Miranda Atchley's Blog, page 46

Sway

Sway by MerrimentSway is the debut LP by Merriment. You might recognize the last name of its members, Christie and Collin DuPree. That's because they're the siblings and cousins of Eisley, a band I dearly love. And with Sway, I've come to dearly love Merriment as well. This album is so beautiful. Christie's voice is so lovely; angelic, really. Everyone says it because it's true. And the music is amazing too. Each song is different; no two tunes sound the same and I really like that because it keeps things fresh. It isn't as though you're listening to one 40+ minute song. If you were to ask me which genre this album falls under, I would say indie/folk with some subtle pop influences here and there.Listed below are the songs on Sway as well as my favorite lyrics from each song.
Take HeartBreak everything | Break my heart | Don't listen to me | You tell me not to but I do
Tremendous LoveWell maybe I can mend you | Taking on this mental load
SomehowWatch me wading in the dark deep | And staring silently at my feet
Now I'm SilverLiving on my own gold now | Wave a north wind | Now I'm silver | Taking off my old soul | Emptiness will never hold all the growing
BackwardsBoy you've got that sparkle I wanted, hope and pray I'd find | So much for loving you madly | Wonder which way you will go | Dragging my heart along with you | And I just had to tell you I tried and tried | But time goes by and now I hold my tears inside

Two WorldsSo now we're caught between two worlds | And you and I become the door
PatternsYour heart is kind | Well it makes a pattern with mine
SpillI'll never fake a smile just to please you | Wishing for the wishing well
Nothing To LoseI've been taking second chances from you like I had nothing to lose | But oh, I lost myself
Down by the CreekThey say you've been living up the street | Well, I'm sorry, boy, yes indeed | Back from the war and down by the creek | Well a sorry ain't what you need | Heard you've been trying to tell the truth | Well I think I've 'bout had it with you
Right AgainAnd I can't remember what time it was | That I'm supposed to be here | I'm late for love
Unhinged If I tried to measure my whole heart | In something uneven | It sways your way
My favorite songs on Swayare: Take Heart, Somehow, Now I'm Silver, Backwards, (absolute favorite on this album!) Down By The Creek (close second)
All in all, I think Sway is great album that fans of indie/folk music would enjoy.
Thank you for reading! See you next time.
-Miranda Atchley

Book of The Week #28 "Jane of Lantern Hill"

Jane of Lantern Hillby L.M. MontgomeryJane's parents have been separated since she was a baby. She and her mother live with her cranky grandmother where Jane isn't allowed to have friends or to see her father. She is terribly lonely, until she finds a friend in the neighbor's lonely child. The two have secret meetings in the backyard until Jane's grandmother finds out and forbids Jane to see the child. Jane comes to think that she will never have a companion, until her father sends a letter requesting she visit him at his sea side home during summer break. Against her grandmother's wishes, Jane's mother sends her to stay with her father for the summer. She instantly bonds with her father and feels more at home at Lantern Hill than she ever felt with her mother and grandmother. She takes care of her father's house, makes friends with some of the local children, and listens to her father read stories in the evenings. As the summer draws near, she is already planning and looking forward to spending the next summer at Lantern Hill. Though things may not go quite as planned...
This is a really great book. I'll admit it starts out a little shaky because Jane is so miserable and her grandmother is so mean, but when Jane goes to Lantern Hill the entire tone of the book changes. Jane becomes happy and carefree, things she never thought she could be. In the beginning I thought that Jane's mother was mean like Jane's grandmother, but the more you read the book, the more you see that she's simply unhappy having never made her own decisions, rather she has always done as her mother says.
All in all, Jane of Lantern Hill is a great read by a wonderful author. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Anne of Green Gables and other imaginative heroines.

I give this book a 5 out 5.

Lately 1/11/2016

Reading:Finishing up Amber Florenza's Celebrate! 'Tis The Season.  I wanted to read it the week of Christmas, but I was sick and then got caught up in other things. But it's been an enjoyable book even in January! Also reading The Heir by Kiera Cass. I'm enjoying this book much more than I expected to when I picked it up at the library last week. It's like a fairytale meets dystopian; very neat.
Listening:Showbread's final album Showbread Is Showdead was released Friday January 8th, so that has definitely been dominating my iPod lately. It is so good. A few other songs I've been enjoying at the moment are: Marsh King's Daughter and Laugh It Off by Eisley; Rainbow Veins by Owl City; Good Morning Fire Eater by Copeland
Watching:Season 6 of Downton Abbey! The first episode of season six aired in the U.S. on Sunday night. I think it was a very good start to the season; humorous and lighthearted, yet with enough drama to keep us guessing. I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen this season.
Editing on my new novel is slowly but surely taking place. It's kind of hard to get back into the swing of things after taking a break from it for a month, but I'm hoping to really get in gear in the near future. Next week I'm planning for a Showbread take over here on my blog. They have been my favorite band since I was twelve-years-old and I want to honor their final album by letting them dominate the blog for a week. It's so bittersweet.
Hope you all have a nice week! See you around tomorrow for Book of The Week.
-Miranda Atchley

Favorite Word Friday #10 "Wonder"

Wonder
noun  won·der  \ˈwən-dər\
: a feeling caused by seeing something that is very surprising, beautiful,  amazing, etc...
:something that is surprising or hard to believe
I must confess that I chose this Friday's word when I found one of my old Alice In Wonderland dolls. Any other '90s girls remember those? She wore a blue satin dress with her trademark white pinafore and her legs were painted white. I can remember carrying mine around a lot when I was little.
To me wonder is a magical word. Many of us of course think of the beloved Alice In Wonderland when we hear or see the word, which is one reason why it is so fun. But wonder is so nice because of what it means. Sometimes it simply means to ponder something; to think about it and consider its possibilities. Yet it also means to be filled awe. To look upon something and feel amazed by. Don't you love that feeling?
Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with the people and things you love the most. Until next time...

-Miranda Atchley
(Definition taken from the Merriam Webster online dictionary)

Writing In A Winter Wonderland

Winter is a really nice time to write. As the days shorten, there is no temptation to go out for a walk in the evenings. And on the snow days that barricade us inside, there's much writing to be done. I first began writing Stephanie's Story when it was snowing. It was so cold in my room and I would take breaks here and there to go to the living room and stand by the wood stove and warm up. Then I'd go back to my room and work on my first novel some more.
Snow can be so inspiring. It's so sparkly and pretty and there is a never ending list of the snow scenes you can write. And there's just something about winter that seems like a nice time to attempt to write the great American novel. Maybe it's because winter can sometimes be depressing and we like to channel pain into art. Maybe it's because we find ourselves indoors more. Or maybe you've made writing a novel one of your New Year's resolutions. Whatever the case, you can't deny that winter seems like the perfect time to write.
So on one of the snowy days we're bound to face before spring rolls around, take the time to write. Write about your day, write a letter to someone you haven't spoken to in a while, write a blog post, an article. Start writing the novel that's been in the back of your mind forever. You might be surprised by the outcome.

-Miranda Atchley

Books I Want To Read In 2016

Last year my goal was to read 50 books I had never read before. I accomplished that goal and I must admit, it did feel good. This year, I don't think I'm going to give myself a set number of books that I want to read. There are several classics I would like to read, many of which are quite lengthy and I want to allow myself plenty of time to read them without feeling the need to meet a "quota." There are also a few newer books I want to read and it's a given that I will probably stumble upon some other books that I'll want to read throughout the year, too.
A few of the books I would like to read in 2016 are:
Jane Eyre The Hobbit The Blue Castle Sense andSensibility Emma Rainbow Valley Rilla of Ingleside Anna Karenina The GuernseyLiterary and Potato Peel Pie Society The Ringmaster'sWife
These are just a few of the books on my ever growing "to be read" list. My TBR is a list that I honestly doubt will ever reach it's end, for there are so many lovely books in the world and I've many more are to come.Thanks for stopping by to read today! And I'm curious; what are some of the books you're looking forward to reading this year?

-Miranda Atchley

Book of The Week #27 "The Prayers of Jane Austen"

The Prayers of Jane Austen by Terry Glaspey
The Prayers of Jane Austen is compilation of prayers Jane Austen had written throughout her life. It was compiled by Terry Glaspey and published by Harvest House in July of 2015. It contains three prayers that the authoress had composed for family Bible studies and for her personal quiet time. The book includes beautiful drawings to fit the tone of the prayers within.
This is a very neat book. It's so awesome to have pieces of Jane Austen, especially her prayers, which are special things in each person's life. The prayers she wrote are still relevant today and deal with concerns that the modern Christian faces, written in her beautiful and iconic style.
This would make the perfect gift for any fan of Jane Austen. I own a copy on my Kindle and it reads perfectly on there. The images show up wonderfully and I really don't miss reading it in print form. But I will say this would be neat to have in a print copy just for the fun of it.
All in all, this is a great book that any fan of Jane Austen is sure to enjoy.
I give this book a 4 out of 5.

The Now-What Months

It's January, so that means that all of us whom partook in NaNoWriMo in November are back to our novels and editing. I AM SO READY! Sorry for the cap-lock abuse, but I seriously cannot express how much I missed this project and how ready I am to get back to it.
This novel is just so exciting for me. It's set in the 1910s, a time period I really like. I love historical fiction and have so many memories reading the classics like the Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women, A Life of Faith series, Edgar Allen Poe's stories and poems and so many more when I was growing up. And more recently I've been reading works by Austen and the Bronte's and a few others. Working with historical fiction is kind of like coming home for me; like getting back to my roots. At times I feel so in my element and yet at other times I'm terribly intimidated because I want to do historical fiction justice and write it well.
Another big reason why I love this novel so much is because I just love the story. My main character Abi is an aspiring author. I've never written about a writer, but I can surely relate! And it's about following your dreams even in the face of adversary. I love the message of this story.
I can't wait for you all to read this. It's my favorite thing I've written and I am so, so ready to see where it goes!

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you all have a great week. Thank you for stopping by!
-Miranda Atchley

Hello 2016

It's so hard to believe that it's 2016. It seems like just yesterday 2015 was starting. It's crazy how fast time flies.
Around this time of year, everyone is making New Year's goals and resolutions. It's kind of cliché, but I think it's a good thing when done the right way. It's nice to set goals for yourself and work toward accomplishing things that better your life and make you feel good. Today I'll share a few of the goals I hope to accomplish in 2016.
Publish my NaNoWriMo project.I've really fallen in love my NaNoWriMo project. I love the story, the setting, the characters; it's my favorite thing I've written so far and I can't wait for people to read it. (If you'd like, you can see some photo inspiration for my project here on Pinterest.)
Write 200 blog posts.Blogging has turned out to be a very good thing for me and something that I really enjoy, much more than I thought I would. I think it would be great to write 200 posts this year.
Write more.It's always a goal of mine to write more and better my writing. I hope to continue improving my writing all throughout my life.
Paint more.I've been painting more in the last few months and it really is therapeutic. I'm all about things that keep me busy when I'm worried and painting is great for dealing with stress.
So there are a few of the things I hope to accomplish in 2016. Very doable and things I think will make me happier.
Thank you for stopping by today. Feel free to share some of your goals in the comment section if you'd like! Have a great year and God bless.
Welcome, 2016. I hope you and I get along well.

-Miranda Atchley

Goodbye 2015

This post contains some of my favorite things from the year of 2015. I didn't list books because I have a whole post dedicated to the books I read this year, which lists my favorites from the year. Same thing with blog posts. If you'd like to read more about them, just click here and here.
2015 admittedly was not a very good year for me personally. But, there were a few good things that happened and so in this post I want to focus on them. So let's get to it!
Miscellaneous
Got my driver's license.Released A NewSeason .Started doing book signings at local events and in turn sold more books.Got a lot of blogging done.Started using my Kindle a lot and found lots of great books through it.Met my goal of reading 50 books I'd never read.
Learned about some of the important things in life. Took the NaNoWriMo challenge and completed it.Tried new teas.Cut bangs back into my hair.Stopped coloring my hair (hello soft, shiny, healthy locks!).Wore less make-up (very freeing!).Found a floral backpack that I love.
MusicI don't play music (though I wish I could!) but it is a pretty big part of my life, as it is in a lot of people's lives. I listen to music all the time and so I wanted to list a few songs I've come to love this year.(Some of these songs were released prior to 2015, but I only recently discovered them, so I'm listing them here.)
Down by the Creek by MerrimentBackwards by MerrimentBrother by NEEDTOBREATHE

Movies
The only new movie I watched in 2015 was Big Eyes, which I think was released in theatres around Christmas last year. Haha! I'm pretty picky about new movies and I really am not a fan of going to the theatre. It has to be something really special for me to go see it in theatres! Nothing this year really compelled me that much (though I have been thinking of renting Cinderella and Inside Out) but next year I'm looking forward to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as well as Through The Looking Glass.
TV Shows
Gilmore Girls! I first began watching Gilmore Girls at the end of last year and quickly fell in love. Over the year, I've slowly collected all the seasons on DVD and it has definitely become my new favorite show. So looking forward to the four new episodes!
Some of these things are small, like finding a new backpack that I love and trying new teas, but even those small good things can add a little light to a darker year. Looking back on these nice memories can make me smile and give me hope that maybe the new year won't be so bad. I hope you all can look back on the good things that happened this year, leave the bad things in the past and hold dear memories in your heart for the rest of year life.
Goodbye 2015.

-Miranda Atchley