Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

Yes, indeedy, people:  This month marked a very special blogiversary for me.  My tenth blogiversary, to be exact.  A whole decade of Meanwhile, in Rivendell  . . . — a whole decade of creative development, a whole decade of a desperately needed safe space, a whole decade of what are still some of the most meaningful friendships of my life.  I may wax a touch emotional in a moment, Jeeves. I had grand plans for this celebratory post, like a) writing an essay's worth of sentimental sludge and b) hosting a giveaway of some sort and c) actually publishing it on my blogiversary (which was over two weeks ago) .  Ahem.  But, as I have been so many times before when sitting down to share on this platform, I'm currently up to my eyeballs in work and school and health and general Life Stuff™, and we must adjust our expectations.   I'm actually okay with that, though.  Not to sound like a Christian Instagram girlie, but one of the things I've most ...

Well, folks, it's that time again.   Heidi and Rachel and I will be hosting another installment of Legends of Western Cinema Week this year!  The party will be taking place from July 19 to the 24, and there'll be games, tags, giveaways, and all manner of festivities.  We hope you'll join us!  We need reviews, lists, character studies — any Western-themed posts, really.  If you are interested in contributing, go ahead and grab one of these buttons to spread the word!   ⸻⸻ On another note, hello!  I am (maybe/sort of?) back!  Still struggling with ongoing health issues, so I don't know how frequent my posting will be, but at the very least, I'm working on a doozy of a post that should hopefullyyyyy be hitting the air waves within the week.  I make no promises, but that's my goal.  (Sneak peek:  explorations of certain controversial moral dilemmas within a certain controversial work of Classic Literature™. 😜) Until then, t...

Happy August!   I'm excited to be participating in the virtual book tour for Rachel Kovaciny's newest novel, One Bad Apple .  The latest installment in Rachel's Once Upon a Western series of Old West fairytale retellings, OBA sets Snow White in the midst of the Exoduster migration.  The book is told from the perspective of Levi Dalton, an orphaned white adolescent who is taken in by a Black wagon train along with his siblings and cousins.  I've already read it, and I can definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a compact, historical, textured take on Snow White.  However, I have to get this interview started, so I'll simply direct you to One Bad Apple's Goodreads page for more readers' thoughts.  {Be sure to also visit the other stops along the book tour , including a giveaway hosted by the author!} Meanwhile, the interview! ————— What was the easiest part of the writing process for this installment? The dialog? Dialog is always my favorite ...

I got this idea from Eva , who often does these kinds of posts.  I always enjoy hers, and I'm excited to try my hand at some of my own.  [Yep, planning on possibly making this a series of sorts. 😜] So let's dive in!  Ranking all the Emma adaptations I've seen so far, from my (current) least favorite to my (current) favorite.  [Y'all ain't gonna be happy. 😆] These are ranked solely according to personal enjoyment.   I'm making no statements about historical accuracy; I'm not commenting (much) on fidelity to the book.  Keep your corsets on. [Also, I enjoy all of these adaptations for different reasons.] ⎼ ⎼ ⎼ ⎼ ⎼ #6.  the Alicia Silverstone ( Clueless ) This is fun enough.  Rudd and Silverstone have a cute, flirty chemistry, and some of the lines are pretty iconic.   #5.  the Gwyneth Paltrow (1996) I really like the chemistry between Paltrow and Northam in this one, too.  [Knightley's little addendum...

Hi, all! Just dropping in to let you know that, if you're at all curious about what's been up with my writing life recently, you can head over to my other blog to find out!  And if you're not, why, just keep truckin' along with this blog and you'll see something else book- or movie-related sometime. 😉 ^^ inspiration from my storyboard

If you're involved in any type of online community (and, if you're reading this, we're going to assume that you are because logic), you've probably noticed a steady influx over the past couple weeks of posts sporting titles/content such as "year in review," "top ten xyz," "goals for [next year]," etc.  In fact, you may feel like you've been clobbered over the head with them. Even I've contributed with my last two posts.  And, to be clear, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having fun looking back over your last twelve months, rehashing your favorite pictures or memories or books.  Nothing at all. But have any of you ever felt oppressed rather than inspired by all the end-of-the-year hullabaloo?  Do any of you ever feel an unpleasant expectation to summarize your time or devote a certain amount of energy or excitement to celebrating the turn of the year (or, as in this case, the turn of the decade)?  Are you someo...

Hello, everyone!  Thank you all so much for your feedback when I brought this up as a possibility a while back.  After a decent amount of consideration, I've decided to host a read-along of C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces , to take place from January 3-31, 2020 . We will be taking the book in four segments, reading between five and seven chapters per week.  (They're pretty short chapters, don't worry.)  Here's how I've scheduled it out: January 3-10: Part 1 Chapters 1-7 January 10-17: Part 1 Chapters 8-14 January 17-24: Part 1 Chapters 15-21 January 24-31: Part 2 Chapters 1-4 My plan is to do a recap post each week, sharing some of my own personal highlights as well as a few discussion questions.  Hopefully we can all dialogue in the comments ⎼ or, of course, feel free to create your own posts about the book! This is one of my tip-top favorites of tip-top favorite books, and I'm really excited to experience it with you all.  I hope a l...

Hi, guys!  As you can see . . . things have changed.  Heh. I've been switching my blog looks roughly by season for almost as long as I've had this place up and running.  Lately, I've been craving a change in aesthetic.  I loved my last look, and I'll probably bring it back when/if I go back to my typical header + background scenario.  For now, though, I was really wanting something fresh and modern and fairly different from anything I'd done before. We'll see how long this stays.  Right now I'm really pleased with it, but I know my habits well enough to know that I'll probably change again after a time. Basically, I just wanted to give you all a heads-up since, again, I know it's quite a change and it may take some getting used to.  If it's difficult to navigate or you don't like it for whatever other reason, I apologize; but I do want to try this experiment and see how it goes. ;) I'll have a regular story analysis post up in a c...

I think I want to host a read-along. I don't think I've ever done one before on this blog, and I suspect now (as in, in a few months) might be a good time.  So ⎼ going off the hopeful assumption that some of you would even be interested in participating in it ⎼ let's talk options. Possible Dates I definitely can't start a read-along this month, and it's 99.999% positive that I wouldn't be able to do so until this school semester is over, which would put us in December. Life has been taking more than a few twists and turns lately, so I can't say with total certainty, but I think any time between December 2019 and March 2020 could work for me to get this up and running. So, what I'd like to hear from you is, do you have any preferences as to timing?  I know that's a pretty wide field, but I don't want to just pick one start time if it wouldn't turn out to be workable for anybody else.  If you have any interest in joining, do...

Giveaways always add a little extra oomph to a blog party, so I'm pleased to announce that Heidi, Hamlette, and I are ALL hosting individual ones this year!! To enter Heidi's, click here ; and for Hamlette's, here . To ONE giveaway winner, I will send three works of Western literature : True Grit (by Charles Portis), Riders of the Purple Sage (by Zane Grey), and To Tame a Land (by Louis L'Amour).  All three are used and in good condition, though the L'Amour book does have some creases in the cover.  Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.  I will select a winner on either the 27th or the 28th.  To enter, simply comment on this post expressing your interest and include your email address so that I can contact you if you win.   (If you do not feel comfortable leaving your email address on this public page, you can publish your comment and then immediately delete it.  I will still receive the comment, but no one else will be a...

(Of course, the responsible prelude to this would be to issue the caveat that you, individually, may not actually find this announcement very exciting.  It all depends on your personal predilections.) (If you don't like the Western genre, for instance, you will likely not be enthused.) (Why is that?) Because the Legends of Western Cinema Week blog party is coming back this summer!! You may remember that a few years back, a blogger named Emma Jane and I co-hosted a fabulous blog party devoted to all things Western story-themed.  (In fact, I believe Emma may have been doing something similar for years before we even became acquainted.)  Book + movie reviews, rambling analyses on the constituents of the genre, games, tags, general fangirling . . . it was all there in abundance. The tradition fizzled out as Emma Jane and I both became involved in other things.  But now, I'm very pleased to announce, the event is being reborn!  This year, my co-hoste...

What-ho, all!  A few things. ✾ I really want to be blogging right now.  The problem is that all the posts I'm working on at the moment are a little more time-intensive, so I'm just having to be patient.  I want to be able to just whip posts up and post them within a single evening, and that's just not happening at this stage.  I'd welcome suggestions of any potentially shorter posts if y'all have any on hand, but if not we shall all simply have to wait.  Which is fine, I guess. ;-P   shout-out to Saving Mr. Banks for being an awesome movie [I also am starting to want to change the blog over to my spring/summer look.  I feel like I should maybe wait, but at the same time, it's possible that this next one could stay up longer than usual.  (Not probable, but possible.)  So, I'm not sure . . . I'll probably leave this one up at least until the beginning of February, at which time I might change.  We'll see.  I could a...

Here with the second installment of my AMA answers!  I'm sorry it took me awhile; I ran into some technical surprises (and was also just lazy hehe) . ;-P Anyway, here are the last of them!  Same rules apply as the first part:  most of these (with the exception of the very last video) were filmed quite a while ago and some information may be obsolete or no longer accurate.  Feel free to ask if you have questions. :) Thank you all so much , again, for your questions!  I had fun answering all of them. :D Enjoy! ~ Answers to Meredith and Tessa ~ ~ Answers to Evelyn Louise and Jessica Prescott ~ ~ Answers to Natalie ~  ~ Answers to Faith G. and Vanessa ~ ~ Answers to Molly Rebekah ~ ~ Answers to Catie ~ "That's all, folks!" ;)   Thanks again!!!

Have you guys heard about Reams of Rereads yet?  It will be hosted by Eva over at  Coffee, Classics, and Craziness this October, and basically, the idea is to make some time to do some perhaps long overdue rereading!  Eva realizes that we're often caught up in pegging away at our TBR lists, and that can prevent us from devoting time to rereading the books we've loved, enjoyed, or just wanted to take another look at. In preparation for said intentional rereading in October, participants are encouraged to compile a list of books they'd be interested in rereading during this event.  There's no requirement or expectation to read every book on the list in October, but it's a starting point. I'm excited to participate in this; it looks like it'll be a lot of fun, and I think you should join, too!  (Psst, you don't have to have a blog to do so -- comments'll see you through just as well! ;))  Anyway, here's my list: The Silver Chair by C.S. Le...

As you may know, Allison Tebo , author of The Reluctant Godfather , is relaunching the book in celebration of its new cover!  (I think I got that right?) The Reluctant Godfather is one that I've been wanting to read for a while now, and, y'all, I finally got to!  Ms. Tebo was kind enough to supply me with a review copy. SQUEE GUYS IT WAS SO GOOD!  I know you've probably all heard this so many times before, but it truly is an excellent novella.  {In fact, it contributed to making me late for work one morning.  So WAY TO GO, ALLISON. *scowls*  (Not really.)}  Burndee, in particular, is as grumpy and lovable as you've heard.   I think the humor is the best thing about this story -- the wit, the little twists that seem counterintuitive to the fairytale as we've come to expect it (such as Ella being terrified of mice, or Burndee's spell not working perfectly at the first try, etc.).  Also, I still love the idea of changing it to...

Yes, friends, it's going to be my blogging birthday.  In October.  Yes.  My blogiversary. So, why the seemingly-premature post here in June, you ask?  Well, I'm actually planning a few things for this particular blogiversary, and these plans include . . . *drumroll* . . . vlogging . *audience gasps* Yes.  Indeed they do.  You see, I want to do another Ask Me Anything (I've done one before, but it was a while back) and answer it in several (hopefully short) vlogs!  Lord willing and the technology works. ;-P So, your part in all this is to think of questions for me to answer. :D  I'll be trying to keep the videos short, as I said, and I'll let you know whose questions I answer before each video so that you can know which video to watch for the answers to your specific questions. :) Would you be willing to do that?  Thanks loads.  I'd be ever so grateful for whatever you could contribute.  So, ask away!! :)