Resolutions of 2008

Here is what I had planned for 2008:

* I will put more effort and time in my writing - Well, I did start a whole new WIP and became a M:A member
* I will lose weight and get fitter - CHECK
* I'll save money for a nice autumn holiday - CHECK
* I'll see my friends more often - CHECK
* I will win the lottery *g* - Unfortunately no :)
* I might do a language course (Spanish adult education course) - CHECK, did a Dutch course with my sister

Looking at this I surprised myself with how many things I actually did, considering that I never looked at the list again after writing it. :)

M:A Progress

Aim: 500 words

Result: 806 words

M:A Progress

Aim: 500 words

Result: 643 words

Mission: Accountability – 29 December 08

I want to write 500 words on Monday to Wednesday each, 1000 words on Thursday to Sunday all together.

And I want to finish the books I’m currently reading by Wednesday.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I won!

:)

Ms Zephyr's Notebook

Bookwormed

Rachel tagged me :)

The whole idea is that you pick up the book closest to you, open it to page 56, and copy the fifth sentence down, followed by the next 2-5 sentences.

Okey, here's mine.

Closest book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

I haven't started this book yet, so let's see:

Page 56 is the instruction on how to fold a paper plane, the next pages are pictures as well, so I'll look at page 68.

Stan touched my face, which he never did.

And the next:

I took the elevator for the last time. I opened the apartment door, put down my bag, and took off my shoes, like everything was wonderful, because I didn't know that in reality everything was actually horrible, because how could I? I petted Buckminster to show him I loved him. I went to the phone to check the messages, and listened to them one after another.

Well, that sounds rather boring, but from what I've heard so far, this book is anything but. And I've read Everything Is Illuminated by the author and loved it.

ETA: I've read quite a bit of the book by now. It's about a little boy who lost his father on 9/11 and is trying to cope in all kinds of ways. The sentences above belong to the part where he listenes to his father's last messages on the machine (only two of five are revealed up until now)

Christmas is drawing closer

Fun with Ralf Schmitz

This is totally random and most people won't know what I'm talking about anyway, but I'll still post this :)

We had tickets for one of our German comedians (my absolute favourite) who visited my hometown last night.
And what can I say? I'll probably have aching muscles from laughing so hard the rest of the week :)

The thing with him (his name is Ralf Schmitz, BTW) is that he just has to appear on stage and I'm starting to laugh my head off (even while writing this and thinking about it, I have to grin *g*). He was in really excellent form last night.
They were doing a TV recording at the same time and maybe I'll be on there somewhere :)

After the show he was signing photos of him for those who waited and what can I say? He's even more slender (if he was a woman, you'd even say petite) than me and I think a few centimeters shorter. And cute ;) Not that I didn't know that before :)
I was too tired to think to ask my Mom to take a photo of him and me with my mobile, but oh well... Next time, better chance.

I had a wonderful evening and would and will go to see him anytime I get the chance again.

And what am I to read NOW?

Finished Breaking Dawn today. Another finished series. *sigh*

I've got Im Aufruhr der Gefühle (aka Smuggler's Bride), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Beedle the Bard. And then what? I'm not in the mood for new things. I want comfortable, cozy things to read right now (comfortable and cozy do not necessarily need to apply to the content of the books).

I think I'll have to read Lord of the Rings over the holidays and then a complete reread of the Outlander books and then maybe Harry Potter again. And hopefully I'll be in the mood for new things then.

Holiday Food

You Are a Trifle

No doubt, you have many intricate layers. But deep down, you're a little squishy.

What Holiday Food Are You?

A Fun Christmas Survey

I was tagged by Carol.

Insert your own answers and pass it on to whomever you feel would respond – including the person who sent it to you

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. My very first, very own this year :)

3. When do you put up the tree? When I get a nice one that I like

4. When do you take the tree down? – First working day after 6th January (when the city cleaning collects them).

5. What do you do with your tree after you take it down: To the curb (see above - the trees are burned)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hm. Books probably... :)

7. Hardest person to buy for? My sister's boyfriend

8. Easiest person to buy for? My sister

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No. But got a advent wreath like every year

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Thankfully my family has always given me nice things.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Don't have one.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually round October. But really, I buy what I think fitting for Christmas regardless of the month.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Any holiday food

16. Lights on the tree? Of course!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Depends on my mood

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Since I have a big family we travel to all the various homes, but I'm always in my own bed at night, so no real travelling.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? No. Here in Germany Santa's reindeers are not as famous/popular. Only Rudolph really

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I think traditionally in Germany presents are opened on Christmas Eve (at least in my family) but more and more families switch to Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Hectic people.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? None

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Something special

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? The things I wanted the most I got for my birthday and since I'm a person that hasn't that many wishes, the only thing I can think of is a warm winter cloak for over my medieval dress

TBR Pile

Ok, my list is not as ridiculously long as Jen's (sorry Jen *g*) but long enough, considering that there are only 12 months in a year and I only get 2 to 3 books down per month at the moment.

Here it is:

An Experiment in Treason - Bruce Alexander
Beedle the Bard - JK Rowling
Blind Justice - Bruce Alexander
Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
Brisingr - Christopher Paolini
Cost of Freedom - Carol A. Spradling
Death of a Colonial - Bruce Alexander
Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen - Katharina Hagena
Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter
Eldest - Christopher Paolini
Emma - Jane Austen
Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan S. Foer
Illiad - Homer
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Monsters and the Critics - JRR Tolkien
Murder in Grub Street - Bruce Alexander
Myth and Magic. The Art of John Howe - John Howe
Person or Persons Unknown - Bruce Alexander
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Pillar of the Sky - Cecilia Holland
Ptolemy's Gate - Jonathan Stroud
Romeo&Juliet - Shakespeare
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Smuggler´s Moon - Bruce Alexander
Smuggler's Bride - Darlene Marshall
The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud
The Art of the Lord of the Rings - Gary Russell
The Blade itself - Joe Abercrombie
The Color of Death - Bruce Alexander
The First Time - Joy Fielding
The Golem's Eye - Jonathan Stroud
The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook - Alan Lee
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
The name of the wind - Patrick Rothfuss
The Price of Murder - Bruce Alexander
The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Watery Grave - Bruce Alexander

Characters Pics

Jen brought up the question how our characters might look like / who should play them in a movie:

I found some I could definitively live with:

ELLA (Amy Adams)

ANNA (Lisa Ray)

IMDB



BEN (Matthias Schweighöfer)

SALKIN (Jasen Ackles)

Punishment - the scene

If you want to read the scene, go here.

It's rather too long to post it here on the blog.

Progress Report

1. Write my punishment till Friday - CHECK! Ha! :)

Mission: Accountability - 17 November 08

I want to

1. Write my punishment till Friday

2. Write a scene where Anna is flying home

The Punishment

Here it is:

Your assignment is as follows:

Write a short scene, using any of your MC's and incorporating the following items:

Rubber duckie (you’re the one)
Turkey
Flute
Walkie talkie
Tire iron
Dialogue tag: He/she growled
Line of Dialogue: “Oh, no you dit’int!”


You must use ALL of them. :) Have fun!

As you can imagine I was completely horrified when I read this ;) Now I will humbly take on the task inflicted upon me, cheered on by the others in malicious glee :)

If you are writing Science Fiction, as I am, you may find this interesting:

75 words every Sci-Fi fan should know

Mission: Accountability Report

OK, so I completely forgot to post my goals for last week.

But it doesn't matter, as I didn't do anything (for detailed *g* info see here)

And now I'm rather afraid what my punishment will be, not least because I know what creative minds will think up the punishment.

And, Jen had to go and make this comment

But Nina...Nina...Nina.... *rubs her hands together*

Oh man, must think of a really good punishment for you. (g)

What do you think, am I doomed? :)

Mission: Accountability Report

1. developing the characters - check
2. developing/outlining the relationship between Anna and Salkin - check
3. reading a Science Fiction book, to get into the mood a bit more - check

Why you should be buying books

The first reason you can find here.

The second here. Yai Carol!

I've already bought Carol's book (about 10 seconds ago *g*) and I'll be on a book shopping spree on Saturday (although I have to admit that I don't know how the situation is in Germany. But buying books can NEVER be wrong :) )

Mission: Accountability - 3 November 08

Goal for this week:

- developing the characters (thinking a bit about their backgrounds and such, as it will be needed and important for some scenes)
- developing/outlining the relationship between Anna and Salkin
- reading a Science Fiction book, to get into the mood a bit more

Mission: Accountability Report

1. Rewrite the crash scene - check
2. Finish reading book - read two others
3. Finish layouting - check

Looks like a good week and I don't have to fear punishment :)

Progress

I wanted to rework the crash scene this week, because it somehow didn't feel right to me.

I felt it needed more "action", things exploding, panic etc. This is a crash scene after all.

But now that I have read it several times and worked in a few adjustments, I don't feel the need for action anymore. This scene has been kind of quiet, Salkin is listening to what happens on the space ship, without being able to help Anna. Sure, he hears what is going on in the background, but being so far away and hearing Anna staying calm so far, gives him time to contemplate what he'd feel and do, were the roles reversed. And I think it should stay quiet.
He is in a kind of shock, not able to believe that this is really happening, that his superior sacrifices his best friend and colleagues.

Right now I feel this is the way to go. But maybe others will think differently. Maybe I'll post the scene over at Mission: Accountability and see what the others have to say...

Progress Report

I haven't yet worked on the scene. But I knew that I wouldn't throughout the week, so that is OK. I still have today.

I'm almost finished with the tidied up layout.

I haven't read the book I wanted to, but instead I have read two others in two days (The Next Thing On My List and Eclipse). That still counts I think.

M: A - Kickoff Snip

...as Jen called it.

To give you some idea of Before and After, here is a short snip.


Before and After (C) 2008

John handed him a pad.

"I thought you might like to the see the results of the [some test]."

Pads of various sizes where strewn about the table, showing charts, test results, images of scans. Jim pushed them aside to make room for his own and studied the one John had given him.
Unknown metals, some alloys with known ones.

"Where were these used?"

"For the outer skin."

Jim looked at John, astonished. Only an idiot would use those metals for the pivotal part of a spacecraft. But then, whoever built this thing, had found out how to make them resistant to the great strain the outer skin had to endure, and created a lighter material than they could have ever hoped to use.

The door to the room opened and Nadiya slipped in.

"Sorry I'm late."

"The Admiral as well. Here, look at this." Jim tossed her the pad.

"That the results of the material test?"

He watched her reading. Saw her eyes widen more and more and knew that she was thinking the same as he had. She let herself fall into a chair.

"That's bloody impossible!"

"Commander, mind your language please." a voice from behind them admonished mildly.

Mission: Accountability - 27 Oct 08

So, goal for the week:

This week I want to rewrite the crash scene. This will probably not bring about many new words but I don't like the scene as it is right now and have already thought about certain changes.

And I want to finish reading the book I'm at now.

Aaand, I want to finish layouting (is that a word?) a story I wrote a few years back with a friend. My colleague wants to see it and... Well, it needs a tidy layout.

Mission: Accountability

Jen and Jenna had the great idea to start a working group, where we help each other to stay focused and stick to our goals.

More info here.

Every Monday we'll post our goals for the week and the next Monday we'll see how everyone did. I'm already afraid of the punishments :)

Twilight Trailer

Ohmigod!

Twilight HD Exclusive Trailer


I've already been sooo hooked by the books (the first one actually, I'll either have to wait for the other translations or get around to get them in English), and I cannot wait for the movie. Looks awesome.


PS: For a larger frame see here http://www.myspace.com/trailerpark

Reading teaches*

My sister paid me a very nice compliment on Tuesday.

She was talking to her English teacher, who told her, that she spoke a good English. And she answered that she was not that good, that she had a sister (me) who speaks English better than German. Which is not true of course - I think you can never speak a second langauage better than your mother tongue - but I was a bit pleased nevertheless :)
And I've been known to occasionally been called the Walking Dictionary...

So you kids out there who think reading is stupid: It's NOT (And I cannot repeat myself too much. It's Not. Not. Not.). Reading can teach you a lot of things, not only languages. And it really pays to do some out of school reading.


* We who read already know this of course.

New ideas all over the place

I still rememeber, about 2 years ago (certainly before I started writing Ella) I read a threat over at the Forum where Diana once again wondered about people asking authors where they get their ideas from. And she added something to the affect "The problem for authors really is stopping the ideas from popping up all over the place."

Back then I thought "Well, you are not a real writer then. You may like to write, but you don't have even one idea for a whole book popping up." (You see, I put no pressure on myself. "A whole book" indeed *g*)

Two years later, the situation is exactly the opposite. I have- what, 10? - ideas on a list I keep, one story on the backburner, but simmering on in my mind and one story currently developing (or not at the moment - see my former post *g*).
And just yesterday another story popped up. Phew :)

I guess once you start to earnestly get busy with thinking about writing in general or maybe even a story in particular, everything just gets rolling.
You write and get an idea, but it doesn't fit the story. Make a new story out of it. You read a line in a book/magazine/..., see something on TV, hear something somewhere and think "Hey, that's great/interesting/whatever, but it doesn't fit your story. Make a new story out of it.
And quicker than you can blink, you have a whole bunch of story ideas.

Hey, that's great! Only, it doesn't help with writers block :) *

So for now, I'll be grateful that my brain is indeed able to produce story ideas at random and numerously and I will think about my current block later. :)


* I know that working at a new idea did and does help writers getting on with something they are stuck at. It just doesn't seem to work for me. I start working on something and some time later I am where I'm with Before and After now. I don't want to be one of those people who end up with a dozen half finished stories (nothing against those - I just don't want to be one of them).

Why is writing so hard?

I don't have the answer. I have just been asking myself this question for the last two hours.

I think I may know where the problem lies but I have absolutely no idea how to go about it.

Before and After is at a stage where I have a pretty good idea what's going on, who the characters are and what kind of person. I have written some mayor scenes (don't be deceived by the word count) and some "sketches", or skipts as I call them.
That's great, I hear you say. No problem.
Wrong! Now that I know what the story is, I don't seem to find the need to write it down. I know everything (I don't, but you know what I mean) there is to know, story finished.
But I want to get it on paper!

I could easily be the only one facing this strange problem (Really, it's stupid! What's causing this blockade?) but maybe some of you have experienced similar or have some good advise.
Meanwhile I will try to help myself with Holly Listle's course, that I haven't made as much progress at as I wish.

Yeah, I'm back...

And I would like to kick my own butt (if that was possible) for only writing about 1000 words in 14 days. But at least I got all the stuff typed that I had still in longhand...

But I have excuses. These made me spent most of my time outside:

The beach


Butterflies


Seals (at the Ecomare seal sanctuary)



Ships

Nature


The overall very nice weather :)

9/11

How much the world has changed since then...

Taking my leave

for the next two weeks.

I'll be on holiday and back on the 27th.

Goodbye till then! :) And happy writing!

My new bookcase

So, after I had books all over my living room, I decided to put some of them into cartons and place them in my cellar and bought an additional book case for the rest.

You will notice that some of my Outlander books are missing. I lent them to a colleague whom I converted ;)
And I have some free space left for all the new books that are surely to come. E.g. two new ones that I'm reading right now and four still in the living room. My TBR pile is much larger, but it's a virtual one (namely the Amazon wishlist) as I couldn't handle the actual piles anymore :)

The new one:

The "old" one:

Knitting

I've always wanted to learn knitting.

Well, now I have decided to teach myself. I've been practising the last 3 hours and I believe I'm getting better. :) It will still be a long run until I can try the Houdini Socks, but I'm getting there.

My godfather's wife can knit very well (she knitted me a "Scotland pullover") but we both don't have the time to get together for her to teach me...

Maybe my mom can show me a bit when where are on holiday from Friday on.

Before and After snippet

I thought I could post one of the less bad SFDs.

You might not fully understand what exactly is going on, but I thought it's understanable enough.

Here's the snip where Anna confronts her superiors with her findings. But from the Captain's POV.

Murder Mysteries

I have just gone through some short murder mysteries that are still filed on my old laptop.

And wow, I still love them. Thinking about it, I'm amazed by some of the ideas. And they really play great together.

I don't want to praise myself too much, but I think they are rather good.

Perhaps I should write more of them. Starring one coroner Quentin, that doesn't like those TV crime series too much (I love them btw) but makes good-natured fun of them.

How to Think Sideways - Week 2

I left out week 1 - for me, week 2 is where the fun starts.

So, we were supposed to draw a mind map with the following "categories":

I love...
I hate...
I need...
I fear...
I am drawn to...
I get shivers from...

I started this on Thursday (my HtTS week starts on Tuesdays) and quickly added a lot of words as they came to mind. I let the sheet lie on the carpet in the middle of my living-room and every time I passed it (which was quite often), I took a look. Every now and then I stopped reading all the words.

And up until now I have added three words. If it's good or bad that I almost instantly got them all - I don't know.

What I noticed is, that a lot of my words relate to each other or belong to two or more "categories."
And that I really got no surprises.

Week 3 starts tomorrow, and I promised myself to sit down tonight and look at the mind map again. And come up with my more hidden and twisted answers. 'Cause I know they are there, but just afraid to appear on paper. But no one is ever going to see this, so what the heck...

TBR August

• Ein Mann wie Mr. Darcy (Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating)
• Vermiss mein nicht (A place called here)
• Die Bücherdiebin (The Book Thief)
• Cost of Freedom (didn't make it in the last months, sorry Carol!)
  

How to Think Sideways

I have decided to join the How To Think Sideways course by Holly Listle.

Am I crazy? Maybe :)

You can find all info here.

I hopefully will make a lot of progress (yeah, sure, knowing me) and will post about it here.

Names

So, where do you find the names for your characters? Do you flip through books with baby names? Search the internet?

My characters usually name themselves. They know their names better than I do anyhow ;) Ella has always been Ella and Anna was immediately Anna Carr.
What I have trouble with afterwards is to rename characters that definitively need to be renamed. Abosaa couldn’t keep his name for obvious reasons (it’s an abbreviation for “A Breath of Snow and Ashes” a book by Diana Gabaldon). I like Edan well enough (as it means fire, and he is a dragon person) but he’ll always be Abosaa for me.
As Jo’s Annique will always be Anneka to me and many others.

What I do when I need a name that isn’t coming to me and when I don’t have time to think up one, is to just insert some random name. Captain Jim Knopf is named after this fellow (he’s the little black one – a string puppet). Lt. Commander John Doe’s name needs no explanation.

And for everyone wondering who the heck these people are: I’ll post some snips later on. :)

Origami Gift

Here are pictures of how the gift looked in the end (wrapped the whole thing in transparent gift wrapper and ribbons after taking the photos)

Wordle

Found this on Jo's blog

For Before and After:




For my blog:

Origami Book

No, this is not actually a How To book, but a origami book.

I'm making a gift certificate for books and was cruising the internet for some ideas (I actually thought about origami, but never believed to find something as neat as this). This is perfect!


Lustige Videos – Gratis Fun Video – Deine funny Videos bei Clipfish

Review - Everything is Illuminated

I don't know where to begin with this one. Maybe here: I love it!

It all started when I made a list of the movies the four Hobbits and Legolas (that being Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Sean Astin and Orlando Bloom) stared in after The Lord of the Rings.
Some time later I was in a multimedia shop and there the DVDs were marked down. I went looking of course. And found the movie "Everything is Illuminated" for about 5€. OK so far. I didn't know anything about this one, exept that the cover was Elijah nerdy looking, standing in a field of sunflowers.
Brought it home, watched it, loved it. My mom said "It's so typical of you to like a strange movie like this. With so many layers of meaning and so much to think about."
Well, the book is the same.

The story is about a young man (Jonathan Safran Foer) in search of the woman that saved his grandfather's life in WWII. He's an American Jew and traveling to the Ukraine to find her. He hires a Heritage Tour Guide (Alex, about the same age - the surname beats me right now - and his "blind" grandfather, who's driver. Ah. Not to forget the Officious Seeing Eye Bitch. A dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.)
The book alternates between letters from Alex to Jonathan, Alex's "travelogue" and the history of Jonathan's ancestors (this part is a bit strange, so I won't talk about it here).
Alex's use of words is funny and rather tragic at times. Over the course of the story you learn that Jonathan told him to use a Thesaurus to broaden his vocabulary. And he does. All the time. Like "It was hard to climb the steps" (I'm making that up here), he'd say "It was rigid to climb the steps". As I said, this sometimes effects greatly what he’s talking about and I was close to tears not only once.
Alex first tries to give off the impression that he’s this very cool person from this very cool city, Odessa. Both nothing short of any cool guy and city in America. But by and by you see that not all is cool in his world and that Jonathan seems to have had some impact on his way of thinking about his life. And I was surprised sometimes (though I really shouldn’t have been) by the depth of some of his thoughts.
I haven’t mentioned Grandfather. And I won’t, because I don’t want to give anything away.


Rent or buy? Buy!

Review - The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters

Three people meet by chance and try to solve a riddle and to not lose their life.

How's that for a one sentence synopsis? ;)

I must admit, I don't like writing reviews very much. But I want to try and learn, and that's why I will anyhow. Although this one will be brief.

The story was like the finale of the European World Cup. Analogy: the first five minutes where great, then there was nothing going on really, around the 60th minute there came another great 5 minutes but a disappointing finish followed.
I couldn't really relate to the characters, and I don't understand Ms Temple at all. Doctor Svenson and Cardinal Chang being the other people of the trio had their moments where you could get a gimpse at what keeps them going. But that woman was just ridiculous.

And maybe I'm just stupid, but I didn't understand the whole business with the glassbooks. I of course understood the righout explanations but beside that...


Rent or buy? Rent, if you're curious still.

My birthday

is still one and a half month away, but I need your help.

For dinner I had planned lasagna and some kind of turkey/chicken goulash (with yoghurt sauce).

But - usually - it's rather hot in August and I fear that people won't only want to eat hot food.

So I abandoned the goulash. But what to make instead? Something that can be eaten lukewarm or cold would be good. Any ideas?
I will also have a cheese platter and self-made brown soda bread, but I want to have another "main course"

I already cruised several cooking sites, but they offer so many recipes that I cannot decide (or even narrow them down).

And if anyone is interested, for the coffee party in the afternoon I will have my Mom's cheesecake with fruit, white Death by Chocolate (white because I've done the "brown" one so many times and people still demand it, but I thought white would be a nice variation) and Claire's Plum Coconut Cake.

Meme

TECHNOLOGY

What is the wallpaper on your computer?
Some b/w leaves, reflecting flowers in colour. Does that make sense? It's a Samsung background.

How many televisions do you have in your house?
One.

BIOLOGY

Are you right handed or left handed?
Right. But I can do a lot of things with the left. I actually will have to buy a left-handed can opener, because I just cannot operate the right-handed one. And I can write left-handed, although that's a worse scrawl than with the right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Teeth. Feeling in my right knee (after severing the nerve there when I was 12).

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
Groceries.

Have you ever been knocked out?
No.

BULLSHITOLOGY

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I have no idea.

What color do you think looks best on you?
White.

Have you ever swallowed a non-food item?
Yes.

DAREOLOGY

Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
Yes. Been there, done that for free.

Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
No.

Would you never blog again for $50,000?
Sure. Although I'd have to find another way to ramble on ;)

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
No.

Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for a million dollars?
Never!

DUMBOLOGY

What is in your left pocket?
Trousers without pockets at the moment.

Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
Don't know it.

Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
Hardwood.

Do you sit or stand in the shower?
Stand.

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Two.

LASTOLOGY

Last person who texted you?
My sister.

Last person who called you?
My sister. (and aout the same topic too)

Last person you hugged?
My mom.

FAVOURITOLOGY

Number?
7 and 13.

Season?
Spring and summer.

Color?
Blue.

CURRENTOLOGY

Missing someone?
My cats.

Mood?
Still tired.

Listening to?
Radio in the background.

Worrying about?
Nothing.

Wearing?
Jeans, T-Shirt.

RANDOMOLOGY

First place you went this morning?
I'll be leaving shortly, so first thing will be the bus station.

What can you not wait to do?
Planning the menue for my birthday.

Do you smile often?
Yes.

Are you a friendly person?
Mostly.

The Big Read

Found this on Tara's blog:

The Big Read, an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. How do you do?

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

I've only read 16 of the books. That's above average but well... I haven't read too many of the classics (Like Dracula). It's just that most of the books listed below are nothing that I'd enjoy to read (of course you never know until you have read them, but still).

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (Close enough, anyway)

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41 Animal Farm- George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte's Web - EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

FIIINAAALE!!

Oh. Dear. Goodness!

Germany won 3:2 against Turkey last night. Yai!!!!!

You wouldn’t believe what went on on the streets. People where singing, dancing, partying on the street and clogging it with themselves and cars. We tried to drive home from where we had seen the match and it was nearly impossible. And sleep would not come for a long time because there was a hell of noise outside :) You’d think we had won the World Cup or something ;). So, I’m very tired right now. But we are in the finale, so who cares?

And I have to say, a lot of people were nervous about the outcome, fearing that the emotions would get the better of everyone - Germany:Turkey matches having a special significance. But everything was peaceful. Loud, but peaceful. The Turkish were actually partying with the Germans, because now that Turkey is out, we are one big German-Turkish-Nation again ;)

TBR July

• Cost of Freedom
• My Lord and Spymaster
• Krieg der Welten (War of the Worlds)
• Unendlichkeit (Revelation Space)

TBR June

I decided to post my TBR list for each month.
I've never before written a review (only one and that one not very favourable) and plan to start doing it for at least one book of those I've read every month.

June ist almost through, but I'll post the list nevertheless.

• Die Glasbücher der Traumfresser (The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters) - almost done
• Everything is Illuminated - only a few pages left
• Unfinished Tales - not started
  

European Championship

I just have to announce the following (being a huuuge fan):

We just reached the semi finals!!!!!!! *yippi* I cannot say how happy I am!

And I don't know what pills they gave the team, but they actually played awesome this time. And the Portguese were actually my favourites because they play a great football and because of the bad performance of the Germans in the last matches. But now... *woho*
(Can you tell I'm excited? *gg*)

Oh, the result?
Portugal : Germany
2 : 3

Just a little update

For June I had planned on writing one hour a day. That worked while the football/soccer matches where still not that interesting, I could write while watching. But NOW things are getting more exciting and I have to focus. :) Although for most of the four groups the teams in first and fourth position were quite clear after two matches, the other matches were interesting nevertheless (beside the German one last night – booooring).

So I didn’t get much writing done, but (something that hasn’t happened so much with “Ella” – maybe that was/is the problem) I have constantly asked and answered myself questions. Like “Why will Anna be on that ship? How did she achieve it?” or “Who else’s POV will I use and why?” and I have done “research” on e.g. the construction on spaceships and what material is/could be used (the Star Trek world for example uses clear aluminium for windows. It’s much more easy to use, light and robust. Some years ago I read that scientists had invented clear aluminium – with the same characteristics – for real. The piece was only about 15x15 cm or something and still too difficult to manufacture, but still, there it was).
I don’t know yet what time exactly the story takes place, but I know it’s the not too distant future, so clear aluminium for windows is a credible possibility.

But yeah, football is on every night for the next 12 days still (or not every night anymore as we approach quarter finals now) and writing has to retreat a bit.

Wish us luck! :)

I am...

You're Alice's Adventures in Wonderland!

by Lewis Carroll

After stumbling down the wrong turn in life, you've had your mind
opened to a number of strange and curious things. As life grows curiouser and curiouser,
you have to ask yourself what's real and what's the picture of illusion. Little is coming
to your aid in discerning fantasy from fact, but the line between them is so blurry that
it's starting not to matter. Be careful around rabbit holes and those who smile to much,
and just avoid hat shops altogether.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Science Fiction

OK, since recently I'm writing SciFi.

I’d never imagined I ever would, although I’ve always enjoyed it (movies and series). But mostly I read Fantasy, Mysteries and Historicals (and various mixes thereof).

So writing it is a whole new experience. And Jen’s post on Writing Books made me think about what Science Fiction books I know/have read. And beside two Star Trek books (and three ST comics) I came up with… nothing.

Sooo, any recommendations? My story takes place on a space station in the not sooo distant future, maybe stories going there as well would be good for startes. But anything goes.

How to make a Book Bag

Literally

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Book-Purse

Cost of Freedom Contest

I just saw that only Jenny and me entered Jen's contest until now.

Where is everyone and what are you waiting for? :)

Go buy your copy here.

And then go to Jen's blog and enter the contest.

Marathon Day 5

I didn’t do the 5th day as well. But I knew that beforehand, so I’m not disappointed. On the contrary, I’m very, very satisfied with what I achieved in the other four days and I think this will be a good basis for the story.

No writing today, as I will be going to bed reeeally early to get up at 3am (maybe 3.30) to join Carol’s live chat (check out her blog for more info).
And it’s back to work at 6.30am, so I’ll need all the rest I can get J

We’ll see how tomorrow proceeds, but as far as I can see I’ll have at least one hour every day and a quiet weekend ahead, so I hope to get a good start into June. Hopefully with more sun, ‘cause I love to write in the sun (or rather in a shaded place, enjoying the warmth). Although the story is set in the rather cold outer space ;)

Marathon Day 4

Here's the snip for day 4.

Snip

1024 new words, yai!

Marathon Day 3

Alas, no snip for today.


A little Wisdom of the Day:

It's not the weigth that counts, it's the ratio.

Marathon Day 2

Here's part of the snip for day 2

Snip

Cost of Freedom

The digital version of Cost of Freedom has finally been released.

You can purchase you copy here.


Congratulations again, Carol!!

Win a digital copy of Cost of Freedom II

The winner of the first contest is Rachel. Congrats Rachel!

If you haven't won, don't worry, you always have the chance to buy the book now. :) Go here.

And Jen has yet another contest on it. Check it out.

What are you waiting for? Buy the book and enter the contest!

Marathon Day 1

Here's the snip for day 1:

Snip

A book I found

If anyone of you speaks German and is interested in The Historical Grammar of the English Language, I'd recommend this book from 1863:

Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache

Lost Generation

Win a digital copy of Cost of Freedom

Woho, the release date for Carol's Cost of Freedom is drawing near and Jen is hosting a contest. Go check out her blog.

And don't forget to spread the word!


Cost of Freedom
Release Date: Digital May 30, print November 28
The Wild Rose Press

Marathon

The date for the marathon: Starting Tuesday, May 27th and running through Saturday, May 31st

And I herewith state my goals for that 5 days:

- make "book scenes" out of the "script scenes" (see my previous post)
- post them
- read the other entries and comment


And since this week is my free week and (besides some minor things I have to do) I want to use it for writing, my goals for this week:

- write more "script scenes"
- note down the already known happenings and bring them to a kind-of timeframe (my, could this be like an *gasp* outline? We all know how well that works for me *g*)
- participate in Precie's May Book Contest
- spend a wonderful Friday with my best friend (plans so far include breakfast, gym, a DVD)

On the wagon again

Jen suggested another 5-day marathon, for all of us who have been off the writing wagon for some time. As I have been.

So when we have decided on a date I'll try my best to participate and get going again.


Preliminary writing some notes down I noticed something.
Lately I've been seeing scenes rather clearly in my head. But every time I tried to write it down, it didn't sound right. So I didn't. And consequently didn't write at all.

What I did today, was the following: I wrote the scenes down in script-style. Like I was writing the script of a movie. Notes of the general setting, how the people involved in that scene are set/what they are feeling and so on, the second before the scene starts. Then the dialogue without tags. And notes in between.

And you know what? It sudenly worked. Now I can go from there and get it into book-style :)

An example? Here you are.


From "Before and After" - WIP [a new Sci-Fi story I just started]

Background: you see their spacecraft. Crewmen are working on it, exchange parts, clean them.
One of them has taken off the upper part of the overall.
Anna has one component in her hand, turning it over and over in her hands. She is standing with her back to the others, her hair open, to hide her face.
Her colleagues are wisecracking (not making fun of her), they obtain a relaxed atmosphere.
Anna puts the component down, takes a deep breath and turns around.

"I want to be part of it."
Colleague A, that has been in the middle of a joke, pauses and looks at her, nonchalantly leaning against a crate.
Colleague B, that she gets a long with rather well, takes a few steps towards her.
All gazes are on her by now.
"Anna..."
"Why not? Grady is on Alpha Omega. I'm the best engeneer round here."
"And so very humble." Colleague A deadpans and walks over to the spacecraft.
Anna looks at Colleague B.
"This discovery is a sensation and I want to be there when they take the thing apart. Perhaps we'll make history."
Her eyes sparkle ambitiously.
"You have to prove yourself. Present something to them, so they cannot deny you."
"I will." She sounds very confident.

Tagged

Here is another meme (been tagged by Carol):

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

A Meme about Various Things

What were you doing ten years ago?
Well, ten years ago I was only almost 15 and went to school. As far as I remember nothing particular happened back then.


What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
(since today is almost over for me, I'll post tomorow's list)
Write
Childrens service
Read
Run errands
Gym

What are some snacks you enjoy?
Chips
Mentos mint
Vegetables with dips

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Travel
Make writing my job
Donate to charity (and maybe play an active part)
Give some of the money to my family
Buy a house
Get all my bills paid
Get a driver's licence and a car

What are three of your bad habits?
Speaking too quickly
Being a slob sometimes
Being more well-behaved than I feel inside occasionally

What are five places where you have lived?
Essen, Germany
Mülheim, Germany

What are five jobs you have had?
I only ever had the one: Businesswoman (export trades)
First as a trainee
Then at our Import Dept.
Now at the Clearing Dept.

What were the last five books you read?
Der Erlöser (Frelseren)
Eine Tüte grüner Wind
Der Illuminator (The Illuminator)
Mein fast perfektes Leben (How to Talk to a Widower)
The Hobbit

What are five web sites you visit daily (in no particular order)?
Facebook
Google Reader
My blog
Compuserve Writers' Forum
Google.de
Yahoo.de/Youtube.com/Hotmail.com

So, whom to tag... Sarah and Deniz

Revelation

I don't know if I can explain what happened, but here's a try:

A few nights ago, just on the brink of being asleep, I suddenly had a flash behind my eyes and I saw a scene - as clear as if I was watching a movie - and I saw one of the characters of my "new" story.

I was jerked wide awake and lay there for some time, focusing on that picture so it wouldn't get lost.
I had those flashes in the past, but always I had already overstepped the border to sleep. But thankfully not this time.

So, what did I see? A female, shoulder-lenght black curly hair, dressed in some kind of overall, fumbling with a tool (you could see her colleagues and some kind of space-ship behind her). Then she obviously made up her mind because she took a deep breath, laid the tool back down and turned around "I want to be part of it." she said and then the flash was over.

Rather scary but exciting :)

Here are some pics. Just picture the hair to be black.



And I fiddled with Meez a bit:


And this is what the overall looked like (this is Trip Tucker from the Enterprise series [the new old one, dated before Kirk and Co.])

Happy Mothers' Day!

A very long time ago there was this episode of Home Improvement on TV where Al sings a song and the other guys hold up letters made of tools.

My sister and me recorded that and the next Mother's Day played it for our mom and sang along.

Here are the lyrics (I'm not sure who originally wrote it):

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.


I sang my father' praises on Father's Day, but there's just too much to say about my mother to write it down here. But she knows all of it, and really, for us Mother's Day is 365 days a year.

Garden

Over at the Forum people are sharing pics of their gardens.

I don't have a garden myself (not even a balcony *sigh*) but my parents do.

Herb Garden:

Lemon:

Tangerine Tree:

Front garden:

Front garden:

My Dad and me took a lot more pictures, but I think these give a fairly good idea how my parents' garden looks like.