Top Ten Most Influential Books {Blog Tag}

  Hey everyone! It's reading time! And since I'm still reading One Realm Beyond, I've decided to do a blog tag I saw on Inklined. See original post here. I wasn't actually tagged in this, but I thought it would be fun to try. You're supposed to list ten books that have influenced you greatly. So here's ten books that influenced me. I'm sure there are more, but here are a few, in no particular order. (Also, I would like to mention that the Bible has influenced me more than any other book out there, but that's a given, so these are just other books.)

 

1. American Girl Books -- I'm talking most of the classics here. Samantha, Kirsten, and Addy were among my favorites. These were some of my favorite books I read when I was little, and I loved them. I really do think they helped start my love for story telling. 

 

2. Captive Treasure by Milly Howard -- This was arguably my favorite book when I was younger. I was fascinated by Carrie's story, and in my earlier writing days, many of my stories were inspired by this book... let's just say I tried to re-create it in my own way before I realized that wasn't such a good idea. Since reading this book, I've also tried to find other books like it, but I don't think I've found it's equal yet. At least a similar storyline that holds such a special place in my heart. 

 

3. Raiders From the Sea (and the rest of the Viking Quest Series) by Lois Walfrid Johnson -- Yet another book series that inspired me in my writing. I loved the writing style and characters of these middle grade books about Vikings and the people they capture, and read them, and loved them. 

 

4. The Door Within Series by Wayne Thomas Batson -- This was probably the first book I read that really made me want to write fantasy, this was a turning point since I'd mostly been writing present day, and inaccurate historical before this point.       

 

5. Narnia series by C.S. Lewis -- Before I really was into writing fantasy, this classic series introduced me to the genre. I reveled in the story, loving every aspect. I went through a point of having a fansite, and I even now occasionally write fanfiction. But I'm a diehard bookie, so I always stick to the book version of the story. 

 

6. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale -- Besides Narnia, this may have been the first fantasy I really read. This book sucked me in from the start, and cemented me as a Shannon Hale fan, even though it was the first book I'd read by her. I now own almost every book by her. (Same with Wayne Thomas Batson.)

 

7. The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers (and everything else she's written.) -- I didn't know anything about Francine Rivers until I saw the movie based on this book when I was younger. After that, I just had to read every book I could get a hold of by her, including this one. It was Sin Eater and Redeeming Love that stood out to me the most though. Francine Rivers just has a beautiful writing style, and her work always holds depth to it. She doesn't just write "fluff" but her stories hold something deep and true. She is my inspiration that makes me want to write something of worth, something that isn't just your everyday story, but something that holds deep nuggets of truth entwined in the pages... something that has meaning. She is arguably the writer who has had the most impact on my life. And Last Sin Eater really stood out to me. 

8. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart -- I didn't discover this clever middle grade series until my early teens, but I was immediately engrossed by this story filled with puzzles, quirky characters, and exciting situations. I'm a huge fan, and wish the writer would pen some more, should the inspiration strike. Very inspiring. This story has some amazing and unique characterization. 

9. Replication by Jill Williamson -- This was the first book I read by this author, and I was blown away this book that introduced me to the world of "spec fic." Apparently, fantasy doesn't just have to be a Twillight model (ick), or take place in another world. Spec fic can be fantasy, dystopian, sci fi, etc. I loved Replication... the writing style, the characters... everything! So, of course, I now own almost every Jill Williamson book, and she is one of my biggest inspirations. I want to write my stories in the vein that she does... fantastic stories with truth. 

10. Band of Sisters by Cathy Gohlke -- This is a book to make you think, to make you evaluate. There are so many things going on under our noses, and this one focuses on the horrors of "white slavery," and setting a story that still applies now in the early 1900's. Seriously. Read this book. You'll find yourself wanting to do your part to help free children and women everywhere. 

 So there's my ten! There are so many that I could list like Chasing Jupiter, or Burning Sky, but there's only ten spots. But rest assured, there are many books that have touched me, and many more that I'm sure will. 

 Want to take part in this tag? Go ahead! For now, I'll tag 10 bloggers, but you can do it even if you aren't tagged!

Katelyn

Leah

Heather

Mirriam

Elizabeth

Lily

Brian

Rosie

Victoria

Aidyl 

 

~ a rambling author

   

Characters in Costume

 Today,  I get the pleasure of taking part in Gillian Adams' Characters in Costume Challenge. I'm excited about this, because it's fun to become your character for a few moments. Check out the link to see other amazing costumes, and learn about some stories being written.

 The character I will be using today is not the main character from my story. Elric is the main character from Prince's Quest, but I will be using Anya, a girl who is incremental to the story.

 Here's the blurb for Prince's Quest to start off: Living as Crown Prince of Linaeus isn’t so bad. Elric can live with the whispers behind his back, and the obvious dislike the servants hold for him. But, without warning, his situation changes when King Rath decides to test his son’s loyalty, and see if he really can be a great king one day.
Elric is on a quest, a quest he would rather avoid. Someone in the small village of Redge is publishing false information about the king. It’s Elric’s job to find the perpetrator and bring him- and anyone involved- to justice.
The prince is plunged into a moral dilemma as he evades bandits intent on his capture, searches for truth, and meets a girl who could change his view on everything.
Life is filled with choices. The problem is, making the right one.

 Virtual cookies to the person who can figure out which part of the synopsis' was a reference to Anya. ;)

 Anya is a sixteen  year old girl. I've written her as having honey colored hair, and brown eyes, so I don't look much like her. Also, I didn't have a nice long brown dress, and full apron to wear as Anya would, so bear with me. ;)

Finally, in an almost inaudible whisper, he spoke one word, one name. "Anya?"

                

Her eyes brightened. "A lot of people named their children after the king's three songs. Back in the good days." Ignore the badly blurred background. We live in front of a house, and a bank...

"Great one, I thank Thee today. Thank you for the creation

you've given us. Thank you for bringing me a new friend."

                   

" There's just something about you. I feel I can trust you."

"Anya's a very nice girl."

The moonlight caught her brown eyes, and as they shined, Elric saw something he didn't want to see: fear.

           
       I know that's a lot of photos, but my brother did such a wonderful job of taking the pictures, and I liked so many of them. These aren't even the entire set. It was so much fun to dress up as a character, and get pictures taken. If you're a writer, or just a reader who loves a character from a book, you should dress up sometime. It's a great experience, and only takes a few minutes to shoot.

 Thanks for hosting Gillian! I enjoyed it. :)

~ a rambling author

The Next Big Thing

Firstly, I apoligize for my lack of posts. It's been a busy couple of months. If I get a chance I'll cue you into all that was happening in a later post. For now, let's say a lot of writing has been going on, and Prince's Quest is almost done! Now onto the subject of my post...

 The Next Big Thing blog hop! Okay, so this is one of my first blog hops. My friend RJ tagged me. Well sorta. She tagged whomever wished to try it out, and since I'm so excited about my new project, I volunteered. This blog hop is about your newest project. So here we go!


Title: Baby, It's Cold Outside

Where did the idea come from?: It's interesting the places you can get ideas from. During the Christmas season, whenever I got up in the morning/went to bed, I'd turn my alarm clock radio on to play Christmas music while I dressed etc. One evening, I was writing some words in Prince's Quest, when the song 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' started playing. One line stuck out to me. "Say, what's in this drink?" Suddenly my mind was racing. Did the guy in the song drug the girl? But why? Is he some type of creepy serial killer? Or... could there be another reason? It didn't take long for the plot to formulate.

Genre: Er... this is still blurry. I'll say Thriller/Suspense/Adventure.

Short Synopsis: Samantha Barlow returns to the town of her childhood, filled with an urge to visit her best friend until high school- Paul Brandon Mullins, and confront some of the demons from her past. He’s excited to see her, invites her to his living room, and before they know it, night is growing near. They sit by the fire, chatting and drinking hot chocolate, when Samantha says she should leave. Paul reminds her that it’s cold outside, since snow began to fall a few hours before. He insists that she at least have one more cup of chocolate before leaving. She agrees at last, and in a few moments grows drowsy, wondering just what was in that drink.
 Samantha wakes in a basement, accompanied by Paul who seems to be reliving a memory from the past. With the door locked, temperature dropping, and no way out, how far will Brandon go to relive his memories, and the horrible things that happened in them?

 My theme is God's love can cleanse all fears.


How long did it take to write the first draft? The first draft is still being written, but I hope to have it finished within a month or two.

What other books in this genre compare? Uh. I'm not sure what books. Maybe some Dee Henderson, or Terry Blackstock novels? The plot reminds me of crime shows, though.

Agency Representation: None as of yet.

What actors would play your character in the movie version? I've never considered the actors... this should be interesting...

 Maybe for Sam, my main character... Amy Adams? But with green eyes. This is the person that comes to my mind when I try to think of an actress.

 This is Jung Yong-hwa, a South Korean actor. He's basically the perfect Richard Lee, especially when wearing glasses and hat like the photo on the right. Except Richard doesn't have earrings. ;) Richard is a really sweet guy that it doesn't talk about in the synopsis, but he's actual a big part of the story. Kind of the light in darkness. But enough.

This is the hard one. I'm thinking either Nicholas Hoult,  or Jake Gyllenhaal for Paul. I'm leaning towards Nick. I mean... does this not look like the perfect disturbed young man? No offense to the actor...

 So still thinking about that. Three more characters to go.

 Detective Patrick Walker. Yes it's the SHIELD guy. Actor's name is Clark Gregg. This is the guy on the case in my story. Couldn't find anyone else for the part.

And lastly, Alex Pettyfer and Elle Fanning as Sam's younger siblings Charlie and Danielle.

Who or what inspired this WIP?: The song 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' as well as many other things. You never know what's going to inspire you. Look for stories everywhere, it may just surprise you! I never expected a Christmas song could inspire me to write a suspense story!

 This was so so much fun! I loved finding people who remind me of my characters! And telling about the crazy things that inspire me. A year ago, I wouldn't have dreamed I'd be writing suspense. I'm more into medieval fantasy. But things will surprise you! I hope you enjoyed this quick glimpse into my newest project!

 I tag whoever wants to do this, like RJ did. It's a lot of fun!

 ~ A rambling writer.

Game of Elevens! :)

 I have been tagged by both Sarah from The Writer's Way, and Katelyn from The LIfe of a Teenage Writer in a fun blog tag kind of post. :)

 So here are the rules-
 1) Post these rules
 2) Round One: Post 11 random things about yourself
 3) Round Two: Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post
 4) Round Three: Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
 5) Go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged
 6) Post a link to your . . . post on the blog of your tagger, so they can see the questions you've answered.


 Since I've already posted the rules, I guess I'll move on to round one. The random things about myself!


 1. I'm insane, but in a good way, of course.

 2. If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be England, to visit one of my best friends. I'd also like to see Ireland and Italy.


 3. I play the piano.


4. My favorite food is beef stroganoff!


5. Some of my ancestry contains Irish, German, English, and Cherokee Indian.


6. I have three brothers at home, and one sister married.


7. When I was little I always wanted to be an artist.


8. Two of my brothers and I circulate who does dishes. I'm stuck with Wednesday and Saturday, which I think are the worst days. :P


9. I love kids! I'm one of the children's church leaders at my church.


10. my favorite thing to drink is actually water! I don't think there's anything like a cold drink of water.


11. I don't get sick on roller coasters. :D


 Whew! That wasn't so bad... Now, round 2. I'm going to really be answering 22 questions! lol. I'll start with Sarah's...

1. If adventure beckoned, would you accept gladly or decline the offer? Um. Um. Um. I love to read about adventures. Depending on the type, I think it would be very interesting to go on an adventure! So I'll give a hesitant yes. :)

    2. Take this test http://similarminds.com/jung_word_pair.html and tell which personality type you are and why. My type is ESFP. Which means... "Entertainer." Why? Well... I answered the questions the best I could and... I have to say, I do enjoy entertaining. I mean... I love acting in musicals, which is a form of entertainment. :) And I love to make people laugh, so I guess it describes me pretty well.

   3. Do you judge based on fairness or feeling? Urgh... Well, I'm going to confess. I'm rather rash, and probably make decisions based on feelings a lot of the time. I'll try to be better though :P

   4. Are you intuitive (follow your gut feeling and inner self) or sensing (follow your senses to what is logical)? Eh. I'd have to say I'm intuitive. Yup.

  5. What do you want to be an an adult and why? As far as "job" goes I would love to be a writer/stage actress/possible film maker. I love to craft stories, create characters, and fall in love with the book I'm writing. I also love to share it, and let other enjoy (or not enjoy :P) my stories. It would be nice to have something of me for future generations. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a grandchild read your book? And acting... I think it would be fun to start a theater group, but this would probably be more for fun then anything. And film making. I think it would be neat to be a film maker. I could write and possibly act in movies! My problem is finding the crew to work with :P (And the expense of course.) But mainly, I would say writing.

6. If you had to choose when you die, when would it be? Um. Maybe when I'm 100? Or later :P It would be nice to live to old age, as long as I had a loving family to take care of me.

7. After you choose when, how would you prefer to die? I've always said if I have to die, I'd like to die in my sleep. Then I'd be at peace and in Heaven, and nobody would have to suffer. :)

8. What is your favorite mythological creature? Here's a toughie! I'm gonna go with... faun, this time, since I'm a Narnia nut. :D

9. Do you have a unique talent or feature? What is it and do you like it? Lol. This question is a bit awkward for me since I don't like talking about what I can do or whatever, so I asked my mom. She says I can sing.  I have to say I do like it. I love singing, especially when I'm using it to glorify God, my creator!

10. Are you excited to make up your own questions? Uh, not really! :P This could be hard!

11. If you could have your 15 minutes of fame what would it be for? I think it would be amazing to save someone's life. :)

 Now I'll answer Katelyn's questions...

1: Could you live without computer/internet? Hmm. I suppose I could *LIVE* without it. But I do like it. And need it. Especially for doing such writerly things as blogging, and word wars/sprints.

2: What is your favorite book (Fiction or non-fiction)? Hard one! This time, I'm going to go with... The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers. I love this book. It's so wonderful and amazing. *sigh* I also love Wayne Thomas Batson books, and The Mysterious Benedict Society books.

3: Do you like sports or hate them? As far as playing goes... I only like a couple. Mainly, volleyball and softball. As far as watching. I don't watch. Only the Olympics. (Mostly that is.)

4: What is your most hated chore? Um. Well, my chores aren't that bad. I'll just go with washing the dishes when it's late, or after a tiring day and you just want to sit down.

5: What is your favorite song or song genre? I love soo many songs. My favorite genre is Southern Gospel, and some Broadway stuff.

6: If you could go back or forward into time, what time period/year would you go? There are so many that I would love to visit. I'd like to go back and meet my Grandma, so at least 16 years ago.

7: If you could have any other name, what would it be? Erg. I like my name. But I used to like the name Emma.

8: What is your least favorite movie? The Boy in The Striped Pajamas. Seriously. It was so sad and depressing. I only watched it once.

9: When you don’t feel like blogging, what do you do? I write my book, watch movies/tv shows, talk to my friends/read books.

10: What is your favorite outdoor activity? Walking. Riding my bike.

11: Um . . . . I'm about out of questions. Did you enjoy this? It was pretty fun! I'm dreading the next step though :P

  Now it's time for round 3, and my questions. *Gulp*

1. How many siblings do you have?

2. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?

3. What does family mean to you?

4. What's your favorite color? Why?

5. Can woodchuck really chuck wood?

6. What's your favorite movie?

7. Have you ever been skiing, bungee jumping, zip lining, or any other exciting thing?

8. Do you play any instruments?

9. Mexican food or Italian?

10. Pride and Prejudice or Chronicles of Narnia?

11. Favorite candy?

 Tag time!

 Emma @Ingredior Per Rex

 Nick    @Writing Fire

  RJ      @Virtuous Girlhood

and... I'm just going to re-tag Sarah and Katelyn, cause I want to see them answer my questions :P If they want to anyway.

 And there you have it! Thanks for the read! :D