Pen to Paper - Update

 

As some of you may recall that I made a New Year's resolution to send a hand written letter to a friend and loved one each month.  I haven't stuck to my resolution as well as I had wanted but I have managed to send a bunch of letters and small gifts out this last month.

 

 

I have been keeping in touch with a couple of my fellow Ink Readers and have been debating adding more regular pen pals, but I want to make sure I can keep up with my responses.  I encourage you guys to join! It is so much fun getting mail and exchanging book titles, sharing our woes and joys of reading with each other in a more personal way.

 

I also sent out a letter to a cousin of mine who is currently taking courses and volunteering in Ghana.  He is such an inspiration and has been donating his time to the children.  I sent him a small gift of some of Nate's clothes and toys and some candies for those kids.  I hope that the package arrives soon before his time over there ends.

 

I also sent a letter to a dear friend of mine over seas, she is one of the friends I have made through the pony collecting sites.  I may have never met her in person but she has become one of my dearest friends.

 

I also sent a quick card to one of my fellow book bloggers whom I haven't seen much activity from lately.  I hope that she received the card and it brightened her day a little :)

 

And finally just this last weekend I sent a letter to one of my grandmothers.  She is legally blind and needs a giant magnifying glass reader thing to see so I had to type it (my handwriting is barely legible on the good days).  I had not been able to call on her birthday (I believe it was her 75 or 76) so I decided to send a letter and a bunch of new pictures of the Munchkin, she should be receiving them today :D

 

 

I have a few more letters and small packages to send out in the next couple of weeks, and was very excited to get a letter back from one of my pen pals this weekend! Keep your eyes on your mail box, maybe you will be next!  Please feel free to email me if you would like to receive a letter or card or would even like to become a regular pen pal!!

Lets Get Personal: Lesser Known Holiday Celebration

 

There are so many holidays that are celebrated in the US, especially since the country is a 'Melting Pot' there are traditions brought from all different countries.  I know around here St. Joseph's day is a big celebration, I am still not sure what it is but my boss always brings me a cream filled pastry.  One of the holidays that my family always celebrated has been May Day.

 

May Day is celebrated in a variety of ways and means something slightly different in all the corners of the globe, but to my family (and my home town) it means baskets!  Each year on May Day it has been a tradition to put together a basket of goodies, usually in our case growing up it was healthy snacks like fruits and juices. We would then put the basket on the door step of a friend's house, ring the bell and run like nuts because if we got caught we got kissed.  We ended up turning it into a town wide mayhem for a while, since my 4-H club started selling May Day baskets as a fund raiser.

 

Now I asked my mom once why we did this and (now I don't know how true any of this is but its what she told me) she told me that it was a celebration of spring and also a pagan celebration for the fertility gods. That the baskets were traditional left at a love interest's door step and that is why the kiss is exchanged if caught (you would know if the person felt the same if they chased you down and kissed you).  Now of course we were just kids so we didn't have love interests but it was still a lot of fun.

 

Now that I am older, I love making May Day baskets for a few of my friends and of course my Hubby.  I get a lot of funny looks when I talk about it around here but maybe I can make it popular and celebrated out here too someday.  For now I am just enjoying making baskets for my loved ones (of course Munchkin's basket is getting a little out of control lol).

 

 

So do you celebrate May Day? What do you do for the holiday? Or do you have a different lesser known holiday that you celebrate?

Monday Reading List

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey. Share what books you have finished in the last week, are currently reading and what might be coming up next!

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

 

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett (Bedtime Story)

Books Finished Last Week:
Reviews will be posted at a later date

Twelve Months
Eyes Like Stars
Two Lovely Relationships between Three Souls
Luminaire
Northlanders vol. 1: Sven the Returned
 

Currently Reading:

October Night by Theresa Oles - Kindle - 15%
Chasing Dragons by Doug Jaffe - Kindle - 3%


 Books to be Read Soon:

 

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Mental Illness Challenge)

Blood in the Valley by JK Hogan (Requested Review)

Heat Wave by Richard Castle (Audio Challenge)

And the Soft Wind Blows by Lance Umenhofer (Requested Review)



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So I actually got some reading done thanks to there being no point in going to sleep because poor Munchkin is working on more teeth and wakes up mulitple times a night.  At least I will be able to catch up on some requested reviews that have been waiting for a while.  I am going to focus most of my reading on that list of books this month so check in often, you may find a surprising new book to add to your TBR list!

 

So I will leave you with an adorable picture of me and Munchkin from a photo booth! He really knows when to turn on the cute factor!

 

Bedtime Story: Armadillo Rodeo

Synopsis: "When Bo spots what he thinks is a "rip-roarin', rootin'-tootin', shiny red armadillo," he knows what he has to do. Follow that armadillo! Bo leaves his mother and three brothers behind and takes off for a two-stepping, bronco-bucking adventure. Jan Brett turns her considerable talents toward the Texas countryside in this amusing story of an armadillo on his own."

My Review: I really enjoyed this book (might be my love for the armadillo speaking). The images were bright and the story was very cute. I liked how Brett used actual facts about the armadillo in the story (ie. poor eyesight). It was also great how not only do you get to read Bo's adventure but in the borders of each page you can see his mother's story as she tries to find Bo. A very cute and unique story for little ones. I would suggest a pre-school to kindergarten age for this book though, its a little long for really young ones like Munchkin.

 

My Rating: I adored this book, while it was a little advanced for Munchkin we did manage to read it over a few nights. I hope he will really like it as he gets older.  I give this one a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag.

 

 

Good Night! Sweet Dreams!

Review of Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Eyes Like Stars was your choice for the Fantasy Genre during my Spend My Money event in January.

 

 

 

Synopsis: "All her world’s a stage.

Bertie Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own.
That is, until now.

Enter Stage Right

NATE. Dashing pirate. Will do anything to protect Bertie.
COBWEB, MOTH, MUSTARD SEED, and PEASEBLOSSOM. Four tiny and incredibly annoying fairies. BERTIE’S sidekicks.
ARIEL. Seductive air spirit and Bertie’s weakness. The symbol of impending doom.
BERTIE. Our heroine.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.

Lisa Mantchev has written a debut novel that is dramatic, romantic, and witty, with an irresistible and irreverent cast of characters who are sure to enchant the audience.

Open Curtain"

My Review: I was really looking forward to starting this series, and it is clear this is the first book of the series until you start reading. I felt like maybe I missed a prelude. I had an unusually tough time picturing the scene. Maybe you need to be very familiar with the workings of a professional theater and the backstage workings? I'm not really sure because while I do enjoy plays, I am not familiar with all the details of pulling one off. It was an interesting concept though, everyone confined to the theater and able to be called on stage with just the use of the headset, any scene or act ready on a moments notice. An escaped actress who returned and now another trapped actor wishes to escape but possibly Bertie is the only one who can release him. I think that maybe the characters would have eventually grown on me but I don't see me being able to dedicate the time to the next novel of the series.

 

My Rating: This was such a disappointment.  I wasn't attached to any of the characters except Nate, in fact I found several of them very annoying and distracting.  For the great story concept, it was a little bit of a let down.  I give it a rating of One Paw and a Stump Wag.

Wednesday Writing

So Wednesday is my official writing update day. I have so many story projects going on and I need a push to get some done. So I will be trying to post each Wednesday about how my writing adventures are going (and I may need a swift kick in the pants by you guys sometimes).

Current Active Project:

Princess Bs - 34,317 words

A story about a woman, recently divorced and returned to her home town to figure out what is next. She encounters an old friend and spends a weekend with him and his daughters. Feelings that are long since buried are rising up again, but are her recent loss and his current life going to stand in the way of their happily ever after?

Tamlyn Marie's Grace -

Think Cinderella only with a matchmaker ;)

Other Works in Progress:

The New Old Home - 17,193 words

Everyone dreams of winning the lottery, but what would you do with that money? That is the question presented to Natalie, when she is at the lowest point in her life, she is presented with an opportunity to make any normal person's dreams come true, but all those winnings can't give her what she wants most.

Night Rider - 17,229

Alice is a recent high school graduate who is a very accomplished competitive rider in Hunter/Jumper, Dressage, and Western/Rodeo. Her parents had arranged for her to attend a private college on the east coast geared specifically to equine professions. However, Alice wants to focus on her studies in English Literature. When she arrives at the college she hides her riding abilities, but can she keep her talent and love of horses hidden?

The Last Mountains - 13,468 (handwritten) = 15,766 (typed)

A equine shapeshifting family is being hunted to near extinction and the young new leader must go against all her lessons and approach the elite council for aide. Will they help her? How will she keep her family's traditions and values alive, let alone her herd?

Other Ideas Plotting:

Bloodsoar's Story

A pegasus struggles through life, ejected from the herd, near capture by humans.

The Assassin's Assassin

A student learns what the school is really teaching and sets out to destroy those who support the program.

Angel Story

Angels battle out an age old feud in a parallel world

 

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So I have managed to complete two of my 2013 writing goals so far this month :D I have finished my outline for the ending of Princess Bs, some of it will probably be thrown out in the long run but I have a means to get to the end that I want for the story.  I also settled on a digital voice recorder and got it ordered.  Fun thing about a digital one instead of tapes is that you can create folders so I can have one folder for a current project and another folder for random ideas that strike me.

I am excited to say that I have managed to also get myself motivated to work on the Princess Bs, I just started writing again on Monday and have already managed to write 1,650 words! It doesn't seem like much but it is a start. I may not quite reach my goal of 18K words this month but am just happy to be making progress in the writing front again.  I am using what little spare time I have in the office for my writing (and the spare time I have at home goes to reading). I think I have developed a nice balance and schedule for myself.

Monday Reading List

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey. Share what books you have finished in the last week, are currently reading and what might be coming up next!

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

 

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel (Bedtime Story)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Audio Book)
Life of Pi (Movie Review)

Books Finished Last Week:
Reviews will be posted at a later date

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Goodnight Thumper
I am a Dump Truck
 

Currently Reading:

October Night by Theresa Oles - Kindle - 11%
Twelve Months by Steven Manchester - Nook - on page 62 of 212
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Manchtev - PB - on page 256 of 352


 Books to be Read Soon:

True Grit by Charles Portis (Book v. Movie)
Chasing Dragons by Doug Jaffe (Requested Review)
Luminaire by Ciye Cho (Requested Review)

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Another week has passed me by with only a little reading accomplished.  I did however manage to finish listening to Life of Pi and that was quite a big deal for me, its hard to get enough quiet time to listen to a long audio book around here! 

I have also been using my spare time in the office to work on my writing instead of reading. So busy busy busy, I hope to have a few more books finished for you this coming week! We will have to see.

Hope you all have a great week filled with new adventures.