A to Z: Stories

I can barely begin to tell you how relieved i was that I didn't have to write a blog yesterday. The boyfriend usually does his blogs beforehand and I leave them to the day, and then to the last minute, and yesterday I was pretty exhausted. I was in need of a good break. So I did some reading and some thinking.

As you may know my sister and I are writing a book, were still working our way through the second draft, but I'm stuck. I have writers block. I was hoping this challenge would help and inspire me, but no such luck so far.

But instead I decided I would read more, and look at how other writers have done it and use that to help improve my own writing. I also thought about doing some short stories about different topics (say, fairy tales or Arthurian tales or something), and though I've had a few ideas, there's nothing concrete at the moment.

So today instead of sharing with you something new that I've written, I'll share with you something older.
It's a short story based on the tale of 'The boy who cried Wolf'. It's short, but I think if I copied and pasted it on here it would take up a lot more of this blog than I would like, so here's a link:

The Wolf-Boy.

Please give it a read and tell me what you think. You would be doing me a huge favour.
Or even better, give me some suggestions for other short stories you'd like to see me write.

A to Z: Mythology

Iris the rainbow goddess, from google.

I've always loved mythology. Any kind of myths and legends, folklore and fairy tales - I devour them all.
When I was little it was always Greek mythology. I knew all about the gods and goddesses, the gorgons and cyclopes, heroes and nymphs. Nowadays, not much has changed, only it's grown to include Roman mythology, and some Norse and Egyptian, and a few more.

One of the best books I've ever read that included mythology was Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods'. Not only was it a very good introduction to Norse mythology, but it was also very interesting, and occasionally funny. Do read it if you get a chance.

Another series of books is Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, and the Heroes of Olympus series. He's also done an Egyptian Mythology series that I've yet to read.But though they're a series for children, they're actually very good. They include many many mythological stories and characters from Greek mythology (and some roman), so actually you learn quite a lot from it too. If you already know a lot of mythology, like me, you can see all of the stories intertwining and appreciate the subtleties if his stories. Maybe read these too?

Hercules (the Disney film) has to get a mention here because it's one of my favourite films. It doesn't deal with any of his trials apart from the Hydra and a scene where they all flash by in a good old song and dance (Zero to Hero, good song). However, it's funny and endearing and I like all the references.

Probably my favourite person/god in all mythology is Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows, also a messenger goddess.

I do have to say, the Roman God Bacchus (or Dionysus in Greek Mythology) was represented amazingly well in Disney's Fantasia. He was the philandering drunk guy riding the donkey in the wine and thunder scene. Zeus obviously wasn't very happy with him.

A to Z: Knight

Today, a how to is in order.This how to in particular is ridiculous and spurred on by lack of sleep. it will probably make absolutely no sense, or possibly just very little sense, and have lots of grammatical and spelling errors. Personally, I'm impressed I can even use such long words in this stage of half-sleep.

How to become a knight.

1. Know King Arthur personally. That or the Queen. Be really really nice to them and they may well knight you. In King Arthurs case you might have to slay a few dragons before the honour is bestowed. In the Queens case all you have to do is be in loads of films, or write some stuff, and preferably be over 50.

2. If I stick with the standard round table knight, you have to have a pretty good name. No Johns or Charlottes. Not when you can have Baldric or Aloysius. Some great Arthurian names are: Galahad, Gawain, Lancelot, Percival, Mordred and so on. See how awesome they are?

Image from Google.

3. Parade around on a horse in full armour for no real reason, preferably looking a little bit haughty and very alert.

4. Speak in Ye Olde Tongue. I'm sure it will help in some form, if only to converse with various old world beings like fairies...and the lady of the lake.

5. Go to a swamp planet and talk to a little old green guy.

6. Become and expert Jouster. It worked for Heath Leger in 'A Knights Tale'.

7. Beat up some mythical creatures. Preferably Dragons or Demons or something. Do it with style and panache and you're onto a winner, you'll be at the round table in no time.

If all else fails, you could always marry the king yet have a steamy affair with his right hand knight. Though the repercussions are pretty bad I've heard it all works out in the end.

The 10 Day You Challenge : 10 Secrets

Picture from Greenestmermaid.blogspot.com

After seeing this Challenge on a friends site (check her out here, she has an amazing sense of style), I was rather intrigued. There are a lot of things on here I haven't really thought about. At least, not for a while. So I'm thinking over the next ten posts I'll be doing some soul-searching and discovering, along with you.

The first is 10 secrets.
I'm not a secretive person as it happens. Usually if I don't want someone to know something I'll sidestep it. I don't like outright lying. But here goes. (This might take a while).

1.  I'm a book addict. It's not much of a secret, but it's a huge part of my life. When I'm not reading a book it doesn't feel right. I have to have a book on the go. To this end I also have a very large collection of books, and have trouble deciding which ones I should throw out/ give to charity because I always think that I might want to read them again.
I also have an amazon wish list the size of Kent.

2. I don't like Cats. At all. Kittens, fine, but not in the flesh. Cats, just no. They're pure evil. As mentioned in my post, Cats are Pure Evil. Of course, not really much of a secret, as I have posted about it before.

3. I worry that I'll never find a job I really enjoy. This probably has something to do with the fact that I'm unemployed. It's also rooted in fears that I can't get at the kind of job I want just yet, because they're not really recruiting in my field at the moment.

4. I love mythology and folk tales.  Pretty much always have. I prefer to read books partially based on them too.

5. I want a Herbs and Spices Rack. Because I enjoy using them in cooking quite a lot. Most of the time it turns out alright, but I have been known to overdo it with the garlic and the basil.

6. I had a goth phase. A very goth phase, in my early teens. Let's not go into it, my fashion sense hasn't really improved that much, I still manage to wear more black than any other colour. I noticed that the majority of my dresses are black and white, or navy blue. And oh, look, I'm wearing a black t-shirt today.

7. I like being alone. Sometimes, you just need a time-out. An hour or two being fully alone is like a small haven. I can watch what I want, read what I want, just think about things or listen to music. Perfect.


Image from Google

8. I cry at films really easily. The top contenders for crying: Titanic, Tangled, Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, The Green Mile. Yep, a Disney Film makes me want to cry.

9. I always have a craft/sewing project on the go. Or an idea for one. At the moment it's a bag made from an old top and jeans. I made the jeans into shorts and am using the leftovers. This time I'll be giving it a go of lining it with a lovely soft fleecey material.

10. I used to write angsty poetry. Now I write epic poetry and alternative fairy tales.

An extra secret, or thing that people don't really know about me, is that I'm an organ donor. i just wanted to mention it as I think it's something people should think about doing.

This has been a lot more difficult than anticipated, and more embarrassing.