S.M. Pace's Blog, page 6

Writers’ World – Interview with Krisna Starr

Welcome back to Writers’ World, where I interview writers and bloggers.  Today I’m interviewing Krisna Starr.  

Bio:

Krisna is an avid reader and a lover of dragons, unicorns and all things magical. Dreams and stories are her personal haven from the hum-drum of daily life.

Her current WIP, Dragons of Atlantea (working title), is set in the world of Atlantea, where magic rules, dragons roar and angels soar the skies.

Besides books, she enjoys spending time with her children, mediation/ yoga, music and watching animes on the net.

 

Q.  Welcome Krisna.  So, what have you written?

I’ve been writing stories for as long as I can remember. I started writing my first novel, Legend, when I was in the eighth grade. I pantsed the whole thing and even now it’s one of my most cherished stories, even though if I look at it through a critic’s eye, there are tons of plot holes and character inconsistencies. After I finish my current WIP, Dragons of Atlantea, I plan on picking it up and working on it again.

In addition to this, I’ve also written a number of short stories and flash fiction. They can be found in my blog, Krisna Starr.

Q.  I have immense respect for writers who can full out pants a first draft.  And at thirteen!  That’s awesome.  What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

I’d say finding the time to work on my story consistently every day is my greatest challenge. I try doing daily sprints for at least 1 hour, but the demands of family and home (especially with a toddler and a baby) is pretty difficult. But I manage to squeeze out some time every day

Q.  I can definitely understand that.  Some days, if all you get is fifteen minutes you have to be happy you found that much time.  Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?

The first book that I remember reading is The Case of the Spiteful Letters (Five Find-outers) by Enid Blyton. It hooked me for years and kindled my interest in mysteries. I gobbled up all of Enid Blyton’s books in the next few months and then started writing my first story.

Q.  I love when an awesome novels inspires me to write something new.  Speaking of which, what inspired the world-building for your current novel?

Most of my inspiration comes from my dreams. I dream a lot about fantasy worlds where magic is a normal way of life, where awesome creatures like dragons and unicorns roam the land and soar the skies and characters struggle a lot but get their happy-ever-afters in the end. And all of this just flows through when I sit down and write.

Q.  I’m a sucker for all those things, especially a happy ending.  What’s your views on social media for marketing, and which of them have worked best for you?

I think social media is a good way to market our books. But. Like everything in life, it depends on how we do it. If we just push our books at the throat of people in twitter or FB, then it’s not going to work. In fact, rather than attract people, it’ll push them away. But if we truly build good relationships with our readers and writer friends  by engaging with them, sharing interesting discussions and giving them valuable information, then social media is a very good platform for getting a good exposure for our books.

So in effect, I think it’s building relationships that work in any area, not just marketing.

Excellent advice.  Thank you so much for stopping by Krisna.  Learn more about Krisna and her writing by visiting her at the links below.

Read Krisna’s blog

Connect with her on Facebook

Follow her on Twitter

Be friends with her in Goodreads

 

Monday Update – August 8th

Holy cow!  I now have four subscribers on my mailing list.  Yay!  And I was interviewed by Alyssa Flowers.  Please follow the link to check out her wonderful blog and send her some comment love

Those two things were  a great lift up to a very chaotic week.  A lot of home repairs going on, Bunny’s 18-month check-up and I ended up keeping him home of Friday.  It was a rough week for writing.

Writing

Cry of the Hawk –

Achieved:  I managed to write almost 982 word on Hawk this week, but it was a struggle.  That puts me at 27,482, and 12,503 toward my #hotandsticky count.
Goal:  Reach for the stars, so let’s try for 3k again

1 Flash story

Achieved – Ha! Nope.
Goal:  I try again with that prompt I was going to use last week.

Revising

Cats at Midnight –

Achieved:  Another big nope, although in part because I was on another short story I have plans for.  So, still sitting at 64%.
Goal: Shooting for 84% this week.  Wish me luck.

Seer –

Achieved: Nothing on this on either
Goal:  Would love to hit 43% but this one is probably about to hit the back burner.

Flash story –

Achieved: A got a little done on Amber Soul.  I’m going to try to finish it this week.
Goal:  If I can finish Amber Soul this week, I’ll count that a win.

Website

The new website and my mailing list are up and running  I have some more plans for the website, which should be awesome.  Expect to see some new things in a couple of weeks, and please let me know what you think in the comments.

Personal Goals

Dedicate a half hour, three nights a week to sewing –

Goal:  This one really got sacrificed to all the home repairs we have going on.
Planning to try for one page again.

Exercise for at least 10 minutes every day (I know that doesn’t sound like much, but baby steps, and all that)

Achieved: Actually ended up having to cut the workouts back severely, because I was overdoing.
Goal:  With that in mind, Bear, Bunny and I will stick with placid walks for the next few weeks and I’ll probably drop the intense Zumba workouts for a while.

Read 10% each (I’m all about the ebooks) from:

Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads

Achieved: Made it to page 13.  It’s actually a really fun book.  The author has a very subtle sense of humor when describing the very … unique food people used to enjoy.
Goal:  Shooting for page 50 this week.

Carpe Jugulum

My library doesn’t carry many Discworld novels, so I was quite pleased to find this one.  I’m already on page 27.  Not going for any particular page number, just enjoying the read.

Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you.  Sound off in the comments, and share your goals for the week. 

Flash Fiction Friday – Elsewhere

 

Elsewhere

“How long will you be with us, Mama?” Delai, her middle child, passed Yana the mead cup.

Yana flinched. She just wanted to enjoy fresh bread, a warm place to sleep, and meet her grandchildren. Why did her daughter have to ask questions Yana couldn’t answer?

“Don’t leave, Mama.” Yorin, her son, took Yana’s hand and squeezed her arthritic fingers. “You can stop it. We know you can.”

Yana raised her eyes to her three children. So much older since she’d last stumbled upon their little village. All with children and grandchildren of their own.

Those little ones eyed Yana warily. She smiled. She enjoyed that she was nothing like the other village grandmothers.

“You’ll die if you keep this up.” Kayta, her oldest, hair graying at the roots, turned away. “We’ve wondered for months if you weren’t already…” Her voice grew thick with tears.

“I’ve told you,” Yana whispered. “I can’t control it. I never could, though you never believed me.” She gave each a hard look, though she carried no anger for them. “I don’t blame you for leaving me. Don’t blame me for the same.” They finished their meal in silence.

Yana sat by the fire, listening to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren playing games, while her children conferred with their lovers.

She closed her eyes, and soothed herself with the soft sounds of village life. The sounds she escaped from so long ago. The sounds she could never stop escaping from, no matter how much she longed to stay.  As she drifted to sleep, a single tear slid down her cheek.

****

The next morning, she packed up her things. Delai and Yorin said nothing, but Kayta tried to stop her. “Why, Mama?”

“I don’t want to scare the little ones when I disappear.”

Kayta shook her head. “Maybe if you just stay, it won’t come after you again. Maybe …”

Yana shifted away from her daughter’s grasping hands, though she longed to cling to them. Her back and legs ached. Her soul ached. She wanted so badly to rest.

Instead, she waved goodbye, planted her walking stick in the dirt and left.

A half mile out, the air rippled around her, as if someone had shaken a blanket.

Yana took a deep breath, and kept her eyes open and ready. The world shifted, tilted like a rolling plate, and Elsewhere took her. When it finally settled, she stared up toward the peak of Great Mount. She sighed, rubbing her eyes, and walked on.

The rocky mountainside stretched on without end, sloping up, forever into the sky, beyond the clouds. Many said all of Everwood rotated on the spire of Great Mount like a child’s top, the misty ocean frothing at its edges.

Yana missed the ocean. Soft sand beneath her feet, the spray of the sea. It had been a long time since Elsewhere had taken her there.

Hours later, she set up camp near the base of the mountain. She stretched her oiled tarp between two high boulders, weighing down the edges with a few smaller rocks. Underneath, she spread her blanket and bedroll. Then she retrieved the bread and dried meat her children had given her. While she ate her simple meal, she surveyed her trinkets.

Dozens of things, collected from all over the world. Spirit shakers, little gourds filled with rice and pebbles, from the Calliopes in the north. Reed dolls from the Fangor marshes. Gold and silver coins from each of the great cities throughout Everwood. Dancing scarves, glittering with beads. She had danced so beautifully, and men and women alike had paid to see her. Some had tried to keep her.

Kayta had been conceived by one of those rich men, who had thought he could buy Yana like a prized pet. She smiled. Elsewhere alone owned her.

Her smiled faded as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the distance. Storms around Great Mount were always violent. She gathered up her things and huddled under her blanket.

She looked up into gray storm clouds above. Her voice croaked with so many years she had not realized had passed her by. “I always told myself I would never regret what I did, the life I chose. And parts of it I don’t. I’ve seen more of the world than anyone else, lived enough for ten women.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “But I missed my children. I want to rest. I want to lay my head down knowing that the next night I’ll be beside the same fire, and the night after that, and all the nights to come. I don’t want this anymore. I’m too old, too tired. I don’t know what to do.”

As if in the answer, lightening arced through the clouds, then a rumble of thunder. While she hid in her meager shelter, the storm raged. She slept little, and felt sickness seep into her bones. She dreamed of her children as they’d been, carefree and loving. No one a stranger to them. Then bitter and angry, as they’d grown up. Then worried. They reached for her. Elsewhere yanked her away.

Yana sobbed and fought for their hands. Why hadn’t she stayed in their village? Maybe Kayta was right, and she only had to stay in one place to end the spell.

I’ve tried and it never works. Elsewhere always takes me.

She fell asleep near the end of the storm, soaked and shivering.

****

Yana had fought so long to escape the village life she so dreaded, she could not believe she now fought to find it again.

Illness had claimed her. Wet and bedraggled from the storm, she still had to quickly pack her things. Once upon a time, Elsewhere had often given her a whole month at a particular place, before sweeping her away. Now she was lucky to have two days.

“I will die like this.” She did not know who she whispered to. No gods cared to listen to her. A self-important little hedge-witch, who dabbled in magics far beyond her station. She’d been lucky the gods smiled on her enough that her spell had worked as she’d wanted. Given her the chance to always escape. To Elsewhere.

They would laugh when she begged them to take it back.

Yana cast the bundle of dry herbs onto the fire, and a hacking cough doubled her over. She drew in a rattling breath. Hands shaking, she raised them to the sky. She felt Elsewhere coming, bound to snatch her away.

The air folded.

“Please,” Yana cried. “I want to rest. Send me back to my children. I have little time left, and I would spend it with them.”

Ashes swirled around her arms and face. They twisted in the shifting air. Yana felt Elsewhere wrap around her, and closed her eyes like a fool.

Ungrateful little hedge-witch, after all we’ve given you.

The dry, soft voice startled Yana. She floated in darkness, suddenly free of pain and exhaustion. “Not ungrateful. I loved my life, it was what I wanted for so long, and I treasured it. But I’m old. I would like to spend my last days with my children.”

The voice chuckled, a sound like autumn leaves rustling. What will you give us? Your trinkets?

“You may take them all.” Yana had her memories.

We have no use for trinkets. What have you of value?

Yana’s heart sank. “I have nothing.”

Untrue. As you just thought, you have your memories. Those of your journey across Everwood since you were given to Elsewhere.”

Yana’s pulse quickened, and she shook her head. “That is all I have. I would not remember my children, my life. I would be no one.” Somehow, she thought she felt tears on her cheeks, though in the strange limbo, she doubted tears were possible. She closed her eyes, and let out a slow breath. “Leave me the memory of my children. I would like to remember them at least.”

Silence followed.

As you wish.

 

****

Hard packed earth pressed against Yana’s hands and knees. She had the sense of a long journey. Familiar voices shouted around her.

“Mama!”

“You’re back.”

“Quick, bring her inside. She’s not well.”

Yana coughed painfully. Hands lifted her, tucked her into a pallet by the fire.  Someone pressed a cup to her lips.  She drank the thick, bitter syrup.  She stared up at three pale faces, and recognized them. Kayta, Delai and Yorin. Her children.

Other memories lay just out of reach. Memories of a good, long life. Of distant places. She smiled as she closed her eyes. Perhaps when she woke, and was better, she would think on those faded memories a bit more.

 

 

August IWSG – Patreon Cold Feet

It’s time again for Insecure Writer’s Support Group, when insecure writers across the blogosphere gather to share their trials and triumphs.  IWSG is captained by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  The awesome co-hosts for August are Tamara Narayan, Tonja Drecker, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Lauren @ Pensuasion, Stephen Tremp, and Julie Flanders!

Make sure you stop by and say hello.  Also pop over here or just click on the IWSG banner if you’d like to learn more and sign up to join the hop.

I’m not feeling terribly insecure about my writing specifically this month.  Cry of the Hawk is coming along much better than it was.  My two revision projects are also trucking along.

My main insecurity right at the moment is rather similar to what I felt when I first self-published.  I’m launching a Patreon, and I’m down right terrified.

I have two novels self-published and for the most part, they sit on the electronic shelves gathering dust.  I see a few sales here and there, but nothing spectacular.  Part of me thinks and hopes that a Patreon page will change that.  That having that link out there will attract more people to my website and generate more interest.

Another, perhaps more logical part, realizes that it will basically be just another self-published novel.  One I’ll have to market, something I’m still learning how to do.  One that may sit on the electronic shelves, gathering dust.  Dust I will have to look at each day when I go in and see I have no new subscribers.

But it’s all about incentive.  If I can get even one person to subscribe, it will give me impetus.  My plan is to post serials, which I’ve noticed some indie authors do through their websites.  If I know someone is waiting for that new chapter each week, I’ll want to post it.  I think that will keep me going.  And that interaction between myself and readers, even if it’s just one, is what I want more than anything.

Wish me luck.  My plan to launch on September 5th, with a full serial ready to go, and an exclusive short story going to anyone who donates.

Anyone else have any crazy marketing plans?  Do they terrify you?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books You Would Buy Right Now

 Top Ten Tuesday Time!  This bloghop is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Check them out to learn more about the hop and read some great book reviews.

Today’s topic is Top Ten Books You Would Buy Right Now if Someone Handed You a Fully Loaded Gift Card.

I would buy all the books!  Everywhere!  I’m currently limited by our budget to one book a month.  I get my reading fill mostly from the library, but I love having a new book in my kindle.  As you’ll soon see, the theme is that I start a series, and end up not buying the second or third novel.  Maybe my future goal should be to save up a bit longer, and buy a full series all in one go.

If I have to pick ten, here goes:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I just discovered this one last week, but it’s right up my alley.  Witches, vampires, magical books and conspiracies.  Love it.

 

 

 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling

How can I not want to buy the next Harry Potter novel that we were told would never come.  I truly hope J. K. Rowling still enjoys writing these books, and that she isn’t just doing it so fans will leave her alone.  In that vein, I am one of those fans begging, “please write more books in this world.”  But only if she wants to

 

The Gray Wolf Throne and the Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

I started this series a long while back, a YA epic fantasy, but one of the few I’ve found that’s truly epic.  Finally purchased and finished book 2 last winter, so now I’m hoping I can get book 3 soon and get back into the story.

 

 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol

Mostly to say I have it.  I read Alice’s Adventures in high school, and loved the absurdity of the world Carrol created.  I’d like to have hard copies of these two for Bunny.

 

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Same with Alice.  The novel itself is actually quite dark and influenced a lot of my growing fantasy tastes as a teenager.

 

 

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johanson

Another series I started and I could not put book one down.  But I’m actually holding off until book 3, The Fate of the Tearling, is out.  I have a feeling I will want to buy both at once so I don’t have to stop reading.

 

 

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

This is next on my Terry Pratchett Discworld list.  In real life, I’ll probably end up checking out this one from the library, as I do many of my Terry Pratchett reads.  I try to reserve purchasing for the new novels I can’t get for free.  But with that lovely, imaginary gift card, sky’s the limit.

 

Darksong: Book 2 of the Legendsong by Isobelle Carmody 

I started this series a long time ago.  I loved the first novel, but things got in the way, and I still haven’t bought the second.  At this point, I probably need to re-read book 1 before continuing the series.  The world building is very rich and there’s a lot going on in terms of political maneuvering and plot twists.

 

The Crow by Alison Croggon

Sticking with the theme, I started the Pellinor series two years ago.  I loved The Naming, Maerad and Cadvan still being two of my favorite characters.  I didn’t like the Riddle as much, but it was still a great read, and I really want to see where the series goes.

 

 

 

Mystery Novel because you just never know.  I reserve the right to have a mystery novel on my list, because I know there are numerous series I have yet to finish.  As soon as I remember them, I will want to purchase the next book.

 

 

 

Let me know in the comments what books you would run out and buy in a heartbeat if you could  and/or what you would do with a fully loaded bookstore gift card.

Weekly Update and August is here

My birthday is coming up this month!  Don’t ask how old

Seasons Snaps – Beach Edition

So, of course, I took pictures at the beach.  We actually spotted a dolphin one day, but it was moving too fast for me to get a pic.  But here are some gems I did manage to snap.

We had some raging storms on Tuesday. I took this pic during a break in the rain. I love how it seems like the rainbow is spearing the clouds.

 

We had a buck moon a couple of nights. This represents my phone’s failure to take a decent picture of it, though it does have a creepy vibe with the clouds streaking across.

 

Bunny also had a fantastic time. His cousins buried him in the sand here, and true to form, he hardly reacted He’s very laid back when he wants to be.

Hope all of you are enjoying the summer weather, wherever you’re spending it.

Mist Mad Part 3

The final installment of Lyas’s story.  Follow the links for parts 2 and 3.

 

“Mist Mad”

Before day break the next morning, I climbed out of bed.  Shivering in the dewy dark, I threw on breeches and a shirt.  Ugly dreams had plagued me through the night, and in the wee hours, I had made a decision.

On tiptoes, I slipped out of the house.

I fed and watered the chickens and goats, milked the nannies and built up the fire in the barn stove.  I took a few swallows of warm milk to settle my stomach.  Freed from chores, and with the memory of the fire crackling, I ran back to the beach.

The Mist Mad lay trapped in a makeshift fence, wooden stakes hammered deep into the pebbled ground.  Its free hand lay by its head.  Face turned to the side, its eyes watched me.  With a shudder, I ran to a nearby cache of trees, and went to work.

I dragged branches to a dry hillock overlooking the ocean.  Half the morning I worked.  Afraid to go in for breakfast, I fed myself on discarded apples from the village orchard.

By midmorning, I’d built a serviceable pyre.  Heart hammering against my ribs, I made my way down to the beach.

With a coil of rope slung over my shoulder, I imagined myself a sailor.  Just going about my everyday chores, no fear or hesitation.

While I worked, the creature moved.  It lay belly down, closer to the edge of its cage, the green gray face pressed into the rocks.  As I drew closer, the head shifted.  It gasped, like a fish pulled from water.

I tied the end of my rope to the creature’s ankles, coiled the other end over my shoulder, and began to pull.

The body fought me.  It twisted and writhed, determined to break free from my rope.  Its free hand clawed at the rocks.  I slipped and stumbled often.  Bruises and scrapes mottled my shins.  Between the clatter of the rocks and my own exertions, it took me a while to notice the singing.

The Mist Mad hummed a quiet song.  Sad, and painfully beautiful.

The familiar melody pressing against my memory.  A sailor’s song, of the rolling sea, storms and ships.  Of loving the ocean, but missing home.  A song my Dad had once sung me.

Sweat poured down my back, and the heat from the sun steamed it away.  I reached my pyre just before noon.  Mama would holler soon, for me to come for lunch.

With a grunt, I hauled the legs up on top of the wood.  Then I lifted the shoulders.  The head flopped to the side, and the flat gray eyes found me.

I stiffened.  Fear and pain.  Life shown from those eyes, for just a moment.  A vague smile bowed lips gone black.

I struck my fire starter.  Once … twice … the third time, the spark caught the kindling.  I fed it, blew on it, willed it to burn.  The bigger branches caught and the flames swallowed them up hungrily.

“Lyas!  Lyas, lunch time.  You’ve chores to do, young man.”

I turned to go, but a sound stopped me.  A thin, cackling laugh.

“Lyas.  Lyas, you’ve chores to do.”  The creature spoke in a reedy voice.  “You’ve done quite a bit already.”

I faced the body again, though rising flames obscured my view.  The wet clothes smoldered in the fire.  Thick, black smoke clogged the air.  Through the wavering orange and yellow tendrils of flame, I spotted the face.  The black smile, and dead eyes.  The lips moved.  “So warm.” 

The stink of burning flesh stung my nose.  Smoke billowed into the sky.  The creature’s skin bubbled, blackened and peeled.

It still smiled.  “I think I will leave this one.  Perhaps I shall see you again, Lyas.”  The body stiffened then went limp.

Then screamed.

I jumped back, then stood frozen in horror.

A wrenching, horrible wail, like no sound I’d ever heard.  The sailor failed on the pyre, sending plumes of ash flying.  His eyes, sightless and wild with pain and fear caught mine.  He did not see me.  But I would forever see him.

In all, it was likely only one minute.  But each agonizing second dragged on like an eternity.

“Lyas.  Lyas, what in the Devil’s Claw are you doing.”  Strong hands grabbed me up, pulled me away from the fire.  Marten took in my raw hands.  He stared for a moment at the pyre, then held me tight against his chest.  He said nothing.  He offered no words of comfort.  None would have comforted me.

When others learned what I did and the result, they grew quiet, and stared at me.  An elder at the village tavern, a long retired sailor, tried to ease my mind.

“Twas a trick, boy.  The Mist is clever and cruel.  It mimicked the sailor’s voice to frighten you.”

I did not believe him.  I had met the sailor’s eyes.  It was him.  But at least I knew I’d saved him from weeks if not months of misery.

It helped, knowing what I had done, when I thought about my Dad.  Wondered if the Mist held him, still alive, deep beneath the sea.

****

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse in the world of Everwood.  Cheers

Do You Have Goals – August Edition

And now July is gone.  Because I’m planning to make some of my Christmas gifts this year, I did the week countdown, and sixteen doesn’t seem like a lot.  Time is going so fast.

It’s the last Friday of the month, and that means it’s time for Misha and Beth’s Do You Have a Goal Blog Hop, where bloggers share their monthly goals.  The hop is hosted by Misha Gericke and Beth Fred.  Click the links and you’ll find an awesome blog hop to join and some great people to follow.

Let’s see how I did for July –

Launch my Patreon – Did not happen.  I pushed back the deadline to September 5th to give myself more time to get things ready.  If you’re not familiar with Patreon, just click the link to check it out.  It’s a bit like an ongoing kickstarter.


Post at least three times a week – I actually achieved this one!  This will be my thirteenth post for the month of July.


Set up my mailing list – Done and done. Feel free to sign up to get blog posts, updates, and extra goodies straight to your inbox


Enjoy the heck of my beach vacation – I definitely managed this one.  Bear enjoyed the air-conditioned beach house and Bunny loved throwing sand and splashing in the ocean.

Goals for August –

Launch my Patreon – Round 2, and with any luck it will go live this time.  The launch will start August 28th.

Post at least four times a week – If July was doable, August must be.  That will be 16 posts for the month.

Complete the revision on Cats at Midnight – I’m over halfway done, and I can’t wait to see how it comes out.

Complete the first draft of Cry of the Hawk – Hawk is coming on rapidly now, and I’m so excited with the surprises that have come up in the draft.  A new character, some new twists.  Can’t wait to see what this novel throws at me for the end.

Good luck to my fellow Goal Blog Hoppers, and to everyone striving to meet their goals this month.  Sound off in the comments and share you own goals.  

Top Ten Tuesday – Things Books Have Made Me Want to Do or Learn

Top Ten Things Books Have Made me Want to Do or Learn

 

I could fill pages with this one, but I’ll manage to narrow it down to ten.  Starting in order from things I’m least likely to learn anymore about to things I’m actually got a decent handle on.

Ventriloquism 

I find it weird that people make fun of ventriloquism, because I totally love it.  If I’m completely honest, this one synced up as much with seeing ventriloquists on television as reading about them.  However, I have very clear memories of reading the Living Dummy novels in the Goosebumps series and finding Slappy hysterical.  I asked for a Slappy dummy for Christmas when I was ten.  I didn’t get it L  but my mom did buy me a book on ventriloquism.  It’s a very difficult skill to master, and while I’m decent at talking without moving my lips, I can’t combine it with manipulating a dummy.  Also, dummies are expensive.

Magic

Seriously, actual magic.  When I read Matilda, I became obsessed, for several months, with learning how to move things with my mind.  I woke up early every day for an entire summer just to sit at the kitchen table trying to move a pen cap with my mind.

No, it never happened.

Sign Language

The Baby Sitter’s Club inspired this one.  I read the book Jessi’s Secret Language and decided to learn sign language.  I bought a book on sign language, and basically taught myself SEE.  I later took lessons in ASL.  Life got in the way, and I didn’t have time to keep my lessons up, nor was I outgoing enough to attend the local Signing Dinners at the mall.  I know a few signs now, but I’m far from even conversational, especially because true ASL has a lot of nuances that are difficult to pick up.

How Languages Work in General

I can’t pinpoint exactly where this one came from, but I’m fairly certain it’s related to books.  Maybe it was the Tamora Pierce books, because she would sprinkle in foreign words.  Her website also had a pronunciation guide for character and place names in her novels.  I memorized those because I was determined to pronounce the names of fictional characters correctly.  From there I discovered the Language Construction Kit, and started building conlangs.  Since then, I’ve kept researching the ins and outs of human language, in the hope that my constructed languages will be as real as possible.

World history

This one is more general. I read a lot of historical romance as a teenager, and later got into historical fantasy and steampunk.  I’m fascinated with history and I love finding new history books to read.  My favorite is The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy.

Sewing

Back to Tamora Pierce again, my earliest foray into classic fantasy.  Many of her novels highlight characters who work with every, practical skills.  Cooking, carpentry, smithing.  One of her series, The Circle Opens, actually focuses on those who have subtle, often overlooked magic in these everyday tasks and items.

I fell in love with sewing and embroidery when I read the first novel in the Circle Opens series.  I’m pretty good at basic sewing and still working on embroidery.  I’ve mostly given up on cross stitching.  I always lose count of the colors, and the cloth constantly falls apart on me.

Hemophilia

I don’t remember exactly how this happened, but I’m pretty sure it was because I stumbled across a book on hemophilia while searching the library shelves.  It was nonfiction, but drove me to find more information.  I learned a lot about hemophilia, as well as its effect on the European royal families.  Which leads nicely into …

The Romanovs

I read a lot as a kid, back when there was time.  As mentioned before, I loved all thing historical, and I loved the Historical Diaries series that started appearing around the late 90s.  In high school, I came across Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess.  I knew what had happened to the last Czar of Russia and his family, which made it a little twisted to read a diary, even knowing it was fictional, by a young girl who would soon be murdered.  Later that year, when we were told to pick topics from history to do a research project on, I picked the Russian Revolution and the murder of the royal family.  My teacher was pretty shocked at my immediate and decisive answer.  And probably also because Russian revolution was not that popular a topic among high school students.

Cooking, Food, and Meal Customs

This probably comes as much from writing as from reading.  I love reading scenes in fantasy novels or even real world novels that describe food in details.  The sort of food people eat, how it’s prepared, the taboos surrounding food and mealtimes, are rich vein in storytelling.  I do a lot of worldbuilding, and one thing I’m always determined to do is make sure my fictional cultures have unique food culture.  I do a lot of research into what plants grow in certain climates, what animals would live there, and how those people, with their technological level would make use of those resources.  I read about eating practices, rituals and customs from around the world to give myself ideas for how these things would develop in my fictional cultures.

Children and Childcare

Probably the most near and dear to my heart.  I’ve always loved babies and toddlers, even when I was a kid.  After Goosebumps, The Babysitters’ Club was the series I got into.  When I was eleven the Scholastic Book Fair came to my school, and there was a subscription to have Babysitters’ Club novels delivered to my house every month.  I was so excited to see my envelope arrive each month.  I loved the stories about the girl’s adventures in caring for little kids, especially their first person, handwritten accounts of each babysitting job.  I took a class in babysitting at the YMCA, took a class in child development in high school, and later starting taking child development and teaching courses in college.  Now that I have a little one of my own, I’m discovering there’s a lot that can’t be learned from books.  However, I credit books with giving me that urge to learn more.  About children, and, I guess, almost everything else.