Picture of the Day: 

My little sister and I.

Quote of the Day: 

"‎And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

-Matthew 28:20

So I have been diligently working on trying to get back to writing my novel. Is it working? Not really. Am I still proud of my progress? Yes. Yes I am. Basically, I have reread the last two chapters that I have written and decided that my character, Octavian, needs more depth. 

In one of the chapters, he sounds like a whiny jerk. Which, naturally, is not what I am going for. Yes, Legacy of Elysia needs work. And so work it shall revieve--sparingly and intermittently, but loyally as well. Page count? 194. Wooo!

I finally found someone willing to take a look at the beginning of the novel, so I may get some work done on that soon. I am happy with what I have, but know that you can always stand for improvement. My writing will grow and prosper, and someday I will look back on this novel endeavor and hate the way it was written--re-write it and send it out again. I know me too well! 

My writing group has been worlds helpful. We have begun doing challenge pieces, and it is making me very happy to stretch my bounds and train and as a writer. The group is so supportive, too! And fun! So, I will be working on my newest challenge which is to write a short story with a twist. I think I have an idea, and since y'all are not in my little group, I will give a sneak peek at the inspiration to it! 

Enjoy! 

Picture of the Day:

Monticello's backyard.

Quote of the Day: 

"All that lives must die, / Passing through nature to eternity."

-William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Hello, my dearest readers! I regret to say that I have nothing of my own to post today. However, I would like to do two things today: 1) Introduce February's book of the month and 2), give you a link to something that will make any Shakespeare fan laugh a little on the inside.

So, lets get down to business!

February's book of the month is....

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

Now, before you start yelling at me, telling me that you read this in high school, I just want to say that it is a beautiful book. At first, I wasn't too impressed. But the poetry in the very way Hurston writes is fascinating! It might be a little tough at first, the colloquial way the characters talk can be seen as a little tough to get through. Nonetheless, it is completely worth the read.

It is a love story that spans the life of Janie, a mulatto woman in Florida who is trying to find true love. There is nothing about this book that is dull, though perhaps it is slow to start. Please, please, please! Give this book a read for February!! You won't be disappointed.

Okay, now on for part two. Ever read Hamlet? Have you ever heard of it? Well, than this is for you!

SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET AS TOLD BY FACEBOOK UPDATES!

It is completely worth the click, guys. I promise. (Grammar issues aside, it made me laugh really hard.)

Well, that is all for today!

Go out and make it a great day!

Picture of the Day: 

Rascal Flatt's Nothing Like This tour of 2010!

Quote of the Day:

"Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation."

-William H. Sheldon

In light of the fact I promised regular updates, I am going leave you with yet another short entry to prove that I have not forgotten my dear readers! Today, I shall give you something of mine to read that is roughly hewn and has not been spared the time to be truly polished yet. That being said, read it critically anyway. I would love the feedback in the comments!!

            The crowd went on for an eternity on either side of her, but for all of the people that populated the rustic wooden platform, Bethany felt isolated and alone. She did not recognize a single person in the entire sea of faces, though in the time she had stood upon the platform she certainly had come to know her immediate surroundings well.

            Beth did not know how she had gotten there. She did not even know where “there” was. There were no buildings, and there were barely any trees. There were hills, though, rolling hills and faded green grass against a grey and bleak sky. Two lines of iron ran parallel before platform, wooden planks crossing between them; a track.

            They did not know when the train would come and they did not know where it went, but there was anticipation that was ripe in the chilled air and Beth intrinsically understood that everyone was awaiting the engine’s arrival.

            And it truly was everyone.

            Beth had never seen such an assortment of people gathered in one place before. Directly beside her was an elderly gentleman clad in army greens and decorated with medallions and pins that Beth could only interpret enough to know he was a war hero. His white hair spoke of his years and experience, and his wrinkled face of his brave and loving heart. His eyes looked tired and strained as if they had seen far too many things, and Bethany could not help but feel a twinge of sadness when they happened to make eye contact.

            Not but half a foot away was another man, gruff and mussed. Bethany had noted upon her first study that the man was hardly clothed. Dirt caked his tan skin and embedded itself into his nails; his face bore wrinkles, though Beth was certain they had not appeared from age, but trial and elements the man had had to weather. He had no possessions on him, but Bethany had been unable to find another pair of eyes that were so crisp, clear and eager peering down the tracks.

            There was also a little girl not too far away. Her flaxen hair and fawn-like eyes were a stark contrast to those around her and betrayed the girl’s aloneness. She wore a floral-print cotton dress with a pretty pink ribbon in her hair that indicated she, at one point, had had someone to provide for her. Now, though, her only company was a stuffed bear that seemed to have weathered many a night as a trusted best friend.

            On Bethany’s other side was a tall, willowy woman with hair the color of moist dirt, and an elegantly shaped face with almond shaped eyes. The pearls strung around her neck gave away her wealth and stature, and her dress seemed something directly out of the English court. And even if Bethany had been unable to piece together that the woman was of noble blood, the coronet upon her head was well revealing of it.

            Nearby, there was a shadowy figure. He was clad in dark colors, though rich clothes, and naturally folded into himself, as if in an attempt to remain invisible. Out of all the faces, his looked the most frightened. There was something about the air around him that whispered softly of secrets and hidden deeds, and Beth had spent quite a long while quietly watching him.

            And it must have been a long while.

            There was light, though no sun to judge the hour for the clouds that floated in strings overhead. The only way for Bethany to even mark how the minutes were passed was by how many people she had gotten a chance to carefully observe. Ultimately, she did not know how long she had stood surrounded by strangers upon the platform, but it did not matter. The moment the whispers began to sweep through the crowd, Beth snapped to full attention to the tracks and strained to peer off into the distance.

This has not been finished; I have not had the time to spare. I think that if you would like to finish reading it it would do you well to keep on me about this particular piece. Still, when it is done I will be rather slow to publish it online.

Methinks I should try publishing in a magazine!!

Picture of the Day:

Breathtaking view through the trees of my church building.

Quote of the Day: 

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

-Maria Robinson

Okay, so this blog is called Penned Perfection because it is supposed to be about my writing endeavors. So, today, I would like to update you, my dearest reader, on the state of affairs of my work. 

Truly, this shall be a short entry.

I have not done much by the way of writing. I cannot explain it, but it seems that more I take my medicines for my bi-polar depression, the less creativity I have. Nonetheless, I have managed to pound out a few things, and have an idea for something else. And that, my friends, is what I shall talk about today. 

So I joined this writing circle, and since then, I have done a lot of short story work. I am horrible at them--I loathe them--but I am finding myself growing as a writer. I am forcing myself to write outside my normal genre of epic-romance and fantasy and try new things. So far I have written a piece called "Split" that may or may not get put up here in the future, and a challenge piece that is based on the epicly disastrous camping trip I took with my family right before Christmas. 

The defining line I would use as an excerpt from that piece is this:

         “Hadn’t all the camping spots been reserved for tents?” Katie asked Alex as they were unloading the truck.

            “Yeah, why?”

            “…Isn’t it weird that we’re the only ones here, then?” Alex never answered.

You can only imagine the rest. Maybe that will get put up someday, too. 

But the one I am excited about is the idea. I was listening to my iPod when the song "Orphan Train" by Lee Ann Womack came on--it must have been the right time for me to hear the song, because I immediately wanted to turn it into a story. Anyway, I see this great, lonely train station with people from all over time and space gathered in wait. I want to tell a story about a walk with God through a train station. It sounds like a hard task to me, especially with the way my writing has gone recently, but hey. It is probably worth a shot.

Here are the lyrics, since I cannot locate a video on YouTube that plays the song. Apparently, it is not one of her well-known ones.

Come all you broken hearted, come and lay your burden down.

Come kings and queens, come royalty, surrender up your crown.

Come empty-handed come with nothing of your own to claim.

Come naked, poor, come like a child to ride the orphan train.

Come ride, ride on the orphan train,

Put your ear to the track, you can hear your name.

Come ride, ride on the orphan train, it'll take you all the way home.

Come you abandoned, you forsaken,

Friendless and alone, come refugees left homesick for

Some place you've never known.

Here princes, paupers, criminals and saints are all the same

No more or less than God's beloved child aboard this train. 

Come ride, ride on the orphan train,

Put your ear to the track, you can hear your name.

Come ride, ride on the orphan train, it'll take you all the way home.

The way is narrow, it is steep that brings you to the door

But love awaits there to embrace your heart forevermore 

Come ride, ride on the orphan train

Put your ear to the track, you can hear your name

Come ride, ride on the orphan train, it'll take you all the way home.

The way is narrow, it is steep that brings you to the door,

But love awaits there to embrace your heart forevermore 

It'll take you all the way home.

It's gonna take you all the way home.

My favorite line is bolded for you. Just to give you an idea of the inspiration for my piece. Enjoy!  

The God of peace will be with you.

Picture of the Day: 

The lovely CIA at our Family Vacation retreat!

Quote of the Day: 

"Go forth a conqueror and win great victories."

-Virgil

Hello, my dearest readers! I regret to say that life has gotten in the way of me keeping up with my blog, but no matter! I shall once more begin to diligently and regularly begin to update this page. It has, might I say, been far too long!

Naturally, with time passing as it has, I have some news to share. Soon, I am to graduate from my university with a degree in English Literature. Last weekend, on January the 14th, at 1:30AM, I was baptized for a "second" time; I had been wrestling with it for a while, but finally decided that I chose to get baptized for the wrong reasons when I was younger, and it was finally time for me to really give my life over. Life has never been better.

I have picked up writing again, having joined a writer's circle with some friends. We meet every other week, and it is spurring me to plow through my apparent writer's block. I have not, as of yet, put much more work into my novels. But such things will come. 

Today, I would like to do an entry on something I read. Please, if you will, take a look at the passage below.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:4-9 

This block of scripture has been a blessing to me in the past twenty four hours, and I would like to share the blessing with you too. You see, my dog had a seizure last night. I have never been so terrified in my life, of anything. It just kept going on and lasting, and Samwise couldn't breathe, walk, and barely stand. It was horrendous. I panicked, and a huge vet bill later, I am now picking him up tonight after class to, hopefully, be okay.

Guys, if God had not been with me every step of the way, I would have died from fear and anxiety. Last night I had trouble sleeping because I was so worried. I had nightmares I would never be able to bring him home, and every time my phone went off to say I got a text, my heart stopped thinking it was a call from the vet to say they had lost my baby. It was, in essence, no way to live.

The kicker? I don't have to live like that.


God loves me. God will be there for me, and as Philippians 4:9 says, he is the God of peace. I should no longer focus on what happened, or what could have as I am so prone to worry over and drown in. Instead, I should turn my eyes to the brighter things in life and remember that God has granted me so many blessings that this small misfortune (and it is indeed small, for Samwise was perfectly fine after the seizure thing) counts as nothing against my gain.

It is true that my walk with God is just beginning now, but I pray to Him that I will not let something like this ever slow me down again. Instead of praying being my second instinct to panicking, I hope it comes to be my first.

I have the God of Peace with me.

The Pygmy Pirate

Picture of the Day: 

Ca' D Zan, the home of the Wringling Brothers

Quote of the Day:

"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made."

- Robert N. Rose

So, the semester is almost over, and it is time for the plans of what to do over break to be solidified; and slowly but surely such dreams are becoming reality. Friends, I tell you that I have a reading list worlds long, and plans to physically get myself active and try to go camping. But, the largest and most monumental feat of break shall be none other than the Pygmy Pirate!

That is right, my father and I are going to build a day sailer; 8 feet long, by 4 feet wide. I cannot be more excited! After all these years, I shall have my own boat to bring out and sail with him. It is going to be epic. 

Now, I personally have already named the boat, and am therefore readily designing aspects of it that I would like, which my father is adamantly declaring we shall not do. None the worse, though. Maybe I will just have to build two! 

It is going to be a PDRacer, and for those of you that have never heard of them and are slow on the boating world, I will link the name to the site for you to poke around. Basically, it is a shoebox that floats. But I am excited anyway--after all, what girl doesn't love shoes??

It is literally going to fit in the back of my truck and make me a little more eager for boating adventures. And I want it to look like a pirate ship! (I already bought a pirate flag for it. Dorky, I know. But hey--I have established and embraced the fact I am a little quirky.)

Once it is done, dad and I plan on taking it out to small boat meetings, where we will sail in minimal style to enjoy a day on the water! Life is good!

Now, by idea of my Pepa, I am going to keep y'all updated on this, and perhaps start a new blog just devoted to boating endeavors. Anyway--consider this post one on the birth of the Pygmy Pirate. Soon, we shall be acquiring the wood. 

I am so excited!

So, my good reader, SAIL ON!

The Final Countdown!

Picture of the Day: 

A room in the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg

Quote of the Day: 

"The real danger may be your stupidity."

-My fortune cookie last night.

So we are in the final push for my second to last semester of college. Can you say dreadful? I have much to do, and still not enough time. Nonetheless, I am pleased: for throughout all of this I am finally acquiring my muse back! (This is making concentrating on homework a tad difficult, but alas, such are the plights of a writer.) 

I have two papers to write by next Friday, and two finals left to take. Then, it is break time and I shall be happy to spend my days finding  fun things to do, and preparing a resume in anticipation of job searching!

I have not done much updating, so I would like to present you all with a fine excerpt from my novel The Legacy of Elysia. So here it is! Do make sure to last these last two weeks, and may your break come without much event!

“Again!”

            A great sweep of pleasant laughter circulated through the eighteen-year-olds who had gathered around the large sparring ring, providing a light underscore to the lovely day. The sun shone brilliantly in an azure sky; it was a cloudless and cool canopy to the sixth-year students of the Training School as they stood gathered around the fence of one of the training rings. But even brighter than the golden sun were the spirits of the two boys flecked with sand and sweat standing within the ring. “Have you not had your fill of defeat, Caelan?” The lilt was light and friendly, reflecting the dark-brown eyes that jeweled the handsome face of the speaking teen.

            “What? Are you afraid that I’ll beat you this time?” A boyish grin inched its way across the other’s face as he shifted himself to finish brushing the sand from his clothes.

            “Beat him?” A voice called from the sidelines, drawing both pairs of eyes outward to the wooden fencing about the arena. “Octavian has run rings about you.”

            “Well,” Caelan called in response, laughing good-naturedly. “He can’t beat me every time.” A sly glint crept into his green eyes as he turned his gaze back to the dark-haired teen beside him, eyebrows rising in a taunting manner. “Not even Octavian is perfect.”

            Octavian grinned himself, turning away as if he were uninterested. “Am I not? What was that? My fourth win over you today?”

            “Fifth!” Another student clarified, sending another wave of laughter through the spectators. It was no secret amongst the boys at the Training School that Octavian was the most gifted student when it came to combat with a blade. He was near unbeatable, and most of his classmates could not recall the last time he had lost to any of them. It did not deter challenges from his peers, though, nor their friendships. He was also recognized for his care and humble demeanor, a trait that led him to be one of the most well-known students at the academy. All spoke well of him behind his back, often saying he would make the best soldier out of the lot of them.

            A challenge, as young Caelan took it. “I figure if I can beat Octavian, I am ready for any opponent that could possibly come my way.” The green-eyed teen shifted his gaze away from the sidelines once more, and added with a boyish ambition, “And I know we’re best mates, but I do intend to beat you someday. And when I do, I shall feel no guilt in letting myself enjoy it fully.” 

            Octavian sighed in mock-boredom, swinging his sword about absently as he appeared to ponder the idea of what to do, though inwardly his mind had been made up upon the moment of the fist utterance of a rematch. “Then I guess this shall be a long day, won’t it?” The smile that crossed Caelan’s face in response was made up of utter accomplishment and excitement, as if he was a child that had won his way and gained some great reward.

            “Get ready to lose,” Caelan forewarned playfully.

            “That’s good advice. You should heed it.”