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VLOG: A Fantastic Beasts & Harry Potter Party!
My in-laws do it again, with food, decorations and all around merriment, this time in the Harry Potter universe!
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8 of My Favorite Movies About Writing
Happy First of October, guys! Say, in honor of it being Throwback Thursday too, did you know that I’ve been meaning to write an entry about my favorite writing and author movies, like, for literally years? I’m not even quite sure how I never finished it all this time. It’s so easy to write up a list! But then again, it’s easy, so maybe boredom drove out of the idea, or I was making the write-ups too complicated, or hunting for images got tedious, or I found more interesting things to write about? No idea, but its presence in my draft posts list was bugging me, so as you probably…
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Hobbit Birthday Bash & The Scouring of the Gingerbread
Since there won’t be another Hobbit/LOTR movie this year, in lieu of their usual end of the year movie party, my in-laws held a Bilbo & Frodo birthday bash in honor of Tolkien Week and Hobbit Day! There was a cake with 111 candles creating a fiery rising heat vortex, and we dismantled the remains of the giant themed gingerbread houses, to make room for a new era of geeky parties. Featured snippet song is an acoustic version of Flight of the Conchords’ “Frodo, Don’t Wear the Ring.”
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The Hobbit Party!
My in-laws have done it again with an amazing Hobbit-themed party, complete with attaching a hobbit door on the front of their house! (It was also the same day as my birthday! w00t!) The still photos used in this vid were taken by Briana Lamb and Caitlin Wert respectively. Thanks, guys!
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Lord of the Rings Feast!
My in-laws throw the most amazing Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Marathon party ever! Complete with a 7 course meal as we watch!
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VEDA 2012 – Day 5: Hunger Games
A review of the Hunger Games from the perspective of a new fan who just saw the movies (me) and a fan of the books who discusses its adaptation from page to screen (Wervyn). Watch the Hunger Games trailer! SO EPIC! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgssLmsOa2s
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Dawn Treader Party (and Editor Update)
I went to an amazing party in honor of The Dawn Treader coming out in theatres! I geek out, and give a quick update on how my editor is coming with my manuscript. Check out other amazing stuff my mom-in-law has done: http://eventsbyemily.tumblr.com/ { Previously geeking about this house’s epic nerdiness on Facebook }
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Halloweek 2010: 4 More Classic Spooky Stories (Guest Post)
I hope you guys don’t mind a 5th guest post in one month! My dear friend Rosie is somewhat of an expert on the creepy genre, particularly for teens and young adults, and she always adds a wonderful dash of librarian knowledge to all of her reviews, so I asked if she’d do a little follow up on my post earlier this week on books of her choice (though I gave a few suggestions). Hope you like! ~CAN At the behest of my former roommate and very talented, dear friend, the authoress Christina Nelson, I bring to you a few reviews of my favorite scary stories in time for Halloween.…
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Halloweek 2010: 6 Classic Spooky Stories
This is the promised blog post! Wooo! In six days it shall be Halloween! Other than Christmas, Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, because of the costumes and the candy, but also because there’s so much to DO and have fun with! I love a good story, and Halloween is FULL of them! Just look at the old ghost stories and creepy tales you find tacked on houses or buildings in old historic towns: they all talk about people who used to be alive, and there’s something dramatic about the idea of spirits hanging on. How many stories have focused on ghosts over the years? But I digress. As you know,…
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The Secret of Kells
“I have seen the book. The book that turned darkness into light.” When I was in Dublin a few years ago, I had a chance to visit Trinity College and tour its library and museums. It’s famous for being the home of the Book of Kells, which was illuminated by Irish monks and survived the Viking attacks in the late 700s and early 800s A.D. Considering the content of my novel having a lot to do with illuminated manuscripts and monks, it’s always been an area of interest for me. When the 2010 Oscars aired, I first heard of a movie listed in the Best Animated Film category called “The Secret…
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Some Summer Inspiration
Happy June, guys! It’s the first weekend in June: it’s summer, so relax, enjoy it! And may you all have a sunny back porch to write on with a comfy chair to write in!
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Whisper of the Heart
Mr. Nishi: It’s a special kind of rock called a geode. Hold it close to your eye and look inside…Those crystals are called beryl. There are pieces of raw emeralds deep inside them. Shizuku: Aren’t emeralds worth a lot of money? Mr. Nishi: Sure, but they need to be cut and polished first. When you first become an artist, you’re like that rock. You’re in a raw, natural state, with hidden gems inside. You need to dig down deep and find the emeralds tucked away inside you. And that’s just the beginning. Once you’ve found your gems, you have to polish them. It takes a lot of hard work. Oh,…
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In Praise of Miyazaki-San or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Anime
<< Edited May 12, 2010 >> What defines inspiration to a writer? I’ve spent a good deal of time reading, and have found some favorite authors, but there’s always more to it than just BOOKS, isn’t there? Stimuli is all around us. An artist’s source of inspiration is the very world around them, and they can step into worlds of another’s creation to find inspiration for their own. I have a deep and abiding love for music and brilliant composers, and amusingly enough, I’ve spent more academic class hours studying films and scripts than actual creative novel writing, so I have many things that have shaped my personal creative style.…
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In the Realms of the Unreal
Sometimes, authors and artists fantasize about being hermits. It’s a romantic notion: cast off worldly things like cell phones, the internet, acquaintances and jobs, and run away where there is no one to bother you, and you’re blessedly detached from the looming, ugly world that threatens to come between you and your creativity. I still get nostalgic for that strange place of creative bliss that I’ve only found a few times in my own mind, yet, I’d never really thought about the flipside of this coin until I heard the unusual story of Henry Darger. I’ve just finished watching “The Realms of the Unreal” documentary about the life of Henry…
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Blogs du jour avec hollandaise
I love to blog, and honestly, watching “Julie and Julia” yesterday just fueled the fire. It was about good food, book publishing AND blogging, among other things! Needless to say, I love it when favorite things come together. ^_^ On that note, I just wanted to share a few blog entries I ran across recently. Of course, I’m always on the lookout for seasoned writers on the web; people who have been around the block a few times and know the world and know the life, and this is a great opportunity to introduce one of the ones I follow: Cures for Writer’s Block & some Preventatives. ~ I first…