Rachel Carter's Blog, page 7
March 6, 2012
The Top Ten Reasons I Would Bring Along an Eva Ibbotson Book if I'm Ever Stranded on a Desert Island
While Eva Ibbotson is known as a successful children's book author (J.K. Rowling is thought to have borrowed heavily from her, especially when it came to the idea for Platform 9 3/4m as Eva had previously released a novel called The Secret of Platform 13.), she has also written some YA titles, which have been slowly rereleased over the past few years.* And they are - I swear - the best books ever. Here's why:
1. The prose.
Read this paragraph from The Morning Gift:
"A vulture hung like a...
March 4, 2012
If I wasn't a writer, I would be...
A cake decorator!
I would be sooo good at this. I like meticulous little details, and I love projects that take a lot of time and a lot of concentration. Plus, I love to eat cake.*
Whenever writing is getting me down (often these days what with the horrible-looming-deadline), I entertain myself with fantasies of traveling to a small New England town and opening up a little bakery in a super cute brick building next to a bookstore and an old-timey movie theater. I will fill my days with...
February 25, 2012
Nature!
The other day was warm and lovely, so I took the two kids I was babysitting to Prospect Park. This park is one of my favorite places in New York. I used to live not far from Riverside Park (too long and sprawling), and Morningside Park (too filled with murderers), and Central Park (too crowded!). Prospect Park is definitely my favorite of the bunch. It has all these little bridges and waterfalls you can sneak up on. And it's so big that I'm still discovering stuff about it, even though I've...
February 23, 2012
The Cloak Society
As any debut author will tell you, having a good support system is the key to staying sane while you await the release of your book. Especially for those dark moments where you literally just need to call everyone you know and cry and whine and expect lots of sympathy over trying to meet a deadline or learning how to create a Goodreads account. (I figured it out! Friend me.)
And the most valuable friend around is the person who is going through the exact same process at the exact same time...
February 22, 2012
February 20, 2012
Target Women
I realize I'm late to the party on this one, but I literally cannot stop watching Current's Target Women with Sarah Haskins. So smart! So funny! So true!
My favs:
Who am I kidding? They're all my favs. WATCH THEM - but only if you have like 6 hours free, because these clips are like snarky little potato chips. Once you start you cannot stop.
February 18, 2012
To Atone
I've recently been thinking a lot about 1940's fashion. This probably has to do with So Close to You *coughhintcough*, but also with this crazy vintage kick I've been on lately. I'm always on a bit of a vintage kick, though it is in high gear these days, and I am impulse buying like you would not believe. Look at this amazing 40s dress I picked up from a local vintage shop for proof (sorry for quality - it was late and the light sucked):
The collar is intricate lace with two sparkly beads...
February 14, 2012
Bette Davis Hair
(Ignore the cigarette (ew!) and concentrate on the curls (yay!))
Spoiler alert - I LOVE vintage stuff. I love thrifting, I love wearing 50's dresses, and I love, love, love a true red lipstick. But while I can rock a crinoline skirt with the best of them, I've always been a bit lacking in the hair department. I kind of have 70's hair - straight and long and heavy and it CANNOT hold a curl. But then I saw this tutorial (from the amazing Esme and the Laneway):
And I thought, well that...
February 9, 2012
Ginger Love
My sister and I have always, always loved ginger boys. Seriously, we should probably move to like England or Ireland or somewhere they still exist on the regular. She maintains that the hottest ginger around is Ron Weasley...
...and while I DON'T DISAGREE, I would also make a strong case for Prince Harry:
(Even he's like, "Come on, look how hot I am.")
I love me some literary gingers too. Like Jamie Fraser from the Outlander Series. Which - holy crap - if you haven't read this series than...
February 8, 2012
A Full Map of Panem
God bless you aimmyarrowshigh.livejournal.com and badguys.livejournal.com for taking the time to make a super realistic map of Panem - the newly imagined North America where the Hunger Games books take place.
These bloggers did so much research that they have scientific reasoning and like, charts and stuff. Color me impressed.
Sometimes I'm really glad there are people out there in the world who are even nerdier than I am.
