Greetings from the cave once more!

It is I, the silent blogger, come back from sleep to hold to the traditional monthly wrap-up. Ignore the jiggling leg, who is restless. And the drooping eyes. And please excuse the gum wrappers and the chocolate papers, I meant to clean them up before y'all came.

How have I been coping with this quarantine otherwise, you ask? Let's take a look!



1. I sent The White Rose to betas, and it's being totally shredded to pieces. So far, the world-building, imagery and some characters need to be beefed up in this next draft.

2. I've been brainstorming some new companion stories for the Epic of Verden series. This is besides The White Rose and From the Cave. Two revolve around Janina's siblings, and the one revolves around one of Janina's friends. Still need to hear from betas if they will be well received.

3. Been drafting Shattered Chandelier....and let's just say that things are hitting the usual "Trainwreck" stage. I'm beginning to notice that I don't do well with getting full first drafts together in one drafting period...

4. Been expanding my music library: besides developing Shattered Chandelier's playlist, I've created a wedding playlist (FOR DISTANT FUTURE ONLY), expanded my Easter playlist, and *trying* to find decent pop music to break up some of the country and Celtic. Daughtry has become a recent favorite!

5. My Pinterest re-brand has been happening still...slowly. I've changed a couple of boards, made a few more, and been *trying* to fix my personal page. I swear, you'll tell that I'm a Pinterester if you ever stumble across it.

6. My brother Matthew and I are starting to brainstorm some branding ideas for me. Things like new banners, an official logo, that sort of thing. It will be quite a while before it's done, but I'm super excited as to what he's going to come up with!




For Working by Candlelight, I published 2 posts: The Scrappy Patchwork Quilt, Part 1 and Part 2.

For The Rebelling Muse, I wrote 1 post: The Gripe Speech that Started it All.

For The Cat in the Barnyard, I wrote 1 post: A Quick Update and Slight Blog Focus Change (again). A future post will be: Grass v. Grain Starters: What is Better for Calves?

For Rebellious Writing, I wrote no posts.

For Maidens for Mary, I wrote one spontaneous post: The Significance of May 1 and a Call to Prayer.

Goal #1 (TWR): It's in the hands of beta readers for the next two months and I'm sitting here anxiously waiting for the results. I'm already knowing that I need to do some more world building and fix some minor things in the plot....

Goal #2 (Platform): Pinterest re-brand is still happening, LOL. Though I did take a quick glance at possible agents....

Goal #3 (April NaNo): Drafting has been going slow (but isn't that to be expected?).

Goal #4 (NaNo): No progress. Unless you count the brainstorming of new sequels to the stories as being part of it, which is sketchy at best.

Goal #5 (Movies): No progress. Though with Prime, I may knock out a few?

Goal #6 (Library): No progress. Unfortunately, my state is on lockdown due to the you-know-what, so no trips for me......

Goal #7 (Vlogs): No progress. Definitely procrastinating again. Thinking about scrapping it, because of the length of time that I've delayed.

Hey everyone!!

I'm really REALLY sorry for disappearing into my cave again. You'd think that with all this quarantine going on that I would actually be writing.

Well, truth is, I am writing....on Wattpad. Which, I guess because it's Camp NaNo right now, is where I should be writing....

But I have suddenly realized that I've been holding out on you guys. For years now, I've promised, and promised, AND PROMISED YET AGAIN, that I was going to publish the gripe speech that fathered the idea of Shattered Chandlier in the first place.

For all my old readers - yes, this is the gripe speech in which I defend my Raoul shipper status.

And yes TODAY IS THE DAY which I will finally reveal it. Seems to be a good time, since things have been progressing in that particular story, LOL.

Oh wait, before I jump in, I should really explain what was behind this speech.

Back in 2017 (told you this poor baby was old), I was a senior in college taking a public speaking course. Not that I really needed the credits per se, but I needed the skills (always take a public speaking class when you can, guys. They are lifesavers.)
The second assignment of that class was called a gripe speech. Basically, it's a speech in which you outline a particular gripe and try to sway the audience to your point of view.
Now, Lia had introduced me to the Phantom of the Opera somewhat close to this time. (I think we've established the fact that I have lived under a rock for quite some time, nevertheless, it took me some convincing to watch this one). And let's just say I had some FEELINGS on the subject of Raoul vs. Phantom.

You see....well, maybe I'll just let the speech speak for itself. Enjoy!

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As I'm reading this over again and remembering what I was feeling and why....I've suddenly remembered things that put some of this into context.

Two summers previous to this, I was a 4-H staff member for Penn State Extension. I'm not normally this specific, but in this case I need to. After a really notorious sex abuse scandal by the Penn State football coach Jeff Sandusky, Penn State made a huge restrictive crackdown on youth programs. Besides the extensive background checks and restrictions on volunteers, staff had to go through extensive training on recognizing signs of physical, verbal and sexual abuse. It was NOT pretty stuff.
Because of this training....I saw how abusive the Phantom's treatment of Christine really was from the get-go. Lia couldn't understand it at the time, and to be fair, I couldn't explain my position to her. I just KNEW it was wrong, and I couldn't get behind it.

It was at this time too that I was discovering the hidden meanings behind double language and recognizing impure ideas in songs. It was like a tearing of a veil - I couldn't un-see the images and pretend that they weren't there. That's why I can't listen to "Music of the Night" and "Past the Point of No Return" anymore.

Watching a *legal* copy of POTO's 25th on YouTube because of COVID-19, I've realized that I am a *little* more sympathetic to the Phantom. I can understand his pain, which is more than what I felt when I wrote this. I will also admit that I understand Christine's moral dilemma too, and wonder if I would also be in the same boat if I was in her place.
*sees reference and facepalms*


But even so, every word that I wrote in that speech, I still believe. Whole-heartily. At best, Phantom of the Opera is a cautionary tale.

And that's what I hope to show in Shattered Chandelier.

Phew, that was a mouthful. What are your thoughts on Phantom vs. Raoul? What personal fictional gripes do you have? Chat with me in the comments! 

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine