In Which Melody and I Natter On For a Very Long Time

Aaaaand here it is.  The promised, long-awaited (well, maybe) Podcast of Amy and Melody.  Recorded during our recent Visit.  For your listening pleasure.  With answers to the questions asked in this post and this one.

Strictly speaking it isn't really a podcast... it's a video... but whatever.



And if you wanted to see the dresses we were referencing... here is another shot of Melody's favorite of my dresses.

And here is a shot of her favorite of her own.  (I included only my favorites in the video pictures, heh.  How selfish of me. :P)

And there ya have it. ;)

Edited to add: after a subsequent re-watching of the Les Mis movie (when the podcast had already been recorded), Melody decided Courfeyrac was her favorite of Les Amis. :D

Two Are Better Than One

"I do not pretend to understand the nature of friendship between men, Dr. Marshland, but surely in its better points it resembles that between women. "

~Mary Smith, Cranford

"So I hear you're going on vacation this spring!" my friend Jenny said to me the other day.

  

I can never hold back the grin that comes to my face when this topic comes up.  "Yep, I'm off to State-That-Is-Far-Away-From-Here again. For two whole weeks!  Which is great, because by then it'll have been more than seven months since I saw Melody and I'll be in need of another Dose of Best Friend."

"That's going to be so fun," she said.  "So you're staying with her family?  And your mom said you're going to the Pacific coast, right?"

"Yeah, her family's being unbelievably sweet and letting me tag along on their vacation," said I, grinning even wider and probably resembling the Cheshire Cat.  "You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this.  I seriously can't wait."

"I guess it's kind of like having cousins out there," she said, considering.  "I mean, like extended family that you'd go and visit.  You guys must be pretty close."

You could say that.  :D  In fact, you could say a lot of things about Melody and me-- the phrase that her mom used once, "the two of you are like sisters, except a little bit better" is one of the best of the lot.  For the past three and a half years our relationship's strengthened more and more, and I don't hesitate to refer to my best friend as my twin sister anymore.  We don't have the same biological parents or the same birthday, but she's part of my family now and I'm part of hers and the two of us are separated only by a very large number of stupid, lengthy miles.

But now? Now I am, to borrow a Melody-ism (I do that a lot) absolutely Full of Squee.  Because now we're in the home stretch again, that delightful period of time directly preceding an Actual Real-Life Visit, and I'm so happy I could SCREAM.

On May 19th, 2015, I shall take a very long plane ride and then sit around in an airport for three hours (yay layovers) and then take a not-so-long plane ride, and around 2 PM I'll be with my favorite person in the whole world (for whom I can thank this very blog, for introducing us in the first place) for two. whole. weeks.  And two days.  I'm not coming home until the FIFTH of JUNE.

Like I said, so excited I could SCREAM.

We have a lot of plans, of course.  Plans that involve drinking lots of tea (as always) and doing some cake decorating (I'll teach her) and going bowling (she'll teach me) and having a yard sale and playing games and going to libraries (she works at one, which is so cool :D) and watching lots of movies (we're currently planning on Death Comes to Pemberley, National Treasure 2, Newsies, Northanger Abbey... hmm, we like movies that start with N, apparently).  Oh, and making a blanket fort and hiding from people, because we're mature young adults.

Aaaaaand we're also going to the Pacific coast.  That is, her family's going on vacation and they're graciously letting me come too.  The two of us have taken day trips together before (and one overnight at my grandmother's house one time) but this will be our first real road trip, and to say we're excited would not only be an understatement, it would be redundant because I've already used that word too many times in this post.

Let's just say I'm elated and very much looking forward to it. 

(photo credit to Melody)

But in the midst of all our fun activities (and hiking and camping-- well, cabin-ing, which is my kind of camping) we'd like to make something fun to put on our blogs (that's how we met in the first place, after all) and that's where you folks come in.

We're planning to make a podcast together, or at least a voice version of a vlog.  (A v-vlog? Nope, too stupid.) With Internet privacy and all that, we decided not to make a video blog together, but we thought it would be fun to put together something like a podcast, perhaps accompanied by a slideshow of pictures or other Visual Aids.  In all modesty (of course), we are rather hilarious when together, and thought the rest of the world should be able to listen to at least one of our conversations and enjoy our hilariousness.  As one does.

So we'd like to answer any questions you might have, and here are some handy-dandy helpful guidelines for that sort of thing.

~Submit anything that you might be curious about, whether about one of us in particular or about the two of us together.  However, if you have a question specifically for Melody, submit it here in the comments of this post.  If you have a question specifically for me, hop over to Melody's blog and leave it in the comments on her post on this same topic.  We won't publish any of the questions just yet (but will let you know when we receive them) so that they'll be fresh when we read them to each other as we make the podcast.  Make sense?
~Ask whatever you like, but we do reserve the right to not answer anything we deem too personal.  ;)
~Jazz it up! Be creative! Feel free to ask the ordinary things like "what's your favorite color?" and "are you for or against flowers in church?" but we encourage you to ask even more interesting things like "which of you would be more likely to run away to New York and pursue the stage?" and "what's the dumbest thing the two of you ever did together?."  (Fair warning-- she might not let me answer that one. Not that I can think of a specific example right off the top of my head, but I'm sure with a little pondering...)
~Make sure your questions are submitted before May 19th! :)
~We shall do our best to answer all the questions in the podcast and get it recorded and published in a timely fashion. Howeverrrrr, there is a slight possibility that the podcast might not get completed during our visit, in which case we shall definitely answer all your questions in a joint blog post and will apologize profusely for not having had enough time to do what we promised.  Because, ya know, life gets busy sometimes. (But we really do want to do this.  It'll be fun.)

 

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled Sentimental Sap programming... in all seriousness, I am so thrilled to be able to go and see Melody again.  Over the last three and a half years (I'm still a bit mind-boggled that it's been that long!) we've really become like sisters, but even closer than that, and she is truly my other half.  We've been through ups and downs and sadness and joy together now, and had our share of spats (although we've never yet had any actually horrendous fights, just "foofalations" as we call them) and more than our share of communication (ha, if you could see the length of the emails we write to each other... and knew how much time we spend on the phone... heh, heh.  It's a wonder we get anything else done.).  

What my friend said about extended family is true, though.  She's become a real part of my family, and not only do I not know what I would do without her, I don't even like to think about the possibility of having to do without her.  She's just the best, you guys. :D

In recent months I've become closer with other members of her family too, and I think I can say truthfully that yes, I am traveling out to see my extended family.  My un-biological family, yes, but extended family nonetheless.  Because Melody's family is an extension of her (so to speak) and she herself is an extension of me, and... you get my drift.  I like her. And her peeps. :D  

So!  There you have it.  This exceedingly ramble-y and hyper post now comes to a close, and you are left with the knowledge that Amy and Melody are going to see each other again, a fact which makes the world a better place, duh.  (Because we're self-centered and like to think that way.)

And now I will stop sentimental-ing at you.  (Um, that's totally a verb. Because I said it was.)

“So closely interwoven have been our lives, our purposes, and experiences that, separated, we have a feeling of incompleteness—united, such strength of self-association that no ordinary obstacles, differences, or dangers ever appear to us insurmountable.” 

–Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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!)

A Very Happy Un-iversary

Melody and me, performing a complicated dance routine known as Let's Cross
Arms and Clasp Hands and Look Coordinated For a Picture.

So I'm really, really late with my post commemorating three years of blogging.

In fact, it has now been three years and three weeks and two days.  If anyone's counting.  Which I bet you weren't.  But if you're one of those people who wants accuracy at all times, it's been three years and three weeks and two days.

That's a little less than one-sixth of my life, which when you think about it is a pretty significant figure.  As long as you ignore the fact that I'm only nineteen and hopefully have a lot more years ahead of me.   

The point is that I've been blogging for rather a while now, and it's become rather a big part of my life, and you've all probably noticed by now that I tend to overuse the word "rather."

Belle, me and Ally posing against a February-snowy backdrop

In the past I've written a blog post commemorating each anniversary (here and here) and of course if you want to see the original First Post I Ever Wrote On This Blog, you can go here.   This year I was at somewhat of a loss as to what I should write about.  I thought about sharing my favorite posts and whatnot of the last year, but then decided that was better suited to New Year's.  I thought about sharing stats, but though we're currently clocking in at 405 followers (WHAAAAAAAT) and about 477,000 pageviews at the time of this writing, with "Defending Mr. Darcy" STILL the most popular post of all time, there isn't really enough information in the stats to make for a worthwhile anniversary post.  Plus, it would be boring.  

So I thought and thought and took a few breaks to rest my brain because thinking is hard work, y'all, and thought some more and took a few more breaks, and finally decided to kinda-sorta copy my post from last year, but not really because I'm taking the same topic in a different direction.  Last year I talked about friendships and all the lovely people I'd met through blogging and how much fun it was, and blah blah blah.  Today I want to dig a little deeper and talk about how much my life has changed through the friends I've met through blogging.

Petie and me, getting our drama on

When I clicked "create blog" on my brand-new dashboard on that Monday morning in 2011, it was with some trepidation.  I could see the possibility of several scenarios unfolding-- one was that no one would read this new blog, because after all I didn't have any friends who wrote about this kind of thing.  Another was that a few people here and there might read it, but wouldn't like it, and I'd be so embarrassed that I'd have to take it down.  (This was part of the reason for my initial pseudonym and extra-special-care not to reveal anything about myself in case the Internet decided to hate me.  That, and privacy and caution and all the jazz that goes along with it.)  Yet another was that a few people might decide they liked what I had to say, and would follow my blog, and would leave comments and say friendly things, and maybe I'd become friends of a sort with some of them, or pen pals even.  I had a couple of daydreams about how cool it would be if I "met" some girl from Australia or something and we got to know each other well enough to talk on the phone, and then I'd get to listen to her really cool accent.  (Yes.  I'm shallow and I like people with interesting accents.)

None of these things happened.  Obviously.

Melody and me, telling all our most appalling secrets

The closest real life came to my imaginings is depicted in the third scenario.  That is to say, people found my blog (generally after I found theirs and left comments, and they'd come along to take a look at mine because they were nice that way), and they left comments and said friendly things, and I did the same on theirs, and before you knew it, I was actually emailing some of them (Melody, to begin with, and others soon after) and then bam, one day I realized I wasn't thinking of these people as "blogging friends," but just... you know... friends.

And at the risk of sounding cheesy, my life opened up in a way I never could have dreamed of.  Because of the friends I've made through blogging, I've come to understand what it means to meet a really-truly kindred spirit.  (Not to say I haven't met kindred spirits outside of blogging.  Because I have.  Heehee.)  I've been incredibly blessed with have the opportunity to travel around the United States and visit some of the people who've become very special to me (and have some of them come and see me, in turn).  I've been introduced to so many books and movies and music and recipes and games and who knows what-all.  I have so many more memories to cherish today than I did three years ago-- so many inside jokes, so many remember-when's, so many emails and letters and postcards and birthday cards to remind me of good times past.  I've gotten so close to people who used to be random strangers on the Internet (okay, that sounds creepier than it is...) and I never could have imagined that, three years and three weeks and two days ago.

With Emma, Alex, Addy, Belle and Ally, at the end of a cutthroat, late-night,
beyond-crazy Apples to Apples tournament.

A lot has happened in three years.  (And three weeks, and two days... yeah, I'm just gonna say three years from here on out.)  It wouldn't be quite accurate to say I'm a different person now that I was then (um, hello, I'm still me) but I definitely feel like I've changed.  I mean, duh, I'm three years older, and there IS a difference between 16 and 19 (I actually look YOUNGER in pictures from 2011... WHAT IS THIS PHENOMENON).  Obviously I'm not the only one who's changed-- since I started blogging, a great many new faces have joined the scene, and others who used to be regulars have sort of faded out of the posting habit.  Interests and tastes have developed and evolved over time, and I guarantee that if you look at the posts of anyone who was writing three years ago (and still going today) you'll see a lot of differences-- in style, topics, maybe even opinions.  

I've never liked change.  Not much, anyway.  I like things to stay the way they always were.  I look back on memories with a lot of bittersweet nostalgia.  I don't like to think about how the past is in the past and can't be un-past.  (Wait, that makes no sense...)  I was reminiscing with Melody, when she was here a few weeks ago, about the "good old days" in the blogging world, when our little circle of friends posted quite regularly and had long-drawn-out comment wars and fangirled excessively over that BBC Radio broadcast of My Fair Lady.  (See here and here.  Good times, y'all.)

"Knock knock."  "Who's there?"  "To."  "To who?"  "NO.  TO WHOM."

But nothing stays exactly the same forever.  (Okay, maybe Gilbert Blythe doesn't change-- that's the least he can promise you-- but he's the exception that proves the rule.)  And my little blogging circle hasn't stayed the same either.  People have grown up.  Gotten jobs.  Gone to college.  Acted in plays.  Written books.  Gotten engaged and even married.  (Wut.)  Gone through incredibly rough times.  Suffered heartbreak and loss and tragedy.  Made it through all of the above.  (People are, in general, tougher than they look.)

Over the last couple of years I've gotten very close to a few of my blogging friends (whom I'd now call my best friends :D) and with closeness comes sharing.  Sharing of joys and griefs and difficulties and sticky situations.  With closeness also comes friction at times-- much as you'd like to think you have the most perfect friendship in the world, nothing in this life is absolutely and entirely perfect, and sometimes people disagree and argue and have to deal with tension between them.  In the last few months in particular I've come to realize (not that I didn't before; but to a greater degree, now) that friendship is no bed of roses.  Tears are not always happy ones.

Petie and I are fabulous majestic beings who live in constant glamour and sophistication. Sometimes.

During the past year a friend of mine was dealing with a difficult and sad event in her life.  When she told me about it, I cried over it.  Um, a lot.  (I tend to cry over things.  One of my friend's sisters referred to me once as "the girl who likes sad movies."  Heh.)  In the midst of my angst (I'm good at angst), I remember asking myself why I was letting this affect me so much.  It wasn't my problem, after all.  It wasn't even my business, beyond the fact that my friend had chosen to confide in me.

And yet that's what friendship's about.  It's about other people's problems being your problems.  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with those who weep, and all that.  It's about being there for people-- for people you might not have known three years ago.  It's about trying to understand others, and being oh-so-grateful that they understand you.  It's about accepting change and moving through it and being all the stronger for the problems you've faced.  It's about sending hugs when they're needed and knowing when to say you're sorry and calling people on the phone just to hear the sound of their voice.  It's about love, when you get right down to it.

I find it ironic that the poster behind Ally's and my heads says "Keep Calm and Carry On"--
a sentiment we do not live out when we're together and squealing about everything. :P

(Drat. I'm tearing up writing this.  Even with all the goofy pictures illustrating the post.  Ha.)  

In 2011 I never could have imagined the relationships I'd be forging over the next three years.  I never could have imagined the laughter and nonsense and millions upon millions of written words (seriously not even kidding there), and the late-night chatting and worrying and crying and caring I'd be doing.  Sheesh, I was hoping to get a pen-pal out of the whole deal, at most.  I wasn't signing up for what looks like it's going to be a lifetime of friendship, and all the baggage that goes along with that.

It just goes to show that you should be careful what you wish for.  And that the Lord's plans are better than yours-- because I wouldn't trade what I have, the people I have, the roles they play in my life and (I hope) I in theirs, for anything in this world.

Thank you, all of you, for being my friends.

Melody and I share a less staged spin.  :D

***

P.S.  Couldn't end this post on too sad and sentimental of a note.  Here's Ally, Joey, Emma, me and Prissy being frogs.  Please enjoy what will now probably be my last blog post before Ally kills me for putting this picture up.  Farewell, my friends, I go on to a better place.

Short Version: Together Again

"Surprizes are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable."

~Emma, chapter 8 (volume II)

Well, then.  Which of our important nothings shall we tell you first?

Yes, we.
What might that imply?
:D

We must, of course, contradict the statement above (though it DOES come from our favorite literary hero), because in this case a surprise was a very agreeable thing indeed.

Well, my friends, as you may have gathered, Amy and Melody are once again together in real life.  Only this time Amy didn't know it was going to happen.

YES I SURPRISED HER.

I have no idea how I pulled that off.

Well, actually I DO-- verrrrrry carefully and much planning was involved-- but I'm surprised it actually worked.  (So in a way it was a surprise for us both :P)

You see, my parents had a vacation last week and they were going to visit my oldest sister, who lives in a state that is, shall we say, a lot closer to Amy's than mine is.  So I wanted to visit her at the same time, and then I thought, wait, she won't be EXPECTING me to be the next one to visit her... OOOHHHHHHHH.

JANE, YOU SLY THING.

Long story short, on Saturday afternoon I was standing in her kitchen when she came home from an Outing.  Her mamma and two youngest siblings kindly came and collected me from the airport while everyone else was gone.

Now, Amy, tell us what you thought. :D

I should note that the first, extremely rude, words out of my mouth were, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" but I promise I didn't say it like THAT.  It was more of a squeal-sort-of-crying kind of thing.  And of course I was in total shock.  Haha.  Which was, I believe, the general idea.  It didn't quite seem real at first to just walk into my house and find my best friend standing there grinning at me.  We did one of those big squashing hugs.  :D

Melody and my mamma had kept this a secret ever since July (though Melody's Personal Plots and Plans and Machinations had been going on since February) and I still can't fathom quite how they did it, but at any rate, I was surprised.  :D  My other siblings didn't know until the day before and the day itself, so they weren't able to spoil the surprise for me, and Mr. Knightley wasn't there to make snarky remarks about it being inconvenient, so all in all it was eminently satisfactory.  ;)

You guys (er, girls) should have SEEN her FACE.  It was quite a fun sight to behold.  It all went so fast though, and then it was OVER.  Well, not exactly, because she was in different stages of shock for basically the rest of the evening. Heehee. :D  And oddly enough, it was quite surreal to see HER again, after hanging out in her house for five hours before she got home.  (That, let me tell you, was AGONY.) 

The best of it, though, is that she is not here for just a short pop-in, as I originally thought, but for nearly eleven days-- though six of those are already gone by, sad to say. :(  She will be here until the 15th, and we intend to use every minute to its fullest extent, and that you may tie to.   We've already had quite a bit of fun traipsing about hither and yon and going on adventures without any grown-ups, and naturally have staid up late each night watching movies and giggling and talking of Deep Dark Secrets.  

And of course we simply had to write a blog post and tell you all about it.  :)

That was, of course, the condensed version, so if y'all have any questions for me about planning the surprise or for Amy about receiving the surprise, feel free to ask.  

Cosette, we don't know what else to say, so we shall make no more sound and instead shut up and leave you with a nice quote.

“Our friendship has roots as deep as if we’d known each other for a lifetime…”

–Cherry Jones

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.  

"The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again." ~Charles Dickens

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
GOTCHA.
AGAIN.

You thought it was an April Fool's post yesterday, didn't you?  DIDN'T YOU?
Well.  Now I will tell you something.  Mr. Martin did speak, that is he wrote--

I mean, it totally wasn't a prank.  Well, okay, it was a double prank.  Because everything I wrote yesterday was true, every word of it, and you thought it WAS a prank, and it wasn't, so it WAS a prank in the end because the point was for you to think that it was a prank.  Which it wasn't.

Somehow this reminds me of a scene from a movie...

 "I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."
:D

It was all Melody's idea, by the way.  But we chose to do it on my blog because I have more of a history with April Fool's pranks than she does.  *cough*  And therefore it would be more believable, coming from me.  Which it totally was.  *both giggle excessively*

Your comments amused us muchly, by the way.  We may or may not have done evil hand rubs.

Anyways, April Fool's Day is over and we are all bound to the truth for another 364 days, and I swear on the grave of my father Domingo Montoya that Melody is actually, really and truly here beside me as I type this.  We've been planning this visit for months, in point of fact, and simply decided not to tell anyone so that we could do this little prank.  (Well, okay, we told a few trusted peeps but they were sworn to absolute secrecy.)

And all that stuff about period dramas and late nights and lots of tea?  True, all of it.  Besides which, we've been doing things like window-shopping and sightseeing in certain big cities and going to local theater productions (we saw Jane Eyre on Friday night and it was delightful) and of course tea, as aforementioned.

*especially when accompanied by chocolate

It's a delightful thing, it really is, to see one's best friend again after a painful eight months of separation... those of you whose best friends live nearby, do appreciate what you have.  Cherish it and all that, because all the letters and emails and Skype calls in the world can't make up for having your very own Bestie Dearest beside you in real life.   (And if you haven't seen Cranford, you'll probably be reading that and saying, "um, what.")

Okay, Melody, you say somewhat so they know you're flesh and blood and not a doll to be married under the table.

Your sister should perhaps be told the latter.  Even if it is fictional characters... Melody Tilney sounds a bit odd. 

Ah, yes, my matchmaking sisters... heh.  We'll gloss over that bit.  Anything else to tell the nice people?  Do a queenly wave or something of the sort-- you don't get on my blog often enough for this to be an every-day, ordinary experience.

I shall do the Caroline Lee wave, in fact. :D

(That scene, btw?  Our screams probably would have deafened you.)

Anyways.  Hello, peasants.  It's awfully fun to be on this side of Amy's blog posting, just sayin'.  And of course I'm not trying to make you jealous. *smiles angelically* 

We wish we'd filmed our reaction, by the bye, but we were not foresighted enough-- plus we were in a hurry to get out the door.  It was priceless, anyways.  Take our word for it.

We really ought to get going now, though, because there is so much time and so little to do-- wait, scratch that.  Reverse it.
:D

A Bookish Chat with Maribeth

~Welcome to the podium at Yet Another Period Drama Blog, Maribeth!  Have some tea and a biscuit 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 type of weather, least favorite color, favorite way to relax in the evenings, and what got you started blogging.  Ready, steady, go!

Ah, thank you for the tea and biscuit, that’s quite delightful. And thank you for asking me for this interview--I’m quite honored!

My real name is Maribeth, although I do go by the pseudonym “The Patriette” on Tumblr, just so ya know. I’m 22 years old, making me older than every Jane Austen heroine except Anne Elliot. I love cool, crisp autumn afternoons and dislike chartreuse. Currently, my favorite ways to relax in the evenings are to write Superman fanfiction OR watch Sherlock--though one could argue that the latter isn’t at all relaxing and never will be.

My initial reason for blogging is a little embarrassing because my behavior at that time is a now a source of consternation for me . . . but here goes. I started my blog in order to support my preferred presidential candidate in late 2011, and unfortunately my enthusiasm for “the cause” got out of hand. In spite of this I learned a lot from the experience, and by the time the election was over I was happily blogging about my own life and interests. Now I don’t talk about politics AT ALL and for that we are all eternally grateful. It’s NOT your stereotypical stay-at-home-daughter blog devoted solely to arts-and-crafts and one’s singlehood, but hopefully it’s funny, fun, and an encouragement to others.

~And it totally is.  People, go check out her blog!  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.  

Hmm. Well, my favorite book when I was really little was Go, Dog, Go! It was a Dr. Seuss book and my dad read it to me over and over again. When I was a little older two of my favorites were Sarah, Plain and Tall and an abridged version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne.

~Ooh, I had Go, Dog, Go! memorized when I was a wee young thing.  :D  You are, I believe, a writer as well as a reader.  What genre of book do you write?  Tell us a little about it.  

I always feel a little sheepish when I’m asked about my book’s genre. I’ll tell them something like, “Well, it’s science fiction--but it’s not like Star Trek, it’s more like Star Wars, but without the monsters.” And then they look at me like I’ve lost my mind, hee-hee! Actually, the genre is called “space opera,” which, according to Wikipedia, “is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space.”

My story, to be brief, is about two young people--a soldier and a princess--who fight against the political and moral decay in their galaxy. There’s a big prophecy that revolves around the princess (and maybe around the soldier? But I shall not give away too many spoilers . . .) and there’s an allegorical High Emperor who represents Jesus, and plenty of battles. So far I have complete drafts of the first two books; the third book is in pre-production.

~If you could recommend just one biography to someone, what would it be?

Hmm . . . I’m torn between biographies of Anne Boleyn and Raoul Wallenberg . . . but I think I’m going to recommend Wallenberg: Missing Hero by Kati Marton, only because some of the situations in any Anne Boleyn biographies may be a bit heavy for younger readers. Either character is well-worth researching, though. Wallenberg was a hero of the Holocaust who was, interestingly enough, inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, while Queen Anne is probably the most maligned heroine of the Reformation.

~I remember being quite pleased when I first visited your blog and found you were a fellow Anne Boleyn fan... now I want to check out that biography!  :D What are some of your favorite quotes about books?

“Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.”--G.K. Chesterton

“Books! People never really stop loving books. 51st century. By now you’ve got holovids, direct-to-brain downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, Donna--deep breath!”--the Tenth Doctor

“My mind is my weapon . . . and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”--Game of Thrones (which I have NOT read, but I saw this quote on Pinterest and absolutely loved it)

And even though this is more about storytelling in general, my all-time-favorite quote about literature is this one from G.K. Chesterton: “Fairy tales are more than true, not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated.”

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

I just finished The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which, in my opinion, is the finest of the Sherlock Holmes novels. YES, I would definitely recommend it! You’d have to read at least A Study In Scarlet first in order to get the necessary background about Holmes and Dr. Watson, so it’s not really a stand-alone. The mystery, however, was brilliantly told and Sherlock and John were especially heroic.

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

I discovered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and have thoroughly enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes stories. I also discovered N.D. Wilson and his philosophical/theological masterpiece, Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl.

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

“Remember that all worlds draw to an end, and that noble death is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy.”--from C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle.

~What is your favorite period in history to read about?

World War II. It’s fascinated me since I was little, thanks to my dad’s interest in it, and many of my historical heroes come from that time period (like King George VI & Queen Elizabeth, Raoul Wallenberg, Corrie ten Boom, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill).

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

“What is it like in your funny little brain? It must be so boring.”

~GIVE THE GIRL POINTS FOR A SHERLOCK QUOTE.  *high five*  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 idea of being stuck in an airport for three days and with only three books is enough to send shivers of horror up my spine. I’d take my Bible, of course . . . and then I’d take Les Miserables and probably one of the Lord of the Rings books. I’m a fast reader so I’d need to take some books I know I couldn’t possibly finish in three days.

~What is the best children’s book you’ve read (not reread) in the last few months?  We all know there’s no shame in reading good children’s literature-- come on, spill.

None. Honestly and truthfully. Sorry!

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

As of March 2014, I’d have to say John Watson. I think we’d get on splendidly, and I reckon he could teach me a thing or two about having patience with difficult personalities. Ahem.

~Quick, name a book you love that begins with B.

The Borrowed House by Hilda van Stockum. (I know the book title technically begins with “The,” but they stick the “The” at the end of most book indexes, don’t they? Borrowed House, The.) It’s a World War II novel about a German girl living in Holland, which gives it an interesting perspective, and the characters are so vivid!

~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.)

The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter (One of my favorite books ever! Set post-World War I, about a young soldier who finds a new life purpose on the coast of California. I’ve read this one several times and my mom read it aloud to our entire family last summer.)

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery (my new favorite book in the Anne series)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (another of our family’s favorites about a dystopian community where the government runs everyone’s lives)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (a delightful epistolary novel set in post-World War II, but not recommended for younger readers)

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (probably my favorite of the Narnia books)

Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England’s Tragic Queen by Joanna Denny (ah-ha, got my chance to put in a plug for this one! Not for younger readers, but it’s the best biography of my heroine I’ve read so far.)

*

Thanks so much for joining us today, Maribeth!  Isn't she fabulously fun, peeps?  You can go check out her blog here-- if you're fond of a good witty read about great books, great movies, great musicals and great fictional characters, you're in for a real treat!

Visit With Ally (because I couldn't think of a cleverer title)

Helloooooo!  This is Amy-- Ally made me start this.  Here we sit on her sofa giggling, which is pretty typical for what the week has been so far.  (I'm writing everything in blue and she's in pink.  Just so ya know.)

Where do we start to describe the epicness of this week? We've been talking all day long. Most of the time in Martha Mahinsky voices. Because that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, we like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.

Seriously, this has been awesome.  Very relaxed and hilarious and super perf adorbs for realsies because we are Martha Mahinsky, and if you don't know who Martha is, watch this.  You know, they say a picture's worth a thousand words... should we show them a picture?

Sure. Pictures in posts about a week together is usually a good idea. That's what people DO, you know.

Us!

Okay, here's a picture.  We've been quoting Moriarty pretty much constantly, too.  And then we switch back to Martha.  Sorry boys, we're SOOOOOOO changeable!

Where to start? Amy got in Tuesday, and we hung out that evening and then completely freaked her out with the first episode of Sherlock. In a good way. :D Wednesday we talked about deep, deep things for several hours first thing that morning (first deep conversation of many that day), adopted our Martha voices (and fangirled a bit over a guy who Martha calls Aaron Tater Tot), and worked on top-secret project that will not be revealed to the public just yet.

Amy, Belle and Ally

Ally's sister Belle, by the way, has been our confederate in the Martha-ing.  And in a lot of other things as well.  Like Sherlock fangirling and seeing Frozen at the theatre (my first time!) in which Kristoff completely stole our hearts.  <3 data-blogger-escaped-font="">

Wednesday night we introduced Amy to one of our favorite games, Seven-Up, watched The Blind Banker, and then saw Austenland, which we had just bought on DVD. I thought it was adorable, personally. JJ Feild, people, yes, yes.

Belle with Tom Hiddleston :P

And we agreed that he and Tom Hiddleston look enough alike to play Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay in A Tale of Two Cities.  Dream cast, folks.  Oh, and take a look at this picture that Belle drew of Tom Hiddleston... how cool is THAT.  She's incredibly talented.

Thursday we worked on the guest posts for the A Tale of Two Cities blog party on Eva-Joy's blog (CHECK IT OUT!!!). That evening the upstairs shower messed up and water leaked through the kitchen ceiling. Not an uncommon occurrence, but ya know. Thursday night was The Great Game evening, and Moriarty thoroughly spooked us. In that awesome he-is-such-a-cute-psycho-we-love-him-but-gosh-he-is-so-creepy way. Which leads to the events of that night.

Duhn-duhn-duhn.  We were awakened in the pitch black of the night by a thunderous crash that shook the whole bedroom-- being the phans that we are, we immediately assumed it was a falling chandelier.  No, actually, our first thought was bombs and Moriarty, if indeed we thought at all, since we were too busy screaming our half-asleep heads off.  Turns out Ally's jewelry board had fallen down from the wall, taking a shelf with it, and though nothing was broken it made quite a lot of noise.  We were both fine, of course, and it was a funny story in the morning.

She screamed first. I heard her and thought, "Someone is screaming. I must scream, too." :P Friday was VALENTINE'S DAY, and it was our day-out-in-KC with Belle and my brothers Nick and Alex. We went to Crown Center to eat at Fritz's, a restaurant where trains deliver your food. Tradition to take visitors there. So if you ever come to visit the Rovirosas, prepare to go to Fritz's. ;) It's tradition for Nick to order our meals at Fritz's with an accent (you order over a phone at your booth), and when he did an impersonation of Benedict Cumberbatch, we were amazed at how quickly we got our order. Amazing what power a British accent has.

In our conductor hats at Fritz's

Being ridiculously silly in KC was so much fun-- taking goofy Reichenbach-esque pictures along the edge of a railing in Crown Center, counting the coins in the waterfall, remarking on the fact that we were the only "young people" in Fritz's, as everyone else was either a small child or a parent-- we stuck out like sore thumbs in hats that were too small.  :P  As we were leaving the Union Station parking lot, Nick was getting ready to pay for the parking and there was no attendant there, so Belle suggested we just run for it without paying "since know one would know", and we had to reprove her. "God would know... and Sherlock would, too!"  But we must excuse her for this flagrant dishonesty, as she is only a child.  (Sorry, inside joke.  :P)

"Goodbye, John..." yes, we make light of tragedy :P

After eating we went to the Country Club Plaza (where we were afraid of being murdered in a parking garage - waaaay too much Sherlock) and saw Frozen at the theater there. Our second time seeing it, Amy's first. Absolutely adorable, of course. I fangirled through "Let it Go" like I do every time, and Amy was desperately in love with Kristoff (ok, so was I, how can we help it?!). OHMYGOSHSOGOODILOVEFROZENSOMUCH!!!!!! Anyway. Then we played another game of Seven-Up on the way home ("Why can't they just let it go?" "Because that's what people DO!"), went home and had tacos and amazing guacamole compliments of my dad. And thennnnn...came Amy's Most Emotionally Traumatizing Valentine's Evening Ever.

I'll say... first we watched the Hounds of Baskerville, which while not tearjerking is totally suspenseful and sad and scary and all that (also awesome) and then Somewhere in Time, through which we all cried buckets, and then the Reichenbach Fall, and... well, Ally says it was extremely emotionally satisfying to see me bawling like that.  I suppose she didn't know I cared.

The look on your face!!! :P Anyway, yes. It was very emotionally satisfying to see her bawling. I enjoyed having someone who actually enjoyed Somewhere in Time for once and didn't hate it by the time the movie was over. A bit of a let-down when you're showing people your favorite movie and, ya know, they don't like it. But what can we say...sad is happy for deep people. :) And then of course Reichenbach was delicious. All the Sherlock feels.

Ally, Emma, Joey and Amy with a frog-face effect

You talk as if it was something to eat.  :P  On Saturday Mr. Rovirosa made a traditional Cuban dinner, which was sooooo good-- I'd never eaten plantains before and I'm in love.  We had way too much fun doing impressions of different singers-- you don't know what ridiculous is until you've heard Sarah Brightman and Julie Andrews do "Defying Gravity."  Heehee.  Fooled around a bit with her younger siblings and the webcam on my laptop, as shown above.  Annnnnnnd I was incredibly spoiled because I had to wait just one day (though it was an eternity of a day :P) to watch the beginning of Season 3 after seeing the end of Reichenbach.  I do appreciate it, believe me.  :D  We went to bed ostentatiously early that night but ended up staying awake until 4 on Sunday morning, talking so much.

Today Amy got to meet my church family! We had such an awesome time and had some really enlightening discussions as my church usually does. ;) All in all, this has been such a fabulous week and I am *so* thankful for the opportunity for Amy to come down. I've been so lucky to get to know her through blogging and she's just as awesome in person. Honestly, so thankful for her friendship!!! And she can't say anything because I have the last paragraph. :P So we have...basically a day and a half left, and we're planning on filling those days with tons and tons of stuff. :) Love all you guys, etc., etc.

The Two Marthas

P.S.  And a bonus little gift to you... something Silly we made...