An Announcement and a Farewell

 Howdy, folks! I know it's been a while since I've posted, and there is a reason. I've been considering for a long time whether to keep this blog going or not. The pros of the situation are that I get to keep up with some very cool writing pals, that I have somewhere to put random junk I write, and that I can promote my stories here. I've been thinking on it for a while now, though, and I think the pros might not be enough to hold onto anymore. 

Of course, I'd love to keep up with all the writer friends in this lovely circle I've been privileged enough to be a part of, but I am in contact with most of them through some other format as well. Letter-writing, email, phone, etc., covers most of the friends I chat with on the blog. There are some of you I would miss if I left, but I think that it would be more productive to keep reading and commenting on your separate blogs than to try and keep this one running just for that purpose. As for putting random junk I write somewhere, I think we can all agree that that's not exactly necessary to writing - just fun. Besides, many of you in contact with me outside the blog still get the random junk from me anyhow. 

That brings me to the last point: promotion of stories. I guess if there is an announcement that goes before my departure, it's that I don't think I'm really interested in publishing. I've been writing for a long, long time (not as long as some!), and publishing is always a writer's expected daydream. To be sure, it's a fun thought. But you know, I've come to the conclusion that I really don't care that much whether I ever get published. I love writing, and I have no intention of giving it up, but I would still be perfectly content if the only people who ever read my books were my writing pals. My books aren't terribly publishable, except perhaps by self-publishing. I like a style that has long since been out of print, and I certainly don't intend to change what I like to write just because it's last season. My friends enjoy my writing, and I enjoy doing it, so the way I see it, there's not much point in changing to a more modern style. Perhaps I could publish without doing so, but I digress. It's not that I've unequivocally given up on publishing, but I certainly no longer hold it as an immutable goal on my bucket list. 

In addition to these pros losing a bit of their sway, there are cons as well. My school life keeps me very busy, not to mention my studio, job, and other responsibilities, so it's fairly common that I can't keep up with posting. Oftentimes, when I do end up posting, I end up posting either something completely random, or a cop-out post like a tag or something. Maybe I could remodel things and make a bigger effort with the blog, but I just don't think the blog is my priority, nor do I want it to be. There are lots of things going on in life that I haven't really even taken a look at yet, and I think I'd like to get out of my head and out into the world a little more. I think that it's better for me, better for my writing, and perhaps better for this blog as well. 

In other words, I think I'm leaving the blogging sphere. I'll probably leave this up, just because it has a lot of writing things stored on it, but I will not be posting anymore. I'll miss all you readers, but I'll keep on reading your posts, so I'm not totally splitting from the blogging world. Whether in a chatbox, email, text, or what have you, I look forward to the writing journey with everybody from here on out. 

God bless!

Meet the Books! - Turning the Century

 Well, it's been a good while since the last Meet the Books!, and I've got two new projects (sort-of) since then, so let's get cracking. This one, previously known by the titles Divided and The World That Was, is coauthored with the Grim Writer, whose blog is here. I will mostly focus on my side of the story, as I know it better. (Perhaps Grim will grace us with her own Meet the Books! post to better introduce her side of the story...? EDIT: Grim's splendid supplementary post is here. Definitely go read it - it will make a bit more sense out of things.)

I really must redo this graphic at some point. It is so very pathetic...

What is the title?

The present title is Turning the Century, but it has been known by the above titles before now.

What is the genre? Time period?

Okay... Um. So we might have sort-of invented a genre...? I guess we'll call it a Fantasy. That works, right? It's a strange sort of Fantasy, though. It's strange because of the time period. You see, the book's world is divided into two halves, in two different period-inspired times. The first half is based on the 1920s, and the second half is based on the 1890s, I believe. 

How is it written (POV, format, etc.)?

We've gone with third person for this, mostly limited. We have stylistically strayed from limited a couple times, though, I think. We're going with a traditional novel format for the most part. Now, the one difference is that, since there are two authors, there is sort of a split of which characters/places are written by whom. In general, scenes in Bellafossa or from my characters' POVs are written by myself, and scenes in Bricklebury or from Grim's characters' POVs are written by Grim. 

What is the setting?

The setting is twofold. The first setting you see is Bellafossa, a rich, decadent, dissipated city loosely based off of Italian and 1920s culture. The second setting introduced is Bricklebury, an impoverished and war-torn fantasy village held together by a few influential patrons, inspired by Britain in the 1890s. 

Who are the characters?

In Bellafossa...

Gianni Verreni is a rich, young gentleman in Bellafossa. He is absent-minded, quiet, heartily lost in the world he lives in, old-fashioned, and perhaps a bit curmudgeonly. He is my main character and POV. He is quite fond of his younger sister,

Fioria Verreni, called Fio. She is a high socialite with spirits as bubbly as champagne and a character to match. She is quite independent, and she enjoys her riches and freedom. She's never worked a day in her life nor had to do anything harder than convince Gianni to take her places. She is Grim's main character and POV.

The suitors are a gang of high-society fellows, mostly working for Vin (explained in a moment), and all quite enamored of Fio. Those particularly worth mentioning are Addio, a fashionable sulker, one of Vin's right hand men, and the one most struck by Fio; Gerry, a fun-loving smooth talker who never misses a party or a trick, also one of Vin's boys.

Flavio Vitale is one of Gianni's best friends, but also a frivolous and somewhat nervous fellow, with good reason; he is very dangerously in debt to Vin and his boys. 

Iago Potenza is Gianni's other best friend. As he tells it, he witnessed his father, mother, and uncle, and his second cousin being shot when he was a boy. He is now an existentialist artist who believe the world is an abyss of suffering, and his only particularly real mission in life is to remove Vin's operation from power. He is always trying to do this, with the help of Gianni and Flavio. 

Vincente Vespa, commonly known as Vin, is a very rich, influential man about town who pulls most of the strings around Bellafossa. Nearly every chap from the old, rich families works for him, and he hosts much of high society at his nephew's ritzy place, the Rubino. It is well-known that he does things under the table and gets his power the hard way, but nobody can prove it. Vin and his boys - those who are admitted to his special circle - are the center of Bellafossa's society, regardless of anybody else's feelings about it. 

In Bricklebury...

Bernard Chester, later to be dubbed "Bob" by Fio for no particular reason, is one of the only pillars left holding Bricklebury up. He comes from an old, noble, wealthy family there, but doesn't have much wealth left, unless compared to the rest of the town. He is Grim's other MC. 

Anne Chester, known as Nancy, is Bernard's cousin. She is also one of my other MCs. She has mysteriously disappeared from Bricklebury when Fio arrives, and nobody but Bob and his confidantes seem to know anything about it...

Saoirse is Miss Nancy's maid, whom Fio renames Wyo because she can't spell Saoirse. 

Lady Macready is one of the strangest old women Fio has ever met (and, yes, her name rhymes). She lives in a house that has feet, apparently her dog is her long-enchanted husband, and she knows about secret things around Bricklebury. She is one of the only people helping Bob to keep the town afloat. 

Odysseus Wilde is a long-gone inventor and relative of Bob and Nancy. Rumored to be either quite crazy or a genius, bits and pieces of his various projects litter the Chester mansion. He hasn't been heard of since the War. Nobody is really sure what happened to him.

What does the plot consist of?

The plot begins with Fio and Gianni living it up in the Bellafossa half, a world that vaguely remembers the word "war," but has no idea what it means. They are comfortable and have their own private dramas until a hungover Fio messes with something she shouldn't and lands herself in the Bricklebury's world, a place where a great war still leaves its long shadow, impoverishing and dividing the land. Bricklebury has a grave problem with malign fantastical creatures. (Heh. Grave. Methinks I made a pun for you, Grim...) This leads some from Bricklebury to propose a great plan to try and reach the other side of the world using haphazard inventions from a lost lunatic. On Bellafossa's side, there is a serious gangster problem. Vin pretty much owns the city, and he has no intention of letting the threesome who oppose him go. Gianni increasingly gets in hot water when he starts a fight with one of Vin's boys on account of Fio's disappearance, and he is very soon on the run with a mysterious stranger who seems to know what happened to Fio...

(Anyhow, I described it really badly, but it should be a pretty fun story. Hopefully Grim will do a Meet the Books! for it as well so you can get some better synopses.)

What gave you the idea?

Eh.... *searching back into the abyss of brainstorming from years ago* I think we vaguely based the idea on some fairy tale awhile back. You know, the one where the girl falls down a well and discovers another world? Well, in the original draft of this story, Fio did fall down a well, but we changed the means of transportation to an old, crashed plane. I would give credit where credit is due with ideas and all that, but it's been so long, I really can't remember who came up with what. As for the time period overhaul, I suggested it to be funny, but Grim liked it and really fleshed it out (thanks for that!), so here we are. 

Who are the favorite characters so far?

Well, nobody's really read the whole thing, but I think Fio is pretty well-liked by authors and sneak-readers alike. She really was meant to be a flapper - the medieval period was really cramping her style. 

What is the favorite scene so far?

Again, nobody's really read it in earnest, so there isn't one yet.

Any drawings? Aesthetics?

I don't have any drawings, but I have a couple aesthetics. (Grim has even more, so let's hope she does a post also, at least to show off the aesthetics.) 

Storyboard. My image.

My image.

Any themes of music for the story?

Well, we've actually had to write a song for this story. Don't ask why... It's kind of complicated. Anyhow, though, we do have an original song for the story. It... does not have a name yet. We also have a playlist for writing it too, here. (Hopefully it's accessible... I can't tell). 

Any snippets?

Here goes...

***

“Back-step, kick-step, kick-kick-kick-back…?” Two feet crashed through the stained glass window, each belonging to a different person.

Gianni lifted his foot out of the conservatory window pane gingerly. “Don’t tell me that was what’s supposed to happen.”

“No, no, no!” Fio tossed her head back and laughed. “You can’t just keep kicking 

backwards. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Don’t forget, you did it too.”

“I was just following you.” She lifted her foot out of the window pane.

Gianni frowned at the broken window thoughtfully. “I think that’s the first time the conservatory window’s been broken since I hit a baseball into it when I was ten.”

Fio grinned. “Well, then, it’s about time, honey. It was in need of some excitement.”

***

It was swinging at the Rubino that night. If Fio hadn’t been thoroughly used to it, she might’ve felt a bit blinded walking in, the room glittering with champagne and diamonds. Just past the bar area, the open silver floor was barely visible through the many dancers. Every one of Vincente Vespa’s boys was there every night, and every rich doll, and just everybody who was anybody. Nobodies simply didn’t come to the Rubino. And judging from the atmosphere, it was going to be a killer diller night for everybody that did. Fio fluffed up the feathers on her dress excitedly. 

“Oh,” said Gianni dubiously, glancing around as they entered the floor. 

“What do you mean, ‘oh,’ you old grump?”

“The entire string of victims is here.”

***

Strangely, though the squirrels had quieted and the only birds singing were doves, as Fio kept walking, she had the distinctly unpleasant notion that she was not alone. Somebody was watching her.

“I’m just crazy with hangover and worry,” she said to herself, with a nervous laugh. But she started walking a little faster all the same.

There was the ravine ahead of her—but where was the path down? She walked to the edge and paced up and down a moment, trying to determine where the path had gone—but it seemed that years of weather had worn down the earth and rendered the cliff too steep to be traversed. 

“What a bummer,” she said aloud, pouting her lower lip in an attempt at humor, but in reality, she was close to tears. It was very silly of her to see that ravine and that old plane as the key to fixing her relationship with Gianni, no doubt, but she’d almost begun to believe her little daydream in her short time walking. She walked back the way she had come a bit, and stood peering over the ledge, trying to make out the details of the plane’s dark form on the bottom of the ravine. It was covered in leaves from all the autumns since she and Gianni had last visited it and brushed it off, but it was still there.

***

Gianni and Fio’s father had successfully got the machine to start when they had first found it. However, as he was not a pilot, and it was so old, he had determined he would never attempt to fly it, nor sell it, nor give it away. The children love playing on it, so there it shall stay, he had said. 

But that didn’t mean Fio couldn’t give it a go. With difficulty she managed to get herself into the seat, despite the years of forest debris within it. 

The key was in the engine—but when she reached for it something clinked to the floor of the cockpit. She reached down with a grunt—another key? Yes, a silvery one, with an odd shape, and a tiny face etched into the key’s end. There was a half-rotted string loop that had attached it to the other key until it had broken at her touch. 

Fio frowned, and, slinging her purse tighter over her shoulder, she stuffed the key into it and zipped it closed. 

Then she turned the other key in the engine.

“Well, here goes nothing.”

But the engine roared to life, and as she pressed her high heel against the accelerator, unbelievably, the plane began to move, crackling slowly through dry leaves, picking up speed—and then time seemed to freeze for her. 

Would it take off?

In that frozen moment, she smelt something peculiar—something marvelous—something far more pleasant than antique engine oil.

She didn’t have time to determine what it was before the plane took off—and she was rising up—up—through the trees, into that lovely sleek blue of the sky. 

Fio couldn’t help but whoop with delight at the sheer adrenaline high it gave her—

And then the engine stalled—and stopped.

With a bloodcurdling shriek, Fioria Verreni and her antique airplane plummeted to the earth. 

***

And, appropriately, I think, I'll leave you there at the end of my part of things...

Strong point in the story?

Well, the strongest point right now is probably Grim's energy for it, haha... But on a more serious note, I think we've been okay about making the fantasy and storyline and such fairly creative and not too reliant on any stereotypes. 

Weak point in the story?

Eh, my part, haha... In the original draft, my part was a little boring. My people just traveled around looking for something and never finding it. I think my part might still be a little boring unless I figure out another plotline to set up in it. 

What are your plans for it?

That is a good question... Unfortunately, I have no answer. Other than finishing it at our leisurely pace, I don't think we really have a plan. 

Any particular writing habits for it?

Not particularly, but it seems an almost universally true rule that if we both get on there to write, very little writing gets done... 

If it were made into a movie, what would be your ideal cast for it?

Okay... So, I spent way too much time trying to think of some good castings, but, really, just look at the face claims on the aesthetics. I think those are pretty good. (Grim has more face claims as well...)

Well, this post is ridiculously long, so I will end it without further ado. Have a good weekend, all!

Life Updates

     Well, in all this time, it is a logical assumption that I have been doing things. (Or, at least, if I haven't been doing things, that I've successfully wasted a whole year.) 

Life in General

    To start, as I mentioned in my last post, my family moved this summer. They are now living down South, and I still abide in the lands of the North. I'm in a music school at present for a dual degree in Music Performance and Music Education (my primary instruments are voice and piano). I got another new sibling this past summer, and he's very cute and very fat. Pressured by location, I am back to the Novus Ordo grind and in the choir. I live with my best friend and writing confidante, and we have gotten a lot of nonsense and very little writing done thus far with this arrangement. On the side, I teach music, work a pretty effortless desk job, and help direct a high school musical theater group. Those are really the biggest things that are going on at the moment. 

Writing

    As far as writing goes, I was somewhat productive up until the school year started. The Second Brother is now finished and under critique from beta readers, and the sequel(s) have been started with some headway. I decided to trash My Land, My Heart (the idea was very trite), and my opera's present plot, In Greater Hands, and my Giselle retelling are also prospectively on the chopping block. I wrote some draft ideas for He Travels the Fastest, and I may be writing it in earnest as the next main project. I came up with another archive novel idea (which I will probably expound on in another Meet the Books! at some point). 

    Probably the biggest thing that happened as far as writing goes was a redraft, though. My writer friends on Camp NaNo may remember that I have a coauthored novel project which has never been talked about on this blog (mainly to respect my coauthor's privacy). Now, however, Grim has her own blog, and I plan to introduce the story via Meet the Books! sometime very soon. In a nutshell, the story was dull, medieval fantasy of a rather cliche type and has been - um - remodeled, shall we say? Very, very remodeled... Anyhow, more on that later.

Reading

It would take all night for me to cover the reading of a year, so I will just touch on some honorable mentions:

The Journal of Hildegard of Bingen, interpreted by Barbara Lachman

• You must read it!
• Don't read my translation because it was terrible. The lady was intent on making St. Hildegard out as some proto-feminist or female priest or something. Her footnotes were beyond weird. Do yourself a favor and find a better version. 
• Overall, even with the terrible commentary, it was quite a fascinating look into life in a twelfth-century abbey. St. Hildegard was quite an inspiring woman, too - scientist, singer, composer, doctor, abbess, and mystic, and writer of the first musical, to boot. 

Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology by Noelle Mering

• This fabulous book takes the reader through a careful reconstruction of the processes leading to common political thought today in America. She then proceeds to look at each aspect of the philosophy through a Christian lens, with frequent recourse to the Bible, Catechism, writings of the saints and other great Christian authors. Certainly worth reading.

Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford

• Okay, guys, you need to know about Beethoven. For better or worse, intentionally or not, this guy created the musical world we live in now. (The musical nerd side of me wants to promote it more, but I think I'd probably better stop before I get carried away.)
• The one huge problem I had with this book was the anti-Catholicism of it all. The author showed rather painfully that she had no competent understanding of Christianity at all. She was quite biased when mentioning anything about the Church, and very strangely positive about every conflicting philosophy except traditional Catholicism. I find this a very high failing when dealing with a composer like Beethoven, who had a complicated and influential relationship with Catholicism. You'd think she would put a little more time and thought into that aspect of the book at least for Beethoven's sake. 

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt

• To be perfectly honest, I was actually a bit disappointed by the play. It was not as good as the movie (*gasp*), and the author had a very strange way of looking at St. Thomas's philosophy that didn't really show up in the original movie version. 
• All the same, beautiful verse, splendid play. Definitely go watch the Paul Scofield movie. 

Music

    Well, All's Fair got two new songs added to it that it really didn't need and doesn't have a place for. I also wrote a quite useless, cheery little WWI style song and a fantasy for oboe and piano (the fantasy was for a composer's competition which I did not win but had a lot of fun with... the WWI song still has no purpose). I sang on the radio over the summer and got to perform at the reopening of a certain old theater building here, so that was cool. I also got somewhat addicted to TwoSetViolin for a period. 

    As far as music goes, I'm quickly gaining a persona as someone who collects and learns really random instruments. I've sung and played piano for a while now, but I now also play organ, banjo, and ukulele. I dabble in recorder and bagpipes. I plan to take up violin or cello for my strings class this semester and drop the recorder as soon as my wind exams are over. If anyone has need of a dying cat meme track, I would be happy to pick up my recorder for a little bit longer.

Well, that's really about it. How about all of you? What has life held for you this past year? How are the writing projects? Reading? And my musical buddies? (Does anybody else name their instruments...???) 

An Apology, An Explanation, and Some New Goals...

    So... If you're reading this, chances are you are an invaluable friend blogger of mine who has somehow stayed a faithful reader through my year-long disappearance, or you are a random person internet-surfing. In the light of Romantic optimism, I will wishfully assume the former. So, yes. I disappeared for a year. For that, I apologize to my readers and blogger friends alike. I don't really have a good excuse other than I got really focused on college and rather ignored everything else this past semester. Over the summer before that? Well, my family moved. That still really didn't cover the whole summer, though, and not the school year before it either. I suppose there was really only one decent reason I had not to post something in that whole time, and I took a lot longer deciding it than I should have.

    To tell the truth, I've been considering giving up this blog entirely for a while. One of the character flaws I struggle with is a tendency to intellectual pride, a conviction that my opinion is actually quite worthwhile and expert and everybody wants to hear it, bla bla bla. As any good theologian can tell you, one human being is as fallible as the next. My opinion is merely the collection of prejudices and experiences I've built up in my short life (for better or worse), the truths that better, wiser people have taught me, and my often-faulty interpretations of those truths. I think this blog has sometimes given me an avenue to ignore that fact and make a lot out of my own thoughts. It's very easy, when you have a platform to express yourself, to fall into the idea that you necessarily have something wonderful to express. 

    Now, I don't think this blog has been a waste of time. I've had a lot of fun on this blog, and I've been able to meet and keep up with some other splendid bloggers who I would not be able to contact without this platform. I suppose that touches on what I'm really trying to get around to saying... I'm not going to give up the blog, for two main reasons: a) I would like to keep in contact with the other amazing people who've built up this writing circle I've been blessed enough to join, and b) I need to combat a secondary fault of laziness. One of my resolutions this year is to stop committing to things and then dropping them. I need to start distinguishing between what I can't do and what I'm just not making time to do. I intend to put more of myself into the things I'm working on, and not commit to anything I can't work on. I've done a lot of letting people down this year, and perhaps I need to be held accountable to work on things in earnest. 

    In other words, this blog from here on out will look somewhat identical to the old one, but its purpose will be a different one. From here on out, I'd like this to be a way of staying in the circle of wonderful Christian writers I've met here, and I would like this blog to be a report to keep me accountable as far as writing and reading go. With the new year, I'd like to propose a new beginning - no ranting and raving about things I don't know much about, no politics, and no argument-pandering. I will still probably post opinion pieces and such, but I would like to make them more civil and more humble than they have been in the past. In addition to this, I'd like to make more of an effort to read the things my fellows post. (I'll try to post something else over this next week or so, and hopefully I'll be able to figure out this new format a little better.) 

    So, if there are any readers left here, I'd like to apologize and promise to turn over a new leaf this year. Thank you for sticking with me all this time - I really appreciate it. Here's hoping that the blog is better than ever! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

The Writerly Sibling Tag

Hello! I am back with a tag that has waited a shameful span of time for me to complete it. Without further ado, I present The Doorman's Writerly Sibling Tag, tagged direct from the man himself. To start off, here are the rules:

• Thank the blogger who tagged you and provide a link to their post. (Thankee kindly, good sir!)
• Answer the inquiries, including any ones added by #6.
• Always use your own characters. No exceptions, unless you don't actually have sibling characters (in which case you need to go and write some) or you don't write (in which case you need to start ASAP).
• Tag three other bloggers.
• If you happen to have any siblings who blog, they are automatically tagged, and they cannot count toward your three.
• Add one question of prompt to the list you were tagged with (see at the bottom of this post, or at the bottom of Doorman's, as I was tagged first).
• Close out the post with some honoring of the King of Kings. 

Alright. Now that that's settled, I will start answering the questions.

 

           

 Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (Either annoying to you as the author or to any other characters)

Eh... That's a hard one. Really, siblings all annoy one another (let's be honest), so it's more realistic to pick ones annoying to the author. (Unless you're talking about those siblings whose life mission is to annoy their siblings. Then... that's a different story.) Owain from The Second Brother actually annoys me a lot, probably because he gets a lot from his writerly mama. It is an ongoing thing that I cannot stand any of my characters who act like me in any way, intentionally written so, or unintentionally. Because of this, I find Owain incredibly irritating at times. As for annoying to other characters... Feo might win that prize. 

Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories

That one's fairly easy. Blakely from The Clarion Call/Alagna is, despite his frequent eye-rolling and scolding, extremely fond of his brothers, Francis and Edmond, and cares for them probably better than he does for himself. Heaven knows what kind of trouble they would get into if he weren't around to keep a check on them... and how bored they'd be if he didn't fall into their pranks all the time.

Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories

Well, I sort-of already mentioned the Almost Twins (Francis and Edmond), but they'd probably get this award. Through thick and thin, the twosome find their greatest pleasure in the simple things in life... especially giving Blakely a hard time and, in their younger days (mostly), giving their mother gray hairs with their various escapades and misdemeanors. They have won particular infamy for a certain episode involving stew...

Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling

Intentionally, I try to steer clear of basing characters off of siblings, as it can create too much trouble (what if I wanted to kill off the character...?). However, a couple characters became a reflection of real life without my permission, particularly Feo from The Second Brother. He was never meant to be based off of anybody, but is, in his present state, my first younger sister to a 't.' Just as Owain unwittingly soaked in my own personality, Feo seemed to become ZZ (my sister's nickname) out of sheer fatedness to be so. The only particularly great difference between them is that Feo is, obviously, a guy.

Name the largest character family (talking family, not family tree) in any of your stories

Well, there are a few competitors. Celeise from Alomina has four younger siblings, a boy and three girls (I think? I keep changing it...). Alejandro from A Broadway Waltz has five younger brothers (and an unofficial older one). Freddie Mayne from The Top-Hat Gang has seven sisters, either all younger, or all but one younger. The winner, though, I believe, is Vic Vance (from In Greater Hands), who has eleven siblings (three boys, eight girls). The catch there is that he is adopted, as well as a fair few of his siblings, so none of them are his biological family. (But then, nobody said that this tag had to be for biological family, right...?)

Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters' dialogue from any of your stories

Alrighty... Let's have Francis and Edmond, since it's been a long time since they've gotten any spotlight on the old blog...

***

            "Welcome to our humble abode, my lady." Francis did a little half-bow to her, playing along with her masquerade, as usual.

            Then all pretentions dropped. Alagna relaxed her form a little, smiling teasingly at the both of them. "Surely that's not your best bow?"

            "Of course it is," interjected Edmond grinningly. "He's just never learned as well as I, even for being the elder one." Edmond bowed with a flourish fitting for a king's crier.

***

             Confusion only grew in Blakely's eyes at Alagna's behavior. "Alagna    ," he began, but was cut off by a different voice.

            "Ah, Blakely?" Francis and Edmond came up behind him all of the sudden. Alagna might have laughed at their uncanny knack for it if it had been any other situation.

            Blakely half-turned from Alagna. "Yes? What is it, Francis?"

            Edmond's expression turned from a rather more serious one to a rather sly smile upon taking in Blakely and Alagna's close proximity. "And, ah, what might you be doing now, Blakely?"

            "Or, ah, saying?," joined Francis hintingly.

            "And to whom?"

            "And whatever about?"

            Blakely looked both of them over. "Nothing more than Alagna's name, I'm afraid, because     "

            "Because you were interrupted?" Francis laughed. "I wonder who did that..."

***

Name three published books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings and family

Well, Outlaws of Ravenhurst had a pretty awesome family in it, even if it was small. The mother, Lady Margeret Douglass was a great character - a Scottish lady and an accomplice to her outlawed priest brother. The family seemed so close, it was awesome (especially considering the protagonist hadn't met the other three members in nearly ten years). 

As tortured as the siblinghood was sometimes, the Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale had a good portrayal of siblings. Personally, I would only recommend the first one (as I thought the others were slightly stupid, plus, the second one had some content issues), but the first and last both had pretty good sibling characters and relatively low content caution. In the first one, the protagonist, Ani, barely knows her five siblings, and is distraught because she may never know them (she is sent away to be married off near the beginning). It really hits hard for anyone who grew up close to their siblings to think of never knowing them, and never seeing them again. Then, for a closer sibling relationship, Razo and Rinna in the fourth book were very close, constantly teasing each other and giving each other a  hard time, just like real siblings, and it was adorable. I think, despite the other issues of the middling books, the series as a whole has a believable pluck for large families. The happiest families are the Forest-Born ones, which range from a couple kids to eleven or twelve (mostly on the larger end, including Rinna and Razo's), and the least happy ones always seem to be those that are not close or don't have many siblings (like Ani's, where she wasn't allowed to know her siblings, or Selia's, as an only child). 

And what talk of siblings and family would be complete without Louisa May Alcott's Little Women? The story of four sisters and their way in the wayward world, always finding their way back to Marmee (their mother) and their beloved home. Need I say more?

Name another author's character family that you wouldn't mind jumping into

Hey! I thought we weren't allowed to use anybody else's characters...! Well, anyhow, I'd like to be in Peter Wimsey's family - seems like some smashing good fun, even though it's just him, his brother, and his mother (as far as I've read).

Provide an excerpt/quote of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (though be sure to credit it)

Oh dear. I'm afraid I'm far too lazy to get books out at the moment, and this post has already been waiting too long. I believe I shall direct you to Little Women and sit back for the rest of this question.

Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being a constant head-to-head combat)

Hmm. I think that Taran from The Chronicles of Prydain and Finn from The Goose Girl would have been good siblings. Finn, quiet as he is, would be balanced by Taran's outgoing nature, and Taran's slight hotheadedness would be tempered by Finn's common sense. Their skills and interests are also very similar - both grew up on a small farm but desire knighthood and the life of a warrior. It would be a siblinghood I'd like to see. 

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As for tagging other bloggers, if you aren't tagged, consider yourself so. Particularly, I suppose I shall recognize Catherine Hawthorn, Sarah Seele, and Lia, at their leisure and capabilities, of course.
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And there are all the questions for now. If' you'd like them in a list, here you are.

•  Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (Either annoying to you as the author or to any other characters)
• Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories 
• Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories  
• Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling
• Name the largest character family (talking family, not family tree) in any of your stories 
• Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters' dialog from any of your stories 
• Name three published books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings or family
• Name another author's character family that you wouldn't mind jumping into 
• Provide an excerpt of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (though be sure to credit it)
• Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being a constant head-to-head combat)

And I shall add this, per the terms of the tag:

Name sibling characters at odds with each other in any of your stories

And I believe that just concludes the tag, but for one last salutation.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

My Ink-and-Paper Pack...

Recently, my dear friend, Megan Chappie, has, apparently, unwittingly started a trend. That trend being...? The description of one's ink and paper family via personification as an actual family - and, oh, is it fitting. So I decided that I shall join in the fun as well and dwell a bit on my own bookish brood...
                     

The Mama's Girl

Alomina

My Mina, a young lady by now, is the oldest of my children, and is quite reliable. She's sweet, easy to like, and not too demanding.... but also rather melodramatic. Mostly, she's all grownup and fine, but she has always had a dramatic streak in her, and sometimes it gets the best of her. But, emotional or not, she's a dear little drama queen...

The Charming, Rascally... Triplets

The Top-Hat Gang Trilogy

These three boys are a headache and a half some days. They drive their poor mother nuts to no end - they're a bunch of heartbreakers, I'm afraid. Charming and troublesome, they could probably get away with murder (hopefully they haven't already). They rely on me very little these days, it seems, and tend to do their own thing. They're already a hit with the ladies, and don't they know it. Now the trouble will be to reel them back in enough to make sure they've got their three pretty heads in the right place.

The Headstrong One

The Clarion Call

She's a teen, and it's easily the roughest time with her. Her plots are unruly, her characters stick out, but she knows (or thinks she does) that if I would just let her out once in a while, she would be a star wherever she went. Of course, it has to be her idea, though - she can't be controlled or anything. Even more than going out, though, she just wants to be around other stories... perhaps a little too much. I've definitely had to watch her friends, that's for sure. They're giving her some wild notions about plot and development, and I have no idea where to even start...

Miss Wise-Crack

The Pain of a Memory

Sure, she's younger than her sisters, Alomina and The Clarion Call, but she's got some head on her shoulders, and is determined to go out there and do something with it. Changing the world just seems like the next logical step to her. While Mina clings to me and TCC battles me, TPoaM considers herself ready to move out and face the world - she's pretty much grown now, and she knows perhaps a little more than she should. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can say no...

The Frustrated Funlover

All's Fair!

He's TPoaM's twin, but hates to be considered as grouped with her. Why? She's 'so dramatic,' 'girly,' 'wouldn't know fun if it kicked her in the eye,' etc. I will agree with him that he has more of a sense of humor than her, but, honestly, he's so messy and irresponsible, sometimes I'm not sure if it's a good thing. He's a good boy at heart and tries very hard to do his best, but he just has difficulty shining over all his older siblings. Due to this, maybe, he tends to go around them and do things very differently... even if it means singing to make himself heard. 

The Hotheaded Middling

The Second Brother

Honestly, it's like the world's against him or something - everything sets this kid off. He's got a temper of fire, but a heart of gold, and he's protective of his siblings like nothing else. Unfortunately, he looks up to only them, and won't listen to me. Perhaps his copying them will turn him out well, though... 

The Other Triplets

In Greater Hands, Against the World, Beyond the Stars

Don't even ask me how I deal with two sets of triplets... I'm not sure. Thankfully, these three are much contrasted to their older brothers, and, while a bit noisy, are quite contented to go off and play little games and stories by themselves for long periods of time. The three gals have barely made a peep in ages, and it almost starts to worry me that they're planning something...

Mommy's Noisy Shadow

Le Ragnatele di Venezia

If I've told her once, I've told her a billion times - she's not my only child, I can help her later, she needs to settle down and leave me alone so I can help her siblings out, etc.... but she never listens. She relentlessly follows me around, a determined squeaky wheel, always asking for this or that and giving me (and her siblings) no peace. Really, I must find a way to teach her to do things for herself.

The Adopted Adventurer

The Treasure of the Twin Temples

I couldn't resist him when I saw his grinning little face - I had to adopt him. Technically, he's not originally mine alone, but he fits into the family like a puzzle piece. He's almost always happy, always has a cheesy joke or prank for his siblings and mama, and can amuse himself well enough. What a ham...

The Early Romantic

A Broadway Waltz

Really, she's hardly tall enough to reach the table, and she's already boy-crazy. She's a hopeless romantic at an early age, and constantly  is talking about princesses and Prince Charmings and weddings and all that, matchmaking for all her older siblings, much to their embarrassment and humor. She's so little... what on earth will she be like when she's older...?!

The Colicky Toddler

My Land, My Heart

She's a frequent cryer, I'm afraid, and can only be consoled by her older sister TPoaM, who she's attached to by the hip, practically. She's a mess most of the time, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong. Most of the time, I have to just sit back and let her sister hold her - otherwise, I must just cry too.

The Mobile One

The Harlequin Sleuth

He just figured out how to walk. Why is he running now...?! And where on earth is he going? I have to chase after him and watch him constantly, or else he will stop at nothing to explore this strange world with true baby curiosity. In fact, I'd probably better go run after him now, before he pulls a million sequels down on top of himself...

The Babies

Pack Up Your Troubles, By the First Light of Dawn, and Burn the Shakespeareans

Giselle (BtFLoD) is actually adopted as well, and originally from a foreign country, but she's a sweet little darling - hardly ever makes a fuss. PUYT, on the other hand, wants nothing but to be at Mommy's side - as long as she's there, though, she's happy. And then there's the one that's on the way... BtS promises to be a troublemaker as well, and may take up all my time once he's around. Let's hope the day takes a while to come... 

Phew! That's all my family for the moment (thank goodness!), and I think, with my thirteen munchkins, I win as far as numbers go. Now let's see how well I can send them off... Do you have an ink-and-paper family of your own? An unruly one? A really unruly one? Then join the party, be merry, and share your own little works' mishaps and quirks!