Happy Mother’s Day -2020

Dedicated to my Mother and all the other mothers in my life.

As the years pass and time moves,

I begin to understand, I begin to approve,

Of the days you gave, of the time you spent,

In raising me in the way to go, the way I went.

The Word gone out is not in vain,

It’s come back two fold again.

In the early hours and the late nights,

I hold my baby, in the dark, out of sight,

And think about the love you gave, seen and unseen,

And I thank you for the mother you’ve been.

MOAR Babies!

This blog post is kinda late but.... she's here!

About nine months ago...

I figured I ought to let the blogging world that she exists :D Her name is Katie-Ann and she looooves music and dancing. Plus, she's totally pretty.

A Trip to England and Avbury

My friend Sarah got married this past summer! Whoo hoo! So, naturally, we hopped on a plane and threw ourselves on her family's hospitality for a week and a half.

The last time I visited England I was twelve, I still remember that trip clearly, it's one of my favourite memories, and I'd vowed to return one day - it looks like God decided to oblige me ;) This time we met up with Twimper, Jake, Vertimyst and Bethany.


I came back with a lot of inspiration, I could spend my whole life there and have no end to it. There is so much history known and unknown.
We spent a day in London and another in Bath, the rest of the time we explored Abingdon and Oxford. I had no idea there were so many universities there! I always assumed that "Oxford University" was one institution, it turns out it is many under one title. We were fortunate to have a friend who works at Oxford University Press and she took us on a tour of some of the universities. We got to see where Tolkien taught and walked.

I felt like there were more tourists in England than Englishmen.

My favourite part of our trip was Avbury. It's a stone circle older than Stone Henge (they estimate about six to nine thousand years old), but not as large. When we visited it was sunset and there was a warm wind blowing. In order to see the stones you have to open gates and walk through fields filled with grazing sheep. It's created a brewing story in me.

The countryside in England was so green - my Favourite colour :D

The picture below is at the Roman Baths. I wish I could sit in that rounded window room and write for hours.

"Clockwork Heart" by Dru Pagliassotti - Review

In this post I mentioned a book review I was going to write. Here it is, better late than never! 

As I said before, I picked this book up at Chapters. I hadn't heard of it before. Normally I only buy books that I know of from a friend or read about ahead of time. I sometimes forget that there is a good reason for that.

Synopsis: Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an icarus — a courier privileged to travel freely across the city’s sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. But even she can’t outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entangled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upperclass family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on the governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in Ondinium’s lowest sector. Both hide dangerous secrets, in this city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart…

 What I liked: What first attached me to this book was the cover and then the back cover's synopsis. I love steampunk and this book seemed to promise a good dose of that.
The story was interesting, it had some cool ideas; like Taya's clockwork wings and the way the city's society worked. It was interesting how computers and steampunk were combined.
Pagliassotti does a good job of assuming her audience is not dumb, her tone is not condescending or overly explanitory.

What I Didn't Like: The first page was a bit overwhelming: there was a lot of information about the society and names given all at once. Once it plunged into the action scene it became interesting.

The book is aimed at a teen and YA audience: I found it in the teen section and the story is very much geared towards what that age group would be interested in; however, the main character is mentioned as being about thirty years old. That doesn't have to be a big deal, in fact, it can be an opportunity to create a role model for younger readers. However, I took issue with the opportunity Pagliassotti missed; she has Taya and Alister's intentions toward each other as being completely recreational and not at all serious. Pointless flirting is portrayed as fun and harmless, and Taya considers sleeping with Alister with clear indications of no commitment. It bothers me that Pagliassotti portrays these ideas to teens who are looking around for an indication of what relationships should be like. Her message is: commitment-free, sexual relationships can be fun and don't really mean anything. That kind of thinking can be damaging.

There is a whole lot of blushing going on in the book. Taya blushes when she wakes up, blushes when she eats, blushes when she walks, blushes when talking to both the love interests, and blushes when anything important happens. Alister also joins in on the blush-fest. I might be exaggerating a little bit, but only a little bit...

At one point the story lulled and seemed to promise the end, only to have a whole other story line appear and the story start up again. In the meantime, I got bored.

The Verdict: One only needs to see the difference between the amount of "What I liked" in comparison to "what I didn't like" to know the answer to that. I was disappointed. Though the story was okay, the morals sucked and, in the end, I got rid of the book.

More Dragons

Following my previous post: link in which I confessed my love of dragons, I decided to do another post about them. In honour of this occasion I will post a scene from my book, Silver Blood.

Excerpt

          “Useless, she says; a screecher, she says. Well I’ll have her know I have earned a living off of my profession!” Zray mumbled to himself as he stumbled along through the woods with two spear-points at his back.

          The sun had just risen and the light was filtering down through the tree tops to the forest floor around him. Zray tripped over a root and mumbled, “I happen to have sung for The Duke of Gasbal and he complimented me on my pluckiness.”

          “Would you just be quiet!” one of the guards, a man without hair on his head, snapped at him.

          “Let’s hurry up and get this done with,” the other guard spoke fearfully, “I do not like the look of this place, whole bands of soldiers have disappeared from these woods.”

          “You do not suppose it was because of dragons, do you? Because that would just be ridiculous…” Zray's voice trailed off when he saw a huge scaly claw a few feet away. His eyes rose up very slowly to see the gigantic creature before him. Zray let out a sudden exclamation of surprise and took a step backwards. He tripped over his own feet and found himself on his back staring up at the largest meat-eating animal he had ever seen.

The dragon was brown with a gold sheen to his scales and had enormous, black, cat-like eyes. The dragon brought his head very close to Zray’s and studied the minstrel with one of his penetrating, onyx eyes.

Zray threw his arms up over his face to protect himself and yelled out franticly, “I’ll give you anything you want! Please do not eat me! I promise I taste terrible!”

          “You needn’t tell me that, I can see it for myself,” the dragon sniffed and pushed Zray with his snout. Zray’s eyes grew wide when he saw six coloured dragons standing behind the first. The minstrel got to his feet and brushed the dust off his coat. He laughed rudely when he saw Sisinta’s guards backing away fearfully from the largest dragons they had ever seen. As the two soldiers scattered in opposite directions, the brown dragon standing over Zray let out a roar and spoke with a thunderous voice, “Catch them! We cannot let them get away and give away our presence!” Two dragons streaked forward and pinned both soldiers down in mid run.

Zray put his hands on his hips and yelled after them, “So now you run! Cowards! Why are you afraid of a few little dragons? I bet you wish you had them on your side, eh?” Zray let out a yelp when he suddenly found himself abruptly pulled off his feet and hanging in the air by the brown dragon’s claws. Zray started yelling and kicking wildly and he let out a scream when, for a split second, he was thrown through the air and suddenly caught hold of by the dragon’s tail.

          “This is not proper behaviour for a dragon!” Zray shouted while beating the dragon’s tail with his fists. The brown scales were thick and the dragon just chuckled at the minstrel’s futile attempts. The dragon spread his majestic wings and leapt into the sky followed by the other dragons, including the two carrying the screeching soldiers in their massive claws.

          I thought you guys might like to see pictures of my dragon knickknacks. Here they are: 

This is a set of tea coasters my friend Sarah made and sent all the way from England.

One is for my husband, one for my daughter and one for me.

This one is my favourite. I found it in a shop while visiting my home town. It cost more than I'd normally spend but I liked it so much that I figured it was worth it. It used to be only painted grey, but I took some nail polish and painted the highlights.

I don't remember exactly how I came by these but I use them all the time when I have tea. I like my tea...and my spoons!

This was a gift from my family, it's snake-like but I like to think of it as a Chinese dragon. The little hammer is used to hit the bell.

This was a pendent I picked up at a garage sale. I added the beads.

This is my husbands. I received his permission to post a picture of it here :) 

Do you have any knickknacks that you are particularly fond of? I'd like to see pictures! Post a link in the comments.

Here Be Dragons

This week I was at Chapters with a friend and picked up a book which I managed to read over two days despite food art and changing diapers. I'll be posting a book review on it soon.

This evening I finished a picture I started a long while back. I have a lot of improving to do on my shading but I still like this one. And just so you all know, dragons are awesome; they are my favourite fantasy creature. This is a lightning dragon from my Silver Blood series.

You can find it here on DeviantArt

Do any of you have a favourite dragon picture? Link me to it in the comments!

The Regal and Mysterious Bookcase

This is a post dedicated to my bookcases. 

Whenever I visit someone's house I sneak over to their bookcases and peruse. I find that my bookcases make our apartment; they are what put people at ease and give it a cosy feeling. I feel slightly guilty that I haven't read all the books I have, and that I keep buying more than I have room for. However, my husband quickly drowns out any complaining on the subject with; "You can NEVER have too many books!" And I believe him because of course he's right. I do try to get rid of a book if I've read it and hated it, or read it and liked it and would never read it again.

An Ode to Bookcases

There is something about a bookcase that makes me curious,
Something about an empty one that makes me furious.
There is something about a bookcase that demands attention,
Something about a bookcase deserves mention.

I swear that my poems are some times clever!

If any of you have bookcases I would love to see pictures of them (filled with books of course >_> ). Link me to them if you want me to admire them too!

My bookcases:

 

The two on the right were a birthday present to myself this past October. 

Starting from the left: historical fiction and middle-grade fiction, science fiction, and mystery. 

 This is my favourite shelf: fiction <3

 Even my daughter has a book shelf. You can totally tell she's into reading too.

 The top shelf is titled: old-looking books. The last two are the Bible shelves with some classics.

The academic shelf. My husband's English books from university, poetry, plays and at the bottom, info books.

More posts about reading 'n stuff:

The Pros of Being a Writer

Writer's Market Books

Book Themed Wedding Cake

Curiosity Killed the Cat - Poem

 

Curiosity Killed the Cat

By Grace Pringle

Curiosity, they say, killed the cat, but I would beg to disagree,

I have seen the birth of curiosity and it is life to me.

As I walk and as I talk, I see it wishing it were free,

In the “I wonder…”  and the “what?” and the “could it be’s?”

The mystery, the intrigue, I must know!

What’s in this cave? Where does this stream flow?

What’s he doing? Where did he go?

Oh, not knowing vexes me so!

How it whispers how it taunts, always demanding what it wants.

When ignored, when resisted, it lingers and it haunts

The sensible thoughts, the best talks, and jaunts.

Perhaps I should be weary of curiosity’s pitfalls,

The effects might be meddlesome and disastrous after all.

But oh! Seeing and not knowing is hard on the eyes.

And now I know why cats have nine lives.

Summer Recap and Writing News

So I've been away for awhile, can you blame me? I've been burping, rocking, changing and cuddling an adorable baby. Cuddling is a lot of work you know! And sooo worth it <3

I mean, look at that little face! It doesn't get cuter than this. She looooves that blanket. She'd bathe in it if I let her.

Summer recap: 

Esther had solids for the first time:

(She loved it)

Stuart and I had our second anniversary. Woot!

 We went camping (yay!) for the first time as a family of three:

I learned that though a whole lime (cut in half) in a glass looks like jelly fish and makes a great photo, it also makes a REALLY strong drink.Seriously, if you can chug that one down you can hold your drink!

(My pet limy jelly fish)

 Esther went swimming for the first time, and loved it.

And we went to the park almost every day:

 *Sigh* Summer, why must you be ending? Won't you stay awhile longer.... perhaps forever?

 

What did you (my reader) do this past summer? Any special moments? Or just plain, every day, happy ones?

 

In Writing news: 

I'm on my final assignment for the course I'm taking at the Institute for Children's Literature. I'm planning out a book idea I came up with awhile ago, it's called Between the Shadows. Here's a short pitch for it:

How is it possible for a blind boy to see? And what does he want with books? Especially dusty old ones that are hidden away in the city archives? Why does he sleep during the day? And what's with those glowing eyes?

Solnea Weaver wants to know the answers to these questions but Row Blindsight isn't giving them. But she isn't about to let him get away with his secrets...

I'm really excited to be starting another project. Though Silver Blood still calls to me; "Publish me! Send me out for the world to reaaaad!" And I still plan to do that, though I can't help feeling it needs more editing. (Says the girl that has edited it to pieces). I remember reading something an author said and it's always stuck with me (I am paraphrasing here);

"You are never going to be happy with your finished manuscript. Eventually you just have to accept that it's done and stop worrying about it."

But I can't help worrying about it... I guess a large part of it is that I know I can write so much better than I did when I wrote Silver Blood and I worry that I can't get it up to standard.

On the encouraging side, all the people who have read it have enjoyed it. Someone even told me they liked it so much that they want to read it again. I try to remember that when I feel discouraged.

5 Tips on List-Making and Scheduling

I have something to confess, I'm a scheduling, organizing, list-making freak.
Sometimes I spend more time making a schedule than I do actually following it. I regularly sort and re-sort my cupboards (hey, I live in an apartment and want to make the most of the space I have!) Every night I make a list of the things I have to do the next day. Sometimes, after I turn the lights out, I remember something I need to do and I am SURE if I don't put it on that list I'll forget. So I get out of bed and write it down, just in case.

Half the time I only get 7 out of 10 things done on that list and follow the schedule 3 out of 5 days. "Well then, what's the point of those lists and schedules?" You ask.

Back when I first got married I didn't write any lists or follow a schedule. I tried to remember the things I had to do. My memory sucks. I found myself remembering to do things past the deadline and sometimes I ran out of clothes because I didn't get the laundry done. I started to get frustrated, nothing was getting done!
"I think I know what the problem is," I told my husband (he had to listen to me complain about it) "I need a schedule!"
And now I get 7 out of 10 things done 3 out of 5 days a week!

Photo by EvelynGiggles Some Rights Reserved

 Here are some scheduling lessons I've learned:

1-Be realistic.The key to a list/schedule is knowing your limits and how much time it takes to do things. If you know you can only get three things done tomorrow, don't count on five. If you get three things done and, hey, you have more time! By all means, do five.

2-Give yourself wiggle room. If you know something is going to take you an hour count on an extra ten minutes. Scrubbing the shower might take longer than you realize.

3- Always do the most important things first. If you HAVE to pay that bill today, do that first, don't re-organize the pantry. You might get carried away and the bill won't be paid.

4- Don't get discouraged. Know that there is a possibility that the baby might get sick or you could have to take a phone call. If nothing on your list is done, just try again the next day.

5-Take breaks. If you don't put aside some time to relax you might burn yourself out before getting things done. Just make sure you make it a set time. If you decide to relax and surf the web, you might end up doing it an hour longer than you meant to.

You might ask where my authority on this subject come from, I have a mother who has managed to homeschool all nine of her children and has a business helping people organize their houses. She is the master of schedule making! I've learned a thing or two from her.

Esther's First Bath

Esther's umbilical cord fell off yesterday and today she is one week old! 

To celebrate we decided to give her her first bath today:

 She was very calm and accepting of the warm water and whole "bath thing" until Daddy started washing her...

She didn't like that part...

She forgot all about the whole thing after we wrapped her up in her ducky towel and put her in the sun. She liked that part!

 

 

She's Arrived!

Esther Jane Pringle was born February 7th 11:31 pm (half an hour before her due-date) 7lbs 12 oz

She's beautiful! (I'm totally not bias because my husband agrees with me!)

Her middle name is Jane for three reasons:
1. My husband's middle name is John and Jane is the female version of the name.
2. It means "God is gracious."
3. Jane Austen, Jane Eyre... need I say more? The writer/reader in me could not resist!

Poem - Artistic at Length

This is a poem I wrote about creativity (ie, drawing, writing). My husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) wrote the first two lines and told me to make a poem out of it and this is what I got! I love being married to a fellow writer <3

Drawing by Grace R. Pringle

 

Artistic at Length

by Grace R. Pringle

Artistic at length,

My sketchpad to cover with graphite and lead,

The images spawning straight out of my head.

The eyes staring back from the page

Are more than lines, they’re windows to another age.

The tries and fails and erased do not deface,

They make me grow in lines of grace.

Inspired at last,

My pencil spouts meaning and life,

Creating images far from rife.

The ideas in my mind,

Become my thoughts and ink combined.

Drawing is more than a skill,

It’s letting the illustrations inside, spill.

I don’t have to think,

Into my world of illusions I sink.

On their own my fingers move

I’m not entirely sure what they will do,

But I will find out soon.

The little details,

They illustrate without fail.

I am gone, lost on a journey of wind and sails,

Floating on a sea of fine points,

Worlds that draw themselves do not disappoint.

And colours so bright you could taste,

Leave impressions that never disintegrate.

Creating pictures out of lines and mind,

The two becoming intertwined.

It seems though,

That no matter how far I go,

I will never capture the spirit and life,

But I can always try.

My ambitions are high.

Pencil strokes, I am drawing on the canvas of life,

Forming everything in sight.

Other poems by me:

A Pen Right Through 

One Heart 

Ode to the Crow