Monday, April 30, 2012

About Pasadagavra

You know what they say - ignorance is bliss.

In the course of Pasadagavra, Princess Zuryzel is going to learn exactly what that means. She's going to be searching for answers to some pretty intense questions. The answers can be found upon the defeat of the Darkwoods foxes, which has always been the case. Unfortunately, some of those answers are answers she will quickly learn she was better off without.

Many lights are going to blink on in the mind of the Princess of the Wraith Mice. A lot of things are about to start making sense. She's about to get clued in to what's been happening around her - particularly in her own family. Of course, getting clued in will also expose her to danger. She's certain to find a new challenge that she'll have to face and a new enemy who wants her dead.

But she's also going to find two new allies - one of which, she could have depended on long ago, and one of which, only a very brave person/Wraith Mouse would dare trust. I don't know if I need to mention that this new ally is my favorite character in the series, because she is ready and willing to kick anyone who threatens her in the tail. In any case, there are some very exciting adventures ahead for Princess Zuryzel. Follow her journey in my second novel, Pasadagavra, and get swept away into her world with me.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Alert! Alert! Alert!

There are a lot of people who think the mainstream media does a bad job of covering what really happens in the world; I am one of them. The most under-reported event happening in the world today is the war going on in the Sudanese region of Southern Kordofan. Several hundred thousand people have fled their villages to the Nuba Mountains, where they live in deplorable conditions. It is estimated that by next year, thirty thousand people will be starving to death.

The worst part is that the Sudanese government is forcing this on the residents of Kordofan. President Bashir is ordering his army to hunt them down and kill them. He has refused to allow any humanitarian aid to the refugees in the Nuba Mountains. Most of them cannot flee across the border into free South Sudan.

I would ask anyone who reads this to pass it along to all your friends. Only when people are informed can they begin to take action.

For more information about the situation in South Sudan and Kordofan, visit http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Pasadagavra Excerpt #1

As you will all remember, Darkwoods broke off with the good guys in the tunnels going to Pasadagavra. Knife the Oracle hired a horde of pirate mercenaries to help Darkwoods fight against Pasadagavra and its defenders. In response, Queen Demeda of the Wraith Mice sent her daughter, Princess Zuryzel, on a journey to enlist help from an old pirate friend of hers who might be persuaded to help the Wraith Mice. The only one Zuryzel told of her new mission is Dejuday, the clumsy scout she rescued so often from the Darkwoods prisons, and who is now in the midst of the tunnels going to Pasadagavra.

Friday, April 20, 2012

More NCIS

I've already talked about Tony DiNozzo, one of the greatest characters on my favorite tv show, but Tony isn't my favorite. My favorite, all hands down, is Ziva David. She's a former Mossad officer who joined NCIS after her brother (who was awesome in season one) died. She's tough as nails and completely dauntless. Nothing scares her, but she's still fun-loving with a great sense of humor. And besides, she once killed a man with a credit card!

What I really love is that she never whines. Her predecessor, Kate, whined and griped a lot, but Ziva just takes whatever comes and does whatever she needs to do, no questions asked. She demonstrated that when she shot her own brother to save Gibbs's life. You go, Ziva!

Monday, April 16, 2012

My Mad Lib

So I finally remembered to bring home my Jabberwocky Mad Lib. For the original poem, look at my post called Jabberwocky Joy. Here is my Mad Lib:

Twas blurry and the furry pumpkin
Did jurunist and whimper in the squash;
All pink were the apples
And the watermellon picked loftily.

"Beware the thought, my son,
The wood that sleeps, the eyes that cries!
Beware the burly brig and shun
The curly crig!"

He took his surly sig in hand;
Long time the lucky pig he sought--
So rested he by the ducky trig,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in galory biver he stood,
The thought with gillies of hadint,
Came shivering through the rosy wood,
And scrumped as it came!

One two! One two! And through and through
The big bird went whosha-wish!
He left it short and with its giant
He went racing and back.

"And hast thou slain the thought?
Come to my bellisads, my runny boy!
O goofy day! Woohoo! Buzzoo!"
He whimpered in his Morrocco.

Twas blurry and the furry pumpkin
Did jurunist and whimper in the squash;
All pink were the apples
And the watermellion picked loftily.

Some of the words I filled in were of my own creation. On a totally different note, I got cover possibilities for Pasadagavra from my cover designer. Almost there!!!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Erak's Ransom

One of the very popular books series out there is called Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. It, unlike most of the junk out there, isn't popular for shock value, but rather for sparkling, witty humor and awesome characters with solid morals.

Erak's Ransom is the seventh book in the series. It follows most of the characters on a journey to free a friend, a Skandian ship's captain called Erak, who has been captured and held for ransom in the desert. On the journey to free him, Will, the main character, will be tested to the utmost before he can graduate from a Ranger's Apprentice to a fully-fledged Ranger.

Need I say that I loved this book?

Witty humor and epic fighting aside, this book was spectacular. Halt, the senior ranger, was in his element the whole time. John Flanagan also brought back Gilan, Halt's former apprentice and one of my favorite characters. If I had to pick one thing I didn't like about Erak's Ransom, it would have to be that Princess Cassandra was a little too pushy, but in the circumstances she was in, it was often necessary. All the characters were strong-willed and forebearing. The settings were beautifully described. As mentioned earlier, the story didn't find its greatness on shock value, which is so refreshing these days. Five stars!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...

A fad that seems to be going around goes something like this: "The Mayan calendar isn't counting down to the end of the world, it's counting down to [insert event.]" I've spent some time thinking about this fad, and here's what I came up with:

The Mayan calendar isn't counting down to the end of the world, it's counting down until...
Wile E Coyote catches Roadrunner.
Obama gets voted out of office.
we have snow on Christmas in Seattle.
someone develops a cure for the common cold.

On a different note, today is the day between the Crucifixion and the Resurection. Because it was the Sabbath day, nobody could work at all, especially with all the Pharisaic Laws in Jewish society. A lot of people, when something bad has just happened, try to get over it by working like crazy. However, the Disciples and the women often referred to as "the Marys" couldn't do that. In fact, they had nothing to do but sit and count down the hours until they could dress the body for burial. That would have been some miserable counting. Their friend, their Savior, their King lay dead and cold in the grave and they couldn't do anything to seek comfort or distract themselves.

Thank God that at the end of their miserable counting, they met a day of joy.

In closing, here are the lyrics from a powerful Good Friday hymn:

darkest woe! Ye tears, forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father’s only Son
Now lies buried yonder.


O sorrow dread!
God’s Son is dead!
But by His expiation
Of our guilt upon the cross
Gained for us salvation.

O sinful man, it was the ban
Of death on thee that brought Him
Down to suffer for thy sins,
And such woe hath wrought Him.

Behold thy Lord, the Lamb of God
Blood sprinkled lies before thee,
Pouring out His life that He
May to life restore thee.

O blest shall be
Eternally
Who oft in faith will ponder
Why the glorious Prince of Life
Should be buried yonder.

O Jesus blest, my Help and Rest!
With tears I pray, Lord hear me,
Make me love Thee to the last,
And in death be near me.



Thursday, April 5, 2012

Battle Scenes

Today, to my intense delight, my mom told me I had time and room to add a little bit to Pasadagavra. This was great news, as I had one seen I left out because it wasn't very important and I thought I was running out of room. This scene is really exciting, and it consists of a pirate telling Zuryzel a story about a battle my favorite character was engaged in. It was so much fun to write! I just finished putting it in, and when I showed it to my mom, she liked it too. I hope that when you get a chance to read Pasadagavra, you'll enjoy it too. I'll go into more detail when Pasadagavra is out on shelves.

It's Easter Break, at long, long last. Unfortunately I left my Jabberwocky mad lib at school, so I won't be able to get it until the sixteenth. Well, sigh... I really like that poem!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The Springsweet

The Springsweet was a short but interesting read that somehow combined the popular supernaturalism with the old west. Zora is a young woman who recently lost the man she loves; her mother sends her to live with her aunt in Oklahoma. While there, Zora discovers she is a Springsweet, which means she can sense water under the praire. However, trouble comes in the form of two men - one a farmer in Oklahoma, the other a man who followed Zora from Boston.

As stated above, The Springsweet was interesting. The characters were a little hard to like, most of them comvinced they were always right, but that was offset by humor and spirit. The book captured my imagination, and the author did a very good job describing the setting. I would recommend this book to upper-grade high school students.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Jabberwocky Joy

Today my English class read Jabberwocky, the lilliest poem I have read all year. Just listening to it made me laugh! The most jouferous part was that at the end of class we did a Jabberwocky ad lib. I will post mine tomorrow, since I left it at school today. If you want to read the original poem, go here:

 http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html

I think my favorite of his fumdumb words is "vorpal," but "Bandersnatch" and "snicker-snack" are up there too. If you would rather hear it read than read it (which, in my opinion, is the best way to get to know that poem,) then I recommend watching the Muppets read it. With a combination of nonsense humor and muppet ludicrousity, it will make you smile.

Ironish that this should happen on a day when Time of Grace's daily devotion was about "feeling better." Time of Grace, done by Pastor Mark Jeske, is a series of video sermons for those whose days are full of falunk. The thought for this day was how suicide has become far too common, and how people really are struggling to find joy in today's society. My philosophy is this: never underestimate those little moments (like watching the muppets perform Jabberwocky,) but base the foundation for your life's joy on something that won't fade away.  For anyone reading this whose life is going badly and whose horizons seem dark, I encourage you first to go watch the muppets recite Jabberwocky and then go look up Time of Grace and see what Pastor Jeske has to say to you. I truly hope your life turns around and your skies get brighter.

Here's the link to Time of Grace: http://www.timeofgrace.org/

By the way, if anyone is pundering (wondering + pondering,) I did indeed shribble to follow in Lewis Carrol's style and use nonce words. I think I need some practice, but if anyone wants to submit a paragraph incorporating nonce words, I would love to see it!