A Writer's Guide to Fangirling

In my family, if you want to fangirl over something, it's best if you do it in private. Otherwise it will catch on and next thing you know, everyone is fangirling with you, except that they're really obnoxious about it and it goes from "oh look I really like this" to "OH MY GOSH I LOVE THIS MORE THAN AIR".

My family knows for a fact that when I like something, they're going to hear about it. But I save the real freak out moments for private meditation... or Pinterest. *smug grin*

Pinterest is the one thing that got me through my online driver's test. 10 minutes of work, 5 minutes of the "Geek" section on Pinterest (alternating with "Women's Fashion", but that is way less exciting). It's as if all of the nerds converged onto Pinterest at once. Everything you could think of --- Doctor Who, Star Wars (which I still only have baseline knowledge of), Lord of the Rings, Sherlock, you name it --- lines the Pinterest boards of dorks around the world. I feel right at home.

Doctor Who, for the win. Who doesn't want a bunch of (pretty) fans who can actually follow a complex storyline?

This post is more than an excuse to further my love of geeky pins. It is to address a very serious situation that many of us writers, usually female, find ourselves in...

*shmirk*

... love with our very own characters.

My impression has been that this is more of a female writer's problem. I mean, writers are usually readers, and every female reader learns about the opposite sex primarily from reading literature. Well, maybe not primarily, but they do indeed learn from literature! So it seems only natural that when we find ourselves on the opposite side of the publication process we want to conjure up the most swoon-worthy hero ever known to all of mankind.

Swoon-worthy Gentleman, Section 2.6: Two words: Mister. Darcy.

That's wonderful! This world could use a few more swoon-worthy gents. Sometimes I feel like the world is in short supply... (Male readers are not to take offense.) Alright, so you've written up a genuine heartthrob. Congrats! You may even be in love with him just a teeny, tiny bit. And that's okay! Until...

Why settle?

... you start fangirling within the pages of your own book.

Chances are, you've done it a little before. He's such a dreamboat, so you write him in a little more often. Then a little becomes a lot. Then you sort of forget to write about his flaws. Flaws, shmaws, who needs 'em? Then the descriptions start to get a little too perfect. You've used the words "handsome", "attractive", and "supermegafoxyawesomehot" so many times that they are almost invisible in your manuscript. Before long, he's beyond dreamy and has become the epitome of all things charming. Prince Charming.

If you get this, I will love you forever.

You may not see this as a problem. After all, this character has started appearing in your dreams, and nobody minds having a handsome gent roaming around their dreamworld. Problem is, your editor might have a few bones to pick with him. Your readers too. Because, sweetie: Nobody like that exists.

Part of the reason everybody lurves a good hero is because, quite frankly, he's not quite perfect. Everybody has an Achilles heel, and your male character(s) are no exclusion. How is your character going to develop, change, or progress if he (or she) is already perfect? Oh wait: They can't.

The best characters are so real, you can essentially count them as your friends. That means flaws galore, as well as some redeeming qualities. They have secrets, uncharted territory, likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses. They have a breaking point and limits. If you're really close with a friend, you can probably rattle off a list of things about them... including their not-so-glamorous aspects. Same goes for your characters.

Even 900-some year old, handsome Time Lords can be awkward sometimes. ^_^

I am about to quote the movie version of Harry Potter. Brace yourselves. Sirius Black, take it away:

"We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."

Heroes aren't just a big pile of good stuff. Villains aren't just born evil. A person develops their conscience and chooses to act. Now, I am going to tack on C.S. Lewis.


"Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it."

Your character is fighting an inward battle. They will sometimes go the right way, sometimes the wrong way. What matters is what side they ultimately end up on. So please, no Prince Charmings. Let him fight like the rest of us and choose a side.

Did I mention this sort of applies to all of your characters? Well, it does. It's just way easier to fall into the pitfall of a perfect guy versus a perfect girl. It tends to be that perfect heroines aren't as perfect as we think they are... which is another post for another day. Now, I leave you with some parting advice.

* Reading and writing updates to come! 

My apologies.

I would like to apologize to all of my readers for the other day's jerk post. Yes, I wanted to share my victory. Was it appropriate to torture the blogosphere instead of calling a friend, blabbering in a family member's ear, or talking to an imaginary friend? I'm not sure. To make it up to you, here are the links to the soundtrack and the program I used to "unpack" the files. No need to thank me. It was the least I could do.

1. Go here and download the file. Save it somewhere with an obvious name, like NORTH & SOUTH SOUNDTRACK or RACCOONS ON A WILD RAMPAGE.
2. Download this.
3. Run around frantically when you can't find the program you just downloaded.
4. Go to that obvious folder I mentioned. Don't worry, I didn't copyright the raccoon one. You're welcome to it.
5. Right click. The 7zip program will dash to your assistance, like Eugene Fitzherbert at the end of Tangled or the dreaded Mr. Willoughby. Click the options until you figure out how to do whatever it was I did.
6. Smile at your now separated, now MP3 formatted files and tell God how much you love me.
7. If you have iTunes, you can go to File: Add Folder to Library. If you are OCD like me, this artwork will do nicely. (I want her dress in that picture. I want it NOW.)

That oughta do it. Now, to talk about something other than beautiful music.

 I just wanted to say to anyone and everyone who reads this darn thing, thanks for sticking around. A lot of you don't follow publicly or comment (which you should, cuz it would inflate my ego), but I love hearing randomly from people who read. Every time, I make this face and think They read that!? It's kind of cool when people surprise you.

I also want to state the purpose of this blog. For right now, it's just a bit of fun and motivation in my life. It gets my writing muscles going and lets me write freely. I'm none too worried about forming a following or "serving my readers" yet. Well, of course I want to serve my readers. However, I do a lot of talking about things in theory. I'm sorry that I can't proclaim myself an expert or give anyone "professional" help. But if you like talking about what makes a story good, I'm here. Eventually I plan to start working on what is called a platform. Authors have 'em, and it allows them to a) communicate with their readers and b) SELL PEOPLE STUFF. Right now, though, this is just some jolly good fun and I'm glad that there are at least a small faction of people who are interested.

Now, the following is solely for my own benefit. I can think about it while I'm bored at sports practices and whatnot. (Is it weird to hum the theme to yourself while everyone else is talking? Yeah, that's me. I also read books at breaks.)

Now, because it isn't a period drama unless someone gets rejected, I present...

It's just so GOOD. So, so, so good. I think I officially swooned at 2:27. His voice just makes it. Then comes the part at 3:10 and... Well, I'll marry him. He still needs some work, but I'd marry him on the spot.

WRITING UPDATE: Toying around with some unfinished short fairytales for the fun of it. Going to plan some NaNoWriMo tonight. I got a book on the general history of Ireland for my birthday, so I am going to do some research with that soon. It doesn't have much info on the time period I am interested in, but it can't hurt.

READING UPDATE: I finished Between Shades of Gray on my way to camp in VA the other week. It was really, really good. It was a relatively quick read with a lot of heart to it. Nothing particularly special, but written in earnest and good all around. I would highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good read or history. Some time this week I have to start my required reading for school, so you'll be hearing about that now and again.

RANDOM: I dreamed I was at a camp on the beach and the Darcy from Lost in Austen was my awkward chauffeur. I also ate a donut for breakfast today while watching the Doomsday episode of Doctor Who with my sisters' Whovian friends. There is chemical warfare going on inside of me: The dopamine released by the intake of a sugary breakfast is at war with the general sense of depression that accompanies the departure of Rose Tyler. Meh, good thing I'm going to have to do things in the real world today.

You're a wizard, Monica.

I declare myself a wiz kid. I don't know how I did it, but I did. I can practically hear Dora in the background... We did it! We did it! We did it!

I want you to imagine my distress when I discovered that BBC never released the soundtrack to North & South. I was devastated. Like, I ate three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today devastated. (They're my go-to comfort food.) I ran to the Amazon forums and found some websites that promised a free download of some of the music. One of them delivered, and I shivered with delight... then realized that the files weren't compatable with iTunes.

I ramaged the Internet and scoured it for resources to convert my files. I downloaded a program that promised help, but I wasn't able to find it on my computer. I was about to give up hope when, out of nowhere, I found the program and converted all of the files in the blink of an eye! I downloaded the album to iTunes, picked out some album artwork, then set about downloading The Taverner Chronicles soundtrack as well. It truly was a labor of love. I mean, it only took an hour and a half. NBD, right? Then I bought music on iTunes and half the files were corrupted and now I have a bone to pick with Apple... You win some, you lose some, I suppose.

At some point, this post is going to have a point. I mean, I didn't just write this to share my triumph in downloading that soundtrack.

Or did I!?

An Interesting Tangent

I've done it. After all that waiting, after all those promises to do it, I've done it. What have you done? you may ask yourself as you stare at your computer screen. Now ladies, try to contain your excitement:

I finally scrounged up the time to sit and watch North & South.

Now I can swoon over Mr. Thornton with the rest of them!

Really, I wish I could watch this movie every day. The way they used light and color to contrast the North and the South. The subtle character development. The gorgeous music. I wish I could watch it for the first time all over again! It truly was one of the best movies/mini series I've seen in a long time. May I ask, did anyone else notice a certain Mister Bates wandering the premises? I daresay that Nicholas fellow looked rather familiar. (And with that, the Downton Abbey fans are at attention.)

Before I go off on that aforementioned tangent, here's a taste of the music. I am buying the soundtrack with my birthday money. My mind is quite made up.

When the theme kicks in, a part of me melts and what's left of me is transported into another world altogether. All of this probably sounds like my usual fluff, but really, this movie was fantastic. I am not just gushing --- I am gushing from the heart!

Now, for the interesting parallel. While I was watching the first half of the film with a friend of mine, we discussed how pretty the actress is who portrays the female lead, Margaret. I ended up getting into the same conversation with my mother during the second half, and we all came to the same conclusion. She's a very wholesome kind of pretty, we conceded. In fact, the girl is stunningly beautiful. Not in an in-your-face kind of way. She's simply nice to look at, and has a sort of feminine quality and a grace that is quite becoming. (I gave her a very kind description; Maybe she will stumble upon it in the future.)

This got me thinking: There are so many different kinds of attractiveness in this world. The obvious beauty of a sunset, the hidden beauty of someone in need, the indescribable beauty of music. This rule applies to every aspect of our lives as well as to our characters. This is why run-of-the-mill descriptions simply won't do.

Take this for example. The actress/character I just described (Margaret) could also be described in this manner: She was pretty and had dark brown hair and blue eyes. [Note: This is not the author's description from the book the movie based upon. This is a simplified example.] Two different readers might envision two different people.

Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale

Megan Fox

Woah! These are two very different-looking women! Such a generic description gives the reader no sense of what sort of character they're supposed to be imaginging. Furthermore, if you give the reader twenty of these simple descriptions to remember, they won't remember anything you told them and will probably just come up with their own descriptions.

Mind you, a description might not be necessary for every character. In fact, you may choose to opt out of using any physical descriptions at all. But if you really want to impress the overall look of your character upon your readers, take heed and do it right!

Some of my favorite descriptions are from Gail Carson Levine's The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales. She doesn't say anything about hair color or eye color, but it doesn't matter. The reader has a sense of the character anyways. Here are a few good examples:

"The twins, Prince Randolph and Prince Rudolph, would have been handsome if they had ever stopped glaring at each other. The youngest prince, Prince Tansy, had freckles, a cowlick, and a serious expression. Parsley thought he looked exactly the way a prince should." - For Biddle's Sake

*** Note: The next one is long, simply because it is my all time favorite. I could include the entirety of the passage, because it gets even better, but you'll get the general idea.

"He'd bumped into a Royal Dairymaid. A pretty one, with a sweet face, a very sweet face.

Now here's someone with a kind face, Marigold thought. Too bad he was a farm lad. It would be a waste of time to talk to him, since he wouldn't have a suit of armor. But she wanted to know what someone who looked so kind would say. She smiled at him, feeling shy because he looked so nice. "Er, pardon me. What would you do if you won the contest and became prince of Skiddle and Luddle and Buffle?"

He liked her dimple. "What?" What had she said? "Sorry."

None of the others had apologized for anything. "That's alright." She repeated the question.

"I don't know." He wished he had a good answer. "I don't want to be the prince."

Ah. What a good answer." - Cinderellis and the Glass Hill

*** I am skipping the lovely description of the sleeping beauty's general dirtiness for the good part. You're welcome.

"Her eyes were big and gray, and her teether were white against her dirty skin. Her teeth looked clean. The inside of her mouth was probably clean too, so she wasn't dirty all over.

He looks nice, Sonora thought. There was something smiley about him. He was sort of handsome, but mostly he looked nice." - Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep

Some parting advice. I know how much we all like to write attractive characters. It's good fun when your heroine is pretty and your hero is handsome! However, it is easy to fall into the trap of telling your readers that your MC is good looking in one way or another. Let them figure out for themselves what makes them so attractive to other people. Is it just their features? Or is it something in their personality? In my opinion, the examples above are more natural and realistic ways of describing the positive attributes of a character. Would you rather hear about a smiley prince or a generic looker?

I shall end with a Doctor Who quote, because I think Amy Pond said it better than I have in this post. Remember your characters as you read it.

"You know when sometimes you meet someone who's so beautiful, then you actually talk to them and five minutes later, they're as dull as a brick? And then there's other people, and you think they're okay - but then you get to know them and their face becomes them. Like their personality's written all over it, and they just turn into someone beatuiful."

Now go write somebody's personality all over their face and make something beautiful.

7 Things

^ That's a Miley Cyrus song. About my man, Nick Jonas. And I was addicted to it when it first came out. No lie.

Oh hey! I'm BACK! Try to contain your excitement. I have ever so many stories to tell. Many of them involve dancing, something that I could never have claimed a few years ago. Let's just say it was wonderful being one of the few people at camp that already knew to dance.

And I learned to do floor spins. *insanely wide grin*

I will gush more about camp later. For I have been challenged by the lovely and effervescent Marlene Schuler to take the challenge and share seven previously unknown fun facts about yours truly with the blogosphere.

(I believe this is the award I am earning. If I am wrong, the stunningly beautiful and altogether fantastic Marlene shall correct me.)

Unto the challenge!

1. I once desperately wanted to be a recording artist.
It was a fantastic, unrealistic dream that I really don't wish to discuss. I seriously had to fight the voice inside my head telling me to just become a writer already. I mean, I still adore singing and drive people crazy with it. Who was the one up at 11:00 PM singing along to Anastasia? That would be me. Still, I'd rather not talk about this rather awkward phase of my childhood.

2. The first movie I ever cried over was Little House: The Last Farewell.
It was late. It was on Hallmark. I was a newly minted teenager, which means the hormones were raging. As they blew up every single house in Walnut Grove, I bawled like a baby. This was one of the shows of my childhood! I had missed the beginning of the movie, so I just kept asking myself, "Why!? Why!?" I had always teased people who cried in movies. I was converted to a crier overnight.

The fun begins at 8:46. Hit play, mute it, and then start the music below.

3. If I could have anything in the entire universe, it would be a big brother.
Enough said. You know what, I'd even take a little brother.

4. I decided I wanted to become a writer when I started with... *gulp*... fanfiction.
I'm sorry, but I abhor the genre. I wrote an immense amount of Narnian fanfiction in middle school. It was some terrible stuff. Ghastly, really. Yet I have never enjoyed writing as much I as I did writing that mess. I wasn't writing for anyone but myself and it was incredible fun. Then I realized how creepy some fanfiction is (please, don't ask, chances are it's worse than whatever it is you're envisioning), so I kind of quit. I do not advocate for the genre in general because some people can take it down a twisted road, but it was sort of fun.

5. I would make a great companion: I fell in love with the Doctor within 5 seconds.
Don't read too far into this. I'm in love with about fifty fictional characters. However, the Doctor is funny because I wasn't even watching Doctor Who. I had never seen it in my life, and it came on for a few seconds on the commercial and... I was quite taken with him. I think he was getting slapped. Of course, I was in love with William within 5 seconds too, but I was actually watching Downton Abbey. Big difference.

Cut out the dialogue. It was just the slap. Not even kidding. I was destined to be a Whovian.

*long pause while Monica watches a bunch of Doctor Who clips*

6. I still love children's programming. 
No language. No "oh-my-goodness-guys-hide-your-eyes" moments. No skipped scenes. Just a bunch of educational fun!!! It's not like I still watch Sesame Street or even Barney (The Show of my childhood). But if I come home and Arthur is on or they're playing Cyberchase, I will watch it. The stuff aimed at my demographic is pathetic. Sixteen and Pregnant? Jersey Shore? No thanks, I'd rather learn fractions.

This applies to film as well. I am a hardcore Disney animated movie fan. No ridiculous, run-of-the-mill rom-com is ever gonna change that.

7. When it comes to cooking, I literally am Anne Shirley.
Anne Shirley may have fudged up a few cakes and gotten her best friend drunk, but I have successfully destroyed my mother's pans, left out key ingredients, and made things as hard as rocks. The brownies I brought to school as a peace offering with my lunch table were a failure. (Should have tasted them first.) I've left eggs out of cookies and and almost forgotten to add the flour. Even when I do everything just like momma taught me and put my baked goods in the oven for just the right amount of time, they still don't taste as good as my sister's.

Now, I must be off to set the table. Laugh at me all you like, now that I'm gone. I really am quite ridiculous. Some of you should be grateful you didn't know me as a child. These seven truths could have been a whole lot more embarrassing back then.

Love Triangles

I am back!!! For all of... add two... subtract four... carry the one... Well, I am leaving first thing tomorrow. I literally just walked in the door and here I am, blogging. After four days of non-stop exercise and girl drama, I jumped at the chance to put some words on paper.

Now, onto the subject for today. Luuuuurve triangles. C'mon --- these things can be found in practically every story. Here is a list of biased examples tailored to my exquisite taste:

• Edward/Bella/Jacob from Twilight [EW GROSS! A love triangle between a stalker, a pedophile, and a girl with about as much personality and willpower as a piece of wood. But it did spark the whole "Team" trend. If you wish to debate that Twilight is good, I'd like to hear your defense. I'm game for a good laugh.]

•  Cosette/Marius/Eponine from Les Miserables [Does Eppie deserve Marius? Heck to the yes! Is her fate part of what makes Les Mis awesome? Heck to the yes! Both sides get awesome duets, so the tension in this triangle definitely pays off. Of course, I'm referring to the musical. The book is a little more complex.]

"Why yes, Marius. Please desert me, one of your best and most loyal friends, for a blonde soprano. I mean, it's not like I'm going to die for you or anything. Right?"


• Peeta/Katniss/Gale from The Hunger Games [Admit it: this one kept us guessing for ages. It was virtually impossible to tell who Katniss would choose, at least in the beginning.]

• Charles Darnay/Lucie Manette/Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities [This one is in here simply because I am craving ATOTC. Don't get me going on the whole symbolism of Sydney and Charles' likeness...]

Ewwww ugly Lucie Manette version!

• Darcy/Elizabeth/Wickham from Pride and Prejudice [All Austen novels have a love triangle. But let's face it: This one is probably one of Austen's best. The tizzy over Lizzie!]

I asked for this shirt for my birthday, BTW. *fingers crossed*

• Westley/Buttercup/Humperdink from The Princess Bride [I just wanted an excuse to say this. *ahem* Mawwiage...!]

Lookin' pretty fly, Humperdink. Does anyone else find Westley's shoulder distracting?

• Peder/Miri/The Prince from Princess Academy [This was my favorite book as a child. Peder was the first fictional boy I ever fell in love with. I mean, he smells like bread for Peder's sake! This book is so good I tried to quarry speak. You ought to read it.]
• Side Note: HOLY MACARONI ACCORDING TO THIS MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK IS GONNA HAVE A SEQUEL!?!?!? Furthermore, I would like to direct my fellow Austenites to this. Have we found ourselves a kindred spirit in this lovely author?]

• William/Me/Branson from My Obsession with Downton Abbey [I will not hesitate to profess my love for William. Or at least Season 1 William. I am terrified that something bad will happen as of Season 2. But then there's Branson, who is IRISH, which is seriously tempting. Don't even get me started on Matthew... Then the Austen heroes show up and I can't stop swooning and things get ugly. Too many professions of love at once.]



William, a.k.a. the most adorable gentleman ever.



Hullo, my name is Branson, and I'm so cute it shouldn't be legal.

 It is important to note that not all love triangles are created equal. Believe it or not, that's okay! Well, sometimes. Allow me to explain.

Love triangles can be the basis of a story, an important aspect of a story, or a mere part of a story. The important thing is that readers are genuinely unsure of who is going to get the girl/guy in the end. Otherwise, the triangle falls flat.

Or you could be Twilight and just be plain bad. Just because your readers are guessing doesn't mean your characters are any good. Or your writing. Or your dialogue. Or your plot...

In The Hunger Games, I genuinely did not know who Katniss was going to choose. Gale was her best friend, one of the most important people in her life. However, Peeta was the classic "good guy" and was totally swoon-worthy. Gale was the dark, brooding type. Peeta was the martyr. Later on in the series, the tension seemed to weaken, but that is simply my personal opinion. Even though the triangle wasn't the central plot of the series, it played a huge role. Making sure that readers were guessing was essential.

In Princess Academy, however, there is little doubt that (SPOILER) Miri is going to end up with Peder. The prince is virtually non-existant for the beginning of the book. Miri and the prince don't have feelings for each other, even though they make good friends. Yet the possibility of marrying the prince drives a lot of Miri's inner conflict. If she marries him and gets to move to the lowlands, her family won't have to worry about harsh winters or accidents or money. On the other hand, she loses her family and friends. Yet she loves learning and wants to be noticed. What about her feelings for Peder? Furthermore, the prince's activity in the story leads to a lot of the external conflict. Even though the reader isn't necessarily left guessing, the love triangle matters.

A Tale of Two Cities: Carton can't have Lucie, but his love for her drives the entire end of the story. Les Miserables: Eponine saves the day out of love for Marius, thus driving the external plot as well as adding tension. Twilight: An emotionless twit does nothing while a stalker and a man in love with her child fight over her, while stuff happens. Are we sensing what makes a good triangle yet?

RULE OF THUMB: Tension is key. Either you want your readers to be actively involved in guessing who comes out on top of the triangle, or the triangle needs to drive the plot. Or both!

Writing Update: This post? I mean, it only took an hour and a half.

Reading Update: I got another page into The Scarlet Pimpernel. I might save it for later since I bought Between Shades of Grey today and I am simply dying to read it. It has Lithuania! I'm Lithuanian! Wootwoot!

Next week, my loyal readers. I shall return.

Return of the ME!

Oh yes, I am back from camp. And yes, I leave tomorrow for my next camp. And one day to pack before the camp after that. Do you know how much I am missing for camp!? Before the summer is out, I shall be all out of friends!

Anyways, I have made my return. You may hold your applause --- you look ridiculously silly doing that alone in front of the computer screen. Work camp was great (as usual). It was a totally different experience from last year and the year before that, which was what I expected... yet didn't expect. I got to paint a shed and a bench, trim and shape about 20 hedges, serve ice cream to the elderly, weed, plant flowers, turn over soil, and meet other teenagers. I also ate a lot of unbalanced meals and played a lot of frisbee in the quad. It was great.

Now that I'm back to regular food and my own bed, I am also back to the computer, where I can rock out to Regina Spektor and write this blog post. Here goes nothing.

WRITING UPDATE: I did try to write while I was at camp. Look!

My hair was so crazy that day. The humidity was insane at camp! My hair is 80's huge in all the pictures. However, that's not the point!!! I wrote! Not much, but I wrote! :)

I am feeling really guilty after reading this post about making time to write. The first part of the list is about making excuses and putting things off. I am so guilty of that. Recently I am guilty of that. My family used to have to pry me away from my writing. Then my perfectionism started to seep in and it became less fun. Also, I am the sort of person that wants everything to have a purpose. When I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing with a project, it feels pointless and I am tempted to give up. That needs to change.

The post also talks about setting small, concrete goals. I have a handful of short stories that need finishing, so I think I am going to focus on them until I hit NaNoWriMo. I asked for Irish history books for my birthday, so I am going to wait and see if I get any before starting my research. I think I need to get back into a good habit before I can concentrate on anything huge. Oh, and do hold me accountable. Please do!

READING UPDATE: I tried to read The Scarlet Pimpernel at camp, but it was too crazy. I got another page into it, I believe, before I had to get in the 45 minute line for the shower and dash of to dinner and program. I have the book packed for my next camp and intend to read whenever possible.

Sorry this is so short. I only wish I had more free time. Believe it or not, my life might actually be simpler when I have school on my plate. Hmm, think of that...

PS - Did I mention I dreamed about stopping a fire? And that Colin Firth taught me how to get ketchup stains out of clothing? The dreams just keep getting curioser and curioser.