A study in description

Something I did for school.  The assignment was to describe something with more than just its physical appearance; to tell its essence in words.  It took a couple tries with a couple different subjects, but I finally settled on this one.

~~~~~~~

The ancient Bible was one of the first things I saw when I stepped into the room. Though its cracked leather cover, faded and worn from ages of poring and studying, was covered in a layer of fine, featherweight dust, it seemed to glow with an aura of sage wisdom and truth untold. The tome could have been as old as the earth itself - as I turned the first page, it cracked with the care and weight of being moved from its place. I replaced it and ran my hand along the cover, leaving an irregular blotch of dustless area that seemed to remove some of the hallowedness of the book. The dust gave it a sense of being the holiest book on earth - though it contained the same words as any cheap pocket Bible you could buy, it was not the same. If there was a Bible that God wrote with his own hand, this was the one. With gravity and splendor it had sat there in the dust for centuries, away from the prying eyes of skeptical readers, its enormous bulk threatening to crack the altar on which it sat with every tiny tremor of the earth, whether they be caused by marauding armies or tectonic plates. In silence, I backed away, and at the door I paused and looked at it again. Even though the high, gothic architecture soared above my head, even though the rows and rows of ancient and stolid pews vied for my attention, even though the golden crucifix, glorious and untarnished, hung in the nave, to me the stalwart and hallowed old book was the only thing in the room.

Novella news...and chocolate chips

Today I'm what you'd call *absolutely thrilled* because....

drumroll please.....

I've just hit 6,000 words in my novella!  Which, for me, is a huge deal, because that's halfway.  (Excuse me for a minute.)

I'M HALFWAY!!!!!!

Thank you.

Things are going swimmingly (which usually means something is about to go wrong...).  I've written parts one and two of four and done a once-over edit on both.  So I'm ready to continue to Part Three!  The excitement is growing!  The writerly happiness is brewing!!  The chocolate chips are disappearing!!

I think I'll have my brother make some frappuchinos to jumpstart Part Three.  What do you think?

In other news, I have a very long summer reading list.  To provide you with some droll enjoyment I shall show you some of the upcoming titles, and you can see what I'm reading.

I'm in the middle of this wonderful tale at present.  Yes, this is a school leftover, and yes, I've already passed the balcony scene.  I hope you don't need an overview of the plot.

I've read this before, but I don't remember anything.  This is also a school leftover.  I'm looking forward to it very much - Lewis is my all-time favorite author.

Apparently a collection of short stories in the Sherlock Holmes style in which Father Brown, a Catholic priest, solves crimes with panache.  This should be interesting.  Leftover from school.

A collection of fantasy short stories by a contemporary of C.S. Lewis.  Also for school.

This looks interesting.  It's science fiction - that's basically all I know about it.  It's the last book in my lit program.

This looks like a pretty hefty read.  I still haven't had time to do this one yet; hope I have time for it this summer.

Ugh, I STILL haven't got around to reading this!!  It's plaguing me with its presence!!!

Still haven't got a hold of this one.  The one at my library was checked out.

Finally decided to find out what this was all about.  The waiting list at my library is 40 people long, I kid you not.  So I guess it'll have to be Borders for me.

My grandmother swears this is the best book in the world, and my brother happened to have it on loan.  So I guess I'll read it.

I heard about this from a friend - so I want to check it out.  Again, the waiting list at the library is astronomical.

A perennial favorite of mine that I'm certain you're all familiar with.  Ah, the adventure, the pathos.  It never gets old.

Now, as I'm looking at this list, it seems a little ambitious.  But I'll see what I can do.  I'm a champion reader. *grins*

Till the end!  Endurance and victory!  For Narnia, and for Aslan!  Tora! etc, etc.

~ Madeline alias *the Bedouin*

Candid Room Tag

So, Chris decided to tag *everyone* that follows his blog with the Candid Room Tag.  Which means, unfortunately for me, that you have to take a picture of your room, without cleaning it, and put it on your public blog.  So he wrenched it out of me.  *sigh*

Maya Angelou

I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

A free bird leaps on the back

Of the wind and floats downstream

Till the current ends and dips his wing

In the orange suns rays

And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage

Can seldom see through his bars of rage

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

Of things unknown but longed for still

And his tune is heard on the distant hill for

The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

And the trade winds soft through

The sighing trees

And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright

Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams

His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with

A fearful trill of things unknown

But longed for still and his

Tune is heard on the distant hill

For the caged bird sings of freedom.

 

 

- Maya Angelou

Writing and Beloved

Hi guys, sorry I've been neglecting my blog lately.  You know how it is with finishing up the school year and everything.  I've had no time for anything, much less writing.

About that, I just realized that I hadn't used my code for my free proof copy of my Nano novel from CreateSpace - so I decided I better spruce it up a little so I could send it in.  Unfortunately, the code expires the 30th of this month, so I really am in a bind as to whether or not I should throw myself into finishing/fixing it up by the 30th or just send it like it is.  I still haven't decided, but I guess I will have to soon - I'm leaning towards sending it like it is.

At any rate, my novella is on hold for the present.  I still have high hopes for it, though, and I think I'll get back to it more prepared to finish the first draft strongly.

I hope soon to begin posting regularly again - until then, here's something I want to share with you: the beautiful lyrics to a song my friend introduced me to by one of my favorite bands, Tenth Avenue North (you can listen to it in my playlist at the bottom of the page).

--Beloved--

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes

There you will find what you need

Give me your life

Lust and the lies

The past you're afraid I might see

You've been running away from me

You're my beloved

Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us

It's you I died for

For better or worse

Forever we'll be

Our Love it unites us

It binds you to me

It's a mystery

Love of my life

Look deep in my eyes

There you will find what you need

I'm the giver of life

I'll clothe you in white
My immaculate bride you will be

Oh come running home to me

You're my beloved

Lover I'm yours

Death shall not part us

It's you I died for

For better or worse

Forever we'll be

Our Love it unites us

It binds you to me

Well you've been a mistress, my wife

Chasing lovers it won't satisfy

Won't you let me make you my bride

You will drink of my lips

And you'll taste new life

Cause you're my beloved

Lover I'm yours

Death shall not part us

It's you I died for

For better or worse

Forever we'll be

Our Love it unites us
And it binds you to me

 

You're my beloved

Forever we'll be

Our love it unites us

And it binds you to me

It's a mystery

It's a mystery

I've been awarded...

Thanks to Noah and Ness, I've been awarded the "Prolific Blogger Award" and the "Stylish Blogger Award"!  Thanks for thinking of me, guys!  =D

I will now award...

Squeaks

Seth

Nathan P.

Rebecca

Now I shall award...

Celebrilomiel

 

Rebecca

 

 

And now I have to write five random things about myself.  *sighs*

 

1. I have 7 siblings

2. I love rotini pasta

3. I can't stand clocks ticking when I'm trying to sleep

4. I'm scared of ghosts....

5. I don't like lace

 

I'll try to comment on all of your blogs in the near future...sometime...lol  When I get the chance.  But anyway.

Update and "rose novella"

I apologize to y'all for the absence of posts recently...my life has been really busy (whose isn't?).  This week is performance week for my dance school, and what with mother's day and all...plus I'm trying to keep up with schoolwork and still find time to work on my novella.  About that!  I guess it's high time I told you guys a little about it.  =D


My novella is based on a concept of my dance teachers' for one of our pieces this year.  The main theme is about sacrifice, and it involves some (hopefully non-cheesy) time travel elements.  The main character is a girl whose story is loosely based on Rachel Scott of Columbine.  Her family is having trouble, and she doesn't know what to do about it.  She keeps seeing this motif of a rose with long thorns on the stem, but she doesn't know what it means until she learns from God that she is going to die very soon.  She also learns that if she dies like she is now, without her heart being in the right place, her family will fall apart.  Then she is taken to two different places in history where she is shown things that prepare her for what she has to face, and hopefully the ending will be as cool as I'm imagining it to be.


At any rate, I have about 3,500 words done at the moment out of about 12-15 K (hopefully that'll be my ending word count).  I've finished the first of four major scenes - it needs a lot of editing, but hopefully I can get this thing taken care of in a pretty reasonable amount of time.  For me.  At this point I have no idea how long that is.  (Hang on, that's not funny...)

Here's an excerpt:

“What?” Alex blurted under her breath, suddenly apprehensive. “I don't know what to do!”


You don't have to – I do. But I need you to trust me, Alex. I'm calling out to you now, all you have to do is obey.

The rose snatched Alex's attention in the corner of her eye. The surface of its petals seemed to be dripping a dark, red liquid, like ice slowly drips water. It looked like the rose was bleeding. Fascinated, Alex couldn't tear her eyes away from the strangely morbid sight.

“What do you mean?” she breathed. “What's happening?”

You will be killed on Friday morning.

At first, Alex didn't really believe what she was hearing. But as the feeling grew on her, the force of the unspoken words grew stronger, and she knew it to be true. She'd be a fool to not understand.

If you do this without me, the tragedy will destroy your family.

A doubt crept into her mind, a doubt that suggested she was being forced into what was about to happen. What kind of a choice did that leave her, if this feeling rang true? But she knew that it did, and pushed the doubt away, struggling to maintain her bearings. What did this mean? What options did she have?

“Is there any way I can survive?” Alex found herself pleading with reality, panicking, trying to find a way out of the future. “I don't want to die!”

They have made their choice. I won't stop them – I gave them free will, just like I gave you free will. I gave it to all humans alike.

“How -” she faltered, “how do I save my family? How can I fit the rest of my life into one night?” The impact of what she knew to be true was rushing at her like the full force of a freight train. Her mind was spinning out of control, and she clutched the sides of her head with white fingers.

Put your trust in me, Alex. I can turn your death into something greater than you could ever imagine – perhaps even stop another tragedy like the one that will kill you. And it will bring your family together – trust me, Alex. I don't want you to go down without me. You will be lost without me.
 
 
~Madeline alias *the Bedouin*