The Post I Alluded to In Another Post

Here is the post I promised in that list of random facts in the prior Versatile Blogger post. Don't ever say I don't finish what I say I'm gonna start. Or something like that.

Every once in a while, my local public library likes to have a special event for people in the know. I call it the book addict's non-anonymous. We all know that libraries get donations in the form of books that people either no longer want (scandalous!), have left behind (...they're in a better place, but books can't come...which is sad), or that some kind, generous, pious individual has decided would be better loved in a library where children and adults can appreciate them.

However, due to the overwhelming amount of books or lack of space for said books, my library likes to hold 50 Cents an Inch Sales at least twice a year to raise some money. Who can blame them?

Well, who other than someone who donated half of her collection of treasured books that she fully expected to be able to check out if she wanted to read them again but found that none of the books she donated were to be found in the actual library, can blame them?

Regardless of past issues, this sale has quickly become somewhat of an addiction for me. I've already established, pretty much from the first post, that I'm addicted to buying and reading books, but this is on a whole new level. This sale is EPIC.

I bought 22 inches worth of books for only a measly $11! That's insanity! Eleven bucks is less than half of the price of a new hardback, and I bought about ten hardbacks (not new, but still) with it.

I only wish someone had thought to take pictures of me combing through the book tables and uttering cries of "Yes! It's old! It's an anthology! It's a book!" and other things. There may have been a few instances where I may have pushed an older patron slightly in order to reach a book before he/she did. Hey, what happens at 50 Cents an Inch Sale, stays at 50 Cents an Inch Sale.

Anyway, I've included pictures of some of my buys, and my prize purchase of the day, the poems of Ossian. There's a lot of controversy in the literary world surrounding the authenticity of the poet's identity and the creation of the epic poems, but I think it's awesome that I managed to find a copy that doesn't have a publish date in actual numbers.

It's in Roman Numerals. Neat, huh? MDCCCXCVI translates to 1945 in case you're trying to figure that out in your head. I couldn't, which is why I'm so glad for Google and its ability to find little plug-in things that translate things for me. Magic!

Addendum: Colin Smith alerted me to the fallacy of my Google thing, and it turns out that the year it was published was infinitely less recent. Try 1896, not 1945. In a word: jackpot!

Here's Colin's math:

The numerals on the page pictured are MDCCCXCVI. And this is 1896. M=1000, D=500, CCC=300, XC=90, and VI=6.

Thank you, Colin. You've further provided evidence that it's a good thing that I'm not trying to be a math teacher or count things for a living. Not even Google can help me.

Pseudo-what? Pseudonym Contest!

Being a part of this delightful blogging community has its perks. One such being the constant o'er'bundance of contests.

 And we all know I LOVE those.

 However, this one is slightly different from all the rest. Sure, there's a prize, but this contest is about more than just winning [a signed copy of Possession by Elana Johnson!]

This contest is for something quite more portentous. I'm talking about identity, folks.

 Abby Fowers over at Something To Write About is celebrating 200 (approximate) followers with a contest for a suitable pseudonym for herself.

 Pretty genius in my opinion. I'm all for getting people to use their creativity for my own benefit. They always say that there's power in numbers, right? Right. I'm tempted to join her. Maybe I will. Naming minions, unite! *cough* Where was I?

 Oh, right...

 As for the contest itself, it's fairly simple as contests go. Just come up with a name and submit it in a comment to her contest post during the contest period--November 1st to 15th--and let the voters do the rest.

 I don't know about y'all, but coming up with names is one of my weaker points. I rely heavily on stealing names from real people or random name generators. Baby books are also a big help. In the end, it doesn't matter how you get the name, it just matters that it makes you happy and fits the character.

But that's what's so awesome about this contest: we're actually naming a real, live, human person! And she isn't a baby! Isn't that keen? (Wow, just had a total word-flashback due to the amount of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries I've been watching lately. Great show by the way.)

 So get to thinking and come up with names that you think will be simply perfect for Abby! I know I will be! And follow that link up there to find out all the true-blue details that I forgot to include, because I'm sure there are some. My memory isn't what it used to be. Or is it?

Versatility, I Has It

Well, hello all you new neighbors! Thanks ever so much for stopping over here, because it means a lot to me. This weekend is the Halloween Bloghop, going on over at Jeremy Bates' blog, and I've noticed that a lot of the traffic has been due to that. Thanks peeps! You all seem like lovely people and I'm sure this is the start of some wonderful blurking.

Anywho, one of my newest neighbors has so graciously awarded Over Yonder with The Versatile Blogger award thingy, and I have to say, I'm honored. Part of the requisite actions I must take for this award is to list seven facts about myself--of the random variety--and also pass the award on to some newly discovered bloggers who fit the bill as well.

Spectacular! I just love lists, and the more random, the better!

1. I'm currently working on crocheting hats for everyone I know for their Christmas gifts. Please don't tell them.
2. I bought 22 inches worth of books today and it only cost me $11. Tune in on Monday to find out how.
3. I eat artichokes on my pizza.
4. I can't ride in a car unless I'm driving or I'll get carsick.
5. I held a baby today and she pooped on me. Actually, she didn't poop ON me, she just pooped while I was holding her. In her diaper. Which is where she is supposed to poop. Moving on.
6. I've had contacts since sixth grade, and when I'm not wearing them, I like to pretend I'm in a Monet painting.
7. I LOVE John Wayne.

Now for the blogs. This is always the hardest part, because I feel like I'm not being fair to all the blogs that I don't link to. Y'all will forgive me, won't you? If I don't link to you? I hope so. Because in truth I wish I could give everyone an award. It isn't fair. Darn, now I'm pouting.

Chrissy Peebles over at The Purple Brick Road.
Abby Fowers over at Something To Write About.
Donnelle Lacy over at a Little Dversion.
Anita Grace Howard over at A Still and Quiet Madness.
Mike Winchell over at Beanstalks & Bookends.
Janette Currie over at BookRambler.
Jaime Morrow over at Jaime.

Alright, the linking and mentioning and listing is done, so go clickety-click on things. I know how much fun that is. Besides, these people are really cool! I fully plan on congratulating them and announcing the fact that I've given them an award tomorrow. Okay, it's already tomorrow, but I'm gonna wait until later today, when you know, it's sunny and people are awake. Actually, I should really go to bed. I have stuff to do in eight hours or so.

Until next time...stay bloggy!

Friday Fives: A Whole New World(s)

Hello everyone! It's Friday yet again, which you may or may not already know, but if not, that's okay. Paper Hangover has provided the prompt, and as you can see, it's a good one. I only know the days of the week because my Google calender alerts me. Isn't that nice?

Before I digress too far down that road of whether or not Google calender alerts are the best things in the entire world, let's go to a few different worlds.

This is my Pottermore profile. Nice, huh? Yeah, it's swell. 

1. The wizarding world of Harry Potter. Yes. That's right. Another Friday Five list with The Boy Who Lived. You really shouldn't be so surprised. If I could just go to Hogwarts and be sorted into a House (Gryffindor!), my life would truly be complete. Seriously. I'd die happy. As it is, I have to settle for Pottermore, and even though it's pretty nifty and I'm in Gryffindor, the real thing would be so much better, as is always the case.

2. Just in case that genie in the lamp doesn't wanna take me to Hogwarts, my second choice would be the Star Wars universe. Why? Two reasons: 1) Space travel with handsome rogues and alien worlds, and 2) Lightsabers. Need I say more? Of course, being in that universe is contingent upon me being a Jedi, and I would fully plan on being the first Ewok Jedi ever. Just imagine the possibilities. I'd be super adorable and deadly. Best of all worlds right there.

3. On the flip side of the coin, if Jedi mindtricks and lightsaber battles were not an option either, I'd have to choose Middle Earth. It's a bit less technological, and I'd probably miss my computer and robot side-kicks, but the trade-off would be worth it, I believe. Although, deciding what to be in Middle Earth is a bit more problematic. I'd like to say I'd want to be an Elf, but they don't seem to have a lot of fun. So, I think being a Hobbit would be cool. Yet with that choice comes the fact that I'd be the shortest humanoid, and if I get to choose, I'd like to be tall. I think I'll have to go with Rohan. They have horses.

4. Next on the list of fantasy lands is Tortall. I haven't talked much about Tamora Pierce on this blog, and I don't know why because I love her books, but Tortall is a cool place. It's got magic, knights, rogues, villains, wars, mythological creatures--basically, the whole kit-and-kaboodle.

5. Last but not least, Narnia! There is just something about talking animals that makes me think that is a place I'd fit in. I'd have to get rid of all the pesky white witches and evil uncles, but once that was done with, I'm sure Narnia would be a nice home for me. Besides, I've always wanted to know why a dog chases its tail. Living in Narnia might finally answer that question.

Alright folks, thanks for hanging in there if you indeed did! I didn't mean to ramble so much, but I'm bored, so that's what happens. Happy Halloween weekend!

RTW: Best Book of October

Welcome to our 102nd Road Trip Wednesday!


Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments. 


This week's topic: What was the best book you read in October?


Happily and oddly enough, October has been a very fruitful reading month for me. I don't know how it came to happen that I've read so much since it seems like October has been the busiest month of my entire life, but I like to think that the book fairies know I need to read to stay afloat and they took pity on me. So, with that all in mind, I have a rather large selection to pick from this month, but thankfully there has been one book in particular that stood out, so the decision wasn't too stressful.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is absolutely gorgeous. I was lucky enough to actually get to meet her at an event in my hometown a few weeks ago, and she is such a sweet person. Here is a little background on the novel, in case you haven't heard of it, and if that's the case, I'd be surprised since it's quite popular at the moment. I really can't say it any better than the jacket sleeve and Goodreads.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

While reading this, I fell in love not only with the characters, but also with the circus itself. It's a living, breathing entity that easily captured my imagination. I only wish that I could be a part of Le Cirque des Rêves.

The Night Circus isn't a YA novel, but it isn't entirely an adult book either. It's something that I would put in a category with the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings, if only because of the rare illusive quality I'm trying and failing to describe. I suppose y'all will just have to read it to find out for yourselves.

I'm Not Myself, But Don't Worry

I've made a change, folks. I hope it's for the better, but sometimes my whims don't have the same effect I had planned them to have. What did I do?

I am now going by the name Bailey @OverYonderLit. So that's how it will look from now on whenever I leave a comment on here or on something else, somewhere else, and when I post. Hopefully.This way I will be able to separate my school life, blog life, and work life. It also means I will have four email accounts to keep track of, but I'm trying to figure out a way to make that even easier. It's a WIP.

Anyway, I did this because I was tired of people somehow finding my old blog from EDM310 and leaving comments on it. This blog was getting jealous, so I made a NEW Google and Blogger profile to keep this from happening.

At least, that's the plan. Now whenever people click on my name to stalk me and my blogs, Over Yonder... will be the only one to show up! Haha! Take that phantom stalkers! No more commenting on my projects from last semester or watching YouTube videos of me talking about my teaching pedagogy. Just me and you and whatever is on my mind right here, right now, on this blog. Welcome to the new Over Yonder...

However, this entire process has taken much longer than I thought it would. Why?

Well, it's not easy transferring blog follows to an ENTIRELY NEW Blogger profile. Until today, I had no idea how many blogs I was following. It took me an hour to copy and paste all of the URLs. An hour. You people that I follow should be so honored, because I didn't give up once. Not even when I reached the N's and despaired of ever finishing the process. No. I kept going all the way to the W's. And boy, there are a lot of W's.

Now that that is all done, I've come to announce that I'm not myself anymore, but I'm still me. If that makes sense. So don't worry about me, or the blog, or your blogs, or my comments, or your comments, or my responses to your comments, because it's really just me using a different name. I think.

Saturday Sleeps

That is a dead blue crab. Belly-up.
At least he died in the wild,
and not in a pot. That's the way to go out.

It's another one of those days where I'm at work and no one comes in, so I have to find ways to entertain myself. I opened a Word document and started typing on one of my WIPs, and that lasted about an hour. It felt nice, but I kept feeling like I had something else to do. Although, I'm not quite sure what that is.

So now I'm writing this post and listening to Pandora radio because I don't want to listen to the music in my library. I still have three more hours until I can leave this place (where I'm slowly freezing to death) and I've decided just now to write a list.

1. Despite having eaten a footlong sub, I'm still hungry. Most likely for coffee.
2. There's a green sheet hanging on the wall in the lab that we use for our "green screen area" and I'm seriously considering pulling it down and using it to keep warm.
3. Whoever put it up wouldn't be very happy with me.
4. Then again, there aren't any cameras in here so I could probably get away with denying my involvement.
5. Hmmmmmm...
6. I started back playing Words with Friends, and have discovered that I have not recovered from it as an addiction. I was just on a break. But I'm back!
7. There is half a bag of Mellowcream Pumpkins in the lab, but by the time I leave, I predict that their numbers will be greatly diminished. If you leave those things near me, I will eat them. They're made with real honey!
8. I can't stop thinking about how dirty my room is, and right now I have this sudden, strong urge to scrub toilets and sweep. Thank goodness I'm at work.
9. I just went and entered like five book giveaways on Goodreads. Maybe I'll win one. That would be so cool.
10. When I'm at the lab by myself, it gets so quiet that I feel like I could go crazy from the silence. Hence Pandora and OneRepublic.
11. Although now that I think about it, OneRepublic is a rather alone-sounding band.
12. For some inexplicable reason, I always want to call Mellowcream Pumpkins, Mellowcream Mushrooms.
13. The reason is not known, though I don't doubt it's connected in some way to Mellow Mushroom pizza and my love of pizza in general.
14. Last night I panicked upon finding a rather large spider in my sink, so I washed it down the drain. I didn't know what to do. I hope it doesn't come back out of there and watch me while I sleep.
15. Great. Now I've scared myself.
16. Since starting this post I've had 15 pumpkins and can now taste the honey.
17. If you can't count, that's a pumpkin for each number, or mostly since this one and number 16 doesn't count.
18. I've officially made it past Midterm week, and all without knowing it was actually Midterm week. I didn't find that out until this morning when the guy who has the key to the education lab showed up to let me in and he asked me how my Midterm week had been. Thanks guy.
19. I wondered why I was having so many tests this week. I just thought it was odd timing.
20. I wonder what else is going on that I don't know about?
21. Actually, I don't think I want to know. Sometimes I think it's best if I remain out of the loop, at least that way I can claim not to know and not have to lie.
22. That sounds bad. Oh well.

Well, I think I'm all done. What a pointless post. If you've read this far, you are awesome, but quite possibly self-destructive. Maybe you should get that checked out. Until next time...eat some pumpkin candy!

Friday Fives: There Was a Time

Welcome to our weekly Friday Fives!

What are the FIVE best ages of your life and why?


This is so easy. It's amazing how much time I actually spend thinking about what my life used to be like when I wasn't average height.

1. Two years old. This is the age that I believe--with the aid of baby pictures--that I was in my prime in the cute department. I was freaking adorable. If I had digital pictures, I'd show you.

That is my funny looking hand on the steering wheel.
I'm on the road. I have flowers and I'm driving a
bright blue bug. Those other cars are afraid.
Or laughing.

2. Five years old. I don't really remember much about kindergarten, but I'm pretty sure it was awesome. I recall making pumpkin bread, butter, green eggs & ham, and tons of crafts. That's pretty much the summation of how I would like to live my life.

3. Eight years old. Is there a Friday Five where I haven't mentioned Harry Potter? Anyway, this is the age that I was first introduced to that magical world. You can say that my life truly began at age eight.

4. Sixteen years old. Freeeeeeeeeedom! Not really. I could drive and I had a car, but since I was one of those weird kids, I didn't go anywhere. I just stayed at home to read, and whenever my family went somewhere, I had the ability to remove myself from the equation early so I could go home and read. Yeah. I was living the life back then.

Sunset over Mobile Bay. One of the many
times that I found myself in the company
of wonderful people. 

5. Twenty years old. This is modern day (although I'm quickly approaching twenty-one) and I have to say, I'm probably the happiest I've ever been. Not to say that my childhood wasn't fun, but I just don't remember very much of it to be honest. I guess you could say I live in the moment. Sure, I'm always busy, I work too much, my classes are hard and getting harder by the day, and I don't have time to read as much as I would like, but all of that is perfectly alright with me. I'm content.

RTW: Behind This Door is a Reason

I can see the light! And it's so bright! 

It's that day of the week again, and I'm back for seconds today. 

Welcome to our 101st Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.


We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic:
What's your numero-uno reason for writing?

Well, I like to think that I write for others, but really, if I'm honest, I write for myself. Writing (since I'm being honest) keeps me sane. Sanity=good.

It's fairly simple, and since I like to be sane most of the time and find that other people like to be around sane people, I write. Although, since I'm taking the honest train today, I can't completely assure anyone reading this that I am sane. Saying I'm not crazy is like a sure give-away that I am, because only truly crazy people think they're completely sane.

Sanity isn't my only goal however. I also write to make a point and to inform people of interesting things. As a student journalist, I get to write about a lot of things, often about topics that I may not have considered covering if it weren't for the fact that I needed an article for my section of the paper.

With the different fields of writing that I'm involved in, whether it be journalism, blogging, essays, or fiction, I find that the mere process of putting words down in any form is enough to make me happy. Today, for instance, I know that I'm going to have to write at least one article, maybe two, and also churn out an essay about some Shakespearean topic in only 50 minutes. Oh joy.

I'm also going to be teaching a writing workshop (that will hopefully turn out alright since it's my first one) to help the students struggling in EDM310 with their own writing skills.

So, to get back to the original point of this post: what is my number one reason for writing?

Well, I guess it's because I love it. Do I need more of a reason? I don't think so.

I Smell Roses

This is what my mornings look like.
Scary, I know. You get used to it after a while.
Mostly.

Good day, world of the blog variety! I woke up this morning, as I usually do, and thought to myself, "I sure hope I don't get hit by a car today." And what do you know, I didn't! Instead, I found a notification in my email stating that this little blog had won another award! That's practically the opposite of getting hit by a car in my opinion.

So, with all of that in mind, I've determined that although I may have a test on Shakespeare's tragedies today that I haven't studied nearly enough for, a writing workshop to teach this evening, and a zombie-filled event to attend that will make me miss watching a new episode of Psych tonight, today is going to be a good day.

Couple all of that with the fact that the weather has finally become less hot and humid and more fall-like, and you have one happy girl with a cup of hot coffee in her hand.

As for the award, it is called One Lovely Blog Award, and the wonderful Eve over at Clueless Eve has so graciously awarded it to me. How nice of her. The award is lovely in its own right, I think. I just love pretty things, especially when they're given to me. Even more so when they're edible, but alas, this one is not. That's okay, I can deal.

Now, there are some conditions applying to the awardee of this award (what a mouthful) and here they are:
1. Thank and link to the person awarding the award to the awardee. (I take it back, this is a mouthful.)
2. Choose fifteen other blogs that you've recently discovered to share in the loveliness of the award. Spectacular.

Well, I've already linked to Eve earlier in the post, so all I have left is to thank her. (I've already done it in a comment on her blog.)
"THANK YOU, EVE! You contributed to making my day wonderful!"

All of that was easy, but here comes the difficult part: choosing the other recipients. I hate making decisions almost as much as I hate the idea of being hit by a car or a bus. But I have to make some choices this morning, so here they are:

1. Colin D. Smith
2. Sioux's Page (which I just found this morning due to the sharing of the previous award, see this post)
3. Daily Dodo
4. Fantasy Nibbles
5. StupidGirl over at generationwhynot (she's not really stupid, just funny)
6. TeenShiver
7. K.M. Weiland over at Word Play: Helping Writers Become Authors
8. Write Escape
9. Write-or-Die
10. Suspense Author Jeremy Bates
11. Mireyah Wolfe
12. Donna's Book Pub
13. DAILY DRAMA OF AN ASPIRING WRITER (yes, she uses all caps)
14. Bookworm Castle (found this blog this morning thanks to the Halloween Hop going on over at Jeremy Bate's blog)
15. A Daft Scots Lass, a.k.a. Gillian Hefer

There you go! All done and it's only taken me a whole hour to do it! Now I just gotta go back to all of those blogs and tell them that I gave them a rosy award...yay.

Until next time...have a great day!

I'd Like to Thank the Academy for This Award

Well, this was quite possibly the best way to start off a week. My first blog award! Colin D. Smith, over there, gave it to me and now I get to participate in the sharing of the 7x7 Link Award! I'm super duper excited! Here are the details: any recipients will provide seven links to the blog posts of their choice, according to the categories to follow, and then will choose three lucky bloggers to also have the award. It's never going to end, I can tell. I like to think of it as one of those giant chain letters in blog form.



Anyway, without further ado, I give you my choices. *drum roll*
Thank you.

Most Beautiful
I'm allowing myself this one instance of vanity, so please bear with me. On Being a Writer. I don't necessarily believe the prose of this post is the most "beautiful" but the message is one that I find to be worthy of that title.

Most Helpful
During the horrible weather last spring, I donated my services to some online auctions being run by fellow bloggers to raise money for those affected by the tornadoes. Another Chance for a Portrait and to Help a Whole Town! is my second of such instances of aid. I helped the best way I knew how.

Most Popular
The most popular post (that wasn't a part of the blogfest) is one of the Road Trip Wednesdays from YA Highway. It's actually last week's, RTW: Path Less Traveled, and I feel like it might be one of my favorites simply because of the wonderful, supportive comments I received. I was so amazed and I feel blessed to have such sweet friends in this virtual space.

Most Controversial
I'm not sure if it's controversial, but the topic could lead to some controversy, especially where some parents are concerned. Thank You, LZ Granderson. You're My Hero.

Most Successful
This has got to be the Pay It Forward Blogfest post. I've met so many new people and found tons of new blogs to follow, and it's all thanks to this. I hope that the blogs I linked to are having as much success as I am witnessing for myself.

Most Underrated
I know I'm not that bad of a poet, guys. Sappy Sunday just never got that many page views. Must have been a slow week or something.

Most Prideworthy
It's Official, I Now Know How to Work the Library. Ahhh, I remember that day. It was such a great moment. I was a little embarrassed to ask for help, but I could look back and laugh the next day and even now. Good times...

Now that I've sufficiently plugged myself seven times, let's get down to the awarding business! It's so hard to decide who to give the award to...decisions, decisions.

1) Pro(B)logue I know, I know, I already listed her on the PIF post, but technically she wasn't supposed to be included in that list and was just an honorable mention. This time though, I'm linking to her FOR REAL. And also giving her this lovely 7x7 Link Award. *pats award* Good award. Be nice to SilentPages. She's nice to me.

2) Unbagging the Cats. This wonderful lady is so hilarious, that I can't help but want to see what posts she chooses for each of these categories. Seriously. She's super funny. I found her blog via the PIF fest, so hats off to it!

3) Last but definitely not least, Lindsay Writes. I met this lovely gal through one of the online auctions that I mentioned above and I'm currently working on a portrait for one of her characters. It's slowly but surely coming along to being finished. I haven't had as much time as I anticipated I would to work on it. Lindsay is a young adult author and she's awesome. That's all you really need to know, but if you hop on over to her blog, you're going to see what I mean.

Well, that's all folks! Go check out these posts and these other bloggers, and thanks for stopping by!

Oh yeah, and here's a kitteh.

I love me some Monty Python and the Holy Grail humor. Simply love it.

Pay It Forward Blog Fest Fun

So, there's this awesome thing *points at picture* going on this weekend (over here) and I saw it and said to myself, "Bailey, this is a great thing. You need to join and spread news of bloggers and their bloggy blogs all OVER the Interwebs. It's your destiny."

And now I have blog post number two for today. I'm on a ROLL. What is this, like number four for blog posts this week? Wow. I'm pretty sure that's a record for me. I wonder what that means for the world. I'm scared to actually ask.

Anyway, if you are a follower of Moi, please check out these awesome followers of mine and fellow bloggers. They deserve it and since I'm repping them, it must mean they're awesome. Which they are.

Group Blog
Scratchlings is a new blog put together by a couple of the cutest little writers ever! (Not to say that they are in any way  little, but since I have the "big dog complex" I consider anyone younger than me by at least one year to therefore be smaller than me. I know. I have issues.) They all hail from the Young Writer's Society, so of course they use their user names as pseudonyms. It's cute. They're pretty much the most knowledgeable bunch of teenage writers ever. I'm not even joking. They will awe you.
Also, the Pro(B)logue, which is run by SilentPages, who is also a contributor to Scratchlings. I know this is cheating, but she deserves a shout-out too.

This is my blog anyway. I can list more than three blogs. Muahahaha! Power is mine! Ahem.

Actual young adult YA Blogger
Kelsey Sutton is one of my dear, dear writer buddies, and I love her with all my heart. Right now she's on submission for the second time *fingers crossed folks* and I'm praying her book sells, because I know it's awesomesauce with spectacularchips on top. So stalk her. I do.

Adult(ish) Blogger
Another of my dearest of dear writer buddies, affectionately known as Tiger, is milady Tanya. She's Canadian and I'm Southern, so we get along great. She the Yin to my Yang, the salt to my pepper, the sour to my sweet, and every other kind of pair that you or I could think of. In short: she's wonderfully lovely. Also, she's very pregnant and I can't wait until she pops little Liam out so I can see what he looks like via Skype. I just feel so proud.

Completely Adult Blogger
Colin D. Smith is a guy that has a family and once lived in England where he rode a bike. His blog is quite interesting, with snippets about history and theology, and he comments quite often on my blog, so I always feel welcome whenever I traipse on over to his blog and leave a note on random posts of his. It's fun. Anyway, he mentioned me in his Pay It Forward post, so I've just came back here to add him! This blogfest is already working! Awesome!


Okay. Get to blog hopping! I wanna see some page counts go UP!

Friday Fives: A Blast from My Past

Aaaaand here I am again! I warned y'all. You just can't stop this train once it's starting rolling down the tracks. Unless I get tired or distracted by "Ooooh! Yummy!"

Now, what are my five favorite books from childhood bookshelves' past? Hmmm...to the time machine!

1) The Little White Horse
It's such a sweet story about love, and the animals are simply adorable! I read it many times, because the world was crafted so well. It's the classic fairy tale in my opinion.

2) Jane of Lantern Hill
I've never read any of Montgomery's other books, such as the more famous, Anne of Green Gables collection, but for some reason, I can still read this book to this day and love it just as much as the first time I read it. Jane's world on P.E. Island is perfectly delightful, and the problems she faces are very modern and adult. She's a plucky little character, but not in an annoying way like Anne always was to me whenever I tried to read her stories.

3) The Swiss Family Robinson
When I was about twelve, I bought a green, cloth-bound, hardcover, Children's Classic edition. It had gold letters and a built-in ribbon bookmark. At the time, it was the prettiest book I had ever purchased. The letters are faded now, the ribbon is frayed at the end, and the cloth-binding is starting to wear thin on the spine and edges of the cover, but all of that was done because I loved that book. I took it with me on every family trip or vacation, and I read it at least once a month for years. I keep it on a special bookshelf these days with the other books in this list.

4) The Black Stallion's Filly
I was obsessed with horses as a kid/preteen, and I devoured ever horse/pony series I could get my hands on.

Pony Pals, Saddle Club, The Black Stallion, King of the Wind (awesome book!), Misty of Chincoteague, My Friend Flicka, Green Grass of Wyoming, Thunderhead, and a plethora of older books that I found at garage and yard sales (A Horse of Her Own, Silver, Old Bones: The Wonder Horse, Midnight: Champion Bucking Horse, A Horse Called Mystery), National Velvet, the Heartland series, The Phantom Stallion series, and just about anything else with horse, stallion, mare, foal, filly, or colt in the name.

I was horse crazy, and that craze was fueled by the fact that I had a constant stream of horses while growing up. But after all of the growing up and book relocating that I've done, I've still managed to keep The Black Stallion's Filly and a handful of those first horse books that I used to feed my obsession. I'll probably never get rid of them.

5) The Book of Three

It's a romp of a tale, and whenever I start to feel nostalgic for my my younger days, I pick it up and give it a read. It doesn't take me very long, but I always feel refreshed afterwards. Lloyd just has a way with characters that delights the child within me.




I can't believe I made it through a whole list without mentioning Harry Potter, but I think that by now, y'all can pretty much assume with 100 percent certainty that I freaking adore Harry Potter and always will, until eternity, amen. So, really, I could have made this entire list just Harry Potter books, but I wanted to give some of my other favorites a chance to shine and be noticed. They don't get outside much. I think they'd appreciate anything y'all could say to make them maintain their self-confidence in the shadow of the Boy-Who-Lived-Then-Died-Then-Lived-Again.

People Who Live Near Me--

--are somewhat not normal.

"Does this camera angle make my butt look big?"
"Nooooo."

There have been a few incidents that have spurred me to this conclusion. Just this evening I came back from vanguarding for about five hours, and was slightly accosted by a person that I knew and another person that I didn't know, working as a unit.

They were male and very silly. Normally I'm all for being silly and saying silly things sillily, but I was tired (still am) so of course the silly wasn't coming easily. In fact, I was probably very boring, which may explain what happened as the meeting progressed.

So there I was standing awkwardly in the middle of the small field next to my dorm, and those two guys were making jokes with each other and trying to make me laugh. I think they wanted me to go party with them later tonight or something, it was hard to tell. I think the one I didn't know was altered mentally in some fashion or maybe he was always like that. Again, I'd never met him before in my life, but apparently he picked up my name very fast. I'm not too surprised. It's a fairly easy name to use.

Anyway, after a few minutes of talking about nothing and the fact that I was always busy with stuff, they decided to start kickboxing with each other. Right there in the lawn. At night. Without warning.

I'm often surprised by how much I don't really know about boys and their inner workings, but this was one of those moments where I wondered if I was actually awake or dreaming, because it seemed almost like a weird dream.

That lasted about three minutes, and then the one whose name I never learned ran to the building, and jumped up to grab hold of a towel that had been hung between the railing of the balcony thing. Then he started doing pull-ups from the towel.

I stood in place for a few seconds, looked at the sky for some kind of answer, and then walked away. He may still be doing pull-ups for all I know.

ROTC boys are odd.

Here's a list of things that make me wonder about people in general:

1. They talk about things like parties. People actually go to those? At real clubs? I thought that was just a thing that people did in the movies. Geez.

2. I have to explain what I do as Life Editor. Often more than once to the same person. I didn't realize my job was that complicated/confusing, but hey, you learn something new every day, right?

3. Even though there may be a sign on the door that says what is inside quite explicitly, people still think it's lying. Maybe where they're from "The Vanguard, Student Media" is code for "This is the Office of Requirement. Knock on this door, and you will magically be transported to wherever you need to go." If that's the case, I wanna live where they live. It sounds nice.

Aragorn understands me.
He doesn't let Orcs ruin his cross country run.
We live on the edge of adventure.
"Like two groovy peas in one far-out pod, man."
-Shaggy Rogers

4. No matter how many times you ask me the same question about an assignment that's due, I'm almost 100% positive that my answer will still be the same. But go ahead and ask me again. I have unlimited patience and have never thought about murdering anyone.

5. When I tell you that I want you to write something and turn it in on a certain day, and you agree to it, I really mean for you to turn it in late. Because only suckers want to have time to edit the articles for their sections. I like living on the wild side. Mistakes and misspelled words make me smile and see rainbows on the cloudiest of days.

6. As for getting to class on time, I hate it. So if you are walking in the bike lane, please don't move or else risk my wrath. The fact that I'm already behind schedule and I have a test in ten minutes only adds to my enjoyment. You're my favorite person at that moment, maybe even the whole day.


That's about all I can stomach for tonight, folks. Just thinking about all of that goodness up there is making me want to do cartwheels. I'm off to bed!

Until next time...have a great weekend!

(Unless I post again tomorrow, and then this won't be last you hear from me, and I'll have to repeat that salutation. But I'll deal with that if the moment arises.)

RTW: Path Less Traveled

Welcome to our 100th Road Trip Wednesday!


Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.


This Week's Topic:

What has your writing road trip looked like so far? Excitement? Traffic Jams and detours? Where are you going next?


First of all, congratulations to the gals at YA Highway for making it to their 100th Road Trip Wednesday! That's practically ancient! I'm honored to have been a part of it for only a short time. It's been a blasty blast.

My own writing journey has been somewhat unpredictable. I didn't really start writing seriously until my freshman year of college, and I only got started down this twisty road because something changed my life and writing was the only thing that seemed to make me feel like myself.

I know I'm not the only person in the world to suffer from something, but that first year of college was a rollercoaster for me, mostly because I developed polyarthritis and suffered debilitating pain in all of my joints. It used to get the point that I couldn't even lift the covers off of myself in the morning without crying.

In brief: it was a dark time.

That's when I started writing. For some reason, typing didn't seem to hurt my fingers, so I took to typing all of my assignments for class. One of my classes required that I write a page everyday in a journal, and those pages soon came to mean more than just an assignment to me. They became a type of escape from the pain.

I wrote about everything. I know that most of what I wrote was pretty emo and whiny--"Why do I have to have arthritis? I'm too young for this."--but as I kept writing, I started to fall into a rhythm.

My imagination used those pages to create worlds and stories. The pain fell away when I wrote, and before I knew it, I was writing even when I wasn't supposed to be.

These days I try not to think about how my life used to be during that time. Yes, it's a part of me, but it's also a horrible reminder of my own weakness and mortality. It's not fun to dwell upon. Maybe I'm being unfair to myself; maybe I should remember those days.

But I want to focus on the present and where I am on this writing journey. Writing has taken me to a place where I no longer feel the need to write about my own suffering. Instead, I write for other people and for the sheer joy of it.

I don't want y'all to come away from this blog post feeling sorry for me. I even had second thoughts about telling y'all about my past, simply because I wasn't sure if I wanted anyone to know. But I kept writing, and now if you've made it this far into the post I just want to let you know how much I appreciate your attention.

Right now I'm writing every day, mostly articles for my campus paper, but it's writing all the same and it keeps me sane. Oh yeah, and the occasional blog post (mostly RTWs, haha) when I find the time.

I leave you with this well known poem by Robert Frost. It's one of my favorites and seems to sum up my writing journey quite well or so I think.

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

(Poem courtesy this place.)

To: Mike the Bike

You are yellow, but never mellow unless you've taken
out your anger on my legs.
It's funny, or not if you're me, but for something
so nice, you sure are mean.
Sometimes we work well together and I think that
maybe you are starting to like me.
Then you cut my leg with your slippery pedal and
I know that in an hour I will bruise.
I would cry if I thought you'd care, but you don't
and never will because your heart is metal.
I'd say go to hell, but can bikes die? The
existential doesn't work on you.
I'd plead with you to let me go one week without
your abuse. I can feel your disdain.
I think you're jealous. I'm soft. You are not.
I sleep inside with A/C and you have to stay
chained to the bike rack downstairs. (haha)
Now that I think about it, it almost seems right
that my toll for using you is pain.
Just warn me next time you decide to kiss my legs
with your sharp contours.
That way I won't cuss at you in front of the random
pedestrians we're passing at light speed.
I can take the pain, but it's best if there's at least
one person left on campus who thinks I'm sane.

RTW: Calling All Side-Kicks!

Welcome to our 99th (omg!) Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This week's topic:

What supporting character from a YA book would you most like to see star in their own novel?

Well. They took Ron from me, and now I have to think. Good grief.

I think that a character that is certainly deserving of his/her own story is...

Mogget from...

Mogget is a Free Magic creature, that we see as a white cat most of the time, who is "contained" by the Charter after the formation of the kingdom and the Charter. He's a very complex creature who serves the Abhorsen, and his parts in the Abhorsen books are always interesting. In a way, he's my favorite character.








This is what I think he looks like and what a wonderful fan drew. Marvelous work. I just love Mogget. I think that a story around him would be awesomesauce. Hear that, Garth Nix? I'd like that for my birthday. I think it's reasonable. Thanks.