This may have been a mistake.

For anyone who is wondering why I'm doubling up on months, it is because I did my traditional Camp NaNo wrap-up at the end of April. Who wants to read two different wrap-ups in the same month? I certainly didn't.

Though, with the two months....it made this post a lot longer. Sowwy guys...



April:

1. I participated in Camp NaNo this April. In short, it was probably the best writing event that I've participated in thus far. I'll refer you to the Camp NaNo wrap-up if you wish to learn more!

2. My Kindle finally expired after attempting to do so for over 3 months. Just before I packed it away to put in the carpet, I tried to resuscitate it to no avail. It served me well for the 4 years that I had it. At this time, there is no plans to replace it until later...when I get money. 

3. 1 bought 2 new DVDs. My mom and I discovered that her favorite Christian bookstore was closing and so we went perusing. I hadn't intended on buying anything, but then I saw seasons of WTCH for sale. I picked up Season 1 and then went perusing the other DVDs and found one on Sally Luddington (aka The Female Paul Revere) for $3. Not bad!

4. I finished the Ask Us Anything vlog that I started in December. Yes indeed, the editing took 4 months. *sigh* I never was the most efficient person in the world...

5. My mother and I found some boxes of books in the garage. Some of which I snitched to read :).
 




May:

1. I read a LOT of books. 9, to be exact. Granted, half of them were old children's books that I read out of curiosity. For titles and reviews, see my Goodreads page :)

2. I watched wayyyy too many Food Network and HGTV shows. I did sneak half an episode of the Waltons though....

3. I started my first beta read! Ceci E. put out a call for betas for her story What Time We Have Left and being a fellow historical fiction nut, I jumped at it. I've been wanting to get into the beta reading scene for a while, but I couldn't do more than short stuff for one reason or another. I'm really loving the story so far!



April:

For the first time since I took to writing wrap ups, I've written 0 posts for WbC. And that makes me super sad.


For Rebelling Muse, I wrote 4 posts and they were all for the Shared WIP tag: Shared WIP Tag Week 1: Camp NaNo Goal/Project, Shared WIP Tag Week 2: Current Projects,  Shared WIP Tag Week 3: Yearly Goals,  and Shared WIP Tag Week 4: Ultimate Goals. 

For other blogs, I wrote three posts for Maidens for Mary: The Saints of April: St. Gemma and St. Bernadette, Record Your Blessed Objects, and Woman at Mass: A Good Friday Reflection. I also published a post on RW with two book reviews.




May:

For Working by Candlelight, I wrote two posts: What are Your Assumptions about Me? and Operation Vintage Makeover: Paint, Part 2.  

For Rebelling Muse, I wrote 4 posts: Begone Pheasant, Not a Marvel but a Decent Film, What are Your Assumptions about Me?, and Answering your Assumptions about Me. 

For Rebellious Writing, I co-wrote a post with Clare A. about what writing lessons we could take from Chewbacca's character in tribute to Peter Mayhew, the original actor for Chewie who died recently (which co-incided with Star Wars Day).  

I wrote no posts for Maidens for Mary, as there were some schedule issues. I've also taken a full hiatus from M4M until the end of August. 






1. Write 20k on Fair Winds for Camp NaNo

As noted in my Camp NaNo wrap-up last month, I wrote 21k for Fair Winds over the course of an entire month! I couldn't be more happier. 

2. Participate in Julian's Shared WIP tag

This was a resounding success! I had a lot of fun doing this tag again, and hope I can participate in another one in the near future :) 


3. Write M4M posts

I was supposed to write 4 posts, and I wound up writing 3. For one, I had run out of post ideas and for another, I had to come up and nurse my aunt earlier than I had expected. 

4. Finish Fair Wind's section on Project Blueprint.

Due to circumstances, this didn't get totally finished. The character sheets are the biggest thing that I still need to complete - the world building could also use a lot of work too.  

5. Finish uploading Part 2 of Vlog! 

Finally!!! After 4 long months, the project came to a conclusion!


Yearly Goals:


4. Eliminate another 10 movies from the To-Watch list.

April Update: I watched one listing on The List, and that was P&P 95. I haven't taken it off the list as Lia hasn't seen it yet.


5. Watch Season 5 of WCTH and possibly get a season on DVD.


April Update: I got Season 1 on DVD! I couldn't believe it when I saw it on sale at a Christian bookstore...so of course I picked it up. While the other seasons were also sold there, they were rather expensive. So, I'll wait to pick them up later on Amazon or something. So now, I'm halfway to accomplishing this goal!





These goals were never published, it seems. So it probably shouldn't be a surprise that these never really got done.  


1. Finish old tag posts. 

While several posts did get a little work done on them in a spare moment, none actually got finished. Such as life....

2. Write 5k for either Fair Winds or White Rose

Since the leave got extended to a full month, I got no time to actually work on these stories at all. They certainly didn't leave my mind though, and I really wish I had the time to actually work on these this month.

3. Read at least 3 books.  

I actually shot this goal out of the park. I ended up reading 9 books. Half of them were old children's books, one was a Miss Marple Mystery, and there were a smattering of non-fiction and historical fiction and fantasy books in there. For titles and reviews, see my Goodreads challenge :) 


Yearly Goals:


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

I did publish one old post (Begone Pheasant), and got rid of another one that I will never finish. Once I get back to my computer, I'll be knocking out two more that have since become rather rotten. Which should bring me down to 12 posts to finish.





Now that April and May are behind us, what is June going to bring?


1. Make a nice aesthetically pleasing bookshelf.

I finally got all the furniture into my room, and so I can now create my nice aesthetic bookshelf.

2. Complete two tags.

Tags are nice and easy to fill out, so these may be great posts to do to de-stress after a long day of moving. We'll see how this goes....

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

I'm now 3/4 of the way through my close reading and hope to gather all of my thoughts for her within the next week or so.

4. Prep for July Camp NaNo. 

Since this last round of NaNo went great because of the extra planning, let's see if a repeat performance will garner the same results!

Because I really would like to have that beta call go out this year, I'm leaning towards working on The White Rose again this July. We'll see....

 


This is probably going to be a little too ambitious for this month, because there is A LOT that has to be done. My grandparents are moving this summer, so between my house and their house, there is a lot of packing, shifting and moving of furniture and other stuff. It promises to be a month of strained tempers, sore muscles, and other miserableness.

I'm praying that I will still be breathing by the end of June....

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine  

Greetings and Salutations to you all!

First thing, a HUGE thank you to all of you who contributed to the this Assumptions about Me post.  I loved answering every single one of them :)

Normally, I don't pick up these kinds of posts, but my curiosity monster got past the usual defenses and into the dreaded secret tunnel....and demanded to be fed. *sigh*. I thought I had boarded it up but no matter. And of course, it spawned little monsters that also demanded to be fed too.

And so, shall we go so see the feast I've prepared for them?



- You like your schedule to be organized, but your surroundings can be a mess.
 
GIRL?! Have you been spying on me? Because your assumption is absolutely correct. 

I live for a concrete schedule (which is weird, considering that my blogging schedule is non-existent) but my surroundings would be best described as "hoarders den" or "slob paradise". Literally as I write this, my arms are squishing notepads, papers and clutter.   


- You're a very goal-oriented person.
 
*glances over at the 10-odd goals-related posts that I've written* 

This isn't very obvious, is it?? 


- You like musicals but aren’t obsessed with them.

Girl, you hit it on the head. I do enjoy a good musical, and perk up my ears to hear about them, but I'm not one of those obsessive ones that finds the bootleg copies on YouTube *cough like my sis cough*







You seem to be strong in your faith and beliefs

I've had others tell me this too. Which seems odd considering that I'm not always vocal about them on either of my blogs. To be quite honest, I'm rather envious of others who do put out heartfelt faith and belief posts despite the pressure of the world. 

Maybe it's the firmness of my convictions that pours through? I've had strangers comment in that vein when I've defended my views on modesty.  


You love dresses and girly things, yet seem to still have that wild outdoors spirit.

Absolutely yes, that is true. I was a tomboy when I was younger, and then in my late teens I found my feminine side. I love camping, hiking, and observing nature...but there are definite perks of sitting in a room with an embroidery project or baking a delectable dessert. 


You love having your hands in every place, at least as many worthwhile places as you can reach out to

Whoa! That is such a deep truth for me that I never really realized it until it was put into words. I do love to be in the thick of things and be involved. I've always been a bit of an overachiever (who am I kidding...practically everyone knows that I am an overachiever). I seem to be happiest when I'm spinning a lot of plates, it seems. And I must be a glutton for punishment because I keep looking for more plates to spin.  

If I ever grow up, I dare say that I'll become one of those organizer/committee president ladies that are so busy that they can't breathe. Why that seems so inviting is beyond me at this point....


You seem to have a decent work ethic. 

Would revealing the fact that I graduated magna cum laude be an acceptable answer? Or is this too cocky?




-You're a little closer to your dad than your mom.
 
Actually....not really. My dad and I have had a bit of a rocky relationship ever since I was a teenager. We're really close in temperament, and have opposite views on certain topics (like money) so we actually clash a lot more than people realize. It's been better now that I've matured, but there is still some struggles. 

I've always been a Mommy's girl though. Even when I was little. We forged a close relationship and she's been my go-to person when I'm struggling with life.  


-You like being by bodies of water


GASP - how did you know this??? 

I love being by the ocean - watching it is a great joy to me and it's really inspiring to see the water stretch out to the horizon. 

I've been to Walden Pond too and the sheer beauty of it put me in a happy place. No wonder Thoreau built a cabin there...  

IDK - I just find a lot of beauty in water - be it a creek, a waterfall, a river, a lake or an ocean. 

Now I'm curious.....was it the copious amount of water pictures that gave it away?  


-You sometimes wish you were born in a different time period.

I can definitely confirm this one. For one, past fashions are ten times better. For second, the culture is a hundred times better. For third, horses abound. For fourth, I get to work hard and stop being a lazy bum. For fifth, my social skills would improve tremendously. For sixth, I could get married a whole lot faster. For seventh, the education that I would get would actually educate me. For eighth.....I'd better stop now and get this time machine built because clearly I have thought about this waaaaayyyy too much.






-You like Eowyn. (Heehee.)
 
Girl.....you should know that this isn't an assumption, but a well confirmed fact. Eowyn is my heroine, and we'll leave it at that. 



-Your favorite season is Summer. 

I thought this was also a confirmed fact, but maybe it isn't. My favorite season is indeed summer because I hate being cold and there is so much SUNSHINE. I can't live without the sun apparently. 


-Favorite color is either red or gold.

False, actually! While I do like the colors red and gold, they're #7 and #5 (respectively) in the order of my favorite colors.

My actual favorite colors are Caribbean blue and lavender purple. With pink and silver following those. Think like a Disney Princess color scheme....LOL.

I do like that my journal is red and gold though - easy to find!

 -You don't have a ton of IRL friends.
 
This was true for most of my life. I could actually count the number of close friends I had as a child on one hand. 

As I grew into my teens, I had casual friends through Girl Scouts and 4-H, and then the numbers grew through college and work. Now, I have a circle of casual friends from church that number around 20 or so. 

Close friends though? I'm up to two hands, but there still aren't that many. I'd rather have a few good quality friendships rather than a lot of casual ones anyway.   


-You're a night owl.
 
Well.....yes, that's accurate. I don't mind getting up early if I've got projects to do, but the night time is really really quiet and it's so much easier to write and think. I've grown back into my night owl habits from college and that will probably stay until a job comes on the horizon. 


-You prefer road trips to flying.

Oooh! This is hard. I've done a lot of road trips and not a lot of flying so I might be biased in this answer.

I do love the sensation of flying, and looking out the window at the Earth below (strange how the fear of heights magically shuts off during flying). But, I do hate the hassle that you go through at the airport (security, baggage, waiting for the stinking plane, the crowds, ugh!!!)

Road trips are much more flexible and you can control the factors a lot better, which I like. On the ground, you can also see a lot of detail that you wouldn't get from the air. And you can get out much more safely from a car than a plane.





-You consider yourself to be like/write like a female Tolkien
 
Not gonna lie - Tolkien is a huuuuuge inspiration for me. His philosophy on writing is something that I've taken on for myself as a writer. As for how close my writing is to Tolkein....that I must appeal to future betas to decide!  

-Are proud of the fact that you're a member of RW
 
Yes. Yes I am. I'm going to be flat honest bout that. I'm probably too proud of being one of the OGs of RW, to be quite frank. 


-Talks to cows

YES. I do talk to cows. I think it helps to calm them, to be honest.

I'll be quite honest though - I talk to pretty much every single animal I come across. I'm one of those ones who will approach an animal almost all the time, and hope the human goes away without interacting with me.

I think I have a problem.





-You have dark brown hair. 

Yes, I do! I'd show a picture, but I need to pull it off my phone and edit it and I can't do that until a week from now. And y'all have waited enough for this thing.  


-You have a handful of siblings (say, five or six)
 
You're really close! 

I actually have 4: Matthew, Tyler, Robert and Anthony.  

I know this is really confusing, but the girl I call my sister is not my actual sister. She's actually my BFF. Her family pretty much unoffically adopted me, and I adopted her as my "sister" as she's the closest person I have to a sister.  



-You have a hundred story ideas in your head at once
 
Umm, yes. These can range from alternate realities based on real events, daydreams of what I wish my life to be, to actual novel ideas. 

I think only 20 have actually been written down at any point in time.... 


-You live in the USA, in a pleasant, mild climate with lots of green grass

I can vouch for the the USA part. I mean, I guess that's kind of obvious from the way that I talk (or write? IDK).

Lots of green grass? I can vouch for that too. I live on the East Coast, so there is plenty of grass to go around (lovely for allergies, I'll tell you).

As for the pleasant, mild climate, I must disappoint you. I live on the northern end of the East Coast, so I get to deal with lots of snow, rain, cold and general miserableness for at least half of the year. *bleh*. Especially these last two years?! Can the rain faucets be shut off already??



Would assume that anyone young and very religious would be a bit naive to the world. And also that's not a bad thing!

This answer almost got it's own post. And it may still get it's own post in the future after I collect my thoughts on it.

I disagree with this sentiment. I know of many saints that were young and very close to God and it would be an insult to say that they were naive. There is no way that the young martyr St. Agnes would be so naive as to believe that the Romans would be humane when they killed her for refusing to offer incense. There is no way that 13 year old St. Maria Goretti was so naive that she would let a sexual predator strip her of her virginity.  

I may have lived a slightly more sheltered life than many of my public school counterparts. Sure, my college experience removed some of my naivete, but doesn't that happen to everyone? That doesn't mean that I don't know what persecution, fraud, depression, impurity, etc. are or what they do to people. 

My religion has revealed what exactly the world is in it's ugliest form. And my own experiences can confirm this. To be truly Catholic is to shun naivete.  





-You're a good steward.
 
*blushing and smiling* 

I really cannot give an answer for this one. There are so many ways that I need to improve my stewardship, this list would stretch to Heaven's gate.   


-A sensible cheapskate when it comes to most things.
 
Cheapskate? Yeah. Sensible....ehhhh???

Like, I try not to buy retail on a lot of stuff (like clothes, dishes, books, movies, etc.) because I think the retail prices are beyond ridiculous. Why buy a $45 dress when there is a <$5 skirt at the nearest thrift store? 

That being said...I have been known both to splurge and be miserly. So the sensible part still needs to be worked on a bit *cringes*.  


-You're very outspoken about the things you find important.

I can be...it depends on the audience. I still have trouble speaking up when I should and I have not been as vocal as I could be. I can come off very intense in those situations and so I've kinda backed off until I can speak about those issues civilly. Unfortunately, that never happens in a very timely manner. My temper is biblically opposite of what it should be: quick to flare, and slow to fade. Have to work on that....





So I just wanna say that you seem very REAL. You aren't just some name on a page, you are REAL. Every time I read your posts (especially the ones with your family), I feel like you are really putting the REAL you out there, not just some facade of a cutsie girl who runs a cutsie blog. :P You don't beat around the bush. You say what you think and I feel like you are one of the friends that I just haven't met IRL yet! :) I love your blog. :D


I really wish I could reach through the screen and give you a hug. That makes me feel ten times better about some of the posts that I've done in the past....

I wanted to put the real me out there. I felt I couldn't really give any kind of explanation about my writings if I didn't reveal so many of the personal details that I did.

And once I get money, I'm going to have to come up with some kind of blogger retreat - because seriously, I really want to meet all of you!


And that is that! A thousand chocolate chip cookies for you all as a thank-you present :) *checks the cookie store* eh ehe, guess I'm going to have a few backorders.... *puts on apron*

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

What, Catherine be trendy? What is this?

Well, there is a story attached to this one.

A new friend and I were recently having an email discussion about life goals and vocations and what "path" was well suited to us.

In particular, we were discussing convents and how we would find it difficult to be in one due to our love of writing. What (pleasantly) surprised me was her giving her impression on how I would do in a convent and why.

Which, got me to thinking.....

What are y'all's assumptions concerning me?


I know that this is sort of a "trendy" thing that is happening across the blogosphere. But...that is a really poor reason for doing this sort of a post.

I'm doing this because I'm genuinely curious. How do I portray myself on here? What sort of a person do you think I am? What about my likes/dislikes? How well do my readers know me?

I'm opening the door all the way - positive and negative assumptions will be welcome. Having that feedback from you readers will help me a lot. Not just to dispel any myths that may have popped up, but also to figure out where my strong and weak points are. How I can improve not just how I come across to others, but my quality of writing too.


I'd love to see your honest assumptions about me - feel free to drop as many as you like in the comments section.

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine


P.S. If any of my readers see this post twice in their feed, it's because I'm also posting it on WbC.

Greetings to you, my dear readers! 

As promised a few posts ago, I am now reviewing the latest Marvel movie that I've seen, which is Captain Marvel. (No, I've not seen Endgame to this point. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll be able to see it, due to some major stuff that's been happening around here lately.)

Prepare yourself for somewhat relevant GIFs from the film, indecision, and crazy commentary from yours truly.

Sooo....



via GIPHY




If you are looking at this review to see if the movie lines up at all with the comics, there I must disappoint you. First thing, I have actually never read the comics, so I wouldn't be able to draw comparisons. Second, from what I can see from Wikipedia, it really is a different storyline from the original comics....wayyyyy different.

With that being said, however, it was a pretty engaging plot that didn't give everything away at once. There was a good element of mystery and mind play, which I like in an action film. Some of the ending scenes could have used a little more "oomph" in my opinion.


What I Liked:

- The 90's humor. While I didn't exactly remember the 90s well (I was, of course, only a tiny child)....some things that were showed in the film I definitely remember. *cough* dial-up internet *cough* *cough* Blockbuster stores *cough* *cough CDs cough*


- The relationship between Vers and Ron-Yogg for about 70% of the film. While I was not quite to the shipping stage, I definitely enjoyed seeing their strong relationship.


- The friendship that developed between Nick Fury and Carol Danvers. The banter between them was wonderful.


- How subtle the feminism was. Granted, the feminism was still present and let's be honest, rather blatant (which I did NOT like in the least). However, compared to other adaptations, this one was much more respectful towards men and wasn't shoved down my throat as much.


- The mid-credits scene. Fabulous.


- The digital de-aging was interesting to say the least. It was so subtle that I didn't pick up on it until after I looked up some articles relating to Captain Marvel in preparation for this post. My guess is that, after the controversy of using digitially-constructed faces on younger actors as they did in Rogue One, Disney got smart and went for de-aging techniques instead. Though as my brother Matthew said to me afterwards that even with CGI being so realistic now, that there is always something "off" about it that sets it apart from reality.



via GIPHY


What I Disliked:

- How crappily the trailer set us up for the film. Really?! No wonder there was so much online trolling launched at this film. It was not Marvel's finest, that's for sure.


- The whole story arc and concept of the Skrulls. I cannot explain in detail without going into a hugely controversial political rant, so if anyone is interested in such a post (which will also include comments on my position of Vers/Ron-Yogg), please say so in the comments.


- How Nick Fury lost his eye. Talk about anti-climatic!!


- I'm very leery about the whole deus ex machina approach they took to Captain Marvel's powers at the end. It seemed almost a game to her - which it may well be, adrenaline will do that to you. As my brother Matthew said, "I could have done without the yelps of joy she had when she was destroying that starship." Which I fully agree with - that seemed just wrong somehow.


- Goose. Okay, to be fair, I did like Goose in the beginning/midde but by the end...she FREAKED ME OUT. Just saying, Flerkens are nightmarishly terrifying. And I think Goose is a terrible name for a cat (or Flerken for that matter) and would have even preferred Chewie (the original comic book name) over Goose.


Content: 

For those who are bothered by shapeshifting, there is a fair bit of it in there. There is, of course, quite a lot of fisticuffs, violence and destruction - this is Marvel we're talking about here. As for lust, there really isn't anything (though the naked mannequin may raise some eyebrows). There wasn't really that much swearing in it either (h--- and a-- are the two that stick out the most) - though there were some rather crude chauvinistic remarks towards Carol at one point.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐



via GIPHY




I'm listening to it again in full on Spotify as I write this review, and I really appreciate the mood that it gives. Perfect use of techno accents among traditional cinema music. My favorite pieces are "Waking Up" and "Boarding the Train".

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐




There is not much that I can say about the cast, except that they were pretty awesome in their roles. Samuel L. Jackson plays a wonderful snarky Fury, Clark Gregg plays a still lovable Coulson, and all the other actors I haven't really seen in other films. I'd heard about Jude Law, obviously, but hadn't really seen him act - I did like him as Ron-Yogg though.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐🟄



via GIPHY




I would rate this movie 3 1/2 stars. My biggest takeaway from this movie is that it was a decent story, but soured by modern politics.

So, the big question is, would I buy this movie?

Well, considering that I've seen it 1 1/2 times, there is a slight possibility. Though I will say that it's not a film that I would repeatedly watch, and so I'm not sure that I would consider buying it or not.


via GIPHY

Well, that's the best answer I've got, Fury. Sorry.


And that's a wrap! What are some of your thoughts on Captain Marvel? Yay or Nay? Did your opinion of cats change after seeing this movie? Anyone ready to protest to Marvel? Chat with me in the comments! 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine 

*Readers see Catherine messing around with her feed board again*
*Readers look away, groaning that it's going to be another goals post* 
*Reader: "Seriously, why can't she think of something else to write?"
*Another reader: "Did you look at the board?" 
*First reader shakes his head and actually looks"
*Reader: HEY! IT'S A REAL POST THIS TIME!!!*

Yes, yes, my long suffering readers. The goals have now been laid to sleep for a while. Since the topics have been rather serious of late, a few laughs ought to brighten things up here, no?

So, this post was written AGES ago, but never published for some odd and obscure reason. The poor thing remained so hidden for several months, gathering dust in the draft pile.

Then Catherine, in a spring cleaning rampage at the end of Camp, picked it up by her fingertips to examine it. Despite a few moldy spots, it was quite a serviceable post, and so it was sent to the laundry to be dealt with.

Now with it's new format, it shall go off to the world.

Readers, behold the first ever life-y snippet post ever undertaken by Catherine Hawthorn. Though I should forewarn you, there are tall tales mixed in...so beware!

*draws back the curtain*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Real incident:

Lots of crash bang booming.
Mom: "Are you okay???"
Catherine: "Yeah, the black hole was trying to kill me again."
Mom: *Laughter and shaking of the head*
Catherine: "What???? I can't help it if my room had a personal vendetta against me!!!"

(Obviously, this was from before I cleaned it out)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A story based on real life:

Sister's hand falls asleep
Brother bumps it/crashes something on it
Brother can't understand why sister is yelling/crying/laughing
Sister: "You don't understand. My hand was asleep and it was just very rudely awakened!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Real Incident:

Younger brothers are kidding around with Catherine on behavior when the "suitors" start coming. They were weighing the various options and opinions as to what the "best" course of brother behavior
 is.

Matthew (oldest of the bunch): "Well, now I can't decide...do I be really weird or really normal?"
Anthony (youngest of the bunch): "I've got an idea...why don't we be half weird and half normal?"
Robert (one of the middle ones): "We ARE half weird, half normal!!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 A True Statement:

The best entertainment in the world is getting a brother to break character (especially when it doesn't take much to do it).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Real Incident:

Getting ready for a trip
Mom: I only need 3 cases of Vitamin energy drinks to go with us, so you can take that fourth case out of there.
Catherine: *removes one case from cardboard box*
Catherine: Hey! I can fit the laundry detergent in here! *shoves box from a squat position* Perfect-ooff!
Mom: As the twenty-odd year old sprawls all over the floor.
Catherine: Well, it's kinda heavy, Mom......

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A story based off of real life:

A senior couple goes to the grocery store. Wife has her hands full keeping her husband from wandering off with a cart full of cookies, pies, donuts, etc. Bonus points if grandkids are along.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Real Incident:

Teenage brothers playing King of the Mountain...on a moving ottoman. Nothing dangerous in that at all.

Robert: "Begone pheasant!"
Family: .....
Robert: "Peasant. I meant peasant."

(Note: No pheasants or peasants were harmed in this incident. A few sides may have sustained injury from laughter, however....)

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Sooooo, what did you think? Funny? Not funny? please say funny Have you or any of your siblings gotten into these kinds of scrapes? Are these snippets worthy of inclusion in a novel somewhere? Any survival tips for dealing with crazy family members? Chat with me in the comments! 

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine

Allow me to breathe a huge sigh of relief and happiness. Because April's Camp NaNoWriMo has ended, and I could not be more satisfied. 

I want to thank Jane Maree for allowing me to be part of the Fellowship of the Keyboards again ;). I also want to give a shoutout to all of my cabin mates: Jane Maree, J.A. Penrose, Slisby, Clare of the Reliquished, Tesariel, MiddleEarthMusician, Swlalos (Nicole), Lila Kims, Florid Sword (Faith), Sarah Rodecker, PepperFlyE (Julian), Nicki Chapelway, Jes Drew, and Appaloosalover!! Y'all are the best writing buddies ever :)

You know what else was awesome about Camp?


Best Parts of Camp:

- With the exception of one new person, I knew every single person in the cabin this year! It was so awesome to do this race with so many of my friends from the blogosphere!

- The orc front was reopened! It was much sneakier than the direct attack in July 2017, seeing as how our Fearless Cabin Leader forbade direct warfare due to camp distraction (oops). We caught some rogue orcs filching comments and leaving them half-eaten, which we thought extremely rude. Attempts to call Strider turned out to be useless, so we had to settle with extra night watches. The orcs tried to make up for it by multi-copying some of the comments, but they were immediately threatened with keel-hauling. So, yes, it was quite an interesting time.

- Figuring out the logistics of transporting cats, researching 18th funeral traditions (never thought I'd say that....), and somehow finding a motley crew of secondary characters (which include an Anglican priest, half a dozen more pirates, a cross fishwife, and another Navy officer).

- Finding a gold mine of sea shanties and other pirate-y music on Spotify. Playlist automatically increasing by a third. *thumbs up*

- All of the writing. Literally the best NaNo event to date so far. More on that in minute.





What I Learned: 

- Adding the second POV was the spark that made me fall in love with this story again. Course that means a little extra editing, but that doesn't matter too much. The important thing is that this story is being told the way that it was meant to be told.

- Sometimes, you have to sacrifice little comic moments because they just don't work. For example, having similar names for a ship and one being misspelled for confusion. After research, you find that everyone misspelled back then and circumstances proved that the characters didn't know the ship name after all. So, that falls flat. Oh well, there are other opportunities....

- Watching period dramas when writing a "period drama"....kinda helps. Even when said period drama is about 60 years after the time period that yours is based off of. Same goes for sea shanties. LOL.

-  Realizing that real place names are better than made-up ones. I'll take Fishcombe Point over Ariel's Cove any day of the week!

Sorry for the huge screenshot of my phone - I can't edit it right now but plan to later on....

That being said, how did writing go? 


This Camp went SO WELL.

It really started with all of the Camp prep that I did in the last two weeks of March. Shortly before I went on my beach vacation, I shared the original draft with my two alphas. After some discussion, I found what the two biggest problems were: the story felt incomplete and needed another perspective, and the grief aspect of the story was very poorly executed.

With that in mind, I spent quite a few hours sitting either on the beach or on the patio of my villa to hash out a new plotline. One that stayed original to the heart of the story but punch it up.

Then I went down a research rabbit hole, and found a story that caught my interest - the early history of the Catholic Church in the American colonies. It was super interesting to read about how the Catholic Church became rooted in America and what factors later lead to the Americanist heresy condemned in the 1800s. 

Using this and other loose plot ideas I had previously thought up, I filled up many a notebook page with ideas and created a loosely structured plot. From there, I started writing on April 1 (yes, even nixed my traditional first-day holiday!). The loose structure allowed for several small pants-out scenes, including my male MCs' adoption of a cat. 

With the second POV woven into the story, the interest in the story stayed high. Whatever I had started to figure out in The White Rose for dual-POVs really cemented in this story, I feel. I'll know better once my alphas review it.

I actually was a lot more consistent and on par with the word count that the Camp website said that I should be at. If anyone remembers my previous Camp attempts, you know that this is almost never the case. There really was only one stint in which I didn't write, and that fell over Holy Week. Church and pirates really don't mix too well anyway.

When I created my goal for this Camp, I expected to come out in the end with a 20k draft, 10k of which I expected to import from the old draft.

Well, it turns out that I was wrong. I did have a 20k draft when I validated my project, but...only about 1.5k of that came directly from the original draft. There were a couple of scenes from the original draft that I completely re-written to fit the new plotline.

Which means that during the month of April, I wrote around 18,500 words?!

Comparing to previous stats.....

July 2017: ~6000 words
April 2018: ~10,000 words
April 2019: ~18,500 words

That. Is. Crazy. It marks the first time that I set a goal and actually achieved it without falling short or lowering my goal. It was a legitimate win - what a wonderful feeling! 

The best part about this is that this is NOT a complete draft like I was expecting. This is 20k of beginning material. The meat of the story still has to be fleshed out! And I haven't really given much descriptions either, which promises for a larger word count later. I noticed that I did a lot more "telling" in this draft than I normally do. I'm not sure why this is, but I plan on fixing that before I make any beta calls.

In short, it was a lot like last years NaNo, with increased performance. But instead of concentrating on the world-building like I did last year, I concentrated much more on plot. More plot = more words.

Now Fair Winds sits as my largest WIP to date with 21k words.


So, what's the plan now? 

This really successful Camp NaNo event makes me wonder what exactly made it so successful. Was it the Camp prep? Was it the lower stress (since I'm unemployed and okay with that)? Is it just the result of more writing practice?? Was it the love of the story?

I suppose there is only one way to find out. And that is to participate in the July Camp NaNo event!

As to which of my stories will be the focus...that will be determined at a later date. It's simply too early to tell.

As for Fair Winds, I do wish to keep working on it for a while. I still feel motivated to work on it and I have the materials to work on it at my fingertips. So, I'll take advantage of the motivation while I can!

How did your Camp NaNo go (if you participated)? What was one of your "best moments" or "lessons learned"? Feel free to share! 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine