Books of 2019 - January to April

Happy Easter to all! Hopefully everyone's was wonderful (and nobody noticed my bowing out). Ahem. I know that my blogging has been rather sporadic lately - I apologize.
Anyways, as usual, when I cannot think of anything to blog, but have been neglecting the old thing, I blog about books. So - here are some books (reviewed in brief) that I have read so far this year. (And if anyone is curious why I rate the endings of fiction - as someone did ask about this last time - it's because I cannot stand good books with bad endings personally, or badly-done endings, probably more so than any other part of the book being done badly.)

The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength)

by C.S. Lewis

This was one of the best books series/trilogies I have ever read. It was enjoyable. It was intense. It was light and comic. It was profoundly allegorical. It had such lovable characters. It had such gripping plot. It had settings like I'd never seen anywhere before, and described so vibrantly so as to almost arouse a physical taste and sight and smell of them, truly. When I heard it was a space story, I suppose it would be like every other space story - dark and stars and spaceships and weapons and military and alien civilizations and all the sorts of boring black and silver tech aesthetics that accompany most space stories now. But was I wrong. The first two particularly had such well-developed settings that I was almost drowning in qualia.

For the plots, Perelandra easily wins the crown - all of them had good plots, but Perelandra's was great. The first one's plot seems like nothing to get excited over if you just read a summary of it, but in the book it is quite splendid and leads you on quite well. The last one took some time to get started up on its plot, that's for sure, but once it finally did, its plot might have been better than Perelandra even.

The characters were great, particularly the recurring link, Professor Elwin Ransom (who, by the way, I now have a stuffed owl named after). The Scot in the third book (don't ask me to spell his name, please) would be a candidate for one of the most amusing characters in classic literature I've read. And the characterization of Merlin in the third book was quite fascinating and definitely unexpected.

My Favorite Character - Prof. Ransom, of course.

Writing Style - I'd say a pretty easy 5/5 stars.

Morality - 4/5 stars. It's definitely for adults because of certain discussions therein, but they're quite enlightening and definitely profoundly insighted.

The Ending - 4.5/5 stars. It was quite a close, and the scene at Belbury near the end was utterly terrifying. Not to mention, the resolve of the main character's family conflict was such a relief after a whole book of back and forth stress over it.

Overall Rating - About 4.5/5 stars as well. I would actually give it that fifth star if not for a rather slow beginning in the third book (which was good anyways... just a bit less enthralling than the first two books and their beginnings).

The Lost Arts of Modern Civilization

by Mitchell Kalpakgian

This book was a collection of essays detailing some beautiful traditional cultural practices that have disappeared in modern days. Some of the subjects focused on included dressing well, letter-writing, courtship, pleasing people, and hospitality. It was definitely enjoyable, but it was rather sad because everything in it was, I'm afraid, rather true - so many practices have been neglected for no good reason nowadays, and those practices helped society and the next generation blossom. It really is a shame. But anyway, the book was very good if you enjoy the essay style (I like it well enough, though I would have probably preferred a full-on book rather than short essays collected together).

Writing Style - 3/5 stars. I really wish the book was longer.

Morality - 5/5 stars.

Overall Rating - Probably 4/5 stars.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

by Baroness Orczy

Unlike the others above, I had actually read this one before - numerous times. And it is probably my favorite book, if I had to pick just one. The allegory, the romance, the setting, the characters, the writing style, and the sheer beauty of the book (plus the wonderfully pleasant scarlet and gold binding on our copy) is just sigh-inducing, like a melodic overture to an opera or something poetic like that.

My Favorite Character - Sir Percy Blakeny, Esquire.

Writing Style - Absolutely amazing - 5/5 stars at least for my personal preferences, and still at least 4/5 for technicalities.

Morality - Only 4/5 stars for minor swearing.

Overall Rating - 5/5 star. It is possibly my favorite book, after all.

Anyone who has read and wishes to see a movie of The Scarlet Pimpernel should really seek out the  B&W Leslie Howard version - it's really the only one that's true to the story.

The Power of Silence

by Cardinal Sarah

I'm still reading this one in addition to My Imitation of Christ, but it's quite a book. It really makes one stop and think - as it's supposed to. The book chronicles how one can truly find inner potential, particularly spiritual potential merely by closing off the noise and distraction of the outside world for sessions. It is, as Cardinal Sarah points out, nearly impossible to have a tenable relationship with God in a world as loud and rushed and ours is, so silence is really necessary to maintain any sort of spiritual motivation or progress, particularly in developing the virtues and prayer life. It's been a very good book so far, and I hope to finish it soon after Lent.

Writing Style - 3/5 stars for my personal preference (I don't really like the interview style), but the efficiency and technical prowess of it is more like 5/5.

Overall Rating - So far, 4/5 at least, but I'm not terribly far in.

Overall, so far this year has had nothing but very good, very formidable, and very high-ranking books in my own opinion. I definitely encourage the reading of them, particularly The Space Trilogy and The Power of Silence. What did you think? Have you read any of these? Do you want to? What are you reading right now? What's on your list for the future? How was your Easter-Tide?

Silence and Beauty - A Lenten Meditation From Cardinal Sarah

Finally - the Lenten meditation post I promised. Hopefully it's worth something, because otherwise, I have failed in quality as well as timing and length thereof, I'm afraid... for which I apologize. Anyways, though, I mean (and meant) to make these posts a tradition, but obviously I kind-of failed last year. Here is the original Lenten post that I did (concerning the song of Violetta Valery and Lenten sacrifice).

It's very strange sometimes how much one word can do. Oftentimes, we human beings can become as distraught or as fluttery as anything just because of one word. But sometimes it's less than one word that does the most.
Silence is a strange thing. It's not noiselessness or noise, and it can sometimes be sound. Silence is, perhaps, best defined as the real quieting of oneself to truly appreciate a thing. Who can concentrate on Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae whilst working out math problems? Who can gaze at the Sistine Chapel when a vaudevillian is dancing away beside them? Who can possibly speak and still hear the last, heart-rending tones of Verdi's La Traviata as they should be heard? As Cardinal Sarah points out in his amazing book, The Power of Silence, without silence, there is nothing we can enjoy; at best, we can placate or numb ourselves with half-attentive entertainment that is shallow and light enough for us to take without proper concentration. How much more is this so for things more consuming than recreation?
Silence is the voice of God, for it is all beauty, and without it beauty is pointless, it is all truth, for nothing is more real and true than deep silence, and it is all goodness, for, without it, no one has a hope of prospering in virtue. There's not too much that's harder to accomplish, though. Meditation has always been a difficulty for me, at least, and I know many people who feel the same way. When you are expected to give everything you have - body, mind, emotions, everything - to only one thing, it is so hard. In this day and age, it is an accomplishment even to be half-invested in something. To exercise our every power towards one cause seems, well, sometimes unbearable. But this is what silence is; in fact, this is what God is: the whole of a thing, uninterrupted and unblemished, lacking in nothing. God is existence itself, the fullness of all three eternal goods, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. So it seems strange that He should dwell in silence - isn't silence just a lack of sound? Isn't it just nothing? How can God, He Who Is, by His Nature have anything to do with silence?

Silence is not the lack of sounds. Silence is unification of everything one has towards one cause. Christ Himself points out that a cause which is divided won't get anywhere. So we have to be devoted to something. That thing will either be nothing - all the meaningless noise and distraction that infiltrates us constantly - or it will be God, the full unification of everything that is good - silence.
So... maybe there was some rambling getting to it, but my point is that we need to distance ourselves via silence for a little while, especially in this Lenten season. If everything is pointless without God, then we need to listen to Him by quieting ourselves.
If we cannot give even our silence to God for Lent, then how can we expect to give our souls?

The Crusade - A Poem

My apologies for both lack of my usual Lenten Meditation post (I will try to post it soon!), and for the rather militaire rather than penitential nature of this particular poem - hopefully it is not too contrasting with the season...

***

Oh, how the cross's trumpets rang;

Hear what they had to say -

"Come over hill, come over dale,

Come march, we march away

To battle vice and win for Christ

Jerusalem, we pray -

Jerusalem, we pray!"

"As crimson as the blood we pledge

Is the red cross we bear -

Oh, come over hill, come over dale,

Come into the Eastern air,

To give your all for glory or fall

To give to our Host-King fair -

To give to our Host-King fair!"

Oh, have you heard the clarion call

That did so long ago

Come over hill, come over dale

To let all Christians know

Their time was for a godly war

Against all sin and woe -

Against all sin and woe?

And did you know that, although Time

Has since that holy ring

Come over hill, come over dale,

It still to all Christians sings:

"Standard unfurled, go purge the world

Of any unholy thing -

Of any unholy thing"?

And since, commanded, we must do

As we have thus been told,

Come over hill, come over dale,

Your courage and effort unfold

'Til our war-band may, hand-in-hand,

March into the gates of gold -

March into the gates of gold.

Lego Movie 2: A Review

I'm afraid I'm rather lax about reviewing movies. I usually excuse myself by the fact that I almost never watch newer movies, and on that rare occasion that I do, they are usually ones that have already been out and reviewed for a while. Nobody wants to hear reviews of old or obscure movies, so I just disappear from the movie-reviewing scene. However. I committed the every-so-often atrocity of going to a theater to see a movie, so I suppose in this case, I have no excuse not to provide a comprehensive review of the movie I saw - that being The Lego Movie 2. The trailer is here.
[*Spoiler warning*]

The Plot

As a plot is generally what carries a movie, I chose to review this first. The plot consisted of the Duplo aliens, played by the little sister of the boy, (they were seen at the end of the first movie) having successfully terrorized the Lego world and left, only coming back to destroy whenever something that caught their interest was built (e.g. something shiny, colorful, or creative).

Thus, the world had degenerated into a teenage apocalypse in a few years, and everything built was dark and uninteresting. The conflict begins when another spaceship from the aliens arrives, this time apparently bearing a beacon of peace - all the strongest leaders of this Lego world are to come to attend a marriage ceremony on one of the alien planets for the purpose of making peace. Obviously, Emmet and Lucy (previously known as Wyld Style) are suspicious of this, particularly the latter.

But it is left completely up to Emmet, the apparently spineless sap, to save Lucy and the others when Lucy, Batman, Captain Metalbeard, Benny, and Unikitty are all forcibly taken in the spaceship by an ambassador, to go to the aforementioned ceremony. Emmet is quite alone and quite unprepared for the job, being apparently helpless despite the abilities seen in the first movie. On setting out, he is aided and saved from near failure and doom by a mysterious and ultra-masculine space wanderer (who drives a time-traveling spaceship manned by a raptor - yes, dinosaurs - gunning crew) by the name of Rex (or REX).

Now. When all turns out, *large spoilers alert* the bad guys turn out not to be bad after all - the aliens really do merely intend to make a marital alliance. The real bad one, apparently, is Rex, who merely wants some sort-of vague, unspecified revenge upon vague, unspecified persons, for an event that took place years ago and changed his sweet personality of Emmet to the  (allegedly) toxically masculine one he now possesses, as REX (Radical Emmet X-Treme, if my memory serves me correctly). *spoilers end*

The plot had some good points to it - it certainly surprised me on the matter of the queen of the aliens, partaker in the marriage ceremony, who had a relevant identity unrevealed until the end. And while the choice to make other certain parties evil or incompetent was a rather cliché one, they involved another plot twist which was worthy of an eyebrow-raise.

Overall, the plot was fairly typical of the modern children's movie - rather unimaginative at its core but having a few worthwhile surprises to keep one from boredom.

The Characters

The characters I expected to know and love from the first movie were, unfortunately, rather changed. While Lucy (Wyld Style) was essentially the same, the light taken with the character of Emmet was not that he was a simple person eager to please and help, nor that he was a blind half-witted follower, as many think in the first movie. Rather, he was put up as a sort-of archetype for a femininely-caring and rather spineless, optimistic idealist who always thinks everything is awesome no matter what.

The character of Batman was also, sadly, not its formerly exaggerated and comical image. Batman was not only not in the movie a great deal, but spent most of it brainwashed (though we are made to believe in the end that he was not brainwashed at all) to love the effeminate and do whatever he is led into. Unfortunately, there was not much of Batman's ridiculously rude script which I personally found one of the entertainment highlights of the original movie.

Unikitty, Benny, and Metalbeard likewise are absent during much of the movie and do not seem like themselves much, except perhaps the former (though an amusing poke is made at the rather embarrassingly true fact of Benny not having much consistent character anyways).

Rex was easily my favorite character in the movie, I'm afraid to say. His gruff and hands-on personality was infectiously smiling, and, due to the lack of traditional gender roles in modern movies, it is always nice to see an unapologetically masculine character like him. The characters of the two main aliens, General Mayhem and the queen (don't ask me to spell her name, because I believe it would be futile to try) were ambiguous - General Mayhem had little to no character, and the queen's was hard to riddle out, as she never at any point, per the plot of the movie, seems to have clear intentions or characteristics, though I might say that a little less singing on her part to illustrate her hazy motives for her would've done her characterization a great deal of good.

The Themes

As you can probably tell from a few snide comments above, the I most certainly did not enjoy the theme. The main theme interwoven throughout the movie was an anti-masculinity, holding that it was toxic, destructive, and against true personality - even for those characters who at least aspired usually to be masculine, such as Batman. The feminism throughout the movie was, unfortunately, a killing disease. The movie was very good all but for this overwhelming propaganda-feel that was one of its unfortunate foundations. Just the blatant, in-your-face, constant feminism masked as femininity throughout the whole movie was sickeningly saccharine to me, making even the spectacles of the movie unbearable for the sheer sparkliness and colorfulness of it all. Everything masculine was choked out or vilified for most of the movie, which made it, unfortunately, a great deal less enjoyable and less skillfully done of a movie in comparison to the first one.
The Music
To me, the music is one of the most important things about a movie, but I realize that not everyone agrees with that, so I'll be brief. For the most part, the score consisted of fragments of the first movie's music and then the addition of a handful of rather irritating pop songs that did not quite measure up to "Everything is Awesome" in the first Lego Movie. Enough said.

There Were Good Things About It...

There were a few moments of sheer hilarity, I'll grant. The down-to-earth sense of humor that needs no reference to the crude or banal for its self-assertion which we saw in the first movie was again present in most of the second one (with an occasional exception concerning male-bashing jokes). And, obviously, the animation was amazing, just like the first one, and the Lego scenery was inspiring to any aspiring Lego creator, of course.

In Summary

The theme was terrible - feminist propaganda never showed its face so blatantly, I believe. The humor, aside from feministic traces here and there, was splendid, and was not dependent on rude gags and gross characterizations as most modern children's movie humor seems to be. The characters did not act like themselves, and it was a rather sad change, honestly. The plot mostly was a reflection of the theme. The Lego spectacle was, again, aside from feministic parts, quite stunning. The music was, well, rather forgettable. On a whole, I thought it was a slightly sad tribute to the first movie, which to date is one of my favorite CGI kid's movies. The only big moral problems with it were a feministic political correctness interwoven (plus, a brief appearance of a Lego Judge Ruth Bader-Ginsburg). It did, however, for its very denial of the need of traditional gender roles, accidentally reveal the differences between the genders: the male characters, even Emmet, all are active, generally wishing to protect and fight rather than be protected or fought for, and the female characters, even Lucy, had a nature more built on understanding and feelings (which... got a bit sickening as it was exaggerated considerably, but whatever).
Overall, I would say that the movie's probably not worth a second watch at least for the theme, but if you want to go and try it for yourself, there are definitely parts that would make it worth the time... just... don't buy a super expensive movie ticket for it.
What do you think? Have you seen this movie? Do you agree, or did you enjoy it more than I did? Planning on seeing it? Anything to add or argue? Chat with me!

Get to Know Me: Writer's Edition Tag

So. You probably are all wondering why, after so many sincere apologies and wishes to do better, I have vanished off of the face of the earth yet again. Well. All I can say is "meep." Because there really is no better excuse I can give, I'm afraid (though, as far as excuses go, "meep" is a pretty good one, even if it is overused). Lent happened. And the school year decided that now was not the time for Belle to blog. Oh well...

Anyways, though, the reason I'm back to seek redemption once more is because, a) I love you guys, of course, and b) Catherine offered me a wonderful little tag that looked quite fun. But before I get into it, I must touch on the rules (and quote, as always - "what is fun without the rules?").


1. Link back to the person who created the tag. (Miss Savannah can be found here.)
2. Thank the person who tagged you.
3. Share the tag graphic (optional). (Well, I don't know about you, but generally, when I see the word "optional," I think "actually, don't do it, it's not necessary.")
4. Tag eleven bloggers.


My most hearty thanks to you, Catherine *tips hat, but then realizes it's not ladylike and curtsies instead* - hopefully my attempt is as enjoyable as Catherine's own post was (I suggest checking it out, here, despite the fact that she is photo-shy).


As for who I'm tagging... I don't even know eleven bloggers, I don't think. So. I shall tag two bloggers who (I think) have not done it yet, and whoever else passes this post by idly (and is a writer, of course). I tag Megan Chappie and Lia. And now, I shall hope to it...!

Vital Stats/Appearance

Name: Belle Anne (no kidding - but not my full name, of course, because, if you haven't noticed, I am a cyberphobe, and don't like using my full name online.)

Nicknames: Most prominently Bellbell, but also occasionally Anyone, Peanut, or Granny/the Old Lady (Spiderman has also shown up as a name from time to time).

Birthday: In November, the most disagreeable month, of course.

Hair Color and Length: Oh boy. Um, think a mix of chicken broth and dishwater for hair color, haha, but semi-wavy and hip-length. Basically very long and a rather hideous shade of blond.

Eye Color: Very bright blue, as I love to boast of constantly as my own version of Jo March's hair.

Braces/Piercings/Tattoos: Ugh, haha, no tattoos, but I do have my ears pierced, and, while I never wore braces, per se, I used to wear plastic trays and still wear a retainer at night.

Righty or Lefty: A boring old righty, I'm afraid!

Ethnicity: Barbarian, haha. While the variations thereupon are a bit diverse, I am almost completely Viking and Celt (so lots of Norwegian, Slavic, and Scottish), though I am an Italian wannabe.

Firsts

First Novel Written: Um, a long-trashed version of Snow White that was basically the exact same as the typical fairy-tale, just slightly elaborated on. Either that or a Red-Riding Hood one that was a similar story.

First Novel Completed: Huzzah - The Pain of a Memory was completed just this past year, and it is now in the halls of glory as one of my most prized possessions.

Award for Writing: Haha, no awards yet, except the honor of successfully turning everybody's least favorite character into their favorite, including my rather persnickety writing confidante.

First Publication: Um, hehehe... aside from stuff on this blog and a writing newsletter I recently left, I have never published any writing, I don't think. I am publishing a song, however...

*cue music for a musical number*

Conference: The first and only writing conference I ever went to was a conference of Bryan Davis, the writer of a few commendable Christian fantasy novels. It was pretty fun, I remember it fondly, and it was a good initiation into the writing world, I suppose, but I will note that Bryan Davis' styles generally do differ from my own preferences, to say the least...

Query/Pitch: For a story...? Okay, here goes...

Sometimes a memory can have a lot of power. It can make a man. It can shape the most twisted monster or the most virtuous hero, as Anwynne, a young queen-to-be, finds while on her journey to her future throne. When that journey is halted, she meets many a hero and monster shaped by fighting or forgiving memory, and discovers her own humanity in the light of others' suffering.

Favorites

Novel (that you wrote): Okay, that's just cruel. You want to start a sibling rivalry or something?! Because that's what will happen if I choose between my kids, you know - and they're unruly kids at that, so sibling rivalry is something I need like a hole in the head. But... if I had to say... I guess I'd say either The Top-Hat Gang or Alomina.

Genre: Probably historical fiction, at least for reading. Though my appreciation for nonfiction, particularly philosophy, has skyrocketed in the past couple years.

Author: Ooh, that's a toughie. Probably either J.R.R. Tolkien or G.K. Chesterton.

Writing Music: Hmm, depends on the story. But usually it is either movie soundtracks, particularly the 2015 Cinderella (for my medieval novels) or swing music, particularly by Bing Crosby or Glenn Miller (for the five novels that are twentieth century onward).

Time to Write: Either afternoon or evening, because those are the quietest times of day.

Writing Snack/Drink: If a snack, then either pretzels, veggie straws, or chocolate, but if a drink, almost always coffee.

Movie: Okay, I don't actually have a favorite movie. There are way too many. I used to, but then I could never decide satisfactorily, so I just don't have a single favorite now. But... of my favorite movie types, I'd say most things with Gary Cooper or early Tyrone Power, Abbot and Costello movies, and the couple really good religious movies there are out there (namely The Passion, The Robe, and For Greater Glory). (And I just realized that only two out of all those movies are not in black and white or Technicolor...)

Writing Memory: The wonderful writing group I used to be a part of, particularly one day when we were discussing clichés. It was... quite amusing, to say the least.

Childhood Book: Some of the first chapter books I remember reading were Little House in the Big Woods (high five, Catherine!) and an abridged copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and both remain quite beloved with me.

Currently

Reading: Cardinal Sarah's The Power of Silence and also still Imitation of Christ.

Writing: Mostly this year's big project - my frustrating Fantasy series-starter, The Second Brother.

Listening to: Il Divo!

Watching: Anything Gary Cooper that I can get my hands on, but most recently High Noon.

Learning: Latin and Italian, how to play the full version of Fur Elise (finally!!!), and still the E Strano... Sempre Libera sequence from La Traviata.

Future

Want to be Published: Actually, I don't really care that much if I never get published. Sure, I would like to be at some point, but I realize that most of my writing is directed more towards the rare sort-of stodgy tastes like mine, so it is unlikely to ever get published. So I'm totally fine just sitting on the sidelines of the writing world - besides, most of the people I would want to read my story could without it being published, though I am rather sad that its theme might never reach anyone in need of it due to the bad writing quality and the fact of not being published.

Indie of Traditional: I'm assuming this means self-publishing or press-publishing? In that case, if I did publish, I'd prefer to press-publish with some smaller, more lenient press.

Wildest Goal: To get my musical and opera performed on stage, or at least one of them.

That's all for now, folks! What did you think? Have you done this tag? (If not, please pick it up!) What are you reading right now? Is anybody else here an Il Divo fanatic...?!







Meet the Books! - The Harlequin Sleuth

Whelp, I promised I'd do my best to get it out soon, so here it is! Hopefully I have successfully flaunted blog laziness for a little while. Anyways, though, for any of you who don't know Meet the Books!, it's a link-up of my own making for anybody to join and introduce their WIPs on their blog. The only rules are to answer the questions in a post, and to link it up back here so I can see it. So, without further ado, I'll get right to it.

What is the genre?
The genre is Mystery. Not strictly Murder Mystery, mind you, but just general Mystery, like Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown and all those wonderfully diverse mystery series.
What is the title? Time period?
The title of the first book (and of the series) is, at least for now, The Harlequin Sleuth. The time period is the mid-1930's.
How is it written (POV, main character, etc.)?
As usual, third person limited, though with only one main character.
Who are the characters?
These are only the repeating characters - it would take way too long to list all the characters planned through the series.
Ettiano Travista is a circus runaway (quite literally) with an Italian performing carnival in 1930's America. He came to America from Santa Lucia as a performer after avoiding the life he had previously pursued - that of a professional police detective. In becoming acquainted with the lifestyle and people, he decided that there was nothing he wanted less than to spend his life with such sordid people, always have enemies, and daily endanger his loved ones merely for the satisfaction of mental challenge and a well-paying job. It just isn't a responsible thing to do. Though everyone else seems to feel rather differently about it... including
Zolita Diez del Castillo, Ettiano's Hispanic date who sings in the carnival. She is headstrong, though strictly traditional (and strictly European) in her values, and often gives Ettiano a hard time about any range of things - particularly his choice to fly on the wires instead of hunting down criminals. After all, should a man cower from what he's good at just because he claims to not want anyone to get hurt?
Gregorio Ricci is the strong man at the carnival. Perhaps a bit naïve, but generally one of the kinder souls in the strange country, and always willing to help, sometimes to his disadvantage...
Ettiano's mother, Maria, is the strongest advocate of the detective career for Ettiano, unlike Ettiano himself. Like Ettiano, though, and probably even more so, she is extremely stubborn.
Lieutenant Rackett is a slightly cynical, though very clever police detective who often criticizes Ettiano as well. He, however, can quite live with the fact that it's up to him to solve any crimes around the carnival, as he not only enjoys his job, but is extremely skilled at it. Perhaps a bit American, and therefore doubtful of the strange troupe of Europeans, but cool of temper and quick of mind.

What does the plot consist of?
For the first book, the plot can be summed up easily - a murder where the victim isn't killed, a theft where the object isn't stolen, and a case where the policeman doesn't put two and two together alone. But of course, one cannot make much sense out of mystery stories.
What is the setting?
The Italian carnival as it travels through Great Depression-age America.
What gave you the idea?
Not sure... Probably the wish to try a new genre, I suppose.
Who are the favorite characters so far?
Ironically, Gregorio, who hasn't even made a full-fledged appearance yet.
What is the favorite scene so far?
None as of yet, as far as I know.
Any themes of music for this work?
Not at the moment - unfortunately, detectives don't usually have theme songs.
Any drawings?
Yes... but it was terrible, so I'm afraid I'll skip it for now.
Any snippets?
While I love reading other people's snippets when they do this link-up, it seems I never can manage to post any myself... *sighs* Unfortunately, none of the story is typed up yet, so there are no snippets except hastily scrawled in a notebook.
Strong point in story?
I have never written a mystery book before, and never a successful short story, so I haven't the slightest...
Weak point in story?
Hmm, probably how fast I seem to be forgetting most of the ultra-important, invaluable, plot-won't-work-without-this details...
What are your plans for it?
Meh. Finish it and start another one when I feel like it. I'm mainly writing this series for kicks more than anything else, and to try something new, so it's not a huge project or anything.
Any particular writing habits for it?
Other than always writing in the same notebook, and listening to lots of Chopin, not really.

If it were made into a movie, what would be your ideal cast for it?
Not sure... I guess Fernando Lamas would make a good Ettiano, but that's the only actor that immediately comes to mind.
Whelp, that wraps it up! What do you think - would you read it? Are you working on any projects right now? Are you planning on joining the link-up? What is your favorite detective series? Have you ever tried writing one?

January Updates

Hello, mi amici. I apologize for my sudden disappearance - I wish I had an excuse. Unfortunately, as you all know me well, you know that I am very prone to be absent-minded, and often poor old bloggie suffers for it. So... I apologize. And I figure, since it's been a while, I'll attempt to re-start the blogging train with what I've been up to lately.

Life

I'm not even sure why this is a section of my life updates, because, obviously, my life is not a big part of my life. Anywho. Primarily, I went to a swing dance, babysat a ton, and failed to make enough time for homework.

Books

Now we're into the more interesting part. I am in the midst of reading C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy (I'm almost finished with the last book), but not quite done, so I'll probably write a review of it as soon as I finish, but so far, I can tell you that these books are seriously worth reading - I would say that they're easily better by far than The Chronicles of Narnia, and Narnia's pretty awesome, so that should say something. I also am reading the Sacred Heart Press's Imitation of Christ, which is also quite commendable.

Writing

I finished TPoaM, as you all know, of course, and am currently on a bit of a break before my next big writing project. I am working on a short story which I intend to make known soon enough, but just haven't written a Meet the Books! for yet - but I am trying a new genre. Also, the story that will get finished this year has been decided, I believe - The Second Brother will hopefully not see the end of the year incomplete. I have been reading a lot of other people's writing as well, though, and come across some serious gems, some honorable mentions being Catherine Hawthorn's The White Rose and Megan Chappie's Barnstormers.

Music

Well. It seems that I'm in over my head... as usual. Not only am I performing in a musical (thankfully in the chorus), but I agreed to do a piano duet for a talent show, and sing solo for a Mass at my music teacher's parish. Help. Not only that, but I am on the road to getting a song I composed published, which is both exciting and simultaneously terrifying. If it is without kinks, then it should be out probably before the summer, but even with kinks, I shall probably announce its arrival within the year. As for the rest of my music... I'm taking it easy for a while. I realize that my music is still pretty amateur, so I'm putting my opera on hold for a time when I can do it more justice, and working strictly on more simple things right now. Hopefully this will allow for more devotion to choir and more attention to other people's compositions.

In Conclusion...

Well, all in all, it's not been a terribly busy month due to sickness (thankfully my siblings are all better now), but blogging will be better soon, I hope, and I will definitely try not to lose the thread again. I suppose I shall try and get that Meet the Books! post up soon and another snippet of TPoaM, as well as (perhaps) a new tag. For now, though, I believe that's all!

What have you been up to this month? Have you ever been swing-dancing? Do you know Lewis' Space Trilogy? Can you ever forgive me for forgetting the blog?!