gud morning sms: May 2012

Thursday, 31 May 2012

A Fairy Tale in Photos: Robin Hood

I'm looking for something fun to do on Fridays and I figured that this might be something interesting. As you all can probably tell by the theme of this blog, I really love fairy tales. I've been looking through Deviantart and thought it might be fun to pick a fairy tale and showcase pictures I like from it.

This week is Robin Hood since we all lobe bows, arrows and a band of very happy men too! Check out some of the cool things I managed to find!

I was actually really surprised by what I ended up finding for Robin Hood pics. I thought they'd be few and far between but I like that I was able to find an equal amount of male and female pictures and that some of them are so emotive.

As far as my favorite, I really love the last one here and the girl in the tree. Which is your favorite?

Monthly Reflections (#5) ~ May

Monthly Reflections, where we take the time to reflect on the previous month.

My goals for May were...

☑ Read 10 books
☑ Read at least 1 eBook
☑ Read two "Just for Fun" books (one being Nightmare by Robin Parrish)
Read a book starting with the letter "E"

In May, I...

Read 12 books - including:
3 non-fiction books
2 eBooks (Flirting with the Forbidden and Unfriend Yourself)
3 "Just for Fun" books (Nightmare, Loving, and Divergent)
Did not read a book starting with the letter "E"

I am very happy with the amount of books I read! I hope I'm able to do the same in June. :) I can hardly believe I read THREE "Just for Fun" books - the majority of books I read are review books and how I was able to read three books that I didn't get for review in May, I don't know... :| In June, I plan on getting my review book TBR stack down in size, so I'm hoping I'll be able to read a LOT! :)

Books read:

My favorite fiction book was Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins - Nightmare by Robin Parrish was very gripping though and a close second from this list. :)

My favorite non-fiction book is a tossup between Praying for Your Future Husband and Flirting with the Forbidden. I loved both of those books and while there were a few things in Flirting with the Forbidden that I didn't like, it did make me think a LOT.

Reviews:

Lily by B.J. Bassett
To Dance Once More by Sherri Wilson Johnson
Illusion by Frank Peretti
Nightmare by Robin Parrish
The Pursuit of Lucy Banning
Stardust by Carla Stewart
Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins
Praying for Your Future Husband by Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer
*Spoilers* Loving by Karen Kingsbury
Flirting with the Forbidden by Steven James

Interviews:

Carol McCormick
Dani Pettrey
Barbara Brink
Olivia Newport
Carla Stewart
Naomi Rawlings
Tracy Higley

Special Posts:

Guest Post: Sherri Wilson Johnson
Cover Reveal: Tributary by Lisa T. Bergren!

I received The {Booker} Award!

Looking ahead:

Here is what I hope to accomplish in June...

Read at least 11 books - including:
2-3 Non-fiction books
1 "Just for Fun" book
1-2 eBooks
Read a book starting with the letter "E"

Now it's your turn! What did you accomplish in May, what do you hope to accomplish in June?

If you want to do your own Monthly Reflections, feel free to grab the button and post about it on your blog, then leave a comment with the URL - otherwise, please share your thoughts in a comment!

The {Booker} Award

Abbi, from Christian Novels, gave me The {Booker} Award recently and I'm so excited about it! I love receiving blog awards and the rules for this one are great!

Thanks, Abbi, for passing this award on to me! :)

The Rules:

1. This award is for book bloggers only. To receive this award the blogger's blog must be 50% about books (this includes writing blogs or reader blogs).

2. When you accept this award you must also share what your top five all time favorite books are. Going over five is encouraged.

3. You must pass this award on to five to ten other book blogs that you adore :)

Here are some of my favorite books (not completely in order):

Corridor by Robin Parrish

Waterfall, Cascade, Torrent, and Bourne (all a part of the River of Time series) by Lisa T. Bergren

Abomination by Colleen Coble

Beckon by Tom Pawlik

Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins

Vigilante by Robin Parrish

In Too Deep by Mary Connealy

Skin by Ted Dekker

Oh, I also love the Patrick Bowers Files by Steven James (they are really suspenseful and definitely thrillers!)

That's all I can think of right now... While most of those are books I've read recently (2011 to 2012), I'm sure there are others - I just can't think of them. LOL :|

I'm passing this award to:

Crystal / Just Another Book Lovin' Girl

Katie / Legacy of a Writer

Julie / My Favorite Pastime

Brooke / i blog 4 books

Wendy / Wall-to-Wall Books

Jeremy / Christian Fiction Addiction

Casey / Writing for Christ

Cathy / Thoughts on Books

Carissa / Carissa's bookshelf

Vera / Chat with Vera

If you are one of the bloggers listed above and want to accept the award, grab the award picture, create your own post following the rules above, and then feel free to leave a comment with the URL to your post below (not necessary, but appreciated).

BTW, I plan on posting my Monthly Reflections post later today. :)

What's Up With Your WiP?

My snuggly kittens to make you smile

I haven't done a post like this in awhile, so I thought it might be fun to fill everyone in on where I am with my Works-in-Progress (WiPs).

And then I want to hear from all of you. What are you working on?

Seagull Rising: This is my contemporary YA currently on submission with editors. I'm not actively working on it. Trying not to think about it at all, actually. (Survival)

The Crazy Part: I finished the second draft on this one approximately a week ago. I was at the hair-pulling stage, so when a couple of my awesome critique partners asked if I had anything for them to read, I said YES in big letters. I'm hoping their feedback, plus a little distance from the project, will help me dive back into it with a new clarity in a few weeks.

Red Butterfly: Meanwhile, I'm working on this novel again. This one has been hard. Writing the first draft was torture. Writing the second draft was like nails on a chalkboard. And still, after all that suffering, the voice was wrong for YA. I wrote a new opening a while ago and then let it sit while I finished the CRAZY draft. When I read it again the other day it was like, "UGH! THIS BELONGS IN THE TRASH!" So I'm starting afresh. I am accepting that maybe this isn't a YA story at all. So I'm going MG. But since it's such a heavy subject (abandonment, betrayal, secrets and lies), I'm switching to verse.

I have about thirty-five poems so far. I'm shooting for over 100.

I'll keep you posted....

Now it's your turn to share! On to the comments!

Nerdy T-shirts Part 1

I have been addicted to finding nerdy t-shirts lately since I started looking for Doctor Who shirts. I basically have lived on this site called RedBubble. I wanted to share some of the fun things I've found. If you're a nerd, I promise I'll have something you'll love in this pile. All links lead to the RedBubble site so you can purchase if you want.

First up, I've got some shirts for Doctor Who fans:

Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey Stuff

Fire and Ice and Rage

My Patronus is a Time Lord

Who's Who

British At Heart

I Heart Heart Doctor Who

T.A.R.D.I.S. Sauce

Shaker + Plunger + Whisk= Exterminate!

Master Dalek (Soft Kitty Style)

This is my nifty transition from one Doctor to another. Here are some Doctor combo shirts that will turn into Doctor Horrible stuff:

Doctorama

This little beauty has Dr. Who (Nine thru Eleven), Dr. Horrible, Dr. Simon Tam, Dr. Brown, Dr. Sheldon Cooper and many more!

The Four Natural Elements

Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who and Harry Potter. I tend to totally agree!

Who's Your Doctor?

Dr. Who, Dr. Simon Tam, Dr. Cox, Dr. Horrible and more awesomeness!

Team Horrible

The World is a Mess

Hammer-Out Homelessness

Dr. Horrible

There are some of the awesome designs I've found. Next up will be Supernatural, old school cartoons, some Buffy and plenty more. Stay tuned.

See anything you need to have?