The Bibliophile Sweater Tag

Tracey over at Adventure Awaits (you should go check out her blog) tagged me to do this. Thank you, Tracey! :)  So here goes it...

Rules:

• Give the person who tagged you a never-ending supply of cookies (or just thank them - either works) 
• Answer all the questions and use the blog graphic for this tag somewhere in your post
• Pass along the tag to at least five other people 
• Wear a sweater (okay, this is optional...but why wouldn't you want to??)

Fuzzy sweater (a book that is the epitome of comfort)

I know about a million people probably chose this book as their fuzzy sweater, but really, nothing beats this story (and this is the exact version of the book I got - the whole collection in one big volume. Doesn't really help if you just want to take along a book in case). I don't think any story will ever take its place in my favorites. The magic of it has ensnared me for life.  

Striped sweater (book which you devoured every line of)

This is a little different. I picked up this allegory last March and absolutely loved it. I could relate a lot to the main character, and there were so many beautiful ideas and pictures within its pages that gave me more understanding on certain aspects. It also reminded me God is much merciful than I am. 

Ugly Christmas sweater (book with a weird cover)

This was one of the harder ones because I don't pay that much attention to book covers? Growing up, I read a lot of older books (A lot. New books for me could still be 30 years old...), and they didn't have covers that popped out, if any. However, when I requested the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on my Christmas list years back, I didn't specify they had to have cool covers. I wouldn't say they're terrible, but...they're sort of dorky. After watching the epic movie, you then see Aragorn with a silly feather sticking out of his headgear and awesome purple clothing. Plus all the faces are strangely pointed. Oh well. Honestly they pretty much stay in their case so it doesn't matter. 

Cashmere sweater (most expensive book you've bought)

Okay, so I don't buy a whole lot of books, and if I do, they usually end up being from a thrift store or ABE Books. I usually just put whichever ones I want on my wishlist, and someone else eventually buys them for me (because as much as I would love to reread favorites, it just doesn't happen much with my slow reading). So this cost me a little more than $20 dollars, and I ended up giving it to a friend to read. It's a great book, by the by, and I would eventually like a copy, but I have a hard time buying a book for $20 for myself. 

Hoodie (favorite classic book)

This is a classic, right? Out of all the Jane Austen novels, this one has always been my favorite. Probably because I like Mr. Knightley (what is there not to like about him?). I probably watched the three different...four different movies a million times (not necessarily my choice) before reading the books, but it was really fun to read the books and find how faithful some of the film adaptions were. The conversations. The characters. The messiness, but mostly Mr. Knightley. 

Cardigan (book that you bought on impulse)

Another confession: I've never bought a random book on impulse (if by impulse, you mean seeing it and just randomly picking it up without knowing much about it or reading reviews on it, right?). This book was the closest I came to buying a book on impulse. I saw it in a store in SC and read the first chapter to find it humorous and very relatable. I was so tempted, but it was on the more expensive side, and I would have to fit it into my luggage...so...

Turtleneck sweater (book from your childhood)

 One of the first books I ever received. It's about a little girl who has the ability to kiss her elbows which means she can fly. Oh, and a toy dog whose job is to protect her. And a cat. 

Homemade knitted sweater (book that is Indie-published)

---(no idea)---

V-neck sweater (book that did not meet your expectations)

I know a lot of bloggers that loved this book and had put it on their 'all-time favorite' list so I had a lot of expectations. Sadly, it didn't live up to them. It wasn't that I didn't like the story. Most times I don't not like the books I read, I just end up being apathetic towards them. This was one of those. *hides before anyone shoots her*.

Argyle sweater (book with a unique format)

----(no idea)----

Polka dot sweater (a book with well-rounded characters)

Well-rounded, I presume, means three-dimensional? If so, this is it. I can't think of any other book I've read where the characters jump off the pages as much as in this one. Matthew, Marilla, Anne, Rachel Lynde - you never had to wonder who was talking. They were all very distinct. I always felt like I was with friends and family when reading these stories. 

Now I tag...

Ivie @ Ivie Writes

Alea @ Elvish Pens, Fantastical Writings 

Gray Marie @ Writing is Life

And anyone else who wants to do it! 

Enjoy! 

The Early Writings Tag (from Abbiee's Blog)

I decided I would do a tag this week that I found here. If anyone would like to do it, feel free. I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but I'm breaking that rule for now. Without farther ado, let us dig up some embarrassing ghosts out of my closet.

1. Untitled

I don't even remember when this story came into being, but it was my very first. My aunt brought over these (very ugly) notebooks for us, and I was instantly enchanted by the blank, spaced pages. I might have been driven to write because something just had to be written. It's still an issue with me.
I didn't actually finish this book. Essentially it was about a bazillion big families, and I couldn't keep any of their names straight (One of the dudes was named Miguel which I took straight from a show on PBS I used to watch on occasion at my grandparents - the only time I ever watched public television growing up) or which family they came from, and then a stranger shows up out of nowhere, and it turns into a mystery. I'm pretty sure Eileen was the MC (maybe cause that's one of my middle names - seems like so many books of mine end up with a character whose name is one of my middle names).

What I learned:

*Not all families have to be big. I must have been so scarred by this story because it took many years before any of my MCs actually had siblings.

*You don't have to end every chapter with an exciting incident.

*Names can be more original (no offense to all the marys, toms, and anns of the world)

*Punctuation could maybe be kind-of good.

* If you have too many characters in a story, it's gonna be super, duper hard to make them sound different.

*Writing mysteries isn't for me. Well, it took this book and two others (one called The Black Shadow...)

My bro drew this as a 'cover' for my book. Heh.

2. Untitled

A long, long time ago when I was a mere ten-years-old (maybe older, but for embarrassment's sake, let's just say ten), my best friend (aka, one of my big brothers) started enjoying computer games a lot which was really boring. I would sit next to him on a stool, and I began to write for entertainment. So I wrote this story...without a title, and I finished it (though, I don't always mention this being the first book that I wrote) at 31 pages. It was my first Fantasy, and I'm actually surprised at how well-thought out some aspects were. It was about these kings and queens with supernatural powers who had gone missing years ago. This young boy was told the legends of them, and it turned out he was the 'chosen one' who would save the day. Interesting twist, after being left disenchanted by the kings and queens, he almost chose the bad guy's side, but in the end, everyone lived happily ever after, including the bad guy (these were the days when even the bad guy won).

What I learned:

*The importance of getting The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings (at that point, though, I had only heard my bro's version of Lord of the Rings) out of my blood.

*The importance of story world! I have never done as much story world plotting as I did for this story. I drew maps, wrote out histories, 'invented' languages and creatures, and wrote songs.

*Not to rip-off other people's creatures. Sure, they might have had different names, but we all know what those small 'humans' actually were :P

*One does not necessarily have to know the entire universe of one's story world. Nor does one have to write out stories about every single event that occurred in one's world, especially when the story world only grows bigger and bigger as portals are installed.

*Not every piece of clothing has to be described.

*You don't have to be super original with names because they'll end up sounding weird (Ha. The complete opposite problem as the other. Never a medium here). However, I did come up with the name 'Sananora' which I used as my blogging identity for many years back when I first had a blog, and that isn't half so bad.

*It's better not to show your writing to other people at first. Usch. (Of course, I took that to the extreme and never showed anyone my writing till the last couple years).

3. Untitled

This one is actually something I might want to pick up and rework some day in the future. It's an unfinished story about Edith Aadland, a girl from a big, poor family. She was sent as a paid companion to three elderly sisters who lived in a large manor in some moors. Her simple life is somewhat disturbed when she comes across a man playing a piano in a small graveyard. He takes her to visit an older woman (not sure if he was related to the older woman or not). And sometime a dragon was supposed to pop out of nowhere. I'm pretty sure it was a Jane Austen/Jane Eyre type mish-mash... but with a dragon.

What I learned:

*The unexpected is the best - hence the dragon. Doesn't that just spice up the story?

*Romance of any importance in my writing = Bleah (And I'm pretty sure I only wrote one scene with her and the random piano playing man).

*It's best not to try and write intelligently about something you haven't researched :P

4. Beyond the Border

This was the book I first purposefully titled. And it's the book I claim I first finished (April, 2011) with a whole 75,000 words. It was a Fantasy novel about a young woman of some fortune named Bethclaire whose lonely life was disrupted by the reappearance of an old friend. Unbeknownst to her, he returned through a portal specifically to persuade her to come back because she was the daughter of a king in the place beyond the portal. Ends up that her friend dies after betraying her, and everybody hates her until they don't, and then they decide that she'll be a perfect Queen.

What I learned:

*How to outline a novel, and I decided I would never do that again. Not to that extent, anyway.

*How to finish a book! (One of reasonable size).

*That I actually could feel some emotion towards my characters and their situations.

*How to consistently write day after day after day. I did 500 words per day by hand.

*Writing was actually something I wanted to do seriously.

*You go a long way with a cheerleader and someone who asks you about your progress.

*It isn't going to be perfect the first time around.

*How to incorporate the more human aspect into my writing - through conversations, emotions, problems. I don't think any of my writing before that really held any emotion.

For the longest time, the only good thing I did with writing was write, but honestly, I think that was the best thing I could do, and I don't regret any time spent or words written. Time is truly the only way writing works, and I'd encourage anyone to spend the time first. Later on you can pick up craft books, but now just let yourself write.

Are you planning to do this tag? Did you write any of your novels by hand? How many years have you been writing?