor there.  I don't actually know if this one will get read this year. Probably not.  But I stuck it in there to fill out the even dozen, and hey, it also looks scholarly on my shelf.  (Place a wild guess as to where I acquired this one.)

Sooooo, there are some of my reading goals for this year.  What are yours?

Author Interview: Ashley Elliott

Today I'd like to welcome to the stage blog post a dear friend of mine, Ashley Elliott (formerly known in the blogosphere as Eowyn), who has just recently become a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!  To celebrate her success, I'm participating in the blog tour for her debut novel, Becoming Nikki... and Ashley is here today for an interview!  Without further ado, my questions and her answers.  (Probably you could have figured that out for yourself...)

1. Where'd the idea for Becoming Nikki first originate?  
   Well, it all started when I discovered ice dancing while watching it during the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Meryl Davis and Charlie White were instantly my favorite and I started thinking about how much it would take to get to the Olympics.  I also had come up with the idea of a broken sister-sister relationship (which slowly turned into a brother-sister relationship) around the same time, and, as I started developing the plot of that novel, the ice dancing part eventually fused with it.

2. I know you had to do a lot of research to write the ice dancing scenes-- have you ever tried it personally? Did you enjoy it?  
   Oh, my stars, it took SO much research. So, SO much research. I watched video after video – to the point where I could actually critique the dancers for myself – and I even got on an ice skating forum! I've ice skated before, but I'm not very good. At all. When I was little, I used to want to be an Olympic ice skater – HA. Now I can safely say that it'll never happen because whenever I do venture out onto the ice, I develop a close bond to the outer railing. But, like Joss Whedon once said, "I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of."

3. Was there a particular soundtrack or song that helped you write on your bad days?  (If you don't use music while you write, what do you prefer to listen to?)  
   *shakes fist* CURSE YOU, WRITER'S BLOCK.
   
   I didn't have very many days of writer's block when I was actually writing Nikki – the first draft, that is – but it took me almost two years to edit the stupid thing, so I guess you could say I had editor's block. On those days, I'd listen to empowering music ('Best Day of My Life,' 'Top of the World,' and a lot of Josh Groban, Hunter Hayes, and Jackie Evancho) and take a research break (meaning watch a few videos of my ice-dancing-OTP, Meryl and Charlie). I didn't start listening to themed music (or develop a soundtrack for my novel) 'til two projects later, The Art of Letting Go. (More on that later.)

4. Which character in your story do you identify with most (OTHER than Nikki? :D)
   Heehee... Other than Nikki, I identify the most with Natalie. She's got a bubbly personality – like me – and talks a lot when she's nervous – also like me. However, she's a lot funnier than I am, and also a little more confident than I am. But I feel like we'd be best friends if she was real. (*sigh* One of the invisible trials of being a writer...)

5. What was your favorite scene to write?
   Well, without spoiling much, there's a scene about two-thirds into the book where Nikki and Alec are in the car and they're talking about stuff they used to do when they were younger – before Alec turned into Grumpy Cat, that is. Nikki mentions that they used to sing a lot together, and, before either of them know it, they're singing 'All I Ask of You' from Phantom of the Opera. It's an absolutely magical scene that aaaaalmost didn't make it into the book. See, I had written for earlier on in the novel, but it didn't feel right at all, so I took it out and posted it on my blog as a 'deleted scene.' I got so many comments from people – I'm pretty sure you were one of them, Amy! – who said they were going to basically build a barricade if I didn't keep the scene in the book. I relented, partially because I loved the scene so much, and hid it away until the perfect time. I really like how it turned out, too.

6. Which would you say are three of the wittiest quotes/lines from the book?
   Oh, gracious... I wouldn't say I'm a very witty writer (at least, not hilariously witty like you, Amy), but here are a few lines that I think are funny.
   
   “Um, Natalie? You'll never believe who just opened the door for me.”
   “Chris Pine? David Tennant? Aaron Tveit?”
   (Insert Pinterest meme here: MENTION ALL THE FANDOMS!!!!)
   
   Bennett's eyebrows shot up. “No wonder you guys got first place. You guys are amazing!”
   I smiled, feeling my cheeks redden and wishing they hadn't. “Thanks.”“I mean, I think you dropped something. My jaw.” He stopped and his eyes widened, then he continued, gaining momentum as he spoke, “I mean, not both of you... Just you. 'Cause you're amazing. Well, that's not to say that Alec isn't a good skater, it's just...” He frowned. “Forget I said anything.”(Behold: The reason why I looooove Bennett. He's so adorably awkward!)
   
   Natalie shook her head, staring behind me. “Dost mine eyes deceive me...?”(This is the beginning of a short scene where Natalie has seen Nikki talking to Dylan, the most popular guy in school, and is her usual, obsessed-with-boys self. The scene is too long to put here, but I smile whenever I read it.)

7. Would you ever consider writing a sequel?
   I've considered it, but I don't think I'd be able to come up with enough material to constitute an entire novel. I have ideas about what happens after Nikki ends, but nothing more than who eventually marries who, which I won’t share here because of spoilers.  ; )

8. What authors/books would you compare Becoming Nikki to, in terms of style?
   Hmm... I think I'd say Nikki is striving to be like an Elizabeth Enright book, but I'm not sure I accomplished that. HA! I guess I'll have to wait and see what my readers think.

9. What other projects are you currently working on?
   My next novel, The Art of Letting Go, which I started in July for Camp NaNo, and had very little to go on, plot-wise, but a lot to go on, inspiration-wise. I got the idea a few weeks before NaNo and immediately thought, Oh, my stars – I have to write this. Basically, it's about this girl who has to learn how to move on after her boyfriend is killed in a high school shooting. It's the saddest, most depressing thing I've ever written. It makes me cry on a weekly basis, and I really think it's going to be better than Nikki. (But don't tell Nikki I told you that. ; ) )
   
10. Where can we buy Becoming Nikki? :D
    Nikki will be available on Kindle on December 8^th, and in paperback through CreateSpace and Amazon a few days after that. (I've hit a slight bump in the road with some pesky typos that I can't have edited 'til Monday, so I've had to change the date at the last minute. Disappointing, but c'est la vie.)

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.

If that synopsis intrigues you... go order Becoming Nikki on Kindle or CreateSpace!  And don't forget to follow Ashley's blog over at Inklings Press. ;)

Ashley Elliott is a writer, reader, musician, photographer, tree-climber, and Leaguette. She speaks fluently in movie quotes and spends most of her time fangirling over her latest obsession. In her free time, she enjoys laughing with her friends, laughing over Christian indie films (but secretly loving them), and laughing with her five crazy siblings. Ashley is a homeschool graduate and is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Humanities through CollegePlus. She lives in Georgia with her parents and siblings, and doesn't have any pets.

(And hey, there's a giveaway on Goodreads! Check it out!)

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!

Another Study in Style: More Famous Authors Handle Sherlock

By popular demand, A Study in Style is back, and I found some more famous authors who were willing to try their hands at novelizing BBC's Sherlock.

(Translation: I spent way too much time pulling my hair out, hunched at my computer keyboard trying to figure out how this nonsense should appear in print.  It was fun.)

A quick note-- in the last installment of this feature I tried to keep the characters' dialogue completely faithful to the lines spoken in the show.  This time I have tossed caution to the wind, and, in most cases, retained the general essence of the dialogue while modifying the language to fit each author's particular method.  Hopefully you will not find much madness therein.

***

P.G. Wodehouse

It isn't so much the violin playing I mind, when it's all said and done.  A chap can endure a bit of violin playing now and again, so long as it doesn't screech and howl and sigh and nag at him every confounded moment of the day.  The old eardrums can only handle so much, you know.  And I have to admit, dashed hard as it is to do, that Sherlock wasn't the worst violinist I'd ever heard.  That distinction belongs solely to Brunnhilde Ovenbottom, my third cousin twice removed on my mother's side, and by gum she'd earned it through all the torturous string-scrape sessions she'd performed at family gatherings in bygone days. Mind you, this was when I was Young and Youthful and Better Able to Bear It.  A fellow's ears age along with the rest of him, so I am told, and I doubt I'd be able to endure Brunnhilde's ghastly instrument-wheezing these days.  Lucky for the rest of us, the last I'd heard of her she eloped with a tone-deaf cable repairman.  They'll be happy together.

But I'm wandering from the subject.  What I mean to say is that the noise issuing from Sherlock's musical contraption was, when you get right down to it, the least offensive of his habits as a flatmate.  When one is going halfsies on living quarters, he'd said, one wants to know the worst of the other, and I agreed with him.  Jolly sensible, he is, from time to time.  But the violin playing wasn't the worst of it.  No, it was the severed heads in the icebox (fancy opening up the old i.b., all set for a nice cold ham sandwich or something of that delectable sort, mouth simply watering as one contemplated, and then being greeted face-to-face by the ugly mug of some poor chap whose body is looking for its topmost part-- I don't know why it is, but such things always seem to put me off my feed for some reason).  It was the callers coming at all odd hours of the day or not, sometimes to sob out a story of Woe and Loss and Mysterious Death, and sometimes just to say "what ho" and tell Sherlock what they thought of him, which wasn't much.  It was the unexpected jumping into cabs and sallying forth with a hoot and a holler to who-knows-where, often with the old Life placed precariously and without permission on the Line, with never a by-your-leave or are-you-comfortable-John or shall-we-stop-and-have-our-tea-before-you-go-berserk.

Enough to drive any chap mad, I tell you, unless he's there already.

~general internal complaining by John in the first series


Baroness Orczy

A brilliant, surging, lightning-quick, cunning, crafty mind, a mind above all others that surround it, conscious of its own genius, yet not above the doubts and fears that plague the mind of every man in his turn, the mind of a great man and perhaps even a good one.

And on that bleak, rain-swept day in London-- that seat of thronging, swarming human beings where crime and justice intertwined so minutely as to make the difference between the two almost incomprehensible-- the owner of that mind stood in a mortuary, a riding crop clasped in one powerful hand, about to exact vengeance upon the lifeless body of one poor soul who had given his own earthly cage for the benefit and good of that great master, Science.

White-coated like an angel of mercy, hovering near yet not too near, a young woman stood watching him, love and pity and perplexity all at war within her heart, as she summoned the courage to speak to the man she silently, devoutly, hopelessly adored.

"If you please," she said, with a tremble of her lovely rouged lips, "I could not help but wonder if perhaps you would like to have coffee."

~A Study in Pink


E.E. Cummings

I was being asked so if I didn't understand
best man to be,
it is because
be best friend I never expected to anybody's.
certainly of not the best friend and
bravest
and kindest
wisest and human being
I have ever knowing had of the good fortune.
John, I man am a ridiculous.
Redeemed the warmth and constancy only by
your friendship.
But as I apparently your best friend am
Congratulate you I can not
on of companion your choice.
I can, actually, no.
Mary, you deserve this man, when I say,
 of which I am capable it is the highest compliment.

~The Sign of Three


Charles Dickens

Mr. Philip Anderson was the kind of man whom everybody noticed as they rushed to and from the office (everyone rushing, rushing, rushing, and to where? and what?), and who made himself noticed when no one was kind enough to do it for him, but nobody paid much attention to him on the whole.  He was a mild, quickly-moving, pale-browed sort of person, with a face nearly forgettable (he had grown a beard to make himself more apparent in a crowd, though it did little for his appearance), but his character was one of interest, intensity and interjection.  His opinions, though many, were not often heard, and so he had learned to insert himself into conversation whenever the flow opened up sufficiently for him to do so.  In the past, doors had both metaphorically and literally been closed in his face, but why should that deter him?  The world should listen, the world should hear, the world should comprehend, the world should know and understand and acknowledge and take to heart the words of even the lowliest forensic specialist.  For why should his thoughts and theories be of less import than those of the head Detective Inspector?  Nay, my lords and gentlemen, my inspectors and investigators, my graces and majesties, it will not do to ignore, to turn away from the truth you know to be sound-- the voice of a man is a voice no matter who the man may be, and Anderson's voice is as plausible a thing as Sherlock Holmes', be it never half so deep and commanding.

"The thing is clear as crystal," Anderson said earnestly to Lestrade one afternoon in the street, "as crystal, I say.  That's the only way he could have done it.  It's plain as the nose on your face."

The nose on Anderson's face was undeniably plainer than that on Lestrade's, but Lestrade was a prudent man and made no remark in that regard.  Instead he shook his head, drank his coffee, and said no, that Sherlock Holmes was dead, and the matter ought to lay to rest once and for all.

~The Empty Hearse


Martha Finley

Mr. Mycroft Holmes had spent a quarter of an hour in his younger brother's drawing-room, attempting to convince him to take on a case of national importance.  He was as yet unsuccessful, for with every persuasive argument he made, the younger Mr. Holmes merely shook his dark curls in defiance and would not listen to reason.  Indeed, he replied to the cajoling of his brother with rank falsehoods, which fell so heavy on the ear of his friend Mr. Watson as to make him tremble from head to toe.  Furthermore, he made insinuating remarks as to the nature of the elder Mr. Holmes' diet-- it saddens me, gentle reader, to relate that the elder Mr. Holmes ate hot bread every morning for breakfast and further ruined his health with cream candy and coffee, for he had neglected the training of his parents in his boyhood and had refused stewed fruit ever since his days at university.

"The name of the gentleman in question is Andrew West," said the elder Mr. Holmes, "and he was found... dead... by Battersea Station this morning with a deep wound to the temple, administered so violently as to--"

Here he was interrupted by Mr. Watson, who, upon hearing the gruesome words, burst into an agony of sobs and tears in pity for the poor deceased man, even though he was merely a train-man and not a plantation owner.

"Here, here," said the elder Mr. Holmes impatiently, with that callous nature so natural to him, "none of that. This tragic death is directly related to the missing battle plans of which I have told you.  These plans must be found, Sherlock, and you must do the finding."

The younger Mr. Holmes gave his brother a look of grave displeasure.  "Shan't," said he, and turned down his lower lip in an expression of petulance.

The elder Mr. Holmes uttered two or three oaths, stopping only when he saw what distress he was causing to the gentle Mr. Watson, and turned back to his brother.  "Do not make me order you, Sherlock," said he, coldly, "or I shall send you to your room on bread and water, for disobedience is above all things most displeasing to me."

Mr. Watson resolved, that very afternoon, to plead with his wayward friend.

~The Great Game

***

I have to confess I rather like doing these-- any further suggestions for something I could adapt to suit various authors? Sherlock seems to be exhausted for now-- or at least my creative capacities are beginning to go kaput in that direction.  Ideas would be welcome! :D

A Bookish Chat with Belle

Today I have the very great pleasure of introducing my esteemed friend and patroness, Miss Martha--er, I mean Elsie-- er, I mean Isabella.   Or Belle, as I like to call her.  (Well, actually I like to call her "my child" but that's beside the point.)  We are continuing our Bookish Interview series after a brief lapse, and Belle has kindly consented to be the featured bookworm for July.

~Welcome to the podium at Yet Another Period Drama Blog, Belle!  Have some tea and a muffin to calm your nerves and tell us a little bit about yourself.  Name, general age-ish (feel free to be as vague as you like), last movie you watched (and enjoyed), least favorite food, favorite kind of summer activity, and what got you started blogging.  Ready, steady, go!

Hello Amy Dashwood's (aka Amy's) followers! My name is Isabella, but you can call mee Belle or Bella :) I am fifteen and can't believe it :P My life is just passing by SOOO fast! Oh yes if any of you would like to give me a gift I would like some time, literally! :D The last movie I watched was the Hulk, super random I know. :D Least favorite food would probably be Sushi though I can eat some, most of it gets to my stomach so I try to avoid it :) Favorite kind of summer activity would be either swimming, jumping on the trampling, or going out with friends :) I knew very little about blogging until one of my dearest friends started her blog and invited me over to check it out. I fell in love with reading it and decided I wanted to start one as well. I was rather young at the time so I started off a blog with my sisters, then when I turned fourteen started my own. Though I used to be very frequent with blogging I still love it and wish I could post more! But alas I also have life to attend to, which is not near as fun as blogging, but it has to be done ;)

~Okay!  So now that we know a little bit more about you, let’s ask some bookish questions.  Tell us about three books that you loved when you were little-- that is, under ten or so.

Absolutely.

Three books that I enjoyed when I was younger...humm...well I read a lot of random books, like kid devotionals and stuff like that, to be honest I liked to look at the pictures mostly :D

Adam Raccoon 
Random Bible rhyming books :)
Random Tea Party books that came with tea party sets :)

~Oooh, I always loved books about tea parties... still do, in fact.  :D  Which of your favorite books would you like to see made into a movie?

Well for sure Andrew Klavan's books, (which by the way are going to be mentioned a lot in this post :P) the ones I have read that is, such as Nightmare City (more like a Doctor Who episode :D) and The Homelander Series, and a book my friend wrote called The Lost World. But to be completely honest most of my favorite books HAVE been made into movies!

What is your favorite genre to read now? (historical fiction, mysteries, sci-fi, whatever)
I'm really liking action actually, now I definitely do love a good romance but most of the time I prefer an action book with a little romance, then a romance book with a little action :) I'm weird like that ;) I do also enjoy a good sci-fi, historical fiction and mysteries too :) For instance I am in the middle of an amazingly fun series by Andrew Klavan called The Homelander series and it is everything I enjoy! It's an action packed book, with a romance, mystery and fun. I was actually very surprised at how a book with just words could be so action packed and on the edge of your seat feeling, but it was! I highly recommend it ;)

What are some of your favorite quotes about books?

This isn't a quote at all, but it's very true I think :)

~What did you most recently finish reading?  Would you recommend it?

Well I am in the middle of a couple series but like I said I highly recommend Andrew Klavan's The Homelander series.


~What was the longest book you ever read?  Would you recommend that? :D

Oh gosh, I try to stay away from long books...just kidding I am not that person :D I do enjoy a long book, though most books I read are either series or shorter books, so I guess The Homelander series :)

I also recommend Nightmare City, also by Andrew Klavan.  I mainly love that book because it reminds me of a Doctor Who episode. :P Yes, I am a Doctor Who geek, I admit.  :D


~Quick!  First inspirational/funny quote from a book, off the top of your head! 

Life is like riding a bike. In order to keep your balance you must keep moving.

~What is the best book you bought over the last year?

To be completely truthful I never really buy books, not that I don't want to but that most of my books are either given to me, or I rent them from our local library.Sso unfortunately I don't really have a lot of books that I have bought, but more rented or passed down, which happens a lot in our family :) But I can say one of the best books given to me was from one of my best friends AND she wrote it herself! How awesome is that! It is now on Amazon, btw! Here's the link!

(YES.  People, go check out my sister Molly's first novel!!!)

~What would be your response to someone who told you she never read books?

I would think she has no life...:D jk. I would actually think she does have a life but she might be too busy to read books (which I personally think is absolute poppycock but to each his own :D).  And besides, these days you can read books on a kindle or watch the movies. :) (I feel like an old grandma, *shaky voice* "In my days children actually read books, books made out of cardboard and paper!" :D)

~If you were going to be stuck in an airport for three days and could only bring three books with you (and no other source of entertainment), what three books would you choose?

Let's see... probably three of the Homelander series, one because he has to survive and I would probably have to do that at an airport, and two they are just enjoyable and pass the time when I'm bored. (Ok it might sound like I am being a complete fangirl about these books, but I will be honest I love them to death and they are one of the best most recent books I have read, so yeah. :))

~Who are your top three favorite authors?

Andrew Klavan, DUH! :)
Suzanne Collins
J. K. Rowling
Charles Dickens
Sorry, there are just so many! :D

~(I see not the great Jane Austen  in this list... we are no longer friends.  :P  All right, all right, kidding...) What is the best book-to-movie adaptation you’ve ever seen?

Eeesh, well I would say one of the Jane Austen movies but I haven't read a lot of the books yet, I only ask my younger sister about them, (she's a reader :)) so I guess Hunger Games, Catching Fire because that is one of the few book-to-movie adaptations I've read. :D

~All right, all right, you invoked The Name in your last answer... I'll let ya slide.  Quick, name a book you love that begins with C (“the” does not count. :D).

(My first thought was Cat in the Hat but I haven't read that, I know "WHAT WAS WRONG WITH MY CHILDHOOD!!! :D) I'm going to just say (Hunger Games) Catching Fire. :D Sorry Amy!!!

~Bahahahaha... s'okay, I still love you.  :D And now... recommend six titles for the lovely readers of this blog.  Any titles.  Six of ‘em.  Do it.  Now.  (No, I’m not bossy.)

Amy, you are that bossy. "No rush" :D JK. (inside joke everyone sorry about that :))

The Last Thing I Remember
The Long Way Home
The Truth Of The Matter
The Final Hour (all of which are a series, sorry I was trying to think of six titles :D)
Nightmare City

Yeah, I'm a little lazy when it comes to picking titles. :P

Thank you so much, Amy, for having me post on your blog! I enjoyed it immensely! And sorry for all my naming-one-book-all-the-time-thing I just haven't read a TON of books recently, my bad! :D But you have inspired me to read more! :)

***

Thanks so much for joining us, Belle!  I enjoyed reading your answers immensely, and your pictures (especially the random ones :D) were a splendid addition.  Belle and I are great friends and I am so happy to have her as a guest here... she's a tremendously fun person and does a killer imitation of Martha Mahinsky.  Also, she understands the importance of obeying her father.  (sorry guys... inside joke again...) Everyone, don't forget to visit Belle's lovely blog here!  And don't forget to check out my sister's book, either... not that I'm hinting or anything.

(Also don't forget to submit your nominations for the August I'd Like to Share, right over here, if you haven't already.)

In Which a Cover is Unveiled

My sweet blogging friend Hayden is publishing her first novel this summer, and I am honored to be one of the people asked to participate in the cover-reveal!  Without further ado...

For the wealthy and privileged in Regency England, life is filled with balls, beaux, and tea- and that’s no exception for Constance Steele and her large, unusual family.  But when an unexpected letter sends her on a voyage across the Atlantic, her experiences affect more people than she ever could have realized. From the love lives of her sister Margaret and cousin Jack, to the family dynamics of the prestigious Breckenridge clan to a band of notorious pirates, no one could have guessed how her adventure would change them all…

I can't WAIT to read HP-- I was able to beta-read some of it and was definitely hooked.  You can visit Hayden's blog here for more information... hopefully the release date will be announced soon.  I am all excitement!

Hayden Wand is a Christian and homeschool graduate whose love of both Jane Austen and adventure stories inspired her to write Hidden Pearls. When she’s not writing, reading, or bribing her siblings to read the classics, you can find her baking, crafting  or watching her favorite shows on the BBC. She lives in South Carolina with her parents and four energetic younger siblings.  

A Bookish Chat With Molly

-Welcome to the podium at Yet Another Period Drama Blog, Molly!  Have some tea and a muffin to calm your nerves and tell us a little bit about yourself.  Name, general age-ish (feel free to be as vague as you like), favorite place to go in summer, least favorite household chore, favorite kind of jewelry, and what got you started blogging.  Ready, steady, go!

Thank you very much for the tea! It’s a good thing I’m not agitated, because if I had butter on the muffins it would get on my cuffs. Hmm, I’m not wearing cuffs.

Moving on. Anyway, I go by Molly in the blogging world. I'd prefer not to give my real name, if you don't mind. I am fourteen years of age, (and in seven months I’ll be old enough to see Les Mis! Whoop!) I love going many places in the summer, it would be hard to pick one. I do like the beach, though steep beaches and big waves make me nervous. My favorite type of jewelry is probably a necklace, though one day I hope to wear a ring. (Whoo! Miss Hale!) Sweeping is probably my least favorite, but I don’t care much for cleaning bathrooms or sorting laundry to be washed. I started blogging with my sister Anne-girl two years ago, I believe. Before that, I had fun reading blogs, and I wanted to start one of my own, and when Anne-girl suggested it, I was all for it! And here I am now! :D

-Okay!  So now that we know a little bit more about you, let’s ask some bookish questions.  Tell us about three books that you loved when you were little-- that is, under ten or so.

Wow, was I really under ten only around five years ago? Yeesh. Let’s see, three books I loved….. “Addy Saves the Day," "Molly Saves the Day," and "Kaya's Escape." All three wee exciting and I loved American Girl!

-Ooooh, I loved all of those too-- Samantha Saves the Day was another favorite of mine.  Those Saves the Day books were the BEST.  Which of your favorite books would you like to see made into a movie? (preferably list one that hasn’t already been made into a movie :D)

Just one?! Probably The Mysterious Benedict Society. As long as someone with good authority on the books was there to oversee it and make sure hate movie people didn’t get anything wrong. :D I don’t know if that is my favorite book that I’d like to see as a movie, but I do love that book and would want to see the movie if they made one.


-I know you love to read history books, sometimes for writing research and sometimes just for fun.  What’s your favorite era to read about?

Mmm, that’s hard! Perhaps the Civil War era, though I also love WWII and the Revolutionary War time period!


-What are some of your favorite quotes about books?

I don’t know if actually know of any off the top of my head…. well, here are a few I liked!
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” (Heehee, Henry Tilney!)

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”

(This one is technically more about bookstores, but I liked it.) “The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television.”

“TV.  If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six.  Open your child's imagination.  Open a book.”

-Loved all of those-- especially that last one, as I hadn't heard it before! What did you most recently finish reading?  Would you recommend it?

"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder." Yes, I would! I felt so bad for Sherlock when it looked like he wasn’t going to be able to solve the case!


-Did you discover any good new authors in the last year?  Which of their books did you like best?

Does Jane Austen count? Miss Dashwood read me most of P&P, though we started waaay back in 2013, I believe, and right now I'm reading Northanger Abbey for school. Of the two, probably NA is my favorite.

-Um.  My child.  Jane Austen ALWAYS counts.  Good answers there, by the way.  :D Now, quick!  First inspirational/funny quote from a book, off the top of your head! 

Well, I had to think a few moments, but here is one. “Life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something.” :P Actually, before I thought of that one, I thought of the quote where Mr. Bennet says to Mrs. Bennet that she might die before he does, but I wasn’t sure if that was in the book.


-It is.  :D What is the best book you bought over the last year?

Hmm, I’m not sure if I’ve actually bought any books over that last year. I should buy one, though. Well, last summer, I bought a book called Chasing Jupiter for Anne-girl's birthday, and that was a very good book, though I didn't buy it for me.

-What would be your response to someone who told you she never read books?

I hope I would try to be polite, but probably I would be thinking something like; “WHAT??!!”


-If you were going to be stuck in an airport for three days and could only bring three books with you (and no other source of entertainment), what three books would you choose?

The Complete Series of Sherlock Holmes, The Princess Bride, and my Bible.


-Who are your top three favorite authors?

Actually, I don’t know if I have a favorite author or authors, but here are three whose books I really enjoy!

• Anne-girl
• Trenton Lee Stewart
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

-If you could have a fictional side character over for tea in the nearish future, who would you choose and why?

Dr. John Watson. I’d love to talk to him about Sherlock Holmes. :D


-Quick, name a book you love that begins with S.

Well, I actually had to think for a while over the days I worked on this, but probably The Scarlet Pimpernel. That counts, right?

-Absolutely. :D And now... recommend six titles for the lovely readers of this blog.  Any titles.  Six of ‘em.  Do it.  Now.  (No, I’m not bossy.)

• A Tale of Two Cities
• Northanger Abbey (I’m not done this yet, but it’s very good!)
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Pridoner's Dilemma
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
• The Singing Tree

***

Thanks so much for joining us today, Molly!  Molly is my sister, by the way, peeps, and she's a fabulous one.  She's a bookworm, obviously (I like to think she takes after her older sister), a writer, an Emma Approved fangirl, a drama queen (like all her sisters... ahem) and an all-around fun person.  And she does a killer imitation of Dolly from Saving Mr. Banks.  :D You can check out her blog at To Write Something Worth Reading.