Monday, September 12, 2016

Inkling Explorations Link-Up // September 2016


(Note: if you're interested in participating and new to the blog, you can find our link-up explanation/guidelines + more buttons here. :))

This month's selection is: A picnic scene in literature or film


And... *drumroll* my entry is the climactic Box Hill scene in Austen's Emma. (Highly surprising, I know. ;D) It's incredible on so many levels and, if you'd like to read more, I did write a wee bit more about it HERE for a certain Emma party -- once upon a time. (Also, feel free to leave a comment over there, too. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!)





Tell me! Have you read or seen Emma? And what do you think of this scene?

Just leave your own link here in a comment and I'll add it to the post! (Also please note: I'm adjusting the schedule a little for this month, so if your link is left later in September I'll probably be adding it to the post sometime in October. :)) I can't wait to see your selections!

Entrants:


MovieCritic ~ Nanny McPhee Returns

*How to do it*


1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.
2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.
3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: A scene with characters setting out on a journey/adventure in literature or film


Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Quote of the Month ~ August 2016


So... while it isn't directly related to writing, I wanted to share the above as it's been recurring to me over and over this week and is definitely a top favorite. ;D

What think you?? :)

~

(Click here for previous Quotes of the Month on StJ!)



Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.

Visit and contact at: Sharing the Journey // Along the Brandywine // ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com

Friday, August 26, 2016

Inkling Explorations Link-Up // August 2016


(Note: if you're interested in participating and new to the blog, you can find our link-up explanation/guidelines + more buttons here. :))

This month's selection is: A description of a lady's dress in literature




My entry for this month comes from a long time, loved-to-absolute-bits-and-pieces favorite, Augusta Evans Wilson's (aka "Augusta Jane Evans") A Speckled Bird:

"Three hours later she saw her trunk carried downstairs. When the clock struck eight, she was dressed for her wedding. The gown ordered for the club german was a trailing, ivory crepe de Chine, and where lace ruffles met on the corsage she fastened a spray of white lilac from the bouquet Mr. Herriott had sent. No gleam of jewels marred the white perfection of face and figure, but her dilated eyes burned like brown agates when the light smites them." 




Wow, I love this story so much....! (Suffice to say, it's entirely clean. And very intense. And very romantic. And there's MUCH remaining to be said on it. ;D)


Just leave your own link here in a comment and I'll add it to the post! (As with July, since I'm getting this up rather late this month, feel free to post your entries into September. :)) I can't wait to see your selections!

Entrants:


Erudessa Aranduriel ~ The Wheat Princess by Jean Webster

*How to do it*


1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.
2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.
3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: a picnic scene in literature or film


Thursday, July 28, 2016

Quote of the Month ~ July 2016


Love this one! :) How about you?

~

(Click here for previous Quotes of the Month on StJ!)


Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.

Visit and contact at: Sharing the Journey // Along the Brandywine // ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com

Monday, July 25, 2016

Inkling Explorations Link-Up // July 2016


(Note: if you're interested in participating and new to the blog, you can find our link-up explanation/guidelines + more buttons here. :))

This month's selection is: A scene with a traveler arriving home in book or film



My selection comes from G.K. Chesterton's Manalive. The scene is (somewhat) of a court room setting and two letters are currently being read as evidence.

~     ~     ~

" ' "Do you really mean," I cried, "that you have come right round the world? Your speech is English, yet you are coming from the west."

" '  "My pilgrimage is not yet accomplished," he replied sadly; "I have become a pilgrim to cure myself of being an exile."

" 'Something in the word "pilgrim" awoke down in the roots of my ruinous experience, memories of what my fathers had felt about the world, and of something from whence I came. I looked again at the little pictured lantern at which I had not looked for fourteen years.

" ' "My grandmother," I said in a low tone, "would have said that we were all in exile, and that no earthly house could cure the holy homesickness that forbids us rest."


" 'He was silent a long while, and watched a single eagle drift out beyond the Green Finger into the darkening void.

"'Then he said, "I think your grandmother was right," and stood up leaning on his grassy pole. "I think that must be the reason," he said, "the secret of this life of man, so ecstatic and so unappeased. But I think there is more to be said. I think God has given us the love of special places, of a hearth and of a native land, for a good reason."

" ' "I dare say," I said, "what reason!"

" ' "Because otherwise," he said, pointing his pole out at the sky and the abyss, "we might worship that."

" ' "What do you mean?" I demanded.

" ' "Eternity," he said in his harsh voice, "the largest of the idols--the mightiest of the rivals of God."

" ' "You mean pantheism and infinity and all that," I suggested.

" ' "I mean," he said with increasing vehemence, "that if there be a house for me in heaven it will either have a green lamp-post and a hedge, or something quite as positive and personal as a green lamp-post and a hedge. I mean that God bade me love one spot and serve it, and do all things however wild in praise of it, so that this one spot might be a witness against all the infinities and sophistries that Paradise is somewhere and not anywhere, is something and not anything. And I would not be very much surprised if the house in heaven had a real green lamp-post after all."

" 'With which he shouldered his pole and went striding down the perilous paths below, and left me alone with the eagles..."


"After a short silence Inglewood said: "And finally, we desire to put in as evidence the following document, -- 

" 'This is to say that I am Ruth Davis, and have been housemaid to Mrs. I. Smith at "The Laurels" in Croydon for the last six months. When I came the lady was alone with two children; she was not a widow, but her husband was away. She was left with plenty of money and did not seem disturbed about him, though she often hoped he would be back soon. She said he was rather eccentric and a little change did him good. One evening last week I was bringing the tea things out on to the lawn when I nearly dropped them. The end of a long rake was suddenly stuck over the hedge, and planted like a jumping pole; and over the hedge, just like a monkey on a stick, came a huge horrible man, all hairy and ragged like Robinson Crusoe. I screamed out, but my mistress didn't even get out of her chair; but smiled and said he wanted shaving. Then he sat down quite calmly at the garden table and took a cup of tea, and then I realized that this must be Mr. Smith himself. He has stopped here ever since and does not really give much trouble, though I sometimes fancy he is a little weak in his head."

" 'RUTH DAVIS.

" 'P. S. --I forgot to say that he looked round at the garden and said, very loud and strong, "Oh, what a lovely place you've got;" just as if he'd never seen it before.' "

Manalive by G.K. Chesterton

A favorite moment!


Tell me! Have you ever read Manalive?


~     ~     ~

Just leave your own link here in a comment and I'll add it to the post. (Also, since I'm getting this up rather late this month, feel free to post your entries into August. :)) I can't wait to see your selections!

Entrants:


Erudessa Aranduriel ~ Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott
MovieCritic ~ Willow

*How to do it*


1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.
2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.
3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: A description of a lady's dress in literature


Thursday, June 30, 2016

Quote of the Month ~ June 2016


Love this one! So pertinent in so many areas of life...

What think you?

~

(Click here for previous Quotes of the Month on StJ!)




Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.

Visit and contact at: Sharing the Journey // Along the Brandywine // ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com

Friday, June 10, 2016

Inkling Explorations Link-Up // June 2016


(Note: if you're interested in participating and new to the blog, you can find our link-up explanation/guidelines + more buttons here. :))

This month's selection is: Roses in book or film


Oh, my. Wow. There are so many delicious book passages and so much loveliness in films! What in the world to pick?! I'm afraid I'm just going to have to follow Phil Gordon's excellent example and shut my eyes and stab with a pin (metaphorically speaking of course). And.... I choose this following scene from Montgomery's Anne of the Island. (Incidentally, has anyone ever run some sort of Google search for how often the word "rose" occurs in Anne? I'm super curious. It has to be a lot.)

"Long after Pacifique's gay whistle had faded into the phantom of music and then into silence far up under the maples of Lover's Lane Anne stood under the willows, tasting the poignant sweetness of life when some great dread has been removed from it. The morning was a cup filled with mist and glamor. In the corner near her was a rich surprise of new-blown, crystal-dewed roses. The trills and trickles of song from the birds in the big tree above her seemed in perfect accord with her mood. A sentence from a very old... true... wonderful Book came to her lips. "Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning."
Anne of The Island by L.M. Montgomery

Isn't it breathtaking?

*coughs* And I know this is #2, but it just has to be included:




There. I'm done. ;) And what think you? Do you love these scenes as well?


~     ~     ~

Just leave your own link here in a comment and I'll add it to the post. As always, entries are open through the end of the month and I can't wait to see your selections!

Entrants:


Erudessa Aranduriel ~ Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott

*How to do it*


1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.
2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.
3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: A scene with a traveler arriving home in book or film


Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Quote of the Month ~ May 2016


Such a great one! Agreed? :)

~



Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.

Visit and contact at: Sharing the Journey // Along the Brandywine // ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com

Monday, May 30, 2016

3 Things I Love in a Good Story // Cordy


from Cordy


1. Situations requiring trust 


I know that it’s more common to have a main character who happens to be the ‘chosen one’ and does most of the work to accomplish a particular goal. When this, or any other storyline, is used, I wish there were more situations that required trust. Sometimes, I feel like more stories are creating characters where ‘lack of trust’ is somehow a badge of bravery and smarts. I disagree. When you have to trust someone that trust will often have to replace pride. I admire those moments where the main character simply can’t do everything and just rely on themselves, they have to put faith and trust in others to accomplish a task with more than just their personal skill. When trust is both offered and either betrayed or proven true it adds needed depth to a story. Naturally, I prefer when trust is well placed rather than when trust is betrayed. But that’s just me. :) 


2. Has to be moving 


I want to feel engaged and involved with the stories that I am reading or watching. I want to have an interest in the characters and their struggles. Emotional interest if possible. I want to be motivated, surprised (surprising me is huge!), I want to cry, I want to laugh, I want to feel betrayed, and I want to feel hope. Oh, one side note here, I don’t want to feel the remorseful emotions because of a death. ‘Need an emotional boost to your story? Kill someone.’ What?! No! Deaths are quickly becoming the answer to every emotional problem and I feel like that ‘tip’ is detrimental to true story telling. 


3. Happy endings 


I understand the whole idea of needing to stay true to a character and your story which means that sometimes happy endings don’t and can’t happen. However, I love the idea of redemptive happy endings. The happy endings that take you by surprise because they aren’t the realistic choice. In my opinion, we already live in reality where happy endings appear to be harder to come by. (I like to believe they aren’t as rare as they seem.) I’m okay having an unrealistic happy ending once in a while in a story. I know that I have been disappointed in a story because it hasn’t had a happy ending, but I haven’t ever been disappointed in an unplanned happy ending. There is so much hope and encouragement in happy endings! 


Thanks for having me, Heidi! I had a splendid time!

(Note from Heidi: Thank you so much for sharing, Cordy!! :))

~     ~     ~ 

And... would you like to share three of your favorite things in a guest post? You don’t have to be a writer to qualify! This series is by story lovers for story lovers.
For post specifics/guidelines you can see the initial post here, then send Heidi a quick email at ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com. (Don’t be shy. I’d love to have you! :))

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Inkling Explorations Link-Up // May 2016


(Note: if you're interested in participating and new to the blog, you can find our link-up explanation/guidelines + more buttons here. :))

Hello everyone!! Wow. Getting engaged to be married at the end of April definitely made for some most wonderful, exciting and blessed adjustments in my schedule this month! ;D 

I know we're almost into June here, but (as we're still in the merry month of May) I wanted to do our Inklings post anyway. I was thrilled by all your wonderful entries last month (they were absolutely fantastic :)) and if you'd like to join in for this month during this last week I'd be equally delighted! 

This month's selection is: A scene making beautiful use of special effects/CGI in film


With all sorts of wedding plans blossoming, I've certainly been thinking (a lot) of a Certain Film, definitely including this particular scene. The blue, the swirl, the butterflies, the breath catching music... it's all pure and utter gorgeousness.



Tell me! Do you love this scene?


~     ~     ~

Just leave your own link here in a comment and I'll add it to the post. As always, entries are open through the end of the month and I can't wait to see your selections!

Entrants:


(Note from Heidi: I haven't personally read or seen the above, but the entry is definitely perfect!)

*How to do it*


1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.
2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.
3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: Roses in book or film


Saturday, April 30, 2016

Quote of the Month ~ April 2016


I found this one particularly encouraging as (personally) I find it super easy to forget at times. :P How about you?

~



Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.

Visit and contact at: Sharing the Journey // Along the Brandywine // ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com

Friday, April 22, 2016

3 Things I Love in a Good Story // Emma Nikki


from Emma Nikki


1. Emotional drama 


One of my favorite experiences as a reader (or watcher) of literature is delving into the emotions of a character- finding out what makes them tick, their insecurities, battles, and backstories. It adds beautifully to the conflict and tension. I find that when an author manipulates my emotions to the point where I want the character to give up- because it’s just so hard, and they’re completely broken- then the author has accomplished something. And when the character finally wins, it adds to the victory, redemption, or whatever they’ve been fighting for.


2. Tension filled plot 


I have grown up loving the stories which make your heart beat against your chest. When the suspense and action is immense in a story, I am happy and content. So books like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Door Within trilogy, or Lord of the Rings really grab my attention, because I know they won’t let me down for one moment. They have battles for their lives at every turn, they’re captured, they learn to sword fight, all of those amazing things! Cliffhangers are also something I look forward to in an action-packed story. 

I expect to be left at a cliffhanger after each scene, and I enjoy that (I tell people I don’t, but that’s definitely not true). If a story doesn’t have much action or suspense it will fall just below the line of boring or predictable for me.


3. Beautiful nasty villains 


I expect nasty villains when I read/watch a story, and there is a certain definition to nasty villain. In my own mind, it means that the villain has a clear purpose and reason for their plan. It also means that they have their own personalities, inner battles, and conflicts for their character. I expect to see several dimensions of the villain, not just one line of emotion- they have to have just as much work on them as the heroes of the story. An example- who does an amazing job of this- is Once Upon a Time. This show has excellent classic villains- such as the Wicked Witch of the West, the Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin, Peter Pan, etc, etc- but with depth of character to each one. You never know what the villains will be like, and that’s what I love!


(Note from Heidi: Thanks so much for sharing, Emma!)

~     ~     ~ 

And... would you like to share three of your favorite things in a guest post? You don’t have to be a writer to qualify! This series is by story lovers for story lovers.
For post specifics/guidelines you can see the initial post here, then send Heidi a quick email at ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com. (Don’t be shy. I’d love to have you! :))

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Inkling Explorations Link-Up // April 2016


(Note: if you're interested in participating and new to the blog, you can find our link-up explanation/guidelines + more buttons here. :))

This month's selection is: A description of a lady in literature


My choice comes from G.K. Chesterton's The Ball and the Cross (which, by the way, I still haven't completely made sense of), but -- all that notwithstanding -- the words are enough to take your breath at times and the following description's fascinating.

~     ~     ~

"Madeleine Durand was physically a sleepy young woman, and might easily have been supposed to be morally a lazy one. It is, however, certain that the work of her house was done somehow, and it is even more rapidly ascertainable that nobody else did it. The logician is, therefore, driven back upon the assumption that she did it; and that lends a sort of mysterious interest to her personality at the beginning. She had very broad, low, and level brows, which seemed even lower because her warm yellow hair clustered down to her eyebrows; and she had a face just plump enough not to look as powerful as it was. Anything that was heavy in all this was abruptly lightened by two large, light china-blue eyes, lightened all of a sudden as if it had been lifted into the air by two big blue butterflies. The rest of her was less than middle-sized, and was of a casual and comfortable sort...

"Both the father and the daughter (i.e. Madeleine) were of the sort that would normally have avoided all observation; that is, all observation in that extraordinary modern world which calls out everything except strength. Both of them had strength below the surface; they were like quiet peasants owning enormous and unquarried mines. The father with his square face and grey side whiskers, the daughter with her square face and golden fringe of hair, were both stronger than they knew; stronger than anyone knew. The father... believed in Man. The daughter believed in God; and was even stronger. They neither of them believed in themselves; for that is a decadent weakness.

"The daughter was called a devotee. She left upon ordinary people the impression -- the somewhat irritating impression -- produced by such a person; it can only be described as the sense of strong water being perpetually poured into some abyss. She did her housework easily; she achieved her social relations sweetly; she was never neglectful and never unkind. This accounted for all that was soft in her, but not for all that was hard. She trod firmly as if going somewhere; she flung her face back as if defying something; she hardly spoke a cross word, yet there was often battle in her eyes. The modern man asked doubtfully where all this silent energy went to. He would have stared still more doubtfully if he had been told that it all went into her prayers."  

Tell me! Have you read and enjoyed any Chesterton?


~     ~     ~

Just leave your own link here in a comment and I'll add it to the post. As always, entries are open through the end of the month and I can't wait to see your selections!

Entrants:



*How to do it*


1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.
2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.
3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: A scene making beautiful use of special effects/CGI in film


Thursday, March 31, 2016

"What Meanest Thou?" // #2

It's time for our second What Meanest Thou post! And (per popular request), it's a further study in period (mostly medieval) dress with lots of pictures this time around. So here ye go...

#1: Kirtle

A woman's gown or outer petticoat (i.e. what would generally be referenced as her 'dress' in modern terms). Often worn over a shift (see point #4 below).






#2: Surcoat

An outer coat of rich material. A man's loose robe worn over armor; a sleeveless garment worn as part of the insignia of an order of knighthood. Can also reference a woman's sleeveless overdress (see pictures 4 and 5 below in this category).







#3: Smock

A loose dress or blouse with the upper part closely gathered, it was/is an outer garment worn by men, women and children. Similar to the tunic in that it spans many historical periods.

Elizabethan smock

Elizabeth shirt and Jacobean smock

#4: Shift

A woman's long, straight, unwaisted, loose-fitting undergarment. Often worn as a nightdress as well. (Spans many historical periods.)


Early 19th century

So there you have it! :) What are your thoughts? Have you ever confused any of these terms?



Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.

Visit and contact at: Sharing the Journey // Along the Brandywine // ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com
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