Greetings to you all!

To all the fellow bloggers out there, I just want to start this post out with an overdue apology. Y'all have been writing some really awesome content on your blogs out there, and I feel really ashamed to not have commented as well as I could have done. It's been terribly selfish of me - wanting to hide away and consume all the blog posts that come my way, not wanting to talk or having no idea what to say other than the stale "good job!".

Know that, even if I don't comment (and let's be honest, this month's comments will resemble scattershot at best), I'll be avidly reading your posts and enjoying them immensely!



1. I finally got my bookshelves put together! See below for a full reveal!

2. This was a month of re-reads and re-watches. Adam-12, P&P, American Girl books....I think I need a bit of variety in my life.

3. I finally broke the dry spell of writing. Not only was I able to write over 10 posts this month, I finally wrote a novel scene for the first time since April!

4. I finally changed up my favorites playlist. It really was getting stale, and I found a lot of new favorites that I wanted to listen to more often. I also went on a few raids on my friends and family's Spotify accounts and added even more songs from those.




For Working by Candlelight, I wrote 3 posts: Operation Vintage Makeover: Carpet!, The Weapon Tag, and Covering My Head: My Reflections on 1 Corinthians 11. This latter post is one that I've been dying to finish for YEARS, and I'm so glad that it's finally released to the world!
I also remade my header in Canva. In the same spirit of my recent blog aesthetic change over on RM, I decided to use the same pictures from my handmade header and put it in a custom sized banner that fits the width of my blog. I have no plans to change the blog aesthetics...at least not yet.

For Rebelling Muse, I wrote 4 posts: Meet the Books (The White Rose), A New Blog Look and Header, 10 Common Tropes in My Writing, and Double Feature: Disney Princess and Greatest Showman Tags.
As noted in the second post, I also re-did the whole aesthetics of RM. This included blog header, colors, and background picture.

For Rebellious Writing, I wrote two posts: Historical Fiction: 4 Things Writers Get Wrong, and June's Wrap-Up. After this month, I'm going on a writing hiatus from RW until after August so I can continue to concentrate on getting my own ducks in a row.

My hiatus for Maidens for Mary continues, though I did kick some old posts from WbC over there to develop later on.



There has been some interesting changes in this month's goals - shall we see what's different?


1. Make a nice aesthetically pleasing bookshelf.

Well, I'm not sure how asethetically pleasing this bookshelf is, but here it is:

Fiction bookshelf

Non-fiction bookshelf

I didn't have enough variety to do a color coded bookshelf this time, and I wanted to keep my genres together. As I've mentioned before, I have wayyy too many non-fiction books. You can't see it too well, but the non-fiction books are actually double-stacked. Believe me, I'll be glad when I get my own office to showcase them in!

And now, you see I was not kidding when I said my bookshelves were in a rather sorry state. Hardly any adult novels whatsoever. And the rest that I've read? Either from my Kindle library, or my parent's shelves.


2. Complete two tags.

I actually completed 5 tags - 2 were released at the end of this month, and the other three are being released at the end of July. Then, I'll only have 2 more tags, and those are slated for publication in August and September.

*screams* That means....I'll be caught up on tags! Hallelujah!


3. Finish beta reading Ceci's story by the first week of June. 

This definitely got done! I greatly enjoyed reading this story and I can't wait to see the finished product!


4. Prep for July Camp NaNo. 

This wasn't nearly as structured as it was in March.

Part of it was the fact that neither of the stories weren't "new" WIPs and so nearly all of the research and development had already taken place. However, during the last week of June, I did finally plot out those action scenes that have been missing since forever....

Oh yeah, this is the first I've had to mention it, but I'm making a last minute change to my Camp NaNo plans. Instead of working exclusively on TWR for 30k words, it will be a combination of FW and TWR for 60 hours. This is because of a last minute change to my grandparent's move plan, which means I'll spending at least a week at the seashore. And we all know that the only WIP that I can work on down there is FW. Since I can't afford to waste either this opportunity or lose a week of writing, that's the plan!


With so much done this month, what do the yearly goals look like?

1. Finish The White Rose - and have it ready for betas by May at the earliest.

June Update: Wrote another 300+ scene addition because it wouldn't leave my head. During the last few weeks of June, I started prepping what I was going to work on during Camp NaNo. 

6. Finish the draft posts - including old tags and linkups

After a lot of ditching and writing, I managed to get the draft posts down to 4. 3 are posts connected to the Meet the Books linkup, and the other is the Marvel tag by Christine Smith. All the other tags (Disney Princess, Greatest Showman, #CoverLove, Voted Most Likely, and Forging the Fellowship) have been written and slated for publishing between July and August. Which is wonderful, because I can now develop new content (finally!). 






July Goals: 

1. Fulfill my NaNo goal of 60 hours, working on TWR/FW. 

I feel confident that I'll be able to accomplish this, as it's only 2 hours a day. But anything can happen, especially as moving happens...

2. Finish FW's section of Project Blueprint, and update TWR's as necessary. 

As I have a time goal instead of a word goal, there is a bit more room to play with here in terms of "working on the story". So, might as well get this part done, right?


3. Make plot sketches of FTC. 

I'm starting on the "action" part of TWR, and the sequel's action will be determined by these events that I draft. To save me a bit of editing headache, I'm going to develop the major plot points of FTC.





Your turn! What are you writing for Camp NaNo this July? Any new books that you're excited about? What is your newest favorite song? Chat with me in the comments! 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

A happy Tuesday to you all!

Today, I bring you a double book tag feature brought to you by Mary Kate @ Sarcastic Scribblings. These two tags were given to me a full year ago this month and I decided it was high time to finish them. As much as I love book tags, filling them out can be really difficult...especially if they are as long as this first tag, which is....

The Disney Princess Book Tag. You can view MK's original post HERE.

Shall we venture forth?


1. Snow White - name your favorite classic


Picking a favorite classic is like trying to pick a favorite song some days. I have plenty of classic favorites, but this one stands out to me at the moment. Maybe because I recently re-read it?


2. Cinderella - name a book that kept you reading well past your bedtime




I mean, most of my five star reads kept me up past my bedtime. But this one....I believe it kept me up until 2am one night *shifts eyes*


3. Aurora - name your favorite classic romance

You can't get much more classic romance than Jane Austen. And this book is by far the favorite of mine out of all of hers. It's a perfect blend of drama, love lost and found, and even a moral or two. And since I discovered the '95 miniseries...I've loved it even more!


4. Ariel - Name a book that's all about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams


This is one of my favorite books simply for this reason. Allie, our dear little protagonist, sacrifices her family's approval and an advantageous marriage to make her own life. She joins a new church, volunteers as part of the Red Cross to help the war effort, and even falls in love with a most wonderful soldier. And oh boy, does she fight for those things!


5. Belle - name a book with a smart and independent female


Marguerite St. Just is pretty much the epitome of smart and intellegent female. It even admits it in the book. However, she still is feminine and self-sacrificing, and I love her to pieces.


6. Jasmine - name a book with a character who challenged the social conventions of his or her world


Trenton lives in a world where inventing is considered a curse word. Now there is a social convention worth breaking, in my opinion. Especially when it's proven that there are outside enemies that are threatening the Cove. So for most of the book, he and his friend Kallista are working on remaking a previous inventors' creation, much to the chagrin of the Cove.

7. Pocahontas - name a book with an ending that was a roller coaster of emotions



UGH - this book left me feeling like I had been stomped upon. Horror, sadness, disgust, anger, contempt were felt, and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Did I ever mention that I HATE feelsy books like that??


8. Mulan - name a book with a totally boss female character


As you can probably see from the cover, the main character is a female "Robin Hood". So yeah, boss female to the T. I frankly don't remember a lot about this book since I read it a long time ago....

9. Tiana - name a book featuring a hard-working self-made character


This is a book that doesn't get enough credit, in my opinion. Agnes Grey is a character who goes out to work as a governess. She works really hard to keep her charges in line - which is difficult considering that half of them are spoiled. She reminds me a lot of Tiana, actually - the way she remains herself in spite of everything bearing down on her.


10. Rapunzel - name a character that features an artist.


I'm going with a loose interpretation of "artist" and including a book about two young song artists. But seriously, y'all need to pick up this book. The romance is squeaky clean and the character arcs are wonderful.

11. Merida - name a book that features a mother-daughter relationship



This book features more of the coming of age story of Anne's daughter Rilla than it does on their relationship....however, this was the closest thing I could get to having a book with a mother-daughter relationship really discussed. There seems to be a terrible shortage of these kinds of books....I wonder why?


12. Anna and Elsa - name a book that features a great relationship between siblings.



I mean, this is a rather obvious choice. We're talking about a novel about 4 sisters here. Sure, there are some rocky points in each of the girl's relationships, but all stick together and their family dynamic is worthy of emulation.




And now, we move on to the second tag, which is The Greatest Showman Book Tag. You can see MK's original post HERE.

I was excited to get this tag, since I love the Greatest Showman. But since I got this two tags at a similar time, I decided to pair them up. This tag took a lot less time to fill out than the other, but it had to be patient as I finished scouring the bookshelves for the other.


THE GREATEST SHOW: Name a book that is as entertaining as a circus



Combine a secret backstage romance, with an eccentric grandmother with Alzheimers and a fetish for fancy gowns, paparrazi nosing their way into where they don't belong, as well as Anne-esque scrapes....this book is a perfect circus in and of itself.


A MILLION DREAMS: Name a book that is set in a fantastical world




Classic portal fantasy, but a really wonderful one with lots of Christian allegories. Well worth a read!


COME ALIVE: Name a book that makes you outrageously happy


This book is rife with everyday humor - you know, the funny little light-hearted incidents that make us stop and laugh at ourselves. The whole tone of the work is lighthearted, and the romance is absolutely adorable. So if I'm really feeling down, I pick up this book!



THE OTHER SIDE: Name a book that made you change your mind about something



Being a hopeless teenage romantic, I was trapped in the same thought process as Hannah Parker in that first fling of infatuation was enough. Hannah's journey also turned me off of shows like Bachelor/Bachelorette and that you can rebuild your life and find love after emotional distress.


NEVER ENOUGH: Name a book that you've re-read more than once


This was, I think, the first book that I ever picked up on Kindle. And it quickly became a favorite - Joan and I found lots of connections. And come on, who doesn't love a handsome doctor?


THIS IS ME: Name a book with a character that reminds you of yourself


Re-reading this in April really reminded me how similar I was to Miri. Especially when she was so undecided on what her calling was. She's also a natural leader and good at her studies....which I also share.


REWRITE THE STARS: Name a book with a forbidden romance


The title says it all, doesn't it? Really, secret romance just oozes from these pages :)



TIGHTROPE: Name a book with an adventurous main character


"Adventurous" could very well be Pippa's middle name. She's not afraid to explore caves, swim in waterfalls, or flight a glassern. And who else would be shrunken by fairies or try to interfere with her own marriage tournament? Seriously, y'all gotta meet this girl *shoos you to the book*

FROM NOW ON: Name a book with a wonderful family (related or otherwise)


The Haynes family, whom Celeste stays with after running from the Kyraenian slave traders, are probably one of the best fictional families that I've ever experienced. In particular, the youngest two children were the best. I did love the parents too. The only one who needed a swift kick in the pants was Mick....



Bonus: Order the songs from The Greatest Showman from least to favorite. 

9. Never Enough
8. Rewrite the Stars
7. Come Alive
6. This is Me
5. The Greatest Show
4. Tightrope
3. From Now On
2. A Million Dreams
1. The Other Side

The top three songs of this order are in my "favorites" playlist that I play all the time. The rest....I really only listen to rarely, if at all. I mean, all are really pretty and epic, but they just don't click with me as much as those three do.


As both of these tags are old (and rather rough looking), I shall let them loose into the blogging world to be picked up by anybody who wants them. *unlocks the cage*

And now, to hear from you! Which of The Greatest Showman's songs are your favorite? Any books that feature mother-daughter relationships that I may have not thought about? Any book change your mind about something? Chat with me in the comments! 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

For today's post, I decided to be truly spontaneous. I know that I really should be working on the several million draft posts that are hanging around, but I haven't done a "real" post about my writing in such a long time. And I believe it has been even longer since I did a "list" sort of post - and I have missed doing them tremendously!

So when I saw a few posts dealing with common tropes, my curiosity monster got the better of me. I spent a few hours combing though my WIPs to see what my own author trademarks were. Hours that probably should have been devoted to putting my room to rights, but too late now...

Anyway, my 10 common tropes are:


1. Catholicism

I cannot deny, my Faith is interwoven into my very being. Therefore, it's impossible for me to subtract it from anything that I create. That, and there are not enough stories that are based around faithful Catholics, in my opinion.

In all of my stories, there is some element of Catholicism. My historical and contemporary works feature Catholic characters. My historical fictions feature some elements of Church history. Verden's religion has it's basis in Catholic doctrines and rituals. Ancora Spei is about a futuristic Catholic society.

The hardest part for me is trying to keep it subtle. I'm too intense of a person for my own good sometimes. Which leads me to my next trope.....


2. At Least One Intense Female Character

By intense, I mean like almost a shieldmaiden-like character. One that is passionate, has interest in weaponry or outdoors, one who has lots of inner strength, a sassy streak, and maybe a bit of a temper.

A character like....Danielle du Barbarac from Ever After.

Unfortunately, I think this stems from that old rookie writer's habit of basing characters off of one's self. While I've been trying to make each of these characters unique in their own way, I fear that a lot of them are repeats of each other.


3. Unusual names

Alvilda
               Aderyn
                              Caoimhe
                                                Conlaoch
                                                                  Eirwen
Gareth
              Janina
                            Jessamine
                                                 Karsten
                                                                  Kestrel


I admit, I spend wayyyyy too much time naming characters and scanning BehindTheName.com. Part of it is because I really like names. Part of it is that there are so many cool names out there, that it would be a crime NOT to use them. And, I think having an unusual name makes the character stand out a bit more, don't you?


4. Banter between Characters - Bordering on Sarcastic

I should reveal that my muse has a thorough sense of humor. Every third daydream or so (and believe me, I get at least 20 of them every day), there is some element of humor in it. They can range from slapstick craziness to one-line zingers.

I love a good zinger, actually. So I guess it shouldn't surprise me that there is no work that without at least some sarcasm in it....





5. At Least One Romantic Storyline

*sigh* I tell you, I'm a hopeless romantic. I have romantic plotlines that take center stage (i.e. The White Rose, Shattered Chandelier, Rose of Culmore, Plain and Simple Truth), to subplots (Fair Winds, Hidden Seeds), to small romantic snippets (Ancora Spei) to the barest hints (From the Cave).  

Is there any way that I can keep romance out of my stories??? Probably not. I promise that all will be clean though!



6. At Least One Chivalrous Male Character

Isn't this the reason why we girls read books? To meet several charming princes that we wished existed in real life?

Well, I'm happy to oblige and give several of my male characters to be stuff of a girl's fancy.


7. Anne-esque scrapes

By that, I mean the crazy, everyday shenanigans that could happen to anyone. There are so many opportunities for humor in those scenes, and I enjoy them the most when I'm writing. There are times when I have to stop typing in order to let the giggles out :)



8. Absent/Adoptive Mothers

I'm not totally sure why I seem to be following the Disney syndrome - it certainly was not my intention as a writer. I cannot deny that there is a pattern though - for several WIPs, a mother will be mentioned and will simply drop out of the picture. Maybe this is because most of my MCs are young adults and have spread their wings.

I do counter this by having a supportive female friend or another mother come into the character's lives. Upon reflection, it's kind of a subtle way to show how spiritual motherhood really works. All women are called to it, whether they end up being physical mothers or not. 


9. Friendships

Looking back through my WIPs, I suddenly realized that almost all of my MCs have best friends. In fact, I seem to have more fun with the friends scenes than I do with the story....because I have a lot of friends scenes and almost no plot scenes.

I must be getting too lonely in my cave....LOL.


10. Sibling Relationships

Nearly all of my characters have siblings. Each character has a different relationship with each of their siblings - ranging from pleasant, to annoying, to BFFs and mortal enemies. It's really fun to play with those relationships - probably because I have several siblings of my own that I can draw from.



And that's it! What "tropes" do you find in your own writing? Who else laughs at little everyday things? Any cures for this hopeless romantic to try? Feel free to drop a comment below! 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

Hello all!

You may have noticed that there have been a few changes around here.

I decided to update my blog look again. Not that I was really tired of the old look, but I had changed the width of the sidebar months ago and the lopsided banner finally got to me.

And the background picture really needed to change from spring to summer - so I changed it to a dusky beach sunset, which I think looks really pretty. With that, all the text colors got changed to match the picture. I dearly love the colors in here - that shade of purple is one of my favorite shades ever.

The Old Header

When I first made my headers, I made them all in Paint. Let me tell you, it was pretty time consuming resizing all the pictures to make them all fit neatly. And I'm pretty sure that they weren't even, no matter how hard I tried.

In my previous headers, I put in pictures that reflected my interests. In Header 3, which you can see above, I started mixing in pictures pertaining to my WIPs.

This time around, I decided to try out Canva after MK successfully made a custom banner through them for her blog. The templates were crazy complicated and hard to distinguish, but I decided to go with a 9 grid one - similar in structure to Header 2.

To change it up, I decided to put one picture for each of my WIPs with a title pic in the middle. 

The New Header

From top left, they are:

Chandelier - "Shattered Chandelier". Since this work is POTO inspired, I decided to use the chandelier as the symbol for this WIP.

Apples - Hidden Seeds. Since the apple is a main symbol of this WIP, I decided to find some really colorful ones.

Cave - From the Cave. This one was really hard to find a picture for. Caves aren't exactly horizontal...

White rose bush - The White Rose. Easy right?

Steamship - "Rose of Culmore". Trying to find an Irish symbol that fit in the horizontal box was really hard. So, I decided to go with an immigrant symbol of the steamship - since this is an immigrant story.

Holsteins - Plain and Simple Truth. Since free Amish pictures are scarce, I decided to go with the classic dairy cow for this farming WIP. 

Church - Ancora Spei. Since this one is the most religious of all, I wanted a classic religious symbol. So I went with a Gothic church interior with stained glass windows.

Ship ropes - Fair Winds. I decided against the pirate flag even though it is a pirate story and decided to go with the ship instead....you know to keep it consistent with the other headers.



Having a fully stretched header makes me feel so much better! And it's so pretty :)

And now, I'd better head off to bed....after all, it's nearly 2 am....

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

For the latest linkup, click HERE

Okay first off, for those of who saw those post in it's half-dressed form, I'm really sorry! The little gremlin escaped into cyberspace right under my nose as I was drafting it. My sis caught it running around and brought it kicking and screaming back to me - where I proceeded to ground it for the rest of the night.

Today's post is rather bittersweet. On one hand, it's one of my favorite linkups. On the other, it's one of the last times I'll be able to do it!!

I'm featuring an old favorite during this round. I held off on featuring this book in a Meet the Books linkup simply because I felt that I had talked about this work a lot over the past year and y'all are probably sick of it. Meet the Books is a wonderful way to introduce other works that I've been working on.

However, when I heard that this was the last Meet the Books linkup for the near future, I caved. After all, it really would be a crime to waste the last MtB linkup on a piddly half-developed novella.

So, let us sally forth!




What is the genre?

The genre of this book is speculative Christian fiction, if you want to be highly technical. However, it's safe to say that it's fantasy.



What is the title? Time period?

The title is The White Rose. I borrowed it from a song that I'm now using as the main theme of the work. White roses are a motif that is also used fairly frequently.

It takes place about 30 years before the events of From the Cave. I haven't quite got my dating system down yet, but it's beyond the second age (4th or 5th? Not sure yet)



How is it written (Point of view, MC, etc.)?

Because of the large cast and the nature of the story, it's third person omnipotent for the most part. There are two main characters that it settles on the most: Princess Janina and King Ealdread.




Who are the characters?

Janina - Janina is the youngest child of King Reijo and Queen Carina Sigurdnir, the youngest of 8 to be exact. Her personality is a phlegmatic sanguine, so it can be a little difficult to motivate her sometimes. Making people happy is usually the best motivator for her. Her love language is acts of service, so she'll often do little things for others. She is just under 16 years of age. She has light brown hair, mossy green eyes, is about 5'4", and around 120 lbs.

Ealdread - Ealdread is the sovereign of the High Kingdom of Aistaraina. He's in his 35th year, and has competed in at least 2-3 other Karala Games before this one. He is one of the very few "bachelor" kings (the first in many generations for Aistaraina, at least) in the "world" that I have. His seal is two swans set in white wax. His temperament is a melancholy phlegmatic.
Ealdread is about 5'10, has rich dark brown hair and gray eyes. He has a muscular and trim build, though that stomach region is threatening to pudge out a little.

Magda - Magdalena, or more commonly known as Magda, is the "villain" of this WIP. She is rather vain, loves more masculine pursuits (she is, in fact, the Patroness of Huntsmen and Grooms for Duventoliel), and despises singleness. The colors red and black are associated with her a lot. Her birthstone is ruby, her standard is a black horse on a red field, and her seal is a horse set in red (and later black) wax. Oh yes, and she has a strange obsession with gloves recently....
Magda is paler than most Duventolians, has alluring dark green eyes, and her mother's dark hair. She stands about 5'6"-5'7". Her temperament is a choleric melancholy.

Karsten - Karsten is the 4th prince of the High Kingdom of Ceberlandon. He is very genial and is set to come to Duventoliel at the time of the Karala Games, but ends up late because of a small skirmish war with the Giants of the North. He is also the first Ceberlandon royal to ever consider a foreign bride.
Karsten is 5'11", has dark brown eyes and hair. His temperament is sanguine phlegmatic.

Alvilda - Alvilda is probably the closest character to being Janina's "sidekick". Alvilda is Patroness of Musicians and of the Navy of Duventoliel. One of her favorite hobbies is embroidery and sewing - she, in fact, sewed Janina's first standard banner. She is also a solid book lover. Her seal is an anchor set in dark blue wax, her standard is a dark blue anchor on a gold field. Her birthstone is a sapphire.
Alvilda has dark blue eyes, dark hair, and stands about 5'5". Her temperament is a phlegmatic sanguine.

Tobias - Tobias is the youngest son of the Sigurdnirs, and serves as the royal ambassador to Aistaraina. He and Ealdread are also good friends - in fact, Tob is considered the other "sidekick" to Ealdread. His seal is a dragon set in blue wax. He is about 5'10, has blue eyes and dark hair. He also has the most muscular of the four sons - no doubt, inheriting his father's huskiness. His temperament is a phlegmatic melancholy.

Orla - Orla is the oldest daughter of the Sigurdnirs, and is married to Erik Rillianon, the Champion of her Tournament. She serves as the Marchese of Aearion, one of Duventoliel's provinces. She has 3 children, Helena, Rebekkah and Georg. Her color is pink: her birthstone is morganite and her seal is 3 rosetree flowers set in pinkish wax. Her temperament is the same as her sister Janina, phlegmatic sanguine.

Arnor - Arnor is the son of the arms-keeper of the castle, who has just become a brand new liveryman at the young age of 15. He acts as a courier and bodyguard, and is later assigned to the Princess's Wing upon suggestion by Janina and Alvilda.
Arnor is 5'5", has light brown hair, and brown eyes. His temperament is choleric melancholy.

Leon - Leon is the third son of the Sigurdnirs, and the most scholarly. He is an ambassador to the High Kingdom of Ceberlandon, which prides itself on it's scholastic library. He is also discerning whether or not he is called to be part of the Leberechts, which are the religious priests of Duventoliel. He is the shortest of the sons at 5'7", has the light hair of his father and the green eyes of his mother. His temperament is melancholy choleric.

Queen Carina - Carina is the queen of Duventoliel, and married to Reijo. She (and Reijo) have 8 children, including Orla, Magda, Alvilda, Janina, Tobias and Leon.
She values refinement and deportment a lot and takes her role as role model to the women of Duventoliel very seriously. Carina has dark hair, green hazel eyes, and stands about 5'6. Her birthstone is peridot, a light green gem. Her seal is a rose flower set in red wax, and her standard is a red rose on a light blue field. Her temperatment is a melancholy choleric.

King Reijo - Reijo is the sovereign of the High Kingdom of Duventoliel, and married to Carina. He does have a propensity of forgetting his manners at times...a trait that causes great annoyance to his wife and daughters. His seal is a dragon set in silver wax, and the livery is set in royal navy with silver dragons. His temperament is a sanguine phlegmatic.
Reijo is 6ft tall, has dirty blond/golden brown hair, and has blue eyes. He has a solid husky build.


There is also a host of secondary characters, which include several lords from Duventoliel and the surrounding countries. One of which is a minor antagonist named Orthothien Haisthilt, which you may remember from the From the Cave version of this linkup.



What does the plot consist of?

The plot begins with the preparation for the Karala Games, which is supposed to center around Janina's sister, Magda. However, some secrets are revealed and Magda is disgraced because of them. And because her other eligible sister had just entered into an engagement of her own accord, Janina is thrust into the role of the Blue Star.

One of the suitors for her hand, King Ealdread of Aistaraina, is under a dynastic deadline to find a spouse before a certain age. He is quickly approaching that age, and still he has not found a bride.

The rest of the book goes through the Karala Games, which includes sabotage, intrigues, humorous occurrences and budding romantic relationships.



What is the setting?

The story is set almost entirely in the High Kingdom of Duventoliel, and a few scenes in the neighboring kingdom of Aistaraina. 

These - as well as several other kingdoms and nations - are part of the world of Verden. It is an Earthlike world (with an equatorial ocean), but with fantastical races and creatures. I'm still in the midst of developing it, but so far, there is an equatorial ocean, hybrid races, silver mountains and all sorts of interesting stuff.


What gave you the idea?

When I was writing From the Cave, I got the inspiration for a back story for Janina and Ealdread. It got written out on a piece of paper and wasn't seen again for over two years. Then, when I read Pippa of Lauramore and Marcia Schuyler, I knew I wanted to create a retelling of both. Then I spotted that old scene idea and ran with it. 



Who are the favorite characters so far?

Goodness, there are so many favorites :) I have mentioned five in the past, but that has somewhat changed. There are now six favorites: Ealdread (my male MC), Janina (my female MC), Alvilda (Janina's sister), Karsten (Ealdread's friend), Tobias (Janina and Alvilda's brother) and Arnor (liveryman and friend to Janina and Alvilda)


What is the favorite scene so far?

The favorite scene seems to be the one where Ealdread, Arnor, and Karsten are searching for Arnor's spear in the lake and Janina and Alvilda come upon them on the pier. I have pulled several snippets from that scene in other posts, which you can find by clicking either the "Snippets" or "The White Rose" tags on the bottom of the page.


Any themes of music for this work?

Oh yeah! There is a whole playlist on Spotify, and I've shared several themes of music in other posts. I will share a few more works of music that I haven't shared before to keep things interesting.








Any drawings?

No actual drawings, but I have avatars! They are in THIS POST.



Any snippets?

Janina looked up from her book of poetry and gave him a wide gracious smile as she arose. “Welcome, your Majesty. I was hoping to see you today,” her words, spoken countless times to him by other women, held a true Duventolian sense of honesty. 
 He gave Janina a gentle smile and looked upon the company of siblings and Karsten. “I hope I’m not intruding on a family tableau.” “Not at all! You are certainly more welcome than...” Janina broke off embarrassed at her blundering honest tongue. “That is....please, be seated.” She purposely hid her face while arranging the folds of the bright green gown. Ealdread seated himself near Karsten and Tob. 
As she seated herself, Janina was suddenly struck dumb with a horrid thought. Now she had to restart the conversation. It had been slightly easier with her other guests, as they always had some easy compliment or passing thought to ply. Not so with Ealdread. She knew from diplomatic visits that he was in a deep thinker, and liked a hearty discussion rather than fluffy small talk. But how to start such as conversation without the dreaded awkwardness.


Strong point in story?

From what my alphas say, I believe that the strong point of the story is the characters. Each has their own quirks and flaws that define them. They are as diverse and complex as the countries they come from, but almost all are enjoyable (I cannot say that my villian is very enjoyable....).


Weak point in story?

The pacing of the story is now my weak point. Most of my action scenes have not been drafted yet, and so most of the story is made of quiet moments. And so I really need to work on that in my next writing session.



What are your plans for it?

My plans for this story are indeed ambitious. This little story is slated to be my debut novel. At least, I hope so - I plan for it to be the first of my stories to be beta-read.


Any particular writing habits for it?

Ummmm....besides listening to music and eating chocolate? Not really. Other than maybe taking time out to world-build as I draft more....


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

Oh brother! You know I can't cast to save my skin. But, I shall try anyway...

For Janina, I had Greek actress Anastasia Tsilimpiou as my reference model. However, I personally can't tell if she would fit the role of Janina or not. Maybe a younger Lily James would work better?

For Ealdread, I had Turkish actor Kivanç Tatlitug as my reference model. As he was also a foreign actor, I couldn't tell if he would fit the role as well.

For Magda, I had Turkish actress Leyla Feray as my reference model. Like Tsilimpiou, I can't tell if she would fit in the role of Magda. From what I can gather from GIFs, one of her characters may be close to Magda....

For Karsten, I think Armie Hammer might be the best choice. I've seen him in Mirror Mirror, so I know he can play a dual comic/serious role, which is what Karsten really is.

For Alvilda, I had Turkish actress Beren Saat as my physical reference model. However, after looking at her filmography record, I realize that she has a lot more dramatic roles and more suited to a strong female archtype than a sidekick.
Now that I think about it, Lily Collins may be able to play Alvilda well. I know she's more a lead actress too, but a lot of her roles are similar to Alvilda's temperament from what I can see. 

For Tobias, I think Ben Barnes is a good choice (if I could combine his performance from Sons of Liberty and the Narnia films). Has the right looks, for the most part anyway...

For Orla, I had Yugoslavian actress Alma Terzic as my reference model. Like other foreign actresses, it was difficult to tell what kind of roles she played. So, instead, I decided to go with Rosamund Pike. I really liked her role of Jane Bennet in the '05 version of P&P, and I think she would do well as a motherly figure.

For Arnor, I decided on Tom Holland, if only for a lack of young fresh-faced teenage actors who are just getting started in life.

For Leon.....ugggggghhhhh. Maybe someone like Logan Shroyer but older? Seriously, I've been scouring the internet for a couple of hours now trying to find someone, and it's really frustrating.

For Queen Carina, I had Turkish actress Nurgül Yeşilçay as my reference model. Same as the other foreign actresses, it was difficult to tell whether or not she was suited to Carina's role. But, I think that she may have the best chance of all, considering that she has played a strong monarch figure before.

For King Reijo....OKAY I GIVE UP. I need a nice big guy with lots of bluster and disregard for rules and I'm blanking so hard.

I'm passing this responsibility to my readers because clearly! I am horrid at this. I just CAN'T DO IT. *shoves the casting list to the nearest hapless reader*

*Catherine then stalks to the middle of the stage and takes a deep breath*

Okay, so....y'all know that Camp NaNo is coming up in a few weeks, right?

Well....after some very careful consideration, I have come to a decision as to which WIP that I will be working on this July.

And that is......