1. I've started reading The Magician's Nephew to the boys. They climbed on the couch on either side of me this evening while I read the first chapter. I was delighted that Pickles was able to pay attention that long with only two pictures. I left off where Polly disappears suddenly and the boys were terribly shocked that I didn't keep reading. Haha, mean mommy. (c; We'll read the second chapter tomorrow. [The girls weren't officially listening, but I noticed they found things to do within earshot. Father called out, "Uncle Andrew is my hero," when I stopped reading.]
2. I started a baby blanket (going home from the hospital) for a cousin's upcoming baby. It is a new pattern for me, looks very pretty but is very easy. I'll post it when it gets a bit farther.
3. It has rained over 3.5 inches in 2 days. And that is on top of inches of rain we've received in the past week or two. The ground is absolutely saturated. I am seriously sick of rain. We looked it up and we got just under 72 inches of rain in 2012. Just for comparison Seattle got 44.54 inches of rain in 2012. Hello?
4. I inherited a set of oil paints from my grandmother, hardly even used. I got a couple small canvases (cheap ones from Walmart) to practice on, but I need to go to the library and get some books on oil painting first. I've never used oils. Watercolor, acrylic, yes; all kinds of drawing material, charcoal, pastels, pen-and-ink, pencil, yes....oil, no. It's a different world.
5. I am having serious doubts about trying to publish the four cakes story. Ugh. It's just a short story. C.P. doesn't publish short stories. Back to the drawing board...
6. I ordered the girls some skirts from Hannah Lise. They came today and fit perfectly. The girls love them. I need to get some more myself.
9 comments:
I love the Narnia books, and can't wait until F is old enough to read them! :)
And thanks for the link to Hannah Lise-- I've had a terrible time trying to find nice, simple, long skirts at a reasonable price, so this is a great help!
I LOVE their skirts - I have 3 myself. Don't go by size - just go by your measurements (trust me on this).
the story - could it be made into a children's book? this would make the length fine...
nice link - do any of their skirts go to about the ankle?
That was my 1st thought about the story as well.
You could self publish, perhaps. Don't give up - it's not just the story, the illustrations deserve to be published as well.
Narnia is such a wonderful series. Year ago we splurged on the cd set read by British authors (Kenneth Branagh, etc). dd8 listens to stories on an iPod as she fall asleep. The Narnia stories are a favorite. It amazes me she can fall asleep listening the battle scenes. lol The art sounds like fun!
Elizabeth: Yes, their skirts go to the ankle (unless you are very tall - I'm 5'5) They're great skirts.
And re: publishing as children's book, don't you think the concepts are a bit over the heads of children? I don't think an audience of age 10 and up is young enough to call "children". But, if it could, that would be a way out...
The striped rose: we have a few of them on CD too and the kids do enjoy them but the youngest likes the tactile experience of sitting next to me while I read. (:
I'm bummed about the story, because I think it's great. There are sites like lulu.com that you can self publish through easily. My husband published a book of poetry back when we first married using that site and they have good customer service and the quality was good.
The full impact of the story might be over a younger child's head, but if my six year old picked up your story I wouldn't be alarmed... there's nothing in there they could possibly infer on own, she'd probably just like the story... and if the one picture is any indication, she'd love looking at it. I hope you don't give up. We are really short of beautiful literature for that age group. I'd buy a handful for myself and a couple for the church bookstore!
And I love Hannah Lise. Great quality and awesome customer service.
Thanks, Khouria. I'm still wavering on the publishing issue. There are a few people critically reading it right now so hopefully I will have some more objective criticism soon. I've been too discouraged to get it out and work on it (plus I had a blanket to get done pronto...see post above) but I need to just settle down and start sketching out some revisions. Once I get started it's not so bad. It's the getting started that's hard.
I do like the fact that the story addresses something very delicate without actually coming out and saying it. And I don't think it's beat-you-over-the-head with the message either. As you say, younger children will just see the surface story but it's a good way to bring up the issue with pre-teens and teens. If C.P. doesn't work out I will do some more research into journals. I'm still wondering if something could be done with my other short story, "The Weed". I have a soft spot for it too.
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