It's time for What's Up Wednesday! To learn more about this blog hop click here.What I'm Reading
Yesterday I finished reading "The Raven Boy's "by Maggie Stiefvater. I love her writing style. The characters in this book are amazing. I am now reading "The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd. I haven't quite formed an opinion on it yet.
I'm also reading "The House At Pooh Corner" by A.A Milne to my children. They love it! At first my six year old was sceptical. He thought he was getting to old for "Pooh Bear". I have lost track of how many times he has giggled during this book. I love that it entertains all three of my children and that they beg for it every night.
What I'm Writing
I am working on my second novel "Simmer". I have added over 15,000 words to it so for this month thanks to my participation in JuNoWriMo. Fel Wetzig at The Peasant's Revolt interviewed me about my book and writing habits. If you would like to read it you can go here.
What Else I've Been Up To
I've been running the craft section at a local vacation Bible school. Yesterday I made over 100 yarn tails for today's craft! Between that and writing and my kids I seem to be pretty busy.
What Inspires Me Right Now
A.A Milne's insightful and classic writing has really been inspiring me this week. As I mentioned earlier, I am reading "The House at Pooh Corner" to my children. I have read bits and pieces of the original "Pooh" stories before but this is my first time actually reading one of the books. I am loving it as much as my children. The writing is descriptive, the characters have so much presence and I find myself giggling along with my children. No wonder these stories have been popular for so many years. I would love to be able to write such magical children's stories.
Here is one of my favorite quotes so far:
"Pooh began to feel a little more comfortable, because when you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you sometimes find that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside of you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it."
Kids story or not, there is a lot of truth in this quote!
Yay to those yarn tails! I'd love to see a picture of them *hint*hint* Congrats on the writing - it's so hard to push out words like that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love Pooh! I really have to get ahold of some of those for my kids.
Sounds like you're pretty busy :)
I wish that I had taken some pictures. I was so relieved to have them all done that I didn't take a single picture of them or the completed project. Pooh makes such a fun read aloud :)
DeleteAloha Sarah,
ReplyDeleteGood luck on that VBS project - I'm sure the kids loved them :)
I laughed at your "Between that and writing and my kids I seem to be pretty busy." comment as we are a military family and I'm a stay-at-home dad to three boys, so yeah, I *know* you're busy:)
I also wanted to say thanks very much for stopping by and commenting on my recent D-Day post. (I'm still working through all the comments!)
CSM Ryan's story has received an incredible amount of support and a HUGE *Thank you* goes to DL Hammons - and all the Blitzers :)
PS: Bill said to let everyone know he really appreciated all the personal comments directed his way :)
Thanks you. The kids did really enjoy them. I have one more craft project to do for the week and then I am hoping that things slow down just a little bit. Thanks for following my blog!
DeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteI am the Director of Missions at my church and last week during VBS I led our kids on a campaign to collect items for our upcoming shoebox campaign. We collected a lot of good stuff and over $450 to go toward the shipping cost. I tell you all this because it limited my rewrite of my novel to only about 3500 words. Already this week I have reworked 6500 more for a total just over 10,000. Glad to hear another writer is involved with the kids.
Wow,you guys did amazing getting ready for you campaign.
DeleteMy writing has slowed down this week. VBS has taken up most of my time, but it is worth it. Thanks for stopping by! I agree that its good to find another writer that is involved with kids.
Milne also wrote a story for grown-ups called Once on a Time, you might want to put that one on your list. The enchanted prince turns into something even more difficult to deal with -- a human!
ReplyDeleteOoo! Thanks for sharing. I will have to add that towards the top of my TBR list :)
DeleteI love reading books that I enjoyed as a child. They look so different as an adult, but often end up meaning even more to me than they originally did.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on writing so much! 15K is great, especially since it sounds like you're quite busy.
It is amazing how perspective changes what we get from a book. I love reading my childhood favorites aloud to my kids. I can't wait until they are old enough for "The Chronicles of Narnia!)
DeleteWhat a great quote! I love Winnie the Pooh. So much wisdom there. And I have to agree, THE RAVEN BOYS is pretty spectacular. Can't wait for the sequel! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a lot of wisdom in the Pooh books. That quote perfectly fits the way I feel about my ideas and writing. I love it. The Raven Boys still has me thinking about it. I love her style and the depth of her charaters and I could come up with a whole page of other things I love about her writing.
DeleteWow, that's a very successful JuNoWriMo!
ReplyDeleteI live just down the road from Ashdown Forest where the Winnie the Pooh books are set. It's beautiful there!
Thank you and that sounds like a lovely place to live!
DeleteMy favorite character has always been Eeyore, but I do love me some Pooh Bear! Also, you are reading some of my favorite reads! LOVE THE RAVEN BOYS and I was mesmerized by THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER (to the point I've been looking everywhere for the movie THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU). Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteEeyore is a great character. I finished The Madman's Daughter last night and now I want to read some of H.G.Wells works. I might have to search for that movie too!
DeleteHmm, this makes me think my kids may like Pooh, too. We like to read his poetry sometimes. They're so delightful. And bless you for making all those yarn tails! Was it an Eeyore craft, or is it just a coincidence? :0)
ReplyDeleteNo, it was horse shaped treasure boxes! We have been reading some of the poetry too. Have you read your kids any of Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry? We have his book "A Child's Garden of Verses" and all enjoy it. Its like the essence of child hood caught in a book :)
DeleteI'm with Alison--Eeyore totally cracks me up. How is it possible to be so melancholy and yet so funny? I read one of the Paddington Bear books to my son a couple years ago, and was surprised to find that it was actually pretty advanced in terms of the reading level too. I'm glad you enjoyed THE RAVEN BOYS. I think Maggie Stiefvater's writing is amazing. I also liked THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER and can't wait for the sequel. Best of luck with your writing! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that Eeyore is great! I wonder if my kids would like Paddington Bear. I should find out. I finished The Madman's Daughter and I'm also eager for the sequel.
DeleteI'm nearly sixteen and I'm reading "The House at Pooh Corner" to myself. Six years old is definitely not too old for Pooh Bear.
ReplyDeleteIt really is an excellent book.
DeleteCongrats on getting so many words this month! That's huge! I love that you included what you're reading to your kids. I thought about doing that this week, too. I spend so much more time reading to them than reading for myself these days. Anyway, have a great weekend!
ReplyDelete