tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64231496115173236542024-03-14T08:35:48.838-05:00A Curious Thrill Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-39259247399206497492016-08-20T15:27:00.000-05:002016-08-20T15:27:20.169-05:00The End of An EraHello friend.<br />
<br />
I have some important news to share. This will be the final post on A Curious Thrill.<br />
<br />
As of August 1st this blog has moved. You can now find me on my new Wordpress website, <a href="https://rebeccafoxwrites.wordpress.com/">Rebecca Fox Writes</a>.<br />
<br />
We've had a good ride on A Curious Thrill, but it's time to move. Time to spread out, and discover new things.<br />
<br />
But there's no need to say goodbye. Everything we enjoyed on A Curious Thrill has traveled with me--all the original posts. The new platform allows me to do even more with the great start that this blog provided.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I'm working on building fresh, focused content that I think you'll really enjoy. So, would you join me?<br />
<br />
Once you reach my new site, I encourage you to scroll to the bottom of the page and follow the blog to get updates when I share a new post. If you were subscribed to A Curious Thrill and would like to continue getting updates you will need to resubscribe.<br />
<br />
Thanks for the memories. See you at the new place:<br />
<a href="https://rebeccafoxwrites.wordpress.com/">https://rebeccafoxwrites.wordpress.com/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-13817917594653030212015-12-10T00:00:00.000-06:002015-12-10T00:00:09.559-06:00God is GoodIf you're anything like me, your social media feed is filled with good news. Whenever I open my Facebook or Instagram I am met with the beaming faces of another happy couple, another snapshot of adventures in far-off lands, another success or happy memory. And smiles. Lots and lots of smiles.<br />
<br />
Many times the happy announcements are accompanied with a comment about how God has blessed the individual or about how good God is.<br />
<br />
To be honest, these posts are not always easy to see.<br />
<br />
Please, don't think I'm asking for the joyous announcements to stop. On the contrary, I love to celebrate the victories and the happy times. And we should celebrate. Please go on sharing with friends far and near the joys and triumphs of your life. (I've done it myself.) Let us join together in praising the Lord for what He has written in your story. Because they are blessings from God!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>But gifts don't always come with neat bows and shiny paper. Sometimes they come with stains. </b></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrshaDVeaZ-Hfi_PgkNRvLV-NQfu2gdxpptrho4GobPDTgEJCi6BP_3s8alt9c8-lsD2-JJKwR05-iETQHt0iI8n1IOaw_3R_PQPLE2DqdH9DCV1tqTQoOXjcajkS1eoKBqx9sp_qXcNAs/s1600/Bridge+in+Mist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrshaDVeaZ-Hfi_PgkNRvLV-NQfu2gdxpptrho4GobPDTgEJCi6BP_3s8alt9c8-lsD2-JJKwR05-iETQHt0iI8n1IOaw_3R_PQPLE2DqdH9DCV1tqTQoOXjcajkS1eoKBqx9sp_qXcNAs/s400/Bridge+in+Mist.jpg" width="262" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
When we're unable to identify with the place of joy we need to know that these are not the only stories. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
I haven't had the best of semesters. In fact, the last two years have carried disappointment after disappointment. I've watched long-held dreams slip out of my reach. I've stood by as people I love have struggled with depression, with disease, with disappointments, with death. Right now, I'm stuck in a place of confusion. Paths that I thought ran straight and clear before me have suddenly disappeared in a tangle of plot twists.<br />
<br />
As much as I genuinely enjoy joining the celebration, a slithering, slimy fear worms its way through my insecurities.<br />
<br />
"If God is good to these people and He shows His favor and blessing by giving these gifts, why doesn't He give them to me?" It's a lie. A filthy, powerful lie.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>We must destroy the lie with the truth.</b></div>
<br />
When you're lonely and wondering if anyone will love you. God is good.<br />
<br />
When your body betrays you, and the muscles don't work or the cells don't reproduce the way they should. God is good.<br />
<br />
When the application to your dream job (or any job, for that matter) is rejected. God is good.<br />
<br />
When the numbers don't match, and the bills keep coming. God is good.<br />
<br />
When you meet with failure everywhere you turn. God is good.<br />
<br />
When life is slipping through your fingers like sand no matter how you try to cup your hands. God is good.<br />
<br />
When you lay in bed begging God for answers or don't feel like talking to Him at all. God is good.<br />
<br />
Just as good as the day you marry the love of your life, discover the calling for your days, welcome a child into the world, buy a house, or get a promotion.<br />
<br />
God's goodness is not based on circumstances. God <i>is</i> good. That's a verb of being. Goodness is a part of His divine nature. He cannot be anything but Himself.<br />
<br />
He was good yesterday. He is good today. He will be good again tomorrow.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What if your healing comes through tears</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What if a thousand sleepless night are what it takes to know You're near</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise." </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
- "Blessing" by Laura Story </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-56004916656521960552015-06-21T15:49:00.000-05:002015-06-21T15:49:18.735-05:00A Midsummer's Anniversary <div class="MsoNormal">
Nearly four years have come and gone since the idea for my
everlasting novel-in-progress sprang into my imagination. It’s been a full four
years – with good times and painful times all mixed together. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://acuriousthrill.blogspot.com/p/my-work.html">Beautiful </a></i>has traveled alongside me in
the transition from high school to college. I have known periods of glittering
inspiration and all-too-frequent periods of creative drought. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wrote my first novel in a year and a half. Over and over again
I wonder what is taking so long this time. Four long years and I have just over
55,000 words and 200 pages. According to my estimations, the manuscript might
be halfway done. It’s easy to get weighed down with frustration and impatience.
Fear is my enemy yet also my constant companion. Too often I find myself
running away from the writing. Why doesn’t it come as easily this time? What if
I’m not good enough? The voices of insecurity and doubt clamor in my heart
every time I sit down to the as-yet empty page. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Still, I believe in this story. I believe that Estelle's tale needs to be told. </i></b> </h4>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI9zSnrDYAgOzDyRXAysa9-EZSeVVX6ukmoayv1bnyMCoamHPDx6mtZtQiUhs-B92WMQcZbEMFXcPkx-9NutkNEIdVAFb6FEJ-pRYDlJ0Ceo83P6Jj6mTPvglrxKVcZo-Au07zpWuGLlw/s1600/Beautiful+Cover+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI9zSnrDYAgOzDyRXAysa9-EZSeVVX6ukmoayv1bnyMCoamHPDx6mtZtQiUhs-B92WMQcZbEMFXcPkx-9NutkNEIdVAFb6FEJ-pRYDlJ0Ceo83P6Jj6mTPvglrxKVcZo-Au07zpWuGLlw/s320/Beautiful+Cover+2.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful </i>is
deeper than any other story I have written. Discovering the words to tell this
tale means wrestling with some of life’s deepest questions and facing my own
dreams, fears, and insecurities spelled out in ink that hides nothing. It is a
terrifying, wrenching experience that can also be exhilarating—a lot like
growing up. The girl that began to write this story is not the same girl that
writes today. Neither is the story. We’ve come a long way together, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful </i>and I, and this is only the
beginning of the adventure. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On this approximate anniversary, however, I want to take a
moment to celebrate how far this story has come. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I began to write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful
</i>at the beginning of my junior year of high school for a class, Advanced
Creative Writing. That class changed my life. I became a serious writer during
that semester, learning the tools and mindset that goes into crafting a story.
It sparked a hunger within me to become the best writer I possibly could.
During my senior year, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful </i>blossomed
under the mentorship of Anne Elisabeth Stengl (check out her awarding winning
novels <a href="http://www.anneelisabethstengl.com/">here</a>). I say blossomed but I also mean ripped to shreds (in the best
possible way). Anne Elisabeth pushed me to stretch my ability and my
imagination, to test the limits of the story. I discovered both my strengths
and weaknesses as a writer and storyteller, and I would not trade that
experience for anything. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful </i>gained
clarity and direction in plot and theme while I began to mature as a writer and
to grasp just how much work awaited me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful</i>’s
fourth birthday I celebrate the teachers who have come alongside me. I
celebrate the moments when sweet friends have sat for an hour or more listening
as I tried to tell them the story that was welling up within my soul. I
celebrate the times when the room fades away, and I walk alongside my
characters down castle corridors; but I also celebrate what I’ve learned in the
times of pain when just typing the next sentence presented the greatest of
obstacles. Most of all I celebrate that God has given me the passion, desire,
and ability to wield words. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>This story—and all stories—belong to Him, for He is
the Great Storyteller. </i></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look forward to the
day when I can share this story with all of you. Until then, how about a sneak
peek from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rough </i>draft? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The sky was still dim when Estelle
rose. It was early and the birds had not yet begun to sing. Although, Estelle
doubted if even the songbirds would dare to lift their chirruping voices on
that day of all days, Midsummer's Eve.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Tip-toeing across the floorboards
she knew to creak, Estelle pulled open the window shutters. Immediately, the
humid air flew in her face and filled her lungs until she felt as though they
were filled with cotton. Her skin squirmed under the pressure of the saturated
air. Or was it really the sense of breathless, whispered apprehension that
cloaked the town? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
There would be no ordinary day’s
work today. No trace of smoke curled above the blacksmith’s forge. No farmers
trekked through the morning mists to the tending of their fields or piled
produce for market in the square. Rather, the villagers lingered beneath the
concealment of the thatched roofs as if they could hide just a few moments
longer from the mountain’s presence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Ridiculous, surely. The mountain’s
shadow crept to their very doorsteps, slipped beneath even the most tightly
sealed doors, and settled in their hearts. Yet Estelle could not deny the
temptation to slam the shutters closed and do likewise, but now that her name
was sealed into the Summons she forced herself to face the towering Mountain of
Lamir. That shadow was her new reality, she reminded herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She may be a fool but she would not also be a
coward. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Estelle emerged from the cottage,
shutting the door softly behind her and cringing at the relative loudness of
the latch slipping into place. She placed a hand protectively over her apron
pocket where the forged Summons was concealed inside her book. She did not dare
to leave it behind. If her mother should find it…Estelle shuddered to consider
the possibility.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
An uncomfortable fluttering
sensation filled her stomach and rose into her heart as she stepped into the
desolate street. She cast glances over each shoulder, searching for peering
faces in the windows. The hated feeling of exposure consumed her. There was
nowhere to hide, should anyone care to look. The road ran east to west with the
emptiness of the sky stretching in an arc overhead. If she had turned to the
east she could have walked until the street cast off the crowding cottages and
shops, trading them for the adolescent corn that flanked either side. She could
have walked until the street turned from dirt to gold, running into the flaming
disc of the sun that was just beginning to clear the edge of the horizon. But
that was not her course. Turning her back to the sun, Estelle lifted her chin
high and made for the westward edge of the village. As the sun consumed the
eastern end of the road the western stretch of the same ran first into still
shade and finally into the hard mountain slopes. Two opposing forces they
seemed at this time of day. At one end the sun casting glittering rays across
the fields and at the other the dark of the mountain blotting out all else.
Although they might fight for dominance now, the mountain would surely win. The
sun might shine bright and distracting in a clear sky, but as the hours
progressed it would be drawn silently into the mountain’s shadow until the
mountain devoured it entirely, swallowing its light. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The mountain always won.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-11424154107581389512015-06-01T00:00:00.000-05:002015-06-01T00:00:02.261-05:00Fairy Tale Writing Contest <div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Attention Fellow Writers! I'm excited to share with ya'll an incredible opportunity and an exciting challenge. Without further ado...</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.rooglewoodpress.com/">Rooglewood Press</a> is delighted to
introduce their third fairy tale novella contest—<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3mCHFDG4Utta4nOUwtFYYT8eWE_U6CzUvEMSznMk4EAGfE_SseuUHc-i_kcxdbl7LSSuUDrGmSNBCTrmf_GeaYIh83XpNR-XqOnybsDk7EyMKBRRJXthPC-CCgz4RfnE6JUAu8OYcD2Bf/s1600/Five+Magic+Spindles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3mCHFDG4Utta4nOUwtFYYT8eWE_U6CzUvEMSznMk4EAGfE_SseuUHc-i_kcxdbl7LSSuUDrGmSNBCTrmf_GeaYIh83XpNR-XqOnybsDk7EyMKBRRJXthPC-CCgz4RfnE6JUAu8OYcD2Bf/s640/Five+Magic+Spindles.jpg" width="412" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Five Magic Spindles<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">a collection of “Sleeping
Beauty” stories<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The challenge is to write
a retelling of the beloved fairy tale in any genre or setting you like. Make
certain your story is recognizably “Sleeping Beauty,” but have fun with it as
well. Make it yours!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Rooglewood Press will be
selecting five winners to be published in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Five Magic Spindles</i> collection, which will be packaged up with the
phenomenal cover you see here. Maybe <i>your </i>name will be one of the five listed?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
All the contest rules and
information (how to enter, story details, deadline etc.) may be found on the
Rooglewood Press website. Just click <a href="http://www.rooglewoodpress.com/#!writing-contest/c22i6"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HERE</b></a> and you will go right to the
page.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Rooglewood Press’s first
collection,<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Glass-Slippers-Collection-Cinderella-ebook/dp/B00KWMZ9WA/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1428080960&sr=8-1&keywords=Five+Glass+Slippers">
<i>Five Glass Slippers</i></a> is available for purchase, and our second
collection, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Enchanted-Roses-Collection-Stories-ebook/dp/B00Y49A0B2/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1432653932&sr=8-1&keywords=Five+Enchanted+Roses"><i>Five
Enchanted Roses</i></a> is scheduled to launch on July 27, and is currently
available for pre-order<i>. </i>Be certain to get a copy of each and see what
previous winners did with their wonderful retellings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This cover illustration was rendered by Julia Popova, “ForestGirl.” You can find out more about this gifted artist on her website: <a href="http://www.forestgirl.ru/">www.forestgirl.ru</a> </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Well, I'm in. I have to say, this may be the most beautiful cover design for these contests yet. Anyone want to join me? Help us spread the word. If you're a blogger, feel free to grab the blog button and include the link to the contest details. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.rooglewoodpress.com/%23!writing-contest/c22i6">http://www.rooglewoodpress.com/#!writing-contest/c22i6</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-74733918136245146832015-02-21T00:00:00.000-06:002015-02-21T00:00:00.288-06:00Story Starter Saturday - February <div class="MsoNormal">
Ready to give your imagination a workout? Whether you
consider yourself a writer or not give today’s story starter a try and see
where it takes you. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How does it work?</i> Write
a poem, a story, a list, a dialogue, a description, or a song. Draw a picture. Play
the word association game. Set the timer for 10 minutes and do a free write.
Create a new character or put yourself in a new situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See where the words and images take you. You
never know what may happen. Even if an idea isn’t going anywhere to begin with,
you may be able to use it some other time. Create a notebook and keep your
story starters and scraps of inspiration for later reference. See last month's Story Starter <a href="http://acuriousthrill.blogspot.com/2015/01/introducing-story-starter-saturdays.html">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Places have stories just like people do. </b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>What story do you
see hiding in this picture? </b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6GtmGpHclhjDt2cvseeKZh8AyKifyK4hBYedlQWzAYZG-USX3TtPcxKbKWMHeJwQkApTbZr5YgRphXnYaYIMUbOL79A7Fg4Vnaw7-5dTCo7Fyy_dni0cwlB-F-ZaNrPRz5iwEknCiJKd/s1600/Old+Farm+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6GtmGpHclhjDt2cvseeKZh8AyKifyK4hBYedlQWzAYZG-USX3TtPcxKbKWMHeJwQkApTbZr5YgRphXnYaYIMUbOL79A7Fg4Vnaw7-5dTCo7Fyy_dni0cwlB-F-ZaNrPRz5iwEknCiJKd/s1600/Old+Farm+House.jpg" height="640" width="441" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Via Pinterest</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What stands out to you? Does it remind you of a place you
have been or imagined? What does the picture not show? Notice the contrast.
Focus on a single detail. Explore. There are innumerable stories to discover.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Have fun! Share your first line or
what approach you took in the comments below!<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-23189391272542623462015-01-31T00:00:00.000-06:002015-01-31T00:00:01.216-06:00Introducing: Story Starter Saturdays <div class="MsoNormal">
Today I am excited to announce a new feature here at A
Curious Thrill! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Story Starter Saturdays will take place one Saturday a
month. They may be in the form of a picture or an opening sentence, a setting
or a sound. Anything! These story starters are intended for everyone, writers
and non-writers alike. We can all benefit from stretching our imaginations and
our writerly muscles. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Write a poem, a story, a list, a dialogue, a description, or
a song. Play the word association game. Set the timer for 10 minutes and do a
free write. Create a new character or put yourself in a new situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See where the words and images take you. You
never know what may happen. Even if an idea isn’t going anywhere to begin with,
you may be able to use it some other time. Create a notebook and keep your
story starters and scraps of inspiration for later reference. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Now, without further
ado, here’s your first prompt:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmJ9-doTBSbIw2sO27p5C74A3dEZ_x1aCtrgypjZQFMqPFOPg5MC2fIk2jQ7CtLx5pt-_HwSTEvfEsQQnt4DXQWg5SKSVhC536TfwBMQOXa17tFeevdpbXef3DJctPmW8GGgXVwRZQtDV/s1600/Message+in+a+Bottle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmJ9-doTBSbIw2sO27p5C74A3dEZ_x1aCtrgypjZQFMqPFOPg5MC2fIk2jQ7CtLx5pt-_HwSTEvfEsQQnt4DXQWg5SKSVhC536TfwBMQOXa17tFeevdpbXef3DJctPmW8GGgXVwRZQtDV/s1600/Message+in+a+Bottle.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NOW GO!<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Need some help?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take some time to really study the picture. Search out those
tiny details that you missed the first time. What do they tell you? What don’t
they tell you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where did this bottle come from? Where is it now? Who sent
it? Who received it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does the paper inside say? What do you notice about the
water, the sand, the bottle?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Have fun! Share your first line or
what approach you took in the comments below!<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-45602379895171437152015-01-16T00:00:00.000-06:002015-01-16T00:00:05.508-06:00Draven's Light Cover Reveal <div class="MsoNormal">
Today is a very special day as I have the delightful honor
of participating in the cover reveal for Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s forthcoming
novella and Tale of Goldstone Wood, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Draven’s
Light</i>. The treats in store include a beautiful and haunting cover, an
intriguing storyline, and a thrilling excerpt from the novella. And don’t
forget to enter for your chance to win!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnbXmuAMS-ttGCz2CNQDnAOedBZbeC4Bg5BQx2ZkFVdrb0lWLba_WA7ZrcqieGfOGJozFveRl_TpetEI9VwuEf7zI1FkprBG4t7P99in9JFqsAKMznipO_6V2UtZLGIRnSGdd-W_Zwjc0/s1600/Draven'sLightCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnbXmuAMS-ttGCz2CNQDnAOedBZbeC4Bg5BQx2ZkFVdrb0lWLba_WA7ZrcqieGfOGJozFveRl_TpetEI9VwuEf7zI1FkprBG4t7P99in9JFqsAKMznipO_6V2UtZLGIRnSGdd-W_Zwjc0/s1600/Draven'sLightCover.jpg" height="640" width="415" /></a></div>
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<b>In the Darkness of the Pit<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>The Light Shines Brightest</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><br /></b>
Drums summon the chieftain's powerful son to slay a man in cold blood and thereby earn his place among the warriors. But instead of glory, he earns the name Draven, "Coward." When the men of his tribe march off to war, Draven remains behind with the women and his shame. Only fearless but crippled Ita values her brother's honor.<br />
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The warriors return from battle victorious yet trailing a curse in their wake. One by one the strong and the weak of the tribe fall prey to an illness of supernatural power. The secret source of this evil can be found and destroyed by only the bravest heart.<br />
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But when the curse attacks the one Draven loves most, can this coward find the courage he needs to face the darkness?</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coming May 25, 2015</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8le0TgUgsfcpU7pizyo1p5BwtZAXZQ1m41kLp9yFFE0VhQR_rLOkLJPZvCMivr_6OTfhkl5ToNtEgr9mXsv8U2qFaRjzCsqW8K17oav-dLKpKdAsjckGOdtjGEvG295m7wbMnA_tqUhne/s1600/BlogButton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8le0TgUgsfcpU7pizyo1p5BwtZAXZQ1m41kLp9yFFE0VhQR_rLOkLJPZvCMivr_6OTfhkl5ToNtEgr9mXsv8U2qFaRjzCsqW8K17oav-dLKpKdAsjckGOdtjGEvG295m7wbMnA_tqUhne/s1600/BlogButton.jpg" height="265" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dravens-Light-Anne-Elisabeth-Stengl/dp/1942379021/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420992526&sr=1-10">Pre-order <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Draven’s Light</i> today!</a> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTCZ7GgN3mfPEGoBljWAPqt3s-mIET4gb0n2DCYWaB1PgJkxqFQmJum1ivjXDV9BvY__BJhiUSMoC1N5B7tBoJ-unYcXxqqvBKIACKCkOA9lqHARIOqktXV_pVNbCDSla_nhqCUpMRPSB/s1600/Author+Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTCZ7GgN3mfPEGoBljWAPqt3s-mIET4gb0n2DCYWaB1PgJkxqFQmJum1ivjXDV9BvY__BJhiUSMoC1N5B7tBoJ-unYcXxqqvBKIACKCkOA9lqHARIOqktXV_pVNbCDSla_nhqCUpMRPSB/s1600/Author+Photo.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ANNE ELISABETH STENGL makes her home in North Carolina,
where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a kindle of kitties, and one
long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and
tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She is the author of the
critically-acclaimed Tales of Goldstone Wood. Her novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Starflower </i>was awarded the 2013 Clive Staples Award, and her novels
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heartless, Veiled Rose, </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dragonwitch</i> have each been honored with
a Christy Award.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To learn more about Anne Elisabeth Stengl and her books
visit: </span><a href="http://anneelisabethstengl.blogspot.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.AnneElisabethStengl.blogspot.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd5247642/" id="rc-0cd5247642" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script><br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Excerpt from<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">DRAVEN’S LIGHT<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
By Anne Elisabeth
Stengl<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
(coming May 25, 2015)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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He heard the drums in his dreams,
distant but drawing ever nearer. He had heard them before and wondered if the
time of his manhood had come. But with the approach of dawn, the drums always faded
away and he woke to the world still a child. Still a boy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But this night, the distant drums
were louder, stronger. Somehow he knew they were not concocted of his sleeping
fancy. No, even as he slept he knew these were real drums, and he recognized the
beat: The beat of death. The beat of blood.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The beat of a man’s heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He woke with a start, his leg
throbbing where it had just been kicked. It was not the sort of awakening he
had longed for these last two years and more. He glared from his bed up into
the face of his sister, who stood above him, balancing her weight on a stout
forked branch tucked under her left shoulder.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Ita,” the boy growled, “what are
you doing here? Go back to the women’s hut!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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His sister made a face at him, but
he saw, even by the moonlight streaming through cracks in the thatch above,
that her eyes were very round and solemn. Only then did he notice that the
drumbeats of his dream were indeed still booming deep in the woods beyond the
village fires. He sat up then, his heart thudding its own thunderous pace.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“A prisoner,” Ita said, shifting
her branch so that she might turn toward the door. “The drums speak of a
prisoner. They’re bringing him even now.” She flashed a smile down at him,
though it was so tense with anxiety it could hardly be counted a smile at all.
“Gaho, your name!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The boy was up and out of his bed
in a moment, reaching for a tunic and belt. His sister hobbled back along the
wall but did not leave, though he wished she would. He wished she would allow
him these few moments before the drums arrived in the village. The drums that
beat of one man’s death . . . and one man’s birth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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His name was Gaho. But by the
coming of dawn, if the drums’ promise was true, he would be born again in blood
and bear a new name.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hands shaking with what he
desperately hoped wasn’t fear, he tightened his belt and searched the room for
his sickle blade. He saw the bone handle, white in the moonlight, protruding
from beneath his bed pile, and swiftly took it up. The bronze gleamed dully,
like the carnivorous tooth of an ancient beast.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
A shudder ran through his sister’s
body. Gaho, sensing her distress, turned to her. She grasped her supporting
branch hard, and the smile was gone from her face. “Gaho,” she said, “will you
do it?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
“I will,” said Gaho, his voice
strong with mounting excitement.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
But Ita reached out to him
suddenly, catching his weapon hand just above the wrist. “I will lose you,” she
said. “My brother . . . I will lose you!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
“You will not. You will lose only
Gaho,” said the boy, shaking her off, gently, for she was not strong. Without
another word, he ducked through the door of his small hut—one he had built for
himself but a year before in anticipation of his coming manhood—and stood in
the darkness of Rannul Village, eyes instinctively turning to the few campfires
burning. The drums were very near now, and he could see the shadows of waking
villagers moving about the fires, building up the flames in preparation for
what must surely follow. He felt eyes he could not see turning to his hut,
turning to him. He felt the question each pair of eyes asked in silent
curiosity: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Will it be tonight?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
Tonight or no night.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
Grasping the hilt of his weapon
with both hands, Gaho strode to the dusty village center, which was beaten down
into hard, packed earth from years of meetings and matches of strength held in
this same spot. Tall pillars of aged wood ringed this circle, and women
hastened to these, bearing torches which they fit into hollowed-out slots in
each pillar. Soon the village center was bright as noonday, but with harsh red
light appropriate for coming events.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
Gaho stood in the center of that
light, his heart ramming in his throat though his face was a stoic mask. All
the waking village was gathered now, men, women, and children, standing just
beyond the circle, watching him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
The drums came up from the river,
pounding in time to the tramp of warriors’ feet. Then the warriors themselves
were illuminated by the ringing torches, their faces anointed in blood, their
heads helmed with bone and bronze, their shoulders covered in hides of bear,
wolf, and boar. Ten men carried tight skin drums, beating them with their
fists. They entered the center first, standing each beneath one of the ringing
pillars. Other warriors followed them, filling in the gaps between.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
Then the chieftain, mighty Gaher,
appeared. He carried his heavy crescent ax in one hand, and Gaho saw that blood
stained its edge—indeed, blood spattered the blade from tip to hilt and covered
the whole of the chieftain’s fist. Gaher strode into the circle, and the boy
saw more blood in his beard. But he also saw the bright, wolfish smile and knew
for certain that his sister had been correct. The night of naming had come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“My son,” said the chief, saluting
Gaho with upraised weapon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“My father,” said Gaho, raising his
sickle blade in return.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Are you ready this night to die and live
again?” asked the chief. His voice carried through the shadows, and every one
of the tribe heard it, and any and all listening beasts of forests and fields
surrounding. “Are you ready this night for the spilling of blood that must flow
before life may begin?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gaho drew a deep breath, putting
all the strength of his spirit into his answer. “I am ready, Father.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
Gaher’s smile grew, the torchlight
flashing red upon his sharpened canines. He turned then and motioned to the
darkness beyond the torchlight.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The sacrifice was brought forward.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you for sharing this preview with us, Anne Elisabeth! May cannot come soon enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-89521340468653216022014-11-08T00:00:00.000-06:002014-11-08T09:29:02.685-06:00Piper's Moon - Part Two<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Wondering what will become of Absalom, Hanne, and baby
Liesl? Here is the conclusion of “Piper’s Moon.” <span style="text-align: center;">If you missed the
first installment, you can catch up <a href="http://acuriousthrill.blogspot.com/2014/11/pipers-moon-part-one.html">here</a>.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Piper’s Moon<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Part Two<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Nothing in Hanne’s previous tirade could have been more
horrible. Absalom’s heart crashed like a boulder into his stomach; his chest
seemed to cave inward until it had squeezed every bit of air from his lungs. He
had sworn years ago never to uncover those memories, never to let them once
again romp through his mind wreaking havoc as they went. But the memories, he
reminded himself, had not stayed memories. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The girl waited. She looked younger than ever now, Absalom
thought. Hardly more than a child herself. How could she understand? She would
call him a liar at best, declare him a lunatic at worst. Regardless, if he told
her she would never let him come near Liesl, much less allow him to save the
child. Exhausted, Absalom sank into a rickety chair, rested his elbows upon the
table, and covered his face with his broad hands. “It’s my fault.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He did not have to see to sense how Hanne shifted away from
him, readjusting her hold on the baby in protection. “What is?” she asked, but
Absalom did not doubt that she knew quite well what he meant. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom hadn’t realized how his hands still shook. But now
he did, with them pressed over his forehead, his large and calloused fingers
upraising his grey-tinted hair. “I should—should have stopped him. I should
have killed him when I had the chance.” He looked up and found that Hanne sat
across from him, fear shining in her eyes. The already sparse light in the room
had dimmed. The candle flames that only moments ago danced on their wicks now
seemed to have collapsed in upon themselves. Shrinking away from him, as anyone
should.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Who is coming for Liesl?” Hanne asked again, her voice
strangely calm <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He could sit still not longer. Not under Hanne’s gaze.
Absalom started upward and his turbulent motion upset the chair, sending it
clattering backward. They both jumped. When he had caught his breath again,
Absalom began. “He is the piper. Long ago I knew him,” he said, waving his hand
through the still air. “It was a different time, but I knew what he had become.
Yet I did nothing. So you see that I am to blame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“This piper came in the night. He played his tune and wove
his magic. You cannot hear the tune that he plays unless he wants you to hear
it. He plays with enchantments, bending them to serve his purposes.” Absalom
paused and gulped for air, but it tasted too thick, swelling until his mouth
and lungs ached as though filled with cotton. “But he probed too far, incurred
a debt, and so became enslaved to the magic. He turned on all of us, everyone
he knew. His desperation soon turned to madness. I tried to defy him, but he
had grown too strong. He defeated all but one—my father. Then the piper went
away. Foolishly, I thought he was gone forever. I had hoped that he had
forgotten me as I tried to forget him.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom paused before the door. How thin the wood of the
door and the plaster of the walls seemed all of a sudden. How very little lay
between him and anything that might wait in the night. He found it hard to
swallow. “But he’s back now. He’s back and he’s trying to pay his debt. Who
know what becomes of the one’s he takes?” He passed his hand over his eyes.
“I’m never going to see my children again. But at least I can give Liesl a
chance. Please, let me save her, Hanne.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The girl stared in the wavering candle flame. “How?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leaning against the table, Absalom lowered his voice. “Only
one man an protect your daughter now. I can take you; I have made arrangements,
but we can’t delay any longer.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Because the piper is coming?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom nodded, and then moved to stand beside Hanne. “Liesl
was born under the moon’s blessing. That is why he missed her, but he would
never leave behind so blessed a child.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She chuckled. “Blessed?” Hanne blinked through glassy eyes
at Absalom. “She has no father and I can give her nothing, yet you call her
blessed.” She smiled and gently trailed a slender finger over the fuzzy tufts
of hair on the child’s head. Then, in a quivering voice, she said, “It is the
only way?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The baby stretched in her sleep and the mother smiled
fondly. “Then I suppose we should leave,” Hanne said and her voice caught. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They took the north road. Absalom pushed them at a swift
pace until they had reached the cover of the trees and the village fell out of
sight. Hanne moved like a phantom, clutching the bundled babe against her
breast and never once turning to glance back. Whenever the child waked and
whimpered, Hanne would shush gently and sing softly a lullaby. As they went
along, Absalom listened closely to the air, searching for a trace of pipesong.
The forest, too, listened. No breeze moved to stir the air or rustle the
leaves.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The moon slid across the vaulted sky. They followed the road
for miles, but at last they turned away, into the heart of the forest. To Hanne
they seemed to be striking out blindly. Dry leaves and bits of branches and
needles that the trees had cast aside crunched beneath even the girl’s slight
tread. Absalom, however, moved without a sound and seemed to follow some hidden
path. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Absalom,” Hanne whispered uncertainly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He halted and held up a hand. “Shhh. Listen.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBruTuvrjfYXfG0sZsaOrpylcy4MdjyGumBZ6_4WNMDThaHtej27fnBFlG_CV7-_sKoKF1gMyYwwB6n8E05ee-2IUn6lEVk-VXd9ANg92tKneIjczGV4BnHqN2_Y7j-Y5Z3rdxV606VKv8/s1600/Old+Mill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBruTuvrjfYXfG0sZsaOrpylcy4MdjyGumBZ6_4WNMDThaHtej27fnBFlG_CV7-_sKoKF1gMyYwwB6n8E05ee-2IUn6lEVk-VXd9ANg92tKneIjczGV4BnHqN2_Y7j-Y5Z3rdxV606VKv8/s1600/Old+Mill.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Via Pinterest</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hanne clamped her mouth shut and her heart banged against
her ribs. She did her best to cover Liesl’s ears. She listened for the music
that Absalom had warned her about, but heard nothing. Only crickets and the
distant trickle of water. Absalom straightened and hurriedly guided Hanne
onward. Soon they emerged into a clearing. In the dim moonlight Hanne could
just make out a glassy pond and a tripping stream that lead out of it and
disappeared into the forest. Dried leaves collected between the moss-blanketed
stones that lined the stream. A large cottage stood just beyond the pond,
ancient trees soaring upwards behind it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An aged man with a patchy grey beard, thinning hair, and a
face full of wrinkles greeted them at the door. “Absalom,” the old man nodded,
and then smiled at Hanne.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hello, Father,” Absalom said, and his voice fell away under
the weight of weariness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hanne’s heart had begun to thud ominously. She tightened her
grip on the bundle in her arms so that Liesl squirmed. The interior of the
cottage was dim yet friendly. A fire crackled on the hearth and sweet-smelling
bunches of herbs hung suspended from the ceiling. Hanne blinked quickly to
clear her eyes. In a corner a shadowed staircase rose to the upper level. It
seemed a nice enough place. Far better than she might provide. Hanne stroked
Liesl’s cheek. The old man, who said his name was Anaias, smiled softly at her
and offered a cup of tea. She shook her head and swallowed. Her mouth felt
gritty like sand, but she couldn’t think of eating or drinking anything at this
moment. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“May I?” the old man asked and reached out a hand to stroke
Liesl’s downy head. “Such a beautiful child,” he murmured. “She is like you.
Very like you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Looking into Anaias’ bright, old eyes, Hanne knew that he
meant it. She tried to hold back the welling tears, but they rebelled, slipping
down her cheeks. “You will love her?” she asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Like my own flesh.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You will tell her about me?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Of course.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We cannot stay long,” Absalom offered. Hanne bent over
Liesl and sobbed quietly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Please,” she gasped and then could speak no more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Take as much time as you need, my dear,” Anaias agreed.
Then he stepped toward his son and the two of them went out of the house. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom stood with hands clasped behind his back, staring
into the deep, reflective blue of the pool. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So it has begun,” Anaias said, coming to stand beside him.
“We knew someday it—he—would come back.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But not like this, Father, I never thought—” Absalom rubbed
his broad hand through his hair and over his face. “He took Maria and David.”
His breath came long and hard. “If I could get near enough, I would wring his
neck like he has wrung everything from me.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We may yet see them again. It is not impossible.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You know as well as I that they belong to him now. They
followed his song; they walked in his footsteps.” The night should not rest so
still, so quiet, Absalom thought. The stars should not wink, the stream should
not gurgle, and the moon should not follow its course. Tonight should not be
like any other night. “You will protect the child, won’t you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The old man turned his face towards the moon. “So long as I
breathe he would not come to this place.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They both turned at the creak of the opening door. The girl
emerged, her eyes clear, her face streaked, and her arms empty. Then addressing
Anaias, she said, “My daughter is yours.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When they emerged from the forest the moon hung low in the
western sky. Tension prickled across Absalom’s skin as he noted its size. It
was huge and luminous. Obese. In contrast the surrounding sky bore a green
tint, hovering over the deeper shadowed green of the fields, the ravine, and
the forest. When they reached the center of the stone bridge’s span he heard it
at last. Pipesong. Absalom froze. And turned. There, atop a ridge and
silhouetted against the mammoth, milky moon, danced the piper. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What’s the matter?” Hanne asked as she stopped beside him,
but her words slipped out of the grasp of his consciousness like a mist. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom’s gaze fixated upon the piper, how the black shape
of his body twisted and leaped and frolicked. As if he had not just snatched
away the lives of an entire town. As if Maria and David slumbered safely in
their beds. As if he had never done a thing to Absalom.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB458Wik7elPoM7TK2nqZqINVaByLGaoYMN13gJcu16IC_BKXrMAamNXxI6ty0rgIAuJiRUb0OTA2Ev1e6q8skFMTODS5BdcRjyI0PMM5OuJ-BhngCUuTzkZb2OcJaSeZisVM9bIS47LP7/s1600/Piper's%2BMoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB458Wik7elPoM7TK2nqZqINVaByLGaoYMN13gJcu16IC_BKXrMAamNXxI6ty0rgIAuJiRUb0OTA2Ev1e6q8skFMTODS5BdcRjyI0PMM5OuJ-BhngCUuTzkZb2OcJaSeZisVM9bIS47LP7/s1600/Piper's%2BMoon.jpg" height="320" width="172" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Via Pinterest</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom’s hands folded into fists; his muscles tightened. It
was not so far a distance. He could see the path would take now. Over the edge
of the bridge and the short drop into the ravine. Charging through the
underbrush would be no difficulty, not with his eyes focused on the piper. Up,
up, up the ridge he would plow. He would snatch that foul, enchanted pipe away
from the piper’s lips. The tiny carved fingers on the side would call at him in
their lilting voices, but their words would have no sway over him. Not this
time. He would crush it until only splintered shards remained.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then he would turn to the piper. Absalom would wait until
the piper’s cerulean eyes glimmered with recognition. How he would relish that
moment. He would stretch out his hands, and they would wrap around the piper’s
neck. It would be no trouble; Absalom had always been the larger of the two. No
magic would save the piper this time. No magic, not even the powerful
enchantments of years long ago, could fend Absalom off now, not when the piper
had Maria and David and threatened little Liesl. He wouldn’t stop until the
piper’s body lay limp upon that very ridge where he now danced. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Absalom?” Hanne’s prodding voice scattered the image. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom blinked. When he looked again it had all changed.
The moon was of an ordinary size, the sky velvet midnight not green, and the
ridge empty. No sign of the piper. A ragged breath slipped past Absalom’s lips
and sawed at the air. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What’s the matter? What do you see?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Nothing,” Absalom finally replied and turned away towards
home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The gold of dawn edged the horizon when Absalom entered the
house. Already the reminders of the angel’s visit had begun to wear away. He
couldn’t quite decide which was worse. Absalom had hardly removed his boots
before he stretched across his bed, slowly so as not to wake his slumbering
wife and suddenly aware of his exhaustion. As he lay there, watching the
currents of darkness float above him, he thought of the piper dancing along the
ridge top and of the little girl tucked safely away at the mill, out of the
piper’s grasp. Absalom had finally, at least in this small way, beaten him.
Deep inside the caverns of his chest, Absalom’s cold, dead heart sputtered.
Cough. Then it beat. Once. Now twice, and the slightest hint of hope began to
pump through his veins. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Copyright
<span style="color: white;">© 2014 Rebecca Fox. All rights reserved. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What do you think? Thanks for
reading!<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-36241046591480800742014-11-01T00:00:00.000-05:002015-07-24T19:28:44.524-05:00Piper's Moon - Part One<div class="MsoNormal">
Long have I promised to share a bit of a story here on A
Curious Thrill, and today I intend to honor that promise. Today’s post will
feature the first part of the story with the second installment coming next
week. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wrote this piece this spring as the final project for my
creative writing class. Short stories are difficult for me; my style and ideas
are far better suited to long form. My stories must have context, they must have
a world in which to reside. However, I sometimes get around my length
difficulty by writing backstories for my full novel ideas. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Piper’s Moon </i>is one such example. This story is the background for
a retelling or rather a continuation idea of “The Pied Piper” that I hope to
write one day. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This piece is certainly not the final draft, but I enjoyed
writing it and I think it is an exciting read. Enjoy! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note: Please forgive any typos that I have missed. I lost the original document and had to retype it just now. :) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Piper’s Moon<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Part One<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thus says the LORD: “A
voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for
her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no
more.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>--Jeremiah 31:15 <o:p></o:p></span></i></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The angel of death had come in the night. With neither sound
nor sign it had stolen the children from their beds. It had not even had the
cruel mercy to leave behind their bodies for proper remembrance and burial. It
had come. It had gone. It had taken everything in the cold silence while he
slept.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the silence had long gone. Doors slammed; hurried
footsteps pounded over hard ground and into the street; shouted names rang in
the air—Franz, Gretel, Peter, Rosa—with only an echo for a response. The
half-timber walls, the shuttered windows, and the latched door could not keep
the din from infiltrating the cottage. It was there with him in the rumpled,
empty beds where the twins had slept and in his wife’s frantic shouts for her
children. It was everywhere, Absalom realized as he stood at the door trying to
convince his shaking hand to free the latch. The angel’s visitation knew no
bounds. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom cast one more glance over his shoulder. His wife sat
upon the floor in front of the abandoned beds, arms full of blankets and
trailing bedclothes. All achingly empty. She turned her face towards him. It
was red now, streaked with her tears, already so different from the pallor that
had washed over her face when first she had come into the room and discovered
the void. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Do something,” she hissed. “Don’t just stand there,
Absalom. I want my children.” Each word held a threat, but when she had
finished she buried her face in the bedclothes and gave way to sobs that shook
her body mercilessly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Alright,” he muttered helplessly, then forced open the door.
Yet even as he assured his wife, Absalom knew with sickening certainty that he
could do nothing. The children were gone. Maria, David, and all the other
children in the village were lost—as good as dead. This nightmare had risen up
out of a life long past, and the scene that now invaded his home was hauntingly
familiar.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom stepped into the road. The sight and sound of such
heavy sorrow nearly overwhelmed him. Empty-armed young mothers wailed or sat on
their doorsteps kneading their anxious hands. The old women lamented and
consulted their old tales. The men, however, Absalom pitied more. Some stood by
their wives, trying to console but instead looking dazed, as if a breath of
wind might blow them to ashes. Others stormed, red-faced and wrath-filled. But
all were lost, expected to protect their families yet utterly helpless. All
clung to their sorrow and anger and, worst of all, hope. Absalom knew better
than that. Hope had deserted them in the night. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Overhead the clouds bulged, shuddering as if they desired to
weep upon the town. The chimneys were dormant, the building of the morning
cooking fires neglected. Shutters remained locked tight, and the village dogs
had retreated to their hideaways. Even in the deafening din hollow silence
echoed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The men had planned a search party, Absalom learned. After
all, a town-full of children does not simply disappear. It is not the way of
things. Absalom nodded his agreement to both. Yes, he would search. He would
hack through underbrush and bellow the names of his little ones to the wind
until he returned to dust, though he knew it would call come to nothing in the
end. And yes, it was not the natural way of things. But Absalom also knew that
there was nothing natural about any of it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom started towards the north as instructed, making for
the distant tree line. First, he would search the fields, then he would seek
sings of muddy footprints along the ravine, and last he would take on the
boundless forest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first scream had awakened him, shattering the dim
morning peace. He had started awake more due to the sudden chill that came over
him when the first scream penetrated his sleep than the biting sound itself. It
had come a second time. A long, high wail effused with a sorrow so keen that it
aspired to sever soul from body. Even now, out in the air, Absalom felt the
terror of that scream in his bones. He quickened his stride as if he could
leave behind the terrible reality that the scream proclaimed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJwuhenSZwENOOjygVSBK4RsM6rp1l97BjQ0KV26Gkavtt7m3ZjFEBq0xMABqiuyqZAJMa4YSiFxt_Nhm4bV7AsZRbopHywlR7s8PV0wKXP3qgh6FJ6sz4LnrosaywKiLd9URVOuH8YH3/s1600/Piper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJwuhenSZwENOOjygVSBK4RsM6rp1l97BjQ0KV26Gkavtt7m3ZjFEBq0xMABqiuyqZAJMa4YSiFxt_Nhm4bV7AsZRbopHywlR7s8PV0wKXP3qgh6FJ6sz4LnrosaywKiLd9URVOuH8YH3/s1600/Piper.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Via Pinterest</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom cursed himself. He had allowed the passing of the
years to dull his senses and slow his wits. He should have known, should have
read the warning in the sky. The thought had occurred to him as he sealed the
shutters against the night that the moon appeared larger than usual. Swollen.
But he had thought nothing of it and kissed the smooth foreheads of his
slumbering children. Now he recognized it for what it was. A piper’s moon.
Swollen and pulsing with fear. Absalom knew because he had seen it before, yet
now—when it mattered—he had failed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How it had taken a scream to wake him, how he had not
recognized the emptiness of the air, Absalom could not comprehend. As he
walked, Absalom sensed the ubiquitous remnants of the angel’s visitation. In
the air there hovered an Emptiness so deep that it felt like a presence. The
presence of nothingness. The presence of the residue of magic which, as far as
Absalom’s experience extended, was synonymous with the residue of death. He
could hear it too. Silence. Yet Silence different from ordinary silence, in the
same sense that the Emptiness was a different sort of emptiness. This Silence
was laced with the remnant of a sound that haunted like pipesong. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet when he reached the town’s edge, a noise intruded upon
the Silence, shattering it. Absalom caught the unmistakable sounds of an
infant’s plaint. Faint and pitiful, certainly, but it was a sound that did not
belong. No child, regardless of age, should have escaped the lure of the
pipesong. But there it came again, and a thudding, aching drumbeat carried
through his body in response. Turning aside from his course, Absalom came to a
door, tucked between the shadows of the surrounding structures. He pressed his
ear against the wood and once more heard the baby’s cry, now followed by a hush
and a faintly hummed lullaby. Absalom lifted his fist and the door shivered
under his knock. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Who’s there?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Absalom,” he replied. When the door remained shut before
him, he continued. “The matter is urgent. I must see the child.” He looked up
and down the street. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The midwife opened the door. Dark blotches cupped her eyes
and her greying hair frizzed. She offered an annoyed greeting, but stood aside
so that he might pass inside. Absalom shut and latched the door behind him,
then waited for his vision to adjust to the swirling, dim interior. It was
little more than a hovel, and Absalom had to duck to avoid the slanted roof.
Upon a pallet piled with mismatched blankets rested a tired-looking girl.
Beside her stood the cradle where the newborn child squinted and stretched
wrinkled limbs, exploring the newfound space. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom recognized the girl, though he did not know her
name. She had appeared in the law village months ago, her slight body already
swollen. No one knew her or from where she had come. No one particularly cared.
She was a stranger, she was penniless, and most importantly, she was unmarried.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What do you want, Absalom? Neither one of us has had much
sleep and I haven’t go the patience—”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ignoring the midwife, Absalom moved quietly across the room
until he stood over the cradle. “Does it have a name?” he asked the mother. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Liesl,” the girl said. “Her name is Liesl.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom knelt and held out a large finger. “Good morning,
Liesl.” The babe cooed and reached out a hand to grip his finger. For a moment
Absalom remembered the first time that David had gripped his finger and Maria
had opened her blinking blue eyes to him. He almost jerked away. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Please, sir, what’s all the commotion about?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom turned to the girl. Although her face was pale, her
eyes shone with a trace of spirit and the bit of candlelight settled on her
brown hair in an ethereal crown. “The children are gone,” he answered. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Whose children?” The girl’s brow wrinkled. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“All of them. All except your baby here.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“By heaven!” the midwife exclaimed, whirled, and fled into
the street. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The girl stared at the cradle with both terror and wonder.
They listened to the sounds of sorrow that filtered in from the outside. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Who did it, sir?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sound of tears in the girl’s voice struck Absalom, tears
for the children of people who had only ever snubbed her. Yet he ignored her
question. That answer he would keep locked up inside him even to his dying
breath. “When was your child born?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Just at midnight,” she said and the trace of a peaceful
smile played on her lips. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom nodded. A strange child, a miracle child born at
midnight of a piper’s moon. He closed his eyes, at last allowing the pieces to
fall into place in his mind. The piper would return for her, he realized, and
the piper—that angel of death—would want this miracle child most of all. When
he opened them again he found Liesl’s blinking blue eyes turned to him and his
determination solidified. He turned to the girl. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“When I leave, latch the door behind me and open it to no
one. Keep the babe as quiet as you can. Do you understand me?” She nodded.
Without another word, Absalom took himself to the door and left, waiting for
the sound of the latch clicking into place before turning and striding away. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom did not return until after nightfall. The village
lay quiet as death. While the men searched, the women waited in silence. His
own wife was waiting, he knew, but he did not return to her. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom went to the hovel and once again knocked, but softly
this time. “It’s Absalom,” he said, just loud enough to be heard. Light
footsteps followed a pause before the door cracked open and a sliver of light
fell at his feet. The girl’s face peeked through the opening. Satisfied that he
was who he claimed, she pulled the door just wide enough for him to enter.
Inside, the child slept peacefully in the crib, and the girl—whose name, he had
learned, was Hanne—had donned an ill-fitting gown and swept her hair into a
bun, although thin wisps had escaped to float around her youthful face. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Any sign of the children?” she asked as soon as he had
entered and the door locked firmly behind him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom shook his head and Hanne immediately sank down into
a lopsided chair. “I fear they will never be found.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tears clouded the girl’s eyes as she gazed at her own
sleeping baby. “Why did my Liesl escape?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdFxpEmapMhya4EWf_iHg6uo30Fo_5HWsmbcupo58sPohaJyEzzqIyZMn3WKdcFRoYIBM9oWDbcN8CZTtatgPBcKrimbB980cZaSmqqHGLTqmDcUZeDWbjrHMkLeVwMWQkwDBFLc3L9nU/s1600/mother+and+child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdFxpEmapMhya4EWf_iHg6uo30Fo_5HWsmbcupo58sPohaJyEzzqIyZMn3WKdcFRoYIBM9oWDbcN8CZTtatgPBcKrimbB980cZaSmqqHGLTqmDcUZeDWbjrHMkLeVwMWQkwDBFLc3L9nU/s1600/mother+and+child.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Via Pinterest </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Because the Fates have seen fit to smile upon you—,” he
hesitated, “that is, they have given your daughter a chance at life.” Absalom
glanced at the door. There was no time to spare. Each second they dallied would
give those same Fates another second to change their minds. “But you have to
understand,” he continued, “that your child cannot stay here. He will return,
even tonight, to claim her, and nothing that you or I could do might stop him.”
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Who?” the girl said. Her hands curled and fidgeted in her
lap. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again Absalom ignored her inquiry. “I can show you to
someone who can protect her, far from this accursed place.” Here he spoke more
gently and slowly. “But once there you will have to give the child to him. She
can never leave that place or he will surely claim her.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A change came over the girl then. Although Absalom towered
over her, he suddenly felt the smaller of the two. Hanne’s face did not go
ghostly white or irate red, as he might have anticipated. She did not scream,
did not even move. She stood, still as if she had grown roots, and stared at
him with eyes so hard that he felt a tangible weight press against him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Get out.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once spoken, the two small words grew to be enormous. Having
said this, Hanne turned her back to him, knelt beside the cradle, and hummed a
tune to her baby. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hanne—” Absalom began. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I told you to get out,” the girl replied firmly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But he couldn’t, not when he could still do something to
save the child. Everything had been arranged. He had to do this for his wife,
for Maria and David, for himself. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You must trust me. It’s for her—”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hanne flew to her feet and whirled to face him. Now her
brown eyes flamed. “Stop it!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she
shouted and Liesl whimpered. “Stop lying to me. I know what you want. You’ve
lost your own children, and you can’t bear that whoever did this spared Liesl.”
She took a menacing step towards himand her voice lowered. “Well, you can’t
have her.” She lifted her hand and slapped a stinging blow along Absalom’s
cheek. “Now get out.” She scooped the now wailing Liesl up into her arms,
holding the babe to her breast, daring Absalom to test her. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Absalom stared at her, watching while the tears flowed
unchecked down her cheeks. He met Hanne’s feral gaze. “No child should suffer
for the sins of its parents,” he said. “No child.” Then Absalom made for the
door. Let what would come to pass fall upon her own head. At least in this he
would remain guiltless. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He threw upon the door, half expecting to hear that guileful
music curling toward the hovel. The night gaped in silence, sucking at the
orange light of the interior, when Hanne spoke. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Wait.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The word was bound in tears and hardly intelligible, but
Absalom knew what it meant. Silently, he shut the door again and returned. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why should I believe you?”<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>The story continues <a href="http://acuriousthrill.blogspot.com/2014/11/pipers-moon-part-two.html">here</a>. </i></b></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright <b>© </b>2014 by Rebecca Fox. All rights reserved. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-86418989314162311312014-09-08T17:28:00.000-05:002014-09-08T17:28:37.001-05:00A Glorious Reminder<div class="MsoNormal">
You are not an accident. None of this is an accident. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The improbability of the enormous number of “accidents” or
“coincidences” required to result in you renders your “accidental” existence
impossible. But you do exist. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that’s not all. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YL7r68AHEk6Ge7-gsDk7fEHxcjXtNDGDZ2u5qMTZHZl1XJDLQG-b9IuoBXED0ngwT5w3hAIvRFsqP8-lr9bUf8qWA36Exi5znPQOmw9l-fw9qfrGeP4WO4O8W18tP8_L5VVeFJreasBh/s1600/Night+Sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YL7r68AHEk6Ge7-gsDk7fEHxcjXtNDGDZ2u5qMTZHZl1XJDLQG-b9IuoBXED0ngwT5w3hAIvRFsqP8-lr9bUf8qWA36Exi5znPQOmw9l-fw9qfrGeP4WO4O8W18tP8_L5VVeFJreasBh/s1600/Night+Sky.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Via Pinterest</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is scientific, mathematical, and philosophical
evidence to show that an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God designed
the universe—in both its vastness and its detailed complexity—to bring about
life on earth, the life of the pinnacle of His creation—humanity. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does this mean?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The measureless and majestic God, High King over all
Creation, takes a unique and particular interest in you. Yes, YOU! In all your
frailty and shortcomings, the holy and perfect God cares about you. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Get this. He loves you. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How incredible and staggering is that? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t take that for granted. Love gets tossed around like a
limp beach ball so that the power of that little four-letter word can sometimes
fail to penetrate. But that just shows how much we need a shift of perspective.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfuOkmHRbVP6a89naGUr9ggsGzu5sm1_VH4KM8JjeUmSKNbuTXlPaOCP5wFkjpEjl47HIzKkPSVqynQl120kWRRfLVq5Iq3-XQbuYuZ7p_JDc3XZAASgMZCNV4PQSYeGoUZTwZLBCHP2M/s1600/wildflower+fields.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfuOkmHRbVP6a89naGUr9ggsGzu5sm1_VH4KM8JjeUmSKNbuTXlPaOCP5wFkjpEjl47HIzKkPSVqynQl120kWRRfLVq5Iq3-XQbuYuZ7p_JDc3XZAASgMZCNV4PQSYeGoUZTwZLBCHP2M/s1600/wildflower+fields.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Via Pinterest</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>God’s love is so enormous, so pure and perfect and everlasting,
that even the truest human love appears pale and paltry in comparison. </b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We were dead in our transgressions and sins, but God’s immeasurable
love has brought us into life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The wonder of God’s love is this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. – John 3:16-17<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for
a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own
love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans
5:7-8 <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And this is but a meager sampling! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He created you for a purpose that will not be thwarted, not
even by all the forces of evil and our most blatant rebellions. You were
created to love and be loved by the perfect Love. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Praise His Holy Name! </b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Have hope, Beloved. For that is what you are. You are
Beloved. Beloved of God, your Heavenly Father and Creator. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<i><b>Go now and live in the radiant light of this knowledge. </b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-16112903070605805132014-07-12T14:31:00.000-05:002014-07-12T14:33:31.430-05:00The Liebster AwardI fear, fair readers, that I have been a bit absent of late. Between working quite a lot of hours the past two weeks, working on my word count for Camp Nanowrimo, and *blush* getting re-addicted to Downton Abbey, I have had little time for finishing blog posts. I hope to amend that soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozDXj9CyVDILjRZezFxwA7LeF7w-CDVxzZxJwtclc1Zi0CPBSLKxzIvr7yz6V3mSsEsZQSQeLRF00ESKGA-WRMnTE_Cn89uAFgxB1FjE8KwKr_BDGqKHPmp2t8mu-8QfW9ukF1FJ5xu9J/s1600/Liebster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozDXj9CyVDILjRZezFxwA7LeF7w-CDVxzZxJwtclc1Zi0CPBSLKxzIvr7yz6V3mSsEsZQSQeLRF00ESKGA-WRMnTE_Cn89uAFgxB1FjE8KwKr_BDGqKHPmp2t8mu-8QfW9ukF1FJ5xu9J/s1600/Liebster.jpg" /></a></div>
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But here I am! And a BIG thanks to <a href="http://cierahorton.blogspot.com/">Ciera Horton @ The Write Things</a> for tagging me for the Liebster Award. Ciera keeps a great blog on writing and culture that all of you must read. Let me tell you, this girl is going places. Plus, she is currently hosting a book giveaway on her blog that you are all welcome to enter. </div>
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But now...For the Liebster Award</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pHYqALMtYszWRYmgZn-ygnT_QE6oAhHP1JYz9iB4RJW2eKoECjAQ6j1cVPvy3aQ4YqNVoSTdOHkvdPr9H-VqjO6MD4krzqpvP1ehyphenhyphenIFYhhmhEzuKNlNp0TATIK8MihoYEHibeRV0rd2U/s1600/Liebster+rules.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pHYqALMtYszWRYmgZn-ygnT_QE6oAhHP1JYz9iB4RJW2eKoECjAQ6j1cVPvy3aQ4YqNVoSTdOHkvdPr9H-VqjO6MD4krzqpvP1ehyphenhyphenIFYhhmhEzuKNlNp0TATIK8MihoYEHibeRV0rd2U/s1600/Liebster+rules.png" /></a></div>
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1. I hate shoe shopping. Always have, probably always will. Could be because my foot size is 5 1/2 Wide. FYI that size has a good chance of having a light-up Buzz Lightyear or Disney princess on the size.</div>
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2. At Mexican restaurants I order chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger.</div>
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3. Saturdays in the fall are for college football. Saturdays not in the fall are for wishing it was football season.</div>
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4. CONFESSION: Part of me wishes Christine had chosen The Phantom over Raoul. </div>
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5. I can get a little obsessive over dairy products--various cheeses, Greek yogurt, and cottage cheese make me very happy.</div>
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6. I don't know how many times I've watched The Lord of the Rings movies. No one wants to count that high outside of math class. </div>
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7. Binge-watching British television shows happens a lot more than it should...Anyone want to watch Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Merlin, or Sherlock?</div>
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8. Office supplies are my favorite! I unofficially collect them. </div>
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9. My computer just crashed. I hate my computer. </div>
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10. Tea? It's okay. Coffee? Gross. Hot chocolate? Yes, please!</div>
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11. My two favorite baseball teams are the Chicago White Sox and whoever is playing the Cubs. </div>
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Now for Ciera's questions...</div>
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<i>1. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?</i></div>
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Great Britain, for a long and jolly holiday. I've dreamed of visiting since I was four, which was when I first learned that such a place existed thanks to C.S. Lewis and four Pevensie children. </div>
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<i>2. Would you rather have the starring role in a movie only ten people see, or be an extra in a huge blockbuster hit?</i></div>
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The huge blockbuster hit. That would be a good story to carry into awkward social settings, not to mention watching the movie over and over again to try to spot myself in the background. I just hope it's a good one and that they don't cut my scene. </div>
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<i>3. If you could relive any day from the past year, what would it be and why?</i></div>
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I'd like to go back to Disney World, please. </div>
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<i>4. What famous movie or book character do you identify with?</i></div>
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Frodo Baggins. He's short; I'm short. He likes food; I like food. He's resilient; I've been called that too. He inspires me, and his journey (and the aftermath) really speak to my heart. I bawl every time I read "The Grey Havens" chapter even though I've read it plenty of times. #FrodoLives</div>
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<i>5. How would you describe your personality as a fashion accessory?</i></div>
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I'll go with a scarf because I'm versatile and dependable with a flash of flair. I can mean business, but I also know how to have fun. </div>
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<i>6. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? </i></div>
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I would be able to karate chop a fly out of thin air. That could be pretty useful. </div>
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<i>7</i>. <i>If you had only one day left to live, what would you do?</i></div>
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I would write one seriously long journal entry, holding nothing back. Then I would go spend the day with my family. </div>
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<i>8. What's a secret talent you have that most people don't know about?</i></div>
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I have extremely mobile facial expressions. But I guess that's not something you can keep secret real well. </div>
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<i>9. Are you a morning or a night person? </i></div>
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Neither. I am a sleeper. My brain starts to shut down at 9 p.m. but anytime I have to wake up before 8:30 a.m. things look pretty ugly. </div>
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<i>10. Why did you start blogging?</i></div>
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For a lot of reasons. First, to keep myself writing--it helps to get words on the page. Second, I wanted to start connecting with readers and fellow writers as I embark on my writing journey. Third, sometimes I feel like I have something to share. My hope is that A Curious Thrill becomes a place of encouragement, inspiration, and growth as we walk through life. It's a blog with a lot geared towards readers and writers, but I try to make it accessible to everyone. There's so much to learn from one another! </div>
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<i>11. What's something you hope to accomplish or work towards this year?</i></div>
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Finish something! A writing project besides papers for class, that is. If I could get things in gear and actually finish a draft of my work-in-progress <i>Beautiful</i>, that would be stellar. However, I don't know if I'll get that far. But I need to finish a draft of something. It's been awhile. </div>
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Here is where I'm supposed to tag 9 of my fellow bloggers. However, I am so new to the blogging word that I don't have that many people to tag. Only 1, actually. </div>
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<a href="http://thewriterofdreamthings.blogspot.com/">Rebeka @ The Other World</a></div>
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1. If you were a color, what color would you be?</div>
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2. What is one of your favorite childhood memories?</div>
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3. If you could enter into any book series, which one would you choose?</div>
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4. Do you have a favorite sport?</div>
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5. Dogs or cats?</div>
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6. Favorite Disney character?</div>
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7. If you could travel to any time period, where would you go?</div>
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8. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?</div>
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9. What books are on your reading list?</div>
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*I'm stealing the last two from Ciera's questions for me because I liked them so much.*</div>
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10. Why did you start blogging?</div>
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11. What is a goal that you hope to accomplish this year?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Thanks again, Ciera! Now it's Rebeka's turn. And I hope to be back soon with more curious thrills to share and new features to unveil. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Until then, I bid you all...Happy Saturday! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-37455763370417937662014-06-27T00:00:00.000-05:002014-06-27T00:00:00.996-05:00Cinderella of the Day: Clara Diane Thompson<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
And the <i>Five Glass Slippers</i>
Tour continues! Today I am excited to feature another talented storyteller on A
Curious Thrill. Welcome, Clara Diane Thompson! <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am quite eager to get my hands on Clara’s story “The Moon Master’s
Ball.” But I
won’t say anymore. Read on to learn about the tale for yourself. <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1yLmymMocx5r8qCodn6GES8TyLB0wvRJbzgHBtTjegB9LEXLnnC-dl-TZt5NkWWaFxu98-00P59z42M28ZRtpKQpeeYHWW8ohTNrmOeihuxP_v8tWF1QzQml_zWPXO1McOn0WWVauxDa/s1600/MoonMasterTitlePage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1yLmymMocx5r8qCodn6GES8TyLB0wvRJbzgHBtTjegB9LEXLnnC-dl-TZt5NkWWaFxu98-00P59z42M28ZRtpKQpeeYHWW8ohTNrmOeihuxP_v8tWF1QzQml_zWPXO1McOn0WWVauxDa/s1600/MoonMasterTitlePage.png" height="400" width="258" /></a></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">About “The Moon Master’s
Ball” by Clara Diane Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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After her terrifying experience there several
years ago, the one place young housemaid Tilly longs to avoid is Bromley’s
Circus. But when kindly Lord Hollingberry begs her to deliver a message to the
mysterious Moon Master hidden away among the circus dwellers, Tilly can’t
refuse . . . and finds herself ensnared in a web of enchantment cast by the
loathsome Mrs. Carlisle and her beautiful goddaughter.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">About Clara Diane Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Clara Diane Thompson lives in the swamps of
Louisiana with her loving family, dashing dog, and a very confused frog that
resides in the birdhouse outside her window. Aside from writing she enjoys
playing guitar, singing, Broadway plays (particularly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Phantom of the Opera</i>), ballet, tea with friends, and long BBC
movies. An enchanted circus may or may not appear occasionally in her back
yard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You can find out more about Clara and her writing
on her blog: <a href="http://www.tofindacastle.blogspot.com/">www.ToFindaCastle.blogspot.com</a>.</div>
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***</div>
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<b>Q: </b><b>From what juicy tidbits I've gleaned thus far,
"The Moon Master's Ball" seems to be filled with a magical circus,
enigmatic characters, and riveting tension. Just how I like a good story. How
do you go about creating this mood while also allowing your story to ring true
with both the original tale and your readers? </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>I knew I wanted this to
be a somewhat frightening story, so the autumnal atmosphere that I placed
around the story just seemed right. The shadows seem to shift differently in
autumn, and everything just appears to be a bit more magical. But autumn cannot
only be a cold time; it can also be very cozy and warm, giving people the
chance to bundle up in their cottage with a cup of cider in front of a
crackling fire. This is the mood I started off with: scary, cold, but warm at
the same time, and threw the ingredients of a story in with that atmosphere,
keeping every aspect of the story true to those three elements. Scary, cold,
but warm.</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>I also thought that the
story needed to be such a tangled mass of mysteries that no reader could figure
out. So, I wrote a story that wound up being eerie and autumnal, warm and cozy,
and a mystery. I had great fun writing it, and to tell you the truth, the mood
and the characters just fell in to place as I wrote the story.<span style="color: #1a1a1a;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i>What a thought
provoking question, Rebecca! I really enjoyed answering it.</i></div>
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Thanks so much, Clara! Autumn is my favorite season, and I think you just captured one of the reasons I like it. I think I can safely say that we are all excited to discover how your chilling yet cozy mystery unfolds. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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***</div>
</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Tour Schedule</h3>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Friday, June 27<sup>th</sup> |
Cinderella of the Day: <b>Clara Diane
Thompson</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://acuriousthrill.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A Curious Thrill</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://bloomingwithbooks.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Blooming with
Books</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://itssimplygrace.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fictionally</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.flowersofquiethappiness.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Flowers of Quiet Happiness</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> + Review<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://jenelleschmidt.com/blog/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jenelle Schmidt</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.ariverofstones.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kathryn
Elizabeth Jones</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://anneelisabethstengl.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tales of Goldstone Wood</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://thesplendorfalls.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Splendor
Falls on Castle Walls</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://thewonderingsofoneperson.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Wonderings of One Person</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://vonniesreadingcorner.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Vonnie’s Reading Corner</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Saturday, June 28<sup>th</sup> | Giveaway
Winner Announced at </span><a href="http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Seasons of Humility</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">*Blog Tour Home: </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/p/five-glass-slippers-blog-tour.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/p/five-glass-slippers-blog-tour.html</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>***</b></span><br />
<u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">About the Collection</span></u><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->ONE
BELOVED STORY, FIVE EXCITING WRITERS<br />
A COLLECTION TO CHERISH<br />
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What happens when Cinderella is so painfully shy
that she cannot bear the idea of attending the royal ball? Or when the slipper
fits . . . but on the wrong girl? What happens when Cinderella is determined to
oust an imposter prince from her rightful throne? Or when she is a cendrillon
miner working from a space station orbiting a cthonian planet? What happens
when Cinderella, a humble housemaid, is sent with a message for a prisoner
trapped in a frightening fairy circus?<br />
<br />
Here is Cinderella as you have never met her before, wearing glass slippers and
off on unforgettable adventures!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Available now in </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Glass-Slippers-Elisabeth-Stengl/dp/0989447847/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1402890946&sr=8-1&keywords=Five+Glass+Slippers"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">paperback</b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> and </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Glass-Slippers-Collection-Cinderella-ebook/dp/B00KWMZ9WA/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1402890946"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kindle</b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> formats! <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
<i>Five Glass Slippers </i>collection will
be on sale for </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Glass-Slippers-Collection-Cinderella-ebook/dp/B00KWMZ9WA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402990401&sr=8-1&keywords=Five+Glass+Slippers"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">only $.99 in
Kindle format</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
for the duration of the blog tour (June 23-28)! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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***</div>
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Here’s your chance to be Cinderella of the ball!
One lucky winner will receive a paperback copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Five Glass Slippers</i>, several Cinderella-themed items (including a
bookmark crafted by <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/belleonabudget">Belle on
a Budget</a>, a journal, and a DVD copy of the Disney movie), as well as
special gifts handpicked by a few of the collection’s authors (a glass slipper
cookie cutter with recipe, freeze-dried astronaut ice cream, and an Apple Tree
Inn cup and saucer). This giveaway is open to <b><u>residents of the U.S. and
Canada only</u></b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRFzbjPO57pIyHngseLoccJ_4YgmrJAwvJpuQp2SzDommyOba9OuTGepM-MdzNIZaHBGZ17xVySTNxffYYlZCVq6GgvQFWASgk9VEIt4ITwYp4yU7RHedrbK_bDAhs-UZbKulspLChIMz/s1600/Five+Glass+Slippers+Prize+Pack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRFzbjPO57pIyHngseLoccJ_4YgmrJAwvJpuQp2SzDommyOba9OuTGepM-MdzNIZaHBGZ17xVySTNxffYYlZCVq6GgvQFWASgk9VEIt4ITwYp4yU7RHedrbK_bDAhs-UZbKulspLChIMz/s1600/Five+Glass+Slippers+Prize+Pack.jpg" height="320" width="269" /></a></div>
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/15cee331/" id="rc-15cee331" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-50735583431804171742014-06-24T00:00:00.000-05:002014-06-24T17:15:37.609-05:00Cinderella of the Day: Emma Clifton<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
Hello all! Today is an
exciting day on A Curious Thrill. Today I am thrilled to introduce to you one
very unique and exciting book-- <i>Five
Glass Slippers</i>. Maybe you’ve heard about this special book, but I’ll
explain for those of you who have not yet heard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Five Glass Slippers </i>is a collection of five Cinderella retellings by
five different and very talented young authors. These five authors and their
stories competed against many other talented writers in Rooglewood Press’ first
fairy tale contest last year, but these special five earned a place in the <i>Five Glass Slippers </i>anthology. I’ve been
hearing tantalizing tidbits about these stories for a good long while now, and
at last they are available to the reading public! Here is some more
information:<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">About the Collection</span></u><o:p></o:p></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->ONE
BELOVED STORY, FIVE EXCITING WRITERS<br />
A COLLECTION TO CHERISH<br />
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What happens when Cinderella is so painfully shy
that she cannot bear the idea of attending the royal ball? Or when the slipper
fits . . . but on the wrong girl? What happens when Cinderella is determined to
oust an imposter prince from her rightful throne? Or when she is a cendrillon
miner working from a space station orbiting a cthonian planet? What happens
when Cinderella, a humble housemaid, is sent with a message for a prisoner
trapped in a frightening fairy circus?<br />
<br />
Here is Cinderella as you have never met her before, wearing glass slippers and
off on unforgettable adventures!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Available now in </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Glass-Slippers-Elisabeth-Stengl/dp/0989447847/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1402890946&sr=8-1&keywords=Five+Glass+Slippers"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">paperback</b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> and </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Glass-Slippers-Collection-Cinderella-ebook/dp/B00KWMZ9WA/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1402890946"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kindle</b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> formats! <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Intrigued? Yeah, me too. But the fun has only just begun. Today I have
the privilege to participate in the <i>Five Glass Slippers </i>blog tour. Emma
Clifton, the author of “Broken Glass” featured in the collection, has
graciously agreed to visit A Curious Thrill and share about this beloved story.
<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwK0LuJMnSYsMDhMMaW9xPbnCzYUP6bhu6mrQoYWJk2EZByO5p4P3MEh_zaDVQzeCX_ooeLKXB2HlcKtBBXW9QwmBzuHSWTT18x98Kq6upLSb4YsDwzof95IiJDJ_I2gsBjMX2FiVBqwcq/s1600/BrokenGlassTitlePage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwK0LuJMnSYsMDhMMaW9xPbnCzYUP6bhu6mrQoYWJk2EZByO5p4P3MEh_zaDVQzeCX_ooeLKXB2HlcKtBBXW9QwmBzuHSWTT18x98Kq6upLSb4YsDwzof95IiJDJ_I2gsBjMX2FiVBqwcq/s1600/BrokenGlassTitlePage.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">About “Broken Glass” by Emma
Clifton</span><o:p></o:p></u></div>
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The slipper fits . . . but on the wrong girl!
Rosalind never once danced with Prince Marius at the ball, for she is in love
with his brother Henry. If only Rosalind and Marius would stop bickering long
enough to invent a scheme, perhaps the three of them can find the real mystery
lady. But they must work quickly, for dark deeds are afoot, and the kingdom is
poised on the brink of disaster.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">About Emma Clifton<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Emma Clifton has been thinking up stories since before she
knew how to type them out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reading books
such as the Chronicles of Narnia, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Door Within</i> Trilogy, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Redwall</i>
inspired her to take her writing more seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though her rigorous homeschool education
keeps her busy, she also enjoys sewing, reading, and spending time with her
family in beautiful Northern Virginia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Emma blogs at <a href="http://www.peppermintandprose.wordpress.com/">www.peppermintandprose.wordpress.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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***</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Q: The Cinderella
tale is an old one that has been told and enjoyed by many different people for
many, many years all over the world. What makes it special to you and how did
you go about finding your own unique spin on it?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<i>My big sis and I watched the animated Disney Cinderella
many, many times when we were little--it was one of the only Disney princess
movies that didn't have something "scary" in it (such as a creepy
witch, a dragon, The Beast, Ursula...). Thus Cinderella became very near
and dear to me. And last year, when I re-watched it, I got the
inspiration for Broken Glass. I had a what-if moment--what if the slipper
had fit on someone else? Would she still have to marry the prince? Thus Broken
Glass was born. However, the story started out a lot more depressing and
less humorous and so I overhauled it and made it funnier.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you for sharing, Emma! It’s so cool that the story you
loved as a child has come full circle and is now your own story. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Now, dear readers, the party continues! Keep reading to find
out about how to enter for your chance to win a fabulous prize pack. Be sure to
visit the other blogs participating in the tour today to learn more about Emma
Clifton and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Five Glass Slippers</i>. Oh,
and come back on Friday for more Cinderella fun!<br />
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Tour Schedule</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tuesday, June 24<sup>th</sup> |
Cinderella of the Day: <b>Emma Clifton</b></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://acuriousthrill.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A Curious Thrill</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://shantellemaryh.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A Writer’s Heart</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://itssimplygrace.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fictionally</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.flowersofquiethappiness.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Flowers of Quiet Happiness</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://jayelknight.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jaye L. Knight</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://jenelleschmidt.com/blog/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jenelle Schmidt</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://notallbymylonesome.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not All By My Lonesome</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://anneelisabethstengl.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tales of Goldstone Wood</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://thewonderingsofoneperson.wordpress.com/">The Wonderings of One Person</a></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://williamshsj.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Writer’s
Window</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
+ Review<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Here’s your chance to be Cinderella of the ball!
One lucky winner will receive a paperback copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Five Glass Slippers</i>, several Cinderella-themed items (including a
bookmark crafted by <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/belleonabudget">Belle on
a Budget</a>, a journal, and a DVD copy of the Disney movie), as well as
special gifts handpicked by a few of the collection’s authors (a glass slipper
cookie cutter with recipe, freeze-dried astronaut ice cream, and an Apple Tree
Inn cup and saucer). This giveaway is open to <b><u>residents of the U.S. and
Canada only</u></b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/15cee331/" id="rc-15cee331" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-88961905731552002602014-06-06T00:00:00.000-05:002014-06-06T00:00:00.458-05:00In Summer <div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Bees will buzz, kids will blow dandelion
fuzz, and I’ll be doing whatever snow does<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>IN SUMMER!</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rAl2FEQis4jmIOIEQMISNswHZ8QoLHxgb24f3q_4o8Tp6uG7Ozt42b_t500mic0_NefUhgwDEEkked2LbxclZhheZhnzcNSHj6CjmttU_olOYsaOKeDGPUoXR4a0S_p3u-wbK7hZ68LA/s1600/Olaf+Summer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rAl2FEQis4jmIOIEQMISNswHZ8QoLHxgb24f3q_4o8Tp6uG7Ozt42b_t500mic0_NefUhgwDEEkked2LbxclZhheZhnzcNSHj6CjmttU_olOYsaOKeDGPUoXR4a0S_p3u-wbK7hZ68LA/s1600/Olaf+Summer.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s finally summer, guys! After
a winter of air so cold that it made our lungs burn with fire, snow that transformed
the land into an alien landscape, and wind that sought to sever our very souls
from our bodies, we have at last emerged into a season of shimmering heat
waves, fireflies, and pool parties. Although I have been out of school for
nearly a month now, many of you are only just now getting a taste of Summer
2K14. Hooray!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a quick update on what to
look forward to here at A Curious Thrill as well as what I’m up to this summer.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>On the Blog </b>Thank you to all who participated in the inaugural
post! I’m excited to see this blog develop and grow. I hope to soon unveil some
new features that are currently in the works, so stay tuned. As this blog grows
I’ll be able to do more and more like some fun and hopefully helpful resources
for the writers among us (beginners to advanced), book reviews and discussions
for my fellow bookworms, giveaways, and much more! As always, I’ll continue to share
the hunt for those curious thrills as well as share some snippets of my own
stories. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That being said, I wish to invite
you all to join me in this endeavor. Please feel free to comment with
responses, thoughts, and questions at the end of the various posts. If you have
an idea for something you would like to see on here, shoot me an email at <a href="mailto:acuriousthrillblog@gmail.com">acuriousthrillblog@gmail.com</a>. If you would like to receive automatic updates when I publish a new post, you can subscribe easily by entering your email into Follow By Email on the left. Have your own blog? Let me know! My hope is that A Curious Thrill will be
engaging and enjoyable, challenging and encouraging for all of us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Writing Life, </b>I confess, seems only to get harder and harder. The
days when I could sit down at the computer and let the words flow onto the page
are gone, at least for now. They may return, and they may not. I am coming to
realize that I cannot sit around waiting for the perfect inspiration, the
perfect sentence, or the perfect environment. Writing is hard. That’s a fact. Writing
takes effort and perseverance, as much that is good and worthwhile requires. It’s
a matter of writing. Just writing. I will tell you that it is more easily said
than done. In order to help to keep writing, I have made some writing goals for
the summer. I hope to complete the first draft of a novella that I intend to
enter into a creative writing contest, write a couple of short stories, and complete
at least the first half of the draft of my current novel-in-progress <i>Beautiful. </i>I’ll be sharing plans and
snippets from these works as the summer goes on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9m5VUoSrZjC5Gf8rBVRLE7tSCcrBlx22_s62Rtfr1nLbf3R0wYuDaNTcWLWUsNlGjQ8E9AcYjjBDnG7s8PZIvY9YxClKtJtvFKqfOb7ivkTSzdLdH-747wSO7heIDrhp6eVB4u1SPaei/s1600/BlogButtonforContest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9m5VUoSrZjC5Gf8rBVRLE7tSCcrBlx22_s62Rtfr1nLbf3R0wYuDaNTcWLWUsNlGjQ8E9AcYjjBDnG7s8PZIvY9YxClKtJtvFKqfOb7ivkTSzdLdH-747wSO7heIDrhp6eVB4u1SPaei/s1600/BlogButtonforContest.jpg" height="265" width="320" /></a><o:p> </o:p><b>Creative Writing Contest </b>As mentioned above, one of my writing
goals this year is to enter the 2<sup>nd</sup> Rooglewood Press Fairy Tale
Contest. This is an incredible opportunity and much fun too! This year’s
contest calls for original retellings of the beloved fairy tale <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>. The contest allows
for a great deal of creative freedom. The prize? Five lucky winners will be
chosen to be published in an anthology called <i>Five Enchanted Roses</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This contest is open to
everyone. If you would like to learn
more about the contest, you can read the full cover-real post on Anne Elisabeth
Stengl’s blog <a href="http://www.anneelisabethstengl.blogspot.com/2014/06/rooglewood-presss-2nd-fairy-tale.html">here</a>. Further, you can get the full contest details and rules at
the Rooglewood Press website <a href="http://www.rooglewoodpress.com/fairy-tale-collections">here</a>. And you really must check out the bigger picture
of the cover design at Ms. Stengl’s blog. It. Is. Stunning. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The anthology from last year’s
contest, <i>Five Glass Slippers</i>, is
releasing very soon. Follow this<a href="http://www.rooglewoodpress.com/titles-coming-soon"> link</a> to explore more about this exciting new
collection. Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
That’s
all for now folks! See you soon for more curious thrills!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>What are you most excited for this summer?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-32873986403830557182014-05-24T12:43:00.000-05:002014-05-24T13:42:28.157-05:00A Curious Thrill<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What if I told you that other worlds are real? What
if I told you that there is more to life than routines and to-do lists, more to
language than syntax and commas, more to the tree on your front lawn than bark
and leaves and photosynthesis, more to beauty than what is in the eye of the
beholder? Would I sound crazy or would you nod your head slowly because it just
makes sense? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There
is more in heaven and earth, Horatio, than is dreamt of in your philosophy.” <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">–<i>Hamlet</i>, William Shakespeare<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The day was overcast, the clouds leaden and bulging.
You know the type of day. It’s the type of day when you walk around with your
shoulders hunched and your head bent low. The type of day when time slips past
in slow-motion. I was curled up in the corner by the window, my knees drawn
close to my chest and a faded green book resting against them. <i>Tree and Leaf</i>, it was called, by J.R.R.
Tolkien.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Forest" src="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c2/23/37/c223377e16454e0ae63fbb545bef81d4.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Via Pinterest </span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">As I gently closed the book, a solemn reverence kept
me silent and still. I leaned my head against the cool windowpane, thoughts swirling.
For the first time in the many years I had lived in that house, I looked at the
old oak tree that spread its shade over our front lawn. Now, that oak tree was
a very normal oak tree. Trunk, branches, leaves. The works. It was like any
other oak tree. But as I sat there staring at the tree against the background
of the grey sky, my perspective shifted ever so slightly. For a moment I
recognized that the tree was not just a tree. There was more to it. To my eyes,
the edges of the leaves appeared to be outlined with a distant glimmer of
silver.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Startled, I tilted my head to look into the sky.
Even then I saw that impenetrable blanket of clouds differently. I saw them not
as the sky, but as a veil. Staring up into the fluffy folds of the clouds,
colored in swirled shades of grey, I could imagine that if I poked a hole into
the layers, the clouds would dissipate, dissolving in shreds. Behind them, I
knew, I would find not the blue sky but another world. Or perhaps more of this
world than was commonly visible or acknowledged. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When I blinked, the moment had gone. My surroundings
became ordinary once more. But I had not forgotten what I had seen. The
shock—the thrill—of it still tingled inside me. While it did, I hurriedly
scrawled a few words in my notebook, trying to process what I had encountered. I wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It’s like there is a world beyond
this one…It’s a place just beyond my reach.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It wasn’t the first time that I felt such a thing.
It certainly wasn’t the last. In the past months, I have finally encountered a quote
which gave that feeling—or awareness—its proper name. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A Curious
Thrill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"I felt a curious thrill, as
if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something
very remote and strange and beautiful behind those words, if I could grasp it,
far beyond ancient English." --J.R.R. Tolkien<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When I
read this quote, I nodded my head slowly because it just made sense. It seemed
to me that Tolkien had (once again) said just what I was feeling in a way that
I probably would never be able to communicate myself. I had felt at various
moments throughout my life that there was something—in a strain of music, a
sunset, a smile, or (especially) in a beautifully wrought sentence—that lay
beyond my comprehension and experience. I could feel myself reaching and
grasping, trying to weave my fingers through the trailing bands of mist to
grasp it. But I never could get a grasp on it. In an attempt to describe this
feeling, some might employ the words <i>enchantment
</i>or <i>mystical</i>. That’s not quite
right, I think. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">These
curious thrills, I believe, are remnants, reminders, and glimmers. Of what? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">C.S.
Lewis calls this sort of sensation a <i>longing</i>
and I believe it is an apt description. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We live
in a fallen world, a world that is not as it was intended to be. As Lewis would
say, “We were made for something greater.” I believe that this knowledge,
whether or not we are immediately aware of it, exists within each of us.
Sometimes, we encounter a thing, a place, a person, a sound, or we are just
overcome by a realization that reminds us of that Something Greater for which
we were created. It calls to that restless spirit within us that <i>longs </i>for the world to be made right,
for the day when all is restored and made perfect. It points us to the Truth.
It is then that we are overcome with the sense of A Curious Thrill.</span><br />
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<img alt=" " src="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/cb/45/08/cb45084094091fde1d34ab12467b2975.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: xx-small;">Via Pinterest</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Those
curious thrills, I should add, aren’t just about things beyond or mysterious or
remote. They are about life. They are about the here and the now as well as the
swirling past and the murky future. They are about children and adults, birds
and flowers, thunderstorms and waterfalls. They are about peace and war, work
and play. The curious thrills are about the ordinary and the extraordinary, all
at once. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So join
me, will you? Let us seek out these curious thrills together. Let us remember
who we are. Let us go Further In and Further Up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Let us seek out the adventure
that is sent to us.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6423149611517323654.post-75400186770004205892013-09-28T20:59:00.000-05:002014-05-17T14:27:55.489-05:00Greetings and SalutationsAhem.<br />
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Welcome.<br />
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To my blog.<br />
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Now that we have such pleasantries out of the way I can get straight to the point.<br />
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I'm afraid that this blog is currently under construction. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope to get things up and running shortly.<br />
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In the mean time, I welcome you to bask in the glow of this wonderful quote:<br />
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“I felt a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something very remote and strange and beautiful behind those words, if I could grasp it, far beyond ancient English." -J.R.R. Tolkien</h1>
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Think about it. Ponder it. Cogitate upon it. However you like. It's worth it. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17820665085326270860noreply@blogger.com0