ABC Book Challenge

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

I borrowed this idea from The Magic Violinist, a great writer and blogger who is always giving me good ideas.

This challenge is to list books that I’ve read, one for every letter of the alphabet (skipping words like A and The in the titles, of course). My list is a little bit of everything – fantasy, children’s books, classics, non-fiction. So here goes!

A – Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse

B – Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

C – The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

D – The Devil’s Horse: Tales from the Kalevala by Keith Bosley

E – Echoes of Mercy by Nancy Alcorn

F – The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

G – The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino

H – The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

I – The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

J – Just-So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

K – Kirsten’s Surprise by Janet Shaw

L – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

M – Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

N – Night Mare by Piers Anthony

O – Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman

P – Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti

Q – Q-Squared by Peter David

R – Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

S – The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

T – The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

U – Ultima Thule: Explorers and Natives in the Polar North by Jean Malaurie

V – Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

W – Wisdom by Bonnie Watson

X – X-Men: Empire’s End by Diane Duane

Y – Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

Z – Zero: the Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife

What about your reading list? Have you hit every letter yet? Please share!

Remember the Time…We Played My Little Ponies?

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

This post is inspired by the current theme of The Waiting Blog – it’s a celebration of back-in-the-day nostalgia.

My love of fantasy manifested early in my life, and some of my favorite toys that I first remember (outside of my babydolls) were My Little Ponies. (Side note – I am glad that I don’t have a young daughter, because I’d be embarrassed and a little scared to buy her the new so-called My Little Ponies. Of course I mean no offense to you if you like the new look. To each their own).

My sister and my best friend also both loved Ponies, so if the three of us got together, we had a wonderful herd of at least a gajillion Ponies, give or take a few. True to my storytelling nature, I loved the complex games we played, the Pony characters that developed, the worlds we built.

I had two of the Moondancer Ponies. One I’d bought, then got the other as a birthday gift; but instead of returning it, I kept it. And thusly, the twin sisters Moony and Dancer were born. I kept the tail of one of them braided and the other loose to tell them apart.

When the My Little Pony babies were introduced, and later the Pony Big Brothers line, I was thrilled, because now at last I could have a nuclear family. Even at a tender age, I somehow understood that in a society of nothing but girl Ponies, there could be no babies. So I set up for myself a blue mommy Pony, a pink baby Pony, and a white boy Pony wearing a fireman’s hat. All was now right with the world. And the fireman’s hat was especially cool.

I had a physically challenged Pony, just to add another dose of realism to this make-believe world. She was one of those fuzzy Ponies, and she was in a rearing position and came with a clear stand. Because of the fuzz inside the holes in her feet, she wouldn’t stay upright on the stand properly, so I played with her down on all fours. Well, that didn’t work so well either, because all of her legs were arranged for a fancy prancing rear. So consequently, she either had to have a block stuck under one front leg so she could balance, or she had to perpetually lean against a wall. The wall was usually easier (for me), so that Pony often got left out of the grand across-the-room-and-down-the-hall adventures.

Then my Pony herd grew again when my friend and I started collecting Breyer horses, and we sometimes played with the Breyers and the Ponies together. Because a pink Pony with green balloons on its rump goes perfectly with a life-like maquette of Secretariat. Good times.

My Little Ponies were just one of my childhood fancies that shaped me into the writer I am today. Never underestimate the power of childhood magic and playing pretend!

Yep, I still have one of my Ponies out on display. Who could say no to that face?

Yep, I still have one of my Ponies out on display. Who could say no to that face?

Zebra Garden

Found Words

Posted in Writings about Writing by

Words are everywhere.

Sometimes they show up unexpectedly. Sometimes they dance, demanding to be noticed.

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Sometimes they’re so common and disguised in the bustle of everyday life that even if they danced, no one would see it.

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Sometimes they’re hiding in plain sight.

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Sometimes they seem like just so much useless clutter. Sometimes they’re artfully arranged, full of hope and meaning.

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Where have you found words lately?

My Superpower

Posted in Writings about Writing by

I am entering this blog entry into a contest by Positive Writer called “You are a Writer.” Check out his blog for links to many other inspiring stories!

 

I’ve always loved stories—the more fantastical, the better. Alien planets, magical worlds, the supernatural living among us—I like it all.

I would wish, sometimes, that I could live in one of those stories. It’s not that I hated my life—I had a wonderful childhood, loving parents, all my basic needs met and a few luxuries on the side. A great environment to grow up in, but nothing special, or so I thought at the time.

I wanted to be special. To be the one who opened the wardrobe door and discovered Narnia. Or woke up in Oz and saved the day.

I wanted to fly with the hidden angel wings on my back. Or wield the magic sword. Or be the holder of the key to the secret land of the unicorns. I played games, and wrote stories, and read stories, and wished I was something special.

Why couldn’t I have a cool superpower like one of the X-Men? How come all the hidden trails in the woods always dead-ended at the edge of the highway instead of taking me to a magical fairy realm? No hole in the ground ever led to Wonderland, no ring I put on ever made me invisible. Nothing special.

Then suddenly one day, not so very long ago, I realized that I was wrong. All these years, daydreaming about things that didn’t exist, were not futile fancies or a waste of time. All this time, I’d been honing my magical talent, my special power.

I could tell stories. I could think of worlds and people that had never existed before, and never ever would if I didn’t think of them and give them life. I could create the places I longed to visit, the amazing creatures I longed to see, and share them with other people.

I’m a writer. That’s my superpower.

I have a mind, and a voice, and a pen. And I can use them to create magic or save the day.

You have a mind, and a voice, and a pen. What’s your superpower?