Help?

I need help with Maurelle's story. I have a character named Jacque, and I am trying hard to not make him perfect. I am having trouble coming up with faults for him, though. This is his personality:

He is in the last stage of training to become a knight. He is humble, very protective, and loyal. He wants to do his duty as best he can and to become a knight. He is good at tracking (as in going-through-the-woods-following-a-trail).

I don't want him to be perfect, but I can't think of faults that he might have. Are there any suggestions?

Maurelle snippets

I finally finished my first chapter – hurrah hurray hurrah!
Here's a few of my favorite snippets:

I stood awkwardly in the hallway as the men talked. It was the finest hallway I had ever seen. The very walls seemed to hold themselves up straight, and the carved figures in the molding seemed to sniff haughtily at me.

My first paragraph!

§

We stepped into a large, dim building. I could hear horses stamping and whinnying to each other like gossipy old women. I glanced away from the horses and back to the steward.

§

I couldn’t talk. My throat seemed to have closed. I nodded, mutely, and left the decrepit shack without another word. I ran almost the whole way, then collapsed beneath a tree before I reached the house. The sky had clouded over, and there was a wintery chill in the air. My sobs were lost in the wind, and I was glad of it. I didn’t want to see anyone or speak to anyone. I didn’t want to be alive.

Waffling

Or, I couldn't pick a title

A somewhat busy weekend.  So much going on, I had lots of title ideas. I thought of 'Sopping wet and aching all over,' which sounded nice and dramatic, besides being painfully appropriate for this morning. Or 'I have no talent with a curling iron – or, the sadness of graduations.' That would be good, too, because I tried (note the word tried) to curl my hair for the homeschool graduation we went to yesterday, and I can really do wonders with a curling iron (as in, 'it's a wonder how bad that looks!').

Or maybe, 'Birthdays and goat cheese and what they have to do with each other' which was maybe my personal favorite since thinking about goat cheese makes me feel so nice. :)

However, waffling was the best, since I couldn't decide at all.

After that extremely boring explanation, here's what my weekend has been like:

Saturday was my birthday. It was nice, warm (82º, which I can't complain about since thunderstorms were forecasted), and we had goat cheese – with hummus, homemade chive & cheddar crackers (recipe to follow), and blackberries– for lunch.

We found the recipe for crackers here. They were a little bit strong in my opinion, but my mom and dad and sister liked them, and they were great combined with goat cheese (!! makes me so excited !!) or hummus. Note on the recipe: we didn't soak & dehydrate any of our sesame seeds or sunflower seeds and it worked quite fine. I never knew it was so easy to make crackers!

Sunday we went to graduations. It's sad to think of drama and youth group being so different without all the seniors. I wasn't that close to any of them, but it'll just be a little weird with all of them gone.

And today... (drumroll, please).... I ran (sort of) a 5k! It doesn't look as good with the 'sort of' but it wouldn't be completely honest without it... We ran, walked, ran, walked, the whole way (in about 45 minutes). In the rain. This was no light sprinkle. This was a thunderstorm. Not kidding a bit. It poured. I was soaked – jacket, pants, shoes, socks, shirt, and everything underneath. 

There ought to be a word for when your completely soaked, to the point where you think you can't be any wetter, and then you step in a ankle-deep puddle. :)

Anyways, it's been a good weekend. I've got to get back to Maurelle – I remodeled both her and her story. One major thing was that it starts with her just arriving, instead of her having been there for 5 years or whatever. I think that's better because she isn't so jaded and moody and set in her ways. I think this Maurelle has the potential to get that way, but right now she's just curious and a bit frightened. I like her better, and I like my beginning better this way.

Ta-ta for now!

ℒady Awdur 

Beautiful Song

Follow this link and play the first song:

Comptine D'un Autre Été: Laprés Midi (from Amelie)

It is soooo pretty. I have no idea what Amelie is about... but I love the music...

Beauty and the Beast

A few months back (October, in fact), The Hatter and I made a video together. I told her I would put it on my blog, and I did not. That was when we had our old computer, the one that would take many hours longer than this new one to simply put the video on my blog. But I have no excuses. Hatter, I am sorry. Here it is, long due:

I'm sorry it's so small, I can't figure out how to make it bigger.

Last day of reading buddies.

I am sad. This was the last day of reading buddies. Yesterday was my last day with Piper. Today was my last day with Isabel.
Yesterday the secretary gave us a picture of all of them, which they had all signed. It was so sweet.

It's extremely blurry, but you can sort of make out who they are. :)
Piper is on the far right, and Isabel is next to her.

We gave each one a note, and Nan and I both added a P.S. that roughly said:
Mrs. –––
I love your daughter and would love to babysit her! Here is my phone number:

So hopefully I'll get to babysit them this summer, and maybe read next year. They can always use more readers! *HINT HINT*

THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!

-Quote from the play I was in (Mortimer, Arsenic and Old Lace)

Once again, I.... Yep! You guessed it. Have an idea for another story. *sigh* I don't want more ideas... they're rather tiring. But I just keep getting them. And I CAN'T just abandon the idea after I get it. You see, I love my little ideas. Especially when they're so young and cuddly and inviting and just bursting with possibilities! The beginning of the story is always the most fun (except maybe the last sentence).
But I wish I didn't get so many ideas; I love each and every one, but they come so often and there are so many of them! And most of them are just ideas for a setting, a character, or a storyline. They don't come fully-formed; I have to work at them.
Each one is a piece of a story, begging me to put some time and words to it. Time and words, that's what makes a story.
This story is about a girl who lives in a hospital/orphanage run by nuns in the dark ages. The people who live there are either nuns or people who are hurt. Her "sister" is mute; I think she might be lame.
Perhaps this could tie into my journal-style story about a deaf girl (or was she blind?) in the middle ages...

Grrr. I have so much to do and so little time to encourage all these little story buds...

Mushrooms!

I just had to share this picture because the mushrooms look so... perfectly mushroomy.
I must say: I'm not a mushroom person. I'll eat them. But I don't really enjoy them. However, I love the idea of eating them. :) It's a very romantic idea.

Winter days

This is my dog, dressed for the weather. Even with all his fur, he needs a cap for these brisk, winter mornings! Though 42º (Mr. Weatherman says it feels like 32º) isn't bad for winter... On May 4, however, it's a bit strange.
I usually don't blog about the weather. It's usually not an interesting topic. But considering that only last Tuesday I was blogging about how considerably hot it was, and just last Thursday we had snow here, I thought it worth mentioning.
(Note: This picture was actually taken in February, but I thought it fit.)

Anyway, I love blustery weather and the excuse of being able to wear cardigans and scarves a little longer – though I rather hope it will be more springy by my birthday.
It's a lovely world: full of surprises and unexpected turns! I asked for cold; and here we are!



This is what I feel like: Rainy and Romantic; I feel like curling up with some Beatrix Potter and a cup of tea...