Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

I'm opinionated when it comes to, well, everything. But I'm especially passionate about great writing. Right now, I'm re-reading what has become my favorite book, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It's like Harry Potter for adults. Meaning, everything in the book, character, plot, pace, prose is elevated.

The basic plot is about two magicians in early 1800s England. If it sounds like The Prestige (although, that book/movie took place in the late 1800s/early 1900s), it's not. In this book, "magicians" are resemble wizards more than stage magicians. They perform spells and manipulate space and time, etc. Mr. Norrell is the elderly magician, obsessed with his books. He believes he is the only man responsible (and scholarly) enough in England to be called a "magician." Jonathan Strange is the younger, brasher magician. He is vain, yet charming (think Hugh Grant with a spellbook). These two unite and clash over and over again throughout the years. This book is technically a fantasy book, but it could also reasonably be called a historical novel. Now, I normally don't read historical fiction, because I think it's well, dorky. But the history in this book makes the magic all the more believeable. For example, there's a good deal of the book devoted to magic used against Napoleon and the French during the Napoleonic Wars. The magicians make armadas of ships out of rain, conjure dragons to chase the enemy and even wake soldiers from the dead in order to find out what they know.

The tone of the book varies from humorous to wickedly scary. The dry wit of Susanna Clarke's narrator most resembles Jane Austen. Just like Austen, Clarke pokes fun at Regency England society and its foibles. This is book is by far the most "British" book I've ever read. It's a sort of throwback to the kind of books that were written during the Regency period. It's a traditional three volume novel. At one point in the novel, Jonathan Strange tells a friend his wife won't "have time to finish a three-volume novel."

As Strange suggests, this is no afternoon read. It's 782 pages. And I don't mean 782 Harry Potter pages. The type is tiny, not to mention, there are hundreds of footnotes throughout the book. That's right. Footnotes. Clarke likes to reference books that are completely from her imagination. She also inserts little fairy tales in these footnotes, causing them to sometimes take over four entire pages. The author is quirky to be sure, but these little anecdotes are so interesting that by the middle of the book, you look forward to those giant footnotes.

I've had the book checked out for over two months and I'm only halfway through. I only have time to read a couple of chapters a day, though. It's one of those books that you live in for weeks. Clarke has created the most detailed world I've ever experienced in a book. It's not a page-turner (although, the last 200 pages are incredibly scary and exciting), but it's worth the time you put in it. In my opinion, well-written are rare these days. This book is a real treat, not to mention it's squeaky clean. Although, I wouldn't recommend it for kids. Not only would they not understand most of the historical references, some of the book is pretty brutal.

If you like Harry Potter and Jane Austen (and have a lot of patience) I would recommend this book. It is worth the work, I promise! It's a fairly popular book so you should be able to find it at your local library or bookstore.

I've heard rumors they are working on a film version of this book. I would love to adapt this book into a screenplay (or three screenplays!). That would be a dream job, for sure. Although, it would probably take a few years . . . I have a million more things to say about how awesome this book is, but I realize I've blabbed on for waaayyyy too long . . .

So I got a new calling this week. I'm now second counselor in the Primary. I'm excited because I really care about those kids. I've been the music leader for almost a year . . . and I'll probably be in charge of music for a few months until we can get a new music leader. We're kind of running low on callings lately. Anyway, the calling is a lot more work than my last one but I'm kind of grateful for that. I'm not exactly where I'd like to be in my life right now, and it's frustrating. Having a busy calling is exactly what I need because it'll distract me from my own problems. So wish me luck. I think this new calling will be great.

This week has been crazy. Charlie is sick yet again. I was so excited last week because we finally got him off the nebulizer. Literally, the day after I put the machine away, he started wheezing again. He's had a crazy cold that will not go away. So I'm sure he'll be on treatments for another month or two, get better, then he'll get sick again just like he did last spring. Well, at least he's getting better. Monday night he was acting like he had the stomach flu and it was, well, disgusting and traumatizing for me! I'll leave it at that . . .

Here's to better health for all of us!

Snow . . . and some "Lost" mania

It snowed this week, and in true Southern fashion, none of it stuck. Well, we had a dusting. It was so lame. We've had so much snow this winter, but none of it is sled-able. Maybe we'll get a good one soon . . . Charlie was excited about the snowfall. I took him out on the deck for just a minute so he could feel it. Then I rushed him back inside and he threw a fit. So I tossed his coat on and took him and the camera out in the yard. He loved it. He held his mouth wide open most of the time, trying to catch the snow in his mouth. I wondered how he knew it was edible. Then I remembered that this is the child that eats paper daily. He probably just thought it was tiny bits of paper falling from the sky!

After the snow, things warmed up a bit and I took Charlie to the park a few times. We have this playground almost a mile away from the house. I push him in the stroller over there--it's good exercise for me, and for him. Can you tell that he's excited about playing at the park?

Unfortunately, the ground has been wet and every time, I somehow wind up with muddy pants. The worst was when we went down the slide. I wasn't aware it was wet and I had to walk almost a mile home with mud butt! Not to mention there were like, a million cars driving by that day for some reason . . .


And finally, another reason for Charlie to disown us as parents. Yes, I dressed him up for the season premiere of "Lost." What's worse, is this isn't the first time. Last year, as a four-month-old, we dressed him up like Locke. Charlie had no hair back then, so Locke was the obvious choice. We even drew a scar on his face! I'm not sure we have a picture of that one. This year I dressed him up like Mikhail . . . pretty good job, right? Boredom and obsession are a bad mix!

The "real" Mikhail.

Charlie as Mikhail.

If you haven't seen this show yet, you're depriving yourself of total awesomeness. Just so you know . . . So go watch Season 1 online now! I think that ABC should start paying me residuals for how many people I've converted to this show. Everyone I've recommended it to becomes a total addict like me. "Lost" is the best drug ever! Go get hooked!

New Card and Scrapbook Page

I made this card for one of my VT people . . . it was her b-day. I think this card would have been waaayyy better if I had added stitching . . . but I was really lazy and didn't feel like pulling my sewing machine out. I thought it came out really cute anyway. I got the "flower person" tag from one of those copyright-free vintage images books. I'm obsessed with vintage stuff right now. It's kind of funny, because it's really not my style. I usually gravitate to more graphic, modern patterns. But I'm loving this card right now. The quote says, "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is."

It's kind of ironic I used the word "nature" in the title, because everything in this picture is staged. This picture was not taken outside, but inside the butterfly room at the TN Aquarium. We planted the butterfly on his shoulder. At least his smile is genuine! That's all that really matters . . .

This butterfly was on a tree and I was trying to coax it to fly towards Charlie. It was kind of ugly, and it really didn't want to touch it. Then out of nowhere, this crazy old lady wearing a fanny pack (always an indicator of psychosis) grabbed my hand and pushed the butterfly on it. I did not want to touch that thing. It had these nasty hairy legs and its body was literally the size of my pinkie. I told her I didn't want to but she made me. It was so crazy. Well, I guess it's crazy that I enjoyed having a python on my shoulders, but I didn't want to hold a butterfly.

At least we got a cute picture out of the experience!

"Really" Bad Words

This picture has nothing to do with what I'm going to write about. For some weird reason, I feel obligated to put at least one picture up in each post. Anyway, this is Charlie doing one of this favorite new things: scribbling. I've kept him from coloring up until now because I'm terrified of him coloring on my Mom's walls. He loves to color, but we only do it in a controlled environment . . . we'll see how long that lasts . . .

Now I have to warn you . . . this post is about writing. But don't judge me. A lot of the rules of writing I'm discussing I break on this blog all the time! That's why I love having a private blog. I know my family and friends won't judge me. I just want to share thoughts and feelings with you guys, uninhibited. So, if you see a misspelled word or grammar misusage . . . keep it to yourself, smart guy.

As most of you know, I've written two screenplays. I'm going to enter them into a contest called the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. It's organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That's right. The Oscar people. Ooooh . . . Anyway, they give away a few $30,000 fellowships a year in this contest. If you are a semi-finalist, they will send out information about you and your screenplay to producers and agents all over Hollywood. For an unknown screenwriter, that is prize enough. But then again, $30,000 sounds nice, too. It's not just about the money, though. There was a guy at this screenwriting conference I went to last year who had gotten Honorable Mention in this contest a few years ago (for the screenplay, Finding Forrester, which, of course, became a successful movie starring Sean Connery). He said the day before he got Honorable Mention he had zero messages on his voicemail. The next day, he had over eighty. So even placing in this contest is a big deal. Not to mention, this guy has gone on to write more screenplays, such as The Rookie (starring Dennis Quaid). Nice, right?

So, my goal for the past seven months or so has been to finish these two screenplays and send them in to the contest. The deadline is May 1st of this year. I knew one was finished, at least as far as story and plot goes. All the major work was done. I went back and read my other one in progress about two weeks ago and I was super pleased to find that it was "finished," too. That was such a relief. I honestly didn't know how I was going to have enough time to finish it and "polish" it. Polish, meaning, making sure every single word on the page is perfect. Screenwriting has to be the most technical form of creative writing there is. There are very specific rules for . . . everything. And it has to be perfect, or no one will mess with you because they assume you're an amateur.

So, I was relieved. Then, I started to "polish" it. I used a sheet I got at that conference as a guide. It had a list of "bad" words that weaken writing, such as: is, are, the, that, then, walk, sit, stand, look, just, begin, start, really, very, and pretty much anything ending in "ly." Obviously (uh-oh! "ly"!), you do have to use words like "the" or "is," but used in certain ways, they weaken a sentence. I won't go into details, because it's super boring. Anyway, these rules were not new to me at all. I've got an English degree, so I've spent hours upon hours editing papers. I know these things. And yet, I could not believe how many of these words popped up in my script! To give you an idea . . . my script was 108 pages when I started. Now it's 104 pages. I think these words are words we rely on when we don't know exactly how to say what we want to say. I don't edit myself as I write because it totally inhibits the process. I can't write about a character's deepest feelings if I'm worried about using "the" the wrong way.

It's been a horrible, taxing, boring experience to edit this thing. Now I understand why people cringe at me when I tell them I'm a writer or that I have an English degree. Now I understand why people hate English! And yet, in a sick way I still love it. Last night I was flipping through the paper and I cringed when I saw this headline: "Some Dog Breeds Really Are Better for Families." Ugh! The "really" is so unnecessary! Can't you see how addictive this is? Newspapers are a gold mine for finding "bad" words.

So, I have to go, because, believe it or not, I still have more editing to do. Now I have to pick apart my formatting. I'm not sure I'll write a post on that because it is really involved, and frankly, really boring.

I have some cute Charlie pictures to post soon, so stay tuned for that . . . that is, if this post didn't bore you to death!

Snakes and Scrapping

This picture taken last weekend at my niece's birthday party at the zoo. It was definitely the coolest kid party I've ever been to. I went secretly hoping that I would get to take a picture with a snake. I love reptiles . . . I know, I'm kind of sick. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with the snake, but there were a bunch of kids in line to hold him. At least I got to have my Britney Spears moment! This is so going to be my new Facebook profile picture. Sorry, Charlie. Snakes have more street cred.

So here are some pics of scrapbook pages I've done in the past year. One of the main reasons I put this blog up was to share them, but I just haven't gotten around to it. And as you can see, I really need to have John take the pictures of them from now on! The colors are all off, etc. Let me know if you can't see them well enough . . .


This one ("Safe") is the most recent one. I did this a week or two ago. I felt a little guilty because it literally took me all of five minutes to do. The paper (and picture--which I took!) is just so freakin' awesome that I didn't have to add much. I really love it.

This one is my favorite . . . ever. Here's what the journaling says: "You are not even a month old in this picture, yet there is so much written on your face. Your eyes are so full of trust it scares me. Your faith in me makes me want to be a better mother. You believe in me, so I want to believe in me."

This is a horrible picture, so sorry. It says "A Name & A Blessing." Ugh. Maybe I'll have to take another picture of this . . .

The journaling for this one ("Incredible!"): "John and I were watching The Incredibles" on TV, when Jack-Jack popped up on the screen. We immediately burst into laughter because we couldn't believe how much Charlie looks (and acts!) like Jack-Jack. It was INCREDIBLE!"

Let's Dance

Is this my kid, or is this my kid?  

Christmas

We had a good, busy Christmas. I'm really happy it's all over, though. Growing up, it was always just my parents and my siblings on Christmas. Nowadays, I can't have a Christmas gathering without at least 15 people there. I'm grateful to have all my family in one place. But sometimes, it's really overwhelming. So, I'm happy we had a great Christmas with all our loved ones in one place . . . but I'm also overjoyed it's all over!

Here's Charlie in his snappy Christmas outfit . . . thanks, Mom and Dad!

Here was Charlie's big gift from us. He's a big fan of Mater from the movie Cars.

On Christmas morning, Charlie walked in the room and the first thing he saw was Mater. He smiled and just ran right over to him. He knew that present was just for him! That is the reaction I've been waiting months for!Now, I've got to talk about this present. Grandpa and Grandma Flynn got Charlie this talking bear. It's sort of like a Teddy Ruxbin thing. Now, when you see a fuzzy stuffed bear, you would imagine his voice being squeaky and cute, right? Kind of like the Snuggles bear? This bear sounds like Alan Rickman. It sort of creeped me out. But as soon as I turned that thing on, Charlie went crazy. He loves that thing! He started to sing, and Charlie just hugged and kissed him over and over. Charlie will be screaming bloody murder, and if I turn on that bear, he just stops and smiles. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!

I think we'll name the bear . . . Severus.

Finally, Merry Christmas to me! I got to go shopping. Here's what I got . . . and for under $70!

I actually got one other pair of pants with the money, but I was wearing them at the time I took the picture . . . My favorite is the blue dress. Originally $115, I got it for $13! Bless Belk and their red dot clearance sales! I almost didn't get it because I thought it was too flashy, but Mari, my eternal shopping partner, convinced me. Now, I'm sooo glad I got it. Thanks, Mari!