1. In the beginning of the month, I visited Lia's house for a week. I read a lot of books while I was there: Wanderlost by Jen Malone, Fawkes by Nadine Brandes, Open Road Summer by Emery Lord, PS I Like You by Kasie West, and The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery. You can find reviews of most of them on Goodreads.

2. Lia and I also watched a lot of movies. They are: Wonder Woman, The Last Jedi, How to Train Your Dragon 1, 2, and 3 (I FINALLY WATCHED THEM BROOKE), State Fair, An Affair to Remember, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 1, and Falling Inn Love (a horrible rom-com, don't even bother)

3. Lia and I recorded 3 new vlogs that Editing Catherine is absolutely thrilled to receive, LOL. They have not been edited as of yet, but I hope to get to it soon.

4. I have re-formatted Fair Winds into an alpha-friendly draft. When I pick this up for the next drafting session, I may be adding a couple of new alphas.

5. The White Rose ended up jumping the editing gun - instead of waiting for betas, I decided to forge ahead with the first round of edits. I grew disgusted with just how messy my first draft was, so I decided to write my second draft before I do the beta call. With the help of my alphas, I'm now creating a new plot outline, and I will be drafting the second draft during NaNo this year.

6. I've become an alpha reader for three projects now, and am heartily enjoying it. All of them are different genres and all of them are on their way to greatness, I'm sure :)

7. New audio obsessions of the month include Skipinnish (a Celtic band), and the Focus on the Family radio drama Anne of Green Gables. I hope to have a review of the latter after I finish it!





For Working by Candlelight, I wrote 1 post: My Favorite History Periods. Because of some personal stuff that had happened, my blogging took a bit of a backstage for a bit.

For the Rebelling Muse, I wrote 2 posts: Summer Bucket List Book Tag and The Marvel Cinematic Universe Tag. I have two "real" posts in the works, that I hope to publish really soon! 

For Rebellious Writing, I wrote no posts. I've elected to take a further step back in my commitment due to some schedule conflicts, but I will still be part of RW as much as I can.

For Maidens for Mary, I have written no posts. I'm off the hiatus, but also off the schedule due to conflicts. No, I am not leaving but I will only be writing occasionally.



1. Finish the additions for TWR.

I got halfway through these additions, bringing the word count up to 48K, my biggest draft ever. But then my book decided to be moody and I started seeing a lot of problems and errors of continuity. So, I decided to halt progress and start the editing process.

2. Start researching building the author platform.

Oops. I forgot about this goal. *facepalm*

3. Record more vlogs with Lia, and edit them. 

Lia and I recorded 3 vlogs in the week's time that I visited with her. But due to personal struggles, I put off editing those vlogs until later.


Hmm, well, that could have gone better....what about the yearly goals?

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


The White Rose ended up jumping the editing gun - instead of waiting for betas like it was supposed to, I decided to forge ahead with the first round of edits. I grew disgusted with just how messy my first draft was, so I decided to write my second draft before I do the beta call. With the help of my alphas, I'm now creating a new plot outline, and I will be drafting the second draft during NaNo this year.


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

I finally made some progress on this yearly goal!! Lia and I consulted "The List" and went through several movies in the 7 days that I visited her. They included:

1. Wonder Woman
2. The Last Jedi
3. How to Train Your Dragon 1
4. How to Train Your Dragon 2 
5. How to Train Your Dragon 3
6. State Fair 
7. An Affair to Remember 
8. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 1

We also watched an extra movie called Falling Inn Love, but we're not counting that here. We're only two movies away from this goal!!!



Well now that September has been mused on enough, what will October bring?

October Goals:

1. Make the chapter outline for TWR
2. Finish the remaining draft posts
3. Finish alpha-reading 2 friend's drafts before NaNo
4. Do the Preptober prompts



And so that ends this wrap-up! Who is ready for the pumpkin spice and apple dishes? I sure am! 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

Hello all!

It's Taggy Tuesday again, and I've got a long-sitting tag just itching to escape from my lair. *evil laughs*. I snitched it from the creator, Christine Smith, whose original answers you can find HERE.

I'm actually surprised that I got away with it, I was sure that someone would have fenced it to me long ago. But oh well. More opportunities for me to spam the post with GIFs then, LOL.

Guidelines (because there are no rules, according to Christine): 

1. Feel free to include the above graphic somewhere in your post (but it’s definitely not necessary). 
2. Take the questions and answer them on your blog (or social media or wherever!). 
3. Tag up to 5 other Marvel fans!

Sounds easy enough!

Everybody ready??



1. How were you introduced to the MCU fandom?

My sis and BFF, Lia @ The Singing Writer. Her family are huge Marvel fans and when she found out that I had never seen ANY of them, she promptly set about to rectify the situation. Most of the Marvel movies I've watched have been at her house, LOL.


2. What's your favorite Marvel film?

It's a tie between Captain America: The First Avenger or Avengers 1.

I mean, I watched Captain America: The First Avenger first, so that's really special. And the storyline of that movie is still my favorite. Most of the other Marvel storylines are either too dramatic or too action-packed for my writerly self. This one also had a lot of vintage vibes which my history loving soul really loved.



Avengers 1 though...was liked for a different reason. And that is all the character dynamics. This movie really is the pinnacle of the Avengers, I think. Every other movie, they were divided either by ideas, space or time. In this one, they actually all worked together for a common cause, which I really liked. I kinda wish the later Avengers (Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Ant-Man, etc.) could have been incorporated without all the drama of Civil War and Infinity War, but whatever.

3. Top favorite Marvel character?

Captain America.

I've even got the merch to prove it. And not just a shirt either. I've got a tea kettle, a seat cover and even floor mats.

I blame my family for finding out my fetish and satisfying it

And no, it's not because Chris Evans is a drop-dead gorgeous specimen of manhood. Far from it, actually.  All that merch has the Shield on it, not *him*.  I actually was ready to not like Captain because of his looks, if that makes sense.That, I think, is not what makes him attractive.

He became my favorite character because of his personality - the soul of his character. He cares about the right things. He is such an adorable cinnamon roll, but a tough enemy.


4. If you were transported into the MCU and had to trade places with one of the superheroes, who would you choose?

Umm, I really like Wanda/The Scarlet Witch's powers, so I would probably pick her.


Though if I could switch places with Peggy Carter, I really would like that better. She counts as a superhero, right?


5. What are some of your favorite quotes from the films?

Good grief, this is going to be interesting to narrow down....


"There is only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure He doesn't look like that." ~ Captain America

"LANGUAGE!" ~ Captain America, The Winter Soldier


"He's a friend from work!" ~ Thor: Ragnarok. Seriously, you need to look up the story behind that line...it's the cutest thing in the world!

"I realize that was the decision made. But given that it was a stupid a** decision, I've elected to ignore it." ~ Nick Fury, Avengers 1


"Vision...we talked about this." "Yes, but the door was closed...." ~ Avengers 1

"That's a yes or no question!" ~ Nick Fury, Captain Marvel


I'm sure that there are more, but I can't think of any more....


6. Which crew would you want to be part of the most: Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, or Revengers?

Avengers, without a doubt. Even though Revengers would be an interesting group, I think I would get along with the Avengers much better.




7. Favorite and least favorite ship?

Favorite Ship: Peggy and Steve. Vision and Wanda's romance is a close second, but this romance....*sigh*

Least Favorite Ship: Steve and Sharon. If he hadn't had a romantic entanglement with her great-aunt, I think this ship would have a better chance of sailing. It never really went much further than a brief fling anyway...which, in my opinion, is the worst type of romance known to man.



8. Favorite and least favorite villain?

Favorite Villian: Yon-Rogg from Captain Marvel. I really REALLY liked him, so much so that I was super miffed that he turned into a "villian". I still have that rant post hiding around somewhere which explains my position on that.

Least Favorite: It's a tie between Hela and Killmonger. I hated both of them.


9. Unpopular MCU opinion?

Umm, I have a couple....

1. I like all of the troublesome Marvel ships for one reason or another.

I liked Natasha's romance with Bruce because she could reach into his soul. Even though I found Wanda and Vision's romance a little weird (I mean, he's a robot....), the care they have for each other is apparent. Sharon and Steve's romance was the weirdest of all, but there was something about them....

IDK. Maybe I am just a hopeless romantic.


2. Yon-Rogg did NOT deserve to be a villain. 

Yon-Rogg actually had a good influence on Vers, even if it was "misplaced". I actually saw him as a mentor character for a while.

Okay, I really am going to have to publish that post now. Because it's just wayyy too complicated to explain this.




I have another unpopular sentiment about Marvel, one that is much more controversial.

And that is that the MCU films are being used as a political tool that slants towards anti-Christian bigotry.

I've caught several instances of mockery of Christ and His Church and the fact that the MCU is increasingly left-wing is alarming. Already there is a shift towards ideologies that I cannot support - this is why I refused to watch Endgame and am now refusing to watch any Marvel movie that comes after 2019.

Call me whatever you wish, but I will not endorse something that goes against my principles and will willingly drop it from my life - unresolved plotlines or no. It's Just. Not. Worth. It.

Do I like Marvel films individually? Sure. I have a couple. I may get a couple more later on. There is some good stuff in there. But there is stuff out there that is better, in my not-so-humble opinion.


10. What's your favorite Stan Lee cameo scene?


Considering my long-standing personal opinion about Tony, I laughed the hardest at this cameo.


Bonus Question: Which Avenger Are You Most Like??

Out of curiousity, I decided to take a Zimbio quiz to see which Avenger I was. And my answer is down below:


Didn't quite expect that, but...it's pretty accurate!

And that ends this tag!

As for tagging, I pass it along to 5 people who have watched a Marvel film in the last....month. Yeah, that's a good amount of time.

Talk to me, Marvel fangirls and fanboys! Which Avengers would you switch places with? Any idea which Avenger you are most like? Which of the Avengers is your favorite? 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

Hey y'all!

I begin again by apologizing to my fellow bloggers for disappearing off the face of the earth again, both posting and commenting wise. August proved to be a hectic month, and so I'm just now getting back into the swing of things.

Anyway, I come today with a rather overdue tag - I had planned on publishing this last month, but time got away from me....again.

This particular gem is from MK @ Sarcastic Scribblings, and it's the Summer Bucket List Book tag! She tagged me not too long ago - just after I completed my two book tags from last year that she had gifted me.

Best friends, I tell you. tsk tsk tsk

I kid, I kid. You can view her responses HERE.

I admit, book tags just don't seem to be my thing? I mean, I tend to recycle a lot of my answers, because I end up perusing my Goodreads library to answer them, and not the actual mental library. Because really, my memory for books can be like a goldfish sometimes.

But we'll give it the old college try!










The romance between Cammie and Zach can only be described as "fiery". And I think MK can agree with me on the one. I mean, what isn't fiery about spies coming up in the middle of nowhere, crashing train rides, and oh yeah, let's not forget all the drama.




I mean, the whole book is basically a journey to the end of the world. It's not a roadtrip necessarily, but it will do, right?




I'm pretty sure that I left a fangirly review of this on Goodreads, so there is no point in repeating it here. I was just so shooketh with the wonderful story and characters in this one. The only thing I can say is that you need to go read it. Now. *shoves readers over*






I had a six hour car ride recently, and this book had just been bought...and so I had a delightfully long while to read this riveting adventure book. I loved it ever so much - it kept me intrigued the whole time. The personification of all the animal characters was really cool - down to the dialects. And the story, even though it's a classic fantasy trope, was really gripping to me. I will definitely look for the rest of this series.

And to think that I almost didn't buy this book....










Peder and Miri's relationship is one of the sweetest romances that I've come across in a long time. There is no real drama, just loving trust between two young persons. One that is built on trust. I long for a romance like that.

Or maybe one like Charlie and Sophie in Letters to Juliet.

And yes, this is totally what I thought of when I read that question.




I haven't read that much Catholic fiction, and so to actually read a book that had the Faith at the center was SUCH a relief! It was super compelling and a great joy to read.

Oh by the way, Lena Donellan has recently published her second book, West of Yesterday, and I totally recommend that you go put it on your To-Read list :).







There were a lot of obstacles for Emily to climb over in this book - a not-so-good engagement, her struggles with her feelings, and the inability to write. The latter being the worst nightmare for any writer. But she's got grit and determination and she wins them all over.





This is a hallmark of The Ranger's Apprentice series, apparently. And I can totally see why.

*stomach growls*





This book actually helped inspire one of my stories, so I will always count it as an inspiration to me. But even if it hadn't done that, I would count it. It's such a great Christian allegorical fantasy story! I mean, it's just an ordinary mom going to save the world!


Welp, that's it! Since summer is pretty much over, I'll be leaving this tag open for any passerbys to snag. Hope you enjoy it!

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine