I finished the first draft of my book!! I actually finished it in May, but I’ve started the editing process now and want to keep y’all updated. This hopefully means that I’ll remember to post more.
Three Things
I thought about doing all of them in one post, but that would be long and disjointed, so I’m going to do two in this one and the other one later.
First thing: I’ve graduated college! Because of that, I need a new name for this blog. Any suggestions are welcome.
Second thing: I got an award!
Thank you L.E. Hunt The Palace for nominating me! Check her out because she’s awesome and she’s getting published soon.
So here are the rules.
1. Acknowledge the blog who nominated you and display the award.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger gives you.
3. Give 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 11 blogs (with under 200 followers).
5. Notify these blogs of the nomination.
6. Give them 11 questions to answer.
I don’t understand the fascination with 11, but here goes.
- What’s an interesting place you’ve been? My family went on a cruise to Greece and Italy as a celebration of my graduation. It was ten days and it was fabulous. I even found out I can sleep on a boat.
- Strange childhood obsession? Warriors by Erin Hunt. It’s a series about cats that a friend and I were into in middle school.
- Favorite book genre? I’m going to go with YA, both because I write it and because so many other genres can fit under it.
- If given the chance to be immortal, would you take it? Heck no. When God decides he wants to take me, I want to go. I’m not trying to be morbid, Heaven’s just better.
- Can you whistle? No.
- Was there ever a time you preferred the movie to the book? Yes. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
- Do you have any pets? Technically Lizzy is my mom’s dog, but yes.
- If you could have another ability, what would it be? The ability to refill things.
- What place do you want to live the most? Probably Middle Earth.
- Favorite Disney movie? I’m going to break this down into two categories: Disney princess and non-Disney princess. My favorite Disney Princess Movie is The Little Mermaid. My favorite non-Disney princess movie is Peter Pan.
- What is the best thing ever? Chocolate.
Now to the 11 random facts about me. I’ve always been terrible at these, so sorry in advance.
- I have broken four bones.
- I love dogs
- I hate cats and they hate me
- I’m terrified of down escalators
- I don’t like whipped cream
- If I had my way, I would never have roommates again
- I sleep like one of the dead, so it’s likely unsafe for me to live alone
- My favorite color is blue
- I watch violent movies on Valentine’s day
- My first phone was a pink Razr and it was indestructible.
- I’m incredibly unathletic, but not for lack of trying.
Most of the blogs that I follow are ginormous and don’t need any help, so I’ve only nominated six.
katelynjeane Purposeful Living
These are the 11 questions I want them to answer.
- Who is your favorite superhero?
- Favorite Disney sidekick?
- Favorite non-Disney animated movie?
- What do you do when you have writer’s block?
- If you could pick one mythological being to be real, what would it be?
- What’s the best vacation you ever went on?
- What’s one unpopular opinion you have and why do you have it?
- What’s your zombie apocalypse plan?
- If you were a fictional character, what kind would you be? (hero, sidekick, villain, henchman, etc.)
- What would you do if you won the lottery?
- Sci-fi or Fantasy?
I have one question for everyone. Had you ever heard about this award before now?
Routine is a far better friend than inspiration
I’m going to bet that your muse doesn’t always show up when you want her to. Muses are tricky, fickle creatures. They are like cats in that they prefer to do things only when they damn well please and never according to anyone else’s schedules or needs. Also, like cats, they have a tendency to […]
via Tempting the Muse – A Quick Bit of Advice — Live to Write – Write to Live
I’m about to finish my first draft, and I found this to be super helpful.
Image via Flickr Creative Commons courtesy of Anja Pietsch.I asked you guys to tell me in the comments what you would like me to blog about, so today we are going to talk about the author platform. When do we start? When do we need a newsletter? How do we find time? I think we…
via When is the Best Time to Start an Author Platform? — Kristen Lamb
How Did His Mind Hold All of This?
There is always more. Don’t take away my nerd card, but I didn’t even know that these letters existed. So exciting!!!
It is sort of a trick, isn’t it? Any true Tolkien fan will say that every page in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien is essential. However, not everyone enjoys letters as much as I do. Some might absolutely love The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but don’t find great joy peeking into the lives of authors […]
via The Tolkien Letter that Every Lover of Middle Earth Must Read — A Pilgrim in Narnia
Update on R.I.P Clemson House
Copyright: Lauren Craig (me)
First off, I found out when they are tearing the building down. It will be after I graduate, sometime in late May.
Second off, the petition to save the barbershop failed. It’s future is now more unsure than ever.
I also found something productive to do. I’m in a creative inquiry class this semester that is responsible for compiling information into a book that is going to be called The History of the Clemson House. We are collecting stories, pictures, and memorabilia, so if you know anyone who lived or worked there let me know!
Bookmarking For Future Reference
A prodigious essayist, it is this area of C.S. Lewis’ work that I find the most provocative—even more so than the fiction and apologetics books (though there is overlap in the latter category). Whether inspirational or controversial, his brevity, clarity and wit strike through his reviews, lectures, published letters, editorials, sermons, public controversies, paper, and […]
via How to Read All of C.S. Lewis’ Essays — A Pilgrim in Narnia
“Capes and Classes Optional” Guest Blog by Adam Mattern (Signum Series) — A Pilgrim in Narnia
I love this. Superman and C.S. Lewis and job advice. What more could you want?
Adam Mattern works as a mild-mannered data analyst for a large networking company and is currently studying at Signum University for a M.A. in Language & Literature (concentration in Classical, Medieval & Renaissance Literature). He has love of pop geek-culture, an enthusiasm for literature, and a desire to study the intersection of orthopraxy and theology. […]
via “Capes and Classes Optional” Guest Blog by Adam Mattern (Signum Series) — A Pilgrim in Narnia
Author Brands & Book Sales—Why Boutique is BIG — Kristen Lamb’s Blog
Normally my blogs are all about telling y’all you are not a special unique snowflake. But yeah y’all are but don’t get a big head about it😛 . We just need to discern the places we are not special (I.e. we all have to do the work) and figure out the places we are and […]
via Author Brands & Book Sales—Why Boutique is BIG — Kristen Lamb’s Blog
R.I.P Clemson House
I’m writing this at the risk of sounding like a hopeless sentimentalist, which if you know me, you know is not my thing. For those of you that don’t go to, have never heard of, or don’t generally care about Clemson University, today is the day that the new dining hall and the new Starbucks opened.
This may seem trivial, and by itself it is, but allow me to give a little background. There were rumors for years that the administration was going to tear down Clemson House and Johnstone, two older residence halls. They were nothing more than that until last year, when it was confirmed that spring 2016 was going to be the last semester that students would live in Clemson House. The rumor was that it was going to be turned into an administration building. That is, until July 15th, when an email was sent out to all students and faculty that Clemson House was going to be torn down. They didn’t give a date, just an immenent threat.
Johnstone was also going to be torn down. I’ve been told that Johnstone is a horrible old deathtrap, so nobody was going to protest that. The problem is that Johnstone is connected to everything around it, which includes the Harcombe dining hall and the Starbucks in a cute little square. These closed on Friday and the new ones, as I said, opened today.
Now before I go any further, why should you care? Most of the people that know anything about Clemson House know that it started as a hotel. It was built back when Clemson was an all-male military school to house female “chaperones” that came for the formal dances. When Clemson started allowing girls, it became a kind of “hangout” for the students, with a restaurant, a non-alcoholic club, a barbershop and several ballrooms. It even housed radio broadcasts in the 70s and 80s. In more recent years, the eighth floor penthouse has housed senators, governors, university presidents, violinists, opera singers, actors and the like. When it became a residence hall, the ballrooms became conference rooms, the restaurant and club went out of business and were replaced by a dining hall, a laundry room, and a gym. Apart from all the historical stuff, I lived there for two years and it was wonderful.
Now that I’ve given you all this background information, back to the reason I’m writing this in the first place. I walked into the new dining hall today and it was overwhelming. It’s huge and open and there are two floors and there are people everywhere and I hated it. After I ate, I went to see the new Starbucks and big shocker I hated that too. What I loved about the old one was the fact that it was its own closed off entity. I felt cozy and safe. That’s usually where I would be writing from. This new one was the opposite of that. It’s practically attached to the new dining hall and it looks mostly the same way: open, modern, cold. I felt exposed. So after this I did what was probably a stupid thing and I went in Clemson House on the way back to my apartment. It seemed lifeless. It wasn’t empty. There were still people in some of the offices, but it felt like a husk. Then I saw the pictures. That’s when I broke. There was writing all along the walls of people just like me. People that love this place, that had their first years of college in this place, and that don’t want it to end. And so, with a pen that barely shows up on the wall, I added my name to the list.
Maybe I just hate change, but as I wipe the tears off my keyboard I don’t think that’s the case. This is our history that we are allowing to be erased in the mistaken hope that what is new will be better. Sometimes that’s the case sure, but not always and certainly not this time. I haven’t even graduated and I’m starting not to recognize my University and all I can do is write this so that it won’t be forgotten forever.
I don’t really know how to end this except to ask, do you think I’m just being a hopeless sentimentalist? Is that all this hole in my heart is?
