Wordplay Wednesday: Join the Fun!

Because I am frequently home on Wednesdays and want to start something we can all look forward to and keep up with and join in together on...I bring to you a new project:

#wordplaywednesdays

The idea of this project is that every Wednesday, you people and I will share one favorite/important/beautiful/profound quote from our last week's work. I will likely hand-write mine, and it breaks up the Times New Roman text with which I work the rest of the time. I will work mainly off of Instagram for this project but if you don't have an account, just hashtag yours on Twitter or Facebook with #wordplaywednesday and #inkpenauthoress so I'll be sure to see it! If you'd like to join, do so at any point on Wednesday. For me, this week, I am sharing with you this quote from The Fox Went Out, which WIP you will hear more about in the future, I promise. It isn't a new novel, just a long short story...if you know what I mean.

Off with you! I can't wait to see all the quoteables you share with us on Wednesdays from here on out. Cheers and a productive writing day to you all!

Child's Play

"I like the idea that every page in every book can have a gem on it. It's probably what I love most about writing--that words can be used in a way that's like a child playing in sandpit, rearranging things, swapping them around. They're the best moments in a day of writing--when an image appears that you didn't know would be there when you started work in the morning."
-Markus Zusack, author of The Book Thief

Are we to have a Watson?

Some people are intolerable, drubbing boors. And then you have A.A. Milne who has so much sensible back-chat to say about everything that my opinion for him grows by leaps and bounds:

"Are we to have a Watson? We are. Death to the author who keeps his unraveling for the last chapter, making all the others chapters but a prologue to a five-minute drama. This is no way to write a story. :Let us know from chapter to chapter what the detective is thinking. For this he must watsonize, or soliloquize; the one is merely a dialogue form of the other; and, by that, more readable. A Watson, then, but not of necessity a fool of a Watson. A little slow, let him be, as so many of us are but friendly, human, likeable."

-A.A. Milne speaking on the subject of detective fiction

Oh for more people like the creator Winnie-the-Pooh. I want to marry someone who makes up words like "watsonize"; such a man would be a wonderful companion. Or perhaps what I need--being the one who already makes up words--is a man who will laugh at me and put the word into circulation.

"We're glad the Dauphine is so pleasant with us."

"Letters of business...how odious I should think them."

-Caroline Bingley

But letters of business sometimes do fall our way, and in its own fashion, this post is halfway a letter of business.

-Ransomed Giveaway- 

I want to remind all of you that you still have a few days left in which to enter the giveaway from Elizabeth Ender's book Ransomed. If you *have* entered, remember that the mandatory entry is to leave your name and email address in a comment below. Spread the word! You all love free books, I know. I mean, who *doesn't* love a free book? Also, Ransomed appears to be an exceptionally good book and you will not regret taking the time to enter. Thirdly, I made this giveaway disgustingly easy which means that if you don't enter, you're a wee bit lazy.

-Chatterbox-

You are all wonderful; Chatterbox (in its very first week of its very first month) already has 10 entries! If you missed out on what exactly Chatterbox is, do go to the post and give it a read!

-Writing-

 I hope to be able to dig down deep this next week and get quite a lot of writing done. Most of my feedback for The Windy Side of Care is home and the expected changes must be made before I can polish it up for the final time and send it off to Anne Elisabeth Stengl. The Baby is going through mental agonies. Like Jenny with her Gingerune, Baby is requiring a feat of mental strength that I have not quite found yet. I may shelf The Baby for a few months and work on the other projects that are rendering me ineffectual.We shall see. As far as those "other projects" go, all I can say right now is, "Anon, sir, Anon".

A regular bachelor’s pad, Whistlecreig was, and though Farnham prided himself on feeling little but physical pain, a faint, resentful twinge cropped up toward this unknown female barreling toward him on the 12:55 out of Darlington.

 You will get an explanation sooner than later because certain people (Meghan. Ahem.) have been smiling knowingly and if there's one thing I can't stand it's the be patted on the head paternally. Though I don't mind so much when it comes to people excited about my Projects. :)

-Listening To-

Andrew Peterson. A close family friend died very unexpectedly this Monday. Thank God he knew Jesus and loved Him dearly, but that doesn't make it hurt much the less for the wife and seven children he leaves behind. There are so many of Peterson's songs that fit the situation...truly a blessed man.

The Scarlet Pimpernel Musical. This is something I am purposely exploring because you know how much I love TSP, and how much I bet I'll love the musical. When getting into new shows, there is always that awkward moment of "I don't know ANY of these songs!" but then you sit long enough and are suddenly singing along - I'm in that stage.

-Discovering-

Charity Klicka's blog. This is a gal that works in the same building as my brother and I've met her once or twice. For a long time I've followed her on Pinterest and loved the things she pinned, and today I found her blog. She is having an autumn reading challenge as well as giveaways of various books & book-lover packages each week; this week is The Wind in The Willows. Check it out - it is well worth your time! :)

And now for the un-business part of this post: favorite quotes from everywhere. I am a sucker for beautifully-worded things and I've come across many in recent days. I thought I'd dump them here for you to enjoy alongside me. :) 

“We shall creep out quietly into the butler's pantry--" cried the Mole.
"--with out pistols and swords and sticks--" shouted ther Rat.
"--and rush in upon them," said Badger.
"--and whack 'em, and whack 'em, and whack 'em!" cried the Toad in ecstasy, running round and round the room, and jupming over the chairs.”  

-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

“Secrets had an immense attraction to him, because he never could keep one, and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal, after having faithfully promised not to.”-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

“It'll be all right, my fine fellow," said the Otter. "I'm coming along with you, and I know every path blindfold; and if there's a head that needs to be punched, you can confidently rely upon me to punch it.” 

-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

"Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror - indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy - but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august presence was very, very near.”

-The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

 “If God made everything, did He make the Devil?' This is the kind of embarrassing question which any child can ask before breakfast, and for which no neat and handy formula is provided in the Parents' Manual…Later in life, however, the problem of time and the problem of evil become desperately urgent, and it is useless to tell us to run away and play and that we shall understand when we are older. The world has grown hoary, and the questions are still unanswered.” 

-The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers

“To complain that man measures God by his own experience is a waste of time; man measures everything by his own experience; he has no other yardstick.”  

-The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers

“The adult must seem to mislead the child, and the Master the dog. They misread the signs. Their ignorance and their wishes twist everything. You are so sure you know what the promise promised! And the danger is that when what He means by ‘wind’ appears you will ignore it because it is not what you thought it would be—as He Himself was rejected because He was not like the Messiah the Jews had in mind.” 

-A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

“Between the probable and proved there yawns
A gap. Afraid to jump, we stand absurd,
Then see behind us sink the ground and, worse,
Our very standpoint crumbling. Desperate dawns
Our only hope: to leap into the Word
That opens up the shuttered universe.” 

-A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

“His jest shall savour but a shallow wit, when thousands more weep than did laugh it.”

-William Shakespeare's Henry V

“Cheerily to sea; the signs of war advance:
No king of England, if not king of France” 

-William Shakespeare's Henry V 

“We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us;
His present and your pains we thank you for:
When we have match'd our rackets to these balls,
We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set
Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard."

-William Shakespeare's Henry V  

I am in love with Henry V right now. Honestly. Have you ever read such rousing words? The play is full of them and by golly it's marvelous. In the past month I have watched both the Kenneth Branagh version and the Tom Hiddleston version. Both are beautiful productions and I love it. Which have you seen? Which do you prefer?

“Oh, it has all the modern conveniences: mice, mold, damp, draughts. You name it, Farnham has sent off for the latest patented model.”

One-liners: a twist on snippets

Wherein I have gathered the best single-lines of The Baby for your enjoyment, rather than the ungainly chunks so often presented:

"Sometimes Jamsie could be the most annoying thing."

" 'What a hash. What a horrid, mealy, bungled hash.' "

" 'Just goes to show you what you get when you leave your precious baby in the care of a kitchen maid. Darn her red hair.' "

" 'Worried? Course I'm worried.' It wasn't exactly a falsehood."

" 'Kidnapping used to be as common a profession as farming. It might be coming back in style.' "

"She shrieked, somehow hearing her voice gobbled up by Richmond's twin yell, and felt the plunge."

" 'We had better go then. Off to The Castle--and my uncommon doom.' "

" 'Ahhhh...T-O-A-S-T-A-N-D-T-E-A--that's th'way to spell 'Darrow-Dwelling, your majesty.' "

" 'And has the kingdom gone to ruin without its mail?' "

" 'Did my napkin startle you, lad? Your nerves play a high pitch.' "

"Richmond shot a pea across the room."

"A law against laughter couldn't possibly be a useful law."

"Starling craned her neck to get a last look at the sleeping baby--fat as a pan of sweet-buns left to rise in the sun-shine."

"Starling hid herself behind a potted rosebush and hoped she looked something like a topiary."

the eternal appetite of infancy

Once in a while you will happen across a quote from a person that knocks the wind out of you, it's so fantastic. Chesterton often does that to me. I've never read anything of his whole, but just the brief glimpses of glory I see in his quotations are astounding. This one no less than the others. 

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again'; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we." -G.K. Chesterton

May God grant all of us His eternal appetite for infancy. This quote set me to thinking really hard about how I view "monotonous" tasks in my life. I hope and pray I may never lose sight of this perspective.

the baring of our souls

Hello everyone! I'm feeling rather wonderful this morning because I managed to have written 1229 word of Fly Away Home before 8 o'clock. And that is an accomplishment, I think, seeing as I don't prefer writing in the morning. My brain is just a tad sluggish and anything looks more alluring than trying to hash through a scene. But I did it and I love the 1950's NYC high-life, and all of that jazz. BUT--this post was about something entirely different:

I love seeing other people's writing journals. I know pretty much across the board everyone else's writing journals are far more fabulous than mine, because I haven't been using a writing journal for very long--before it was mostly odds and ends scrapped here or there or everywhere. But a journal is more portable and therefore that's what I switched over to. All that to say, I thought I'd give you a bit of a tour through my writing journal to show you this, my other half of my brain. Enjoy.

"...to further encourage the baring of our souls and the telling of our most appalling secrets."

{The frontispiece}

 

A sketch from Cottleston Pie as well as a few random, unconnected bits I like to scrawl down when they Pounce me. This is the only glimpse of my multitudinous collection of scrawlings, because if you saw them all than you'd know all the clever bits I planned to put in one or another of my books someday. And we can't have that.

My newest mantra: expanding my vocabulary so "that I might not appear as uneducated as compared to Jane Fairfax." ;)

I'm finding that Shakespeare (especially in "The Taming of the Shrew") has some spot-on quotes from Mr. Barnett and Callie's relationship.

Ideas/inspiration pages for Scuppernong Days.

 ^Something I have to remind myself of time and time again.

"Why I love writing" quotes as well as literature/author-themed clippings from magazines.

Well, there you have it. Not particularly gorgeous or stunning, but a good, all-round functional place to dump my brain, and the place where all my people-watching finds congregate. I also thought any of you that had read/seen Dicken's Little Dorrit might get a laugh over the sign I made to hang over my desk when I do the billing for Dad...

I hope all-and-sundry of you have a wonderful day. :)

...can he talk nonsense?

"There are two ways of dealing with nonsense in this world. One way is to put nonsense in the right place; as when people put nonsense into nursery rhymes. The other is to put nonsense in the wrong place; as when they put it into educational addresses, psychological criticisms, and complaints against nursery rhymes and other normal amusements of mankind."

-G.K.  Chesterton

"You have to write the book that wants to be written. If the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."

-Madeleine L'engle

"Don't talk to me about a man's being able to talk sense; everyone can talk sense. Can he talk nonsense?"

-William Pitt

"Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie
A fly can't bird, and a bird can't fly.
Ask me a riddle and I'll reply:
Cottleston, cottleston, cottlestone pie!"

-A.A. Milne

"I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living."

-Dr. Seuss

These few quotes are simply to let you know that my mind has run to nonsense in my long sabbatical from writing, and as I try to harness my thoughts into some semblance of normalcy, I bit of that nonsense might dribble into a scribble or two. Consider yourselves fairly warned. For now, know that this post was entirely inspired by having been reading Winnie-the-Pooh again and working myself into a high good humor. I know you think I'm daft when I laud the Pooh books. I mean honestly, I am twenty years old. But the best books are the ones that charm you all through life, and I mean it when I say that there is nothing for making one smile like a good dose of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Toodle-pip, everyone! I'm off to trot along and write something! And I have the most shivery feeling it might be something good. I have been reading A.A. Milne after all! ;)

Too difficult for adults.

*This is why I write children's fiction*:

"You have to write the book that wants to be written. If the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, you write it for children." -Madeleine L'Engle

Call me Ishmael

When I picked Moby Dick up at a library sale I bought it mostly for its age. It was an oldish copy with gilt waves on the binding and illustrations--always a plus! I knew I ought to read it. I am always keeping a copy of Ought To Reads much as some people keep To Do List. They are no necessarily books I think I'll love, but ones I know a well-read person should have in their repertoire. I had always considered Moby Dick the sort of   book little eleven year old boys devour and coerce their older sisters into reading. But immediately upon beginning Moby Dick I was astounded--the writing is humorous, salty, and even beautiful. I have so enjoyed reading Melville's Moby Dick that I had to share some of his genius with you. Here are a few examples of Herman Melville's gilded ink:

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.

~ ^ ~

The starred and stately nights seemed haughty dames in jewelled velvets, nursing at home in lonely pride, the memory of their absent conquering Earls, the golden helmeted suns!

~ ^ ~

These are the times of dreamy quietude, when beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean's skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it; and would not willingly remember, that this velvet paw but conceals a remorseless fang.

~ ^ ~

"I am ready to shiver fifty lances with you there, and unhorse you with a split helmet every time."

Les Miz--my thoughts in total

I finished reading the 1463-page Les Miserables on Friday night amid the undignified noise of my family watching National Treasure. :D As I put down the book in triumph, having read the last words, I was overwhelmed with a sense of "That was a good book." The sensation rather surprised me, for I had not expected to like it as I did.

Les Miserables is Victor Hugo's tale of Poverty, Misery, Justification, Salvation, Good, and Evil, Patriotism, and reams of other themes. Set against the backdrop of post-French Revolution/ post-Napoleonic era, it is full of politics and social commentaries as well as a thriving plot. The main characters are an ex-convict Jean Valjean, his pseudo-daughter, Cosette, a young lawyer, Marius, a relentless lawman, Javert, and a nasty ex-inkeeper and thriving crook, Thenardier. There are many other side-characters who, at times, play almost as much of a part as the ones I labeled "mains." Among these are Fantine, (Cosette's mother--a poor young woman driven to prostitution from misery and the demands of the Thenaridiers) Eponine, (Thenardier's daughter) Gavroche, (a plucky Paris gamin) and Enjolras (a passionate Revolutionist). For fear of giving too much away, I won't go into details of this plot, only tell you that it was exciting, complicated, and satisfying at the end, though quite sad.

As I already mentioned in another post, the biggest con in this book for me was the clumsy way Victor Hugo mashed his politics and people. I will only briefly mention that in this post, as you are quite welcome to hop over to the other post and read all about it there. :) I am a purist and I made myself read the unabridged version of Les Miz. However, I have heard from several sources that the abridged versions (which are still 800+ pages) nix most of the lecturing and leave you with the story. If you are not dead-set against abridged versions of books, I would recommend you read one of those copies. I found that Hugo left his plot in the most intense moments to lecture on random things. I mean, when ****Plot Spoiler*** Jean Valjean is carrying Marius half-dead away from the barricade, Hugo broke off and started lecturing on the histories of the sewers of Paris, leaving Marius bleeding. I mean, really? ***End of Plot Spoiler***

Plot: The plot of Les Miz was intense and fabulous. I really ended up liking it far more than I thought I would. There is just enough romance, just enough valour, just enough passion, just enough politics to make it a riveting story. Here, Hugo did his fame justice.The writing, as well, is very polished, very thorough, and beautiful. In technicalities, Hugo was a genius. His words flow nicely--very nicely indeed.

Characters: But I think Hugo's main claim to fortune has to be the strength of his characters....actually, the strength of his side-characters. You see, I really didn't like Marius all that much. I found him to be a tad bland, a tad resentful, a tad moony. He just isn't my kind of guy. Cosette was better, but still had a Rowena-like aura about her that made me want to shake her up and see if she'd say something clever for once in her life.
But those side-characters! Hugo obviously went by the rule that whoever was in his book, be it only for a few paragraphs, must shine. And they did. So much so that ***Plot Spoiler*** by the time Enjolras, Gavroche, Eponine, Coureyfac, and all the others died at the barricade, I was nearly crying. The scenes they had played, had been played to perfection, and I could sniffle over their deaths admirably. ***End of Plot Spoiler***

The last third of the book is chock-full of valiant conversation and quite makes you burn with pride for all these noble men going to their death:

"What a pity!" said Combeferre. "What a hideous thing these bloodbaths are! I'm sure, when there are no more kings, there will be no more war. Enjolras, you're aiming at that sergeant, you're not looking at him. Just think that he's a charming young man; he's intrepid; you can see that he's a thinker; these young artillerymen are well educated; he has a father, a mother, a family; he's in love, probably; he's 25 at most; he might be your brother." "He is," said Enjolras. "Yes," said Combeferre, "and mine, too. Well, don't let's kill him." "Leave me alone. We must do what we must." And a tear rolled slowly down Enjolras's marble cheek. (pg. 1200)

And another:

The sight was appalling and fascinating. Gavroche under fire, was mocking the firing. He seemed to be very much amused. It was the sparrow pecking at the hunters...The barricade was trembling; he was singing. It was not a child; it was not a man; it was a strange mystic gamin, the invulnerable dwarf of the mêlée.(pg. 1217)

Conclusion: Les Miserables is a book well-worth reading, if you've got the guts. It is not for the faint of heart. It is not, on occasion, for the faint of stomach. Your heart will be wrung in several places, you'll wish to hurl the book across the room in several places, you'll want to slap people in several places, but at the end you will do as I did, lay the book aside with a reverent hand and glowing inside, whisper to yourself, "That was a good book. Well done indeed."

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Best of the Bits:

“The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.” 

 ***Sobs and plot spoiler***

 “Promise to give me a kiss on my brow when I am dead. --I shall feel it."

She dropped her head again on Marius' knees, and her eyelids closed. He thought the poor soul had departed. Eponine remained motionless. All at once, at the very moment when Marius fancied her asleep forever, she slowly opened her eyes in which appeared the sombre profundity of death, and said to him in a tone whose sweetness seemed already to proceed from another world:--

"And by the way, Monsieur Marius, I believe that I was a little bit in love with you.” 

***End of Plot Spoiler***

“Before him he saw two roads, both equally straight; but he did see two; and that terrified him--he who had never in his life known anything but one straight line. And, bitter anguish, these two roads were contradictory.”

“Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light.

For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.”  

“There is a determined though unseen bravery that defends itself foot by foot in the darkness against the fatal invasions of necessity and dishonesty. Noble and mysterious triumphs that no eye sees, and no fame rewards, and no flourish of triumph salutes. Life, misfortunes, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields that have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes.” 

 There were more...this is a very quotable author, but I will leave you now! I hope I gave you a fairly good idea of what I thought of Les Miserables, and that this review will be helpful to you. :) For a long time I've love the music from the Broadway version of the story, and I can't wait to see it now that I've read the book!