Braking for Turkey

Hi, guys!
So, I thought I'd take a break from complaining about how horribly behind I am and answer some fun questions I found at Further Up and Further In , which hosts an activity called Beautiful People (a sort of fun questionnaire for characters). With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I thought it would be a genius idea to answer this installment of Beautiful People: Holiday Edition. Aaaand answering all these questions is also giving me an excuse to not write. But hey, I'm getting to know my characters better! That's good. Right?

You can also find more installments of Beautiful People under Resources on my blog's homepage.



1. What kind of holidays do they celebrate, if any?
When Mae's family moved to America from Germany, they adopted all the traditional holidays which came along with the country. Christmas [also celebrated in Germany, but a celebrated much differenly in America] and Easter are the two biggest holidays they celebrate. Krescentia [Mae's mother, called Mutti], being Catholic, also observes Catholic holidays and holy days, though the rest of the family usually doesn't.

2. What are they most thankful for?
Individually, many different and sometims trivial things. The one thing they are all thankful for is the country they live in--Mae's father [called Vati, the German equivalent of "daddy"] is especially fervent in his prayers of thanks for his home, his work and his family.

3. Do they have any family traditions?
Mae and her family love good food and music. They also have a taste for German beer and mulled wine made by Vati [no, really, it's a fact] and can stomach it pretty well. At a time when Christmas trees were not very popular, the Enzes always put up a small tree and decorated it with ribbon and beads left over from sewing during the year.

4. What is their most memorable holiday memory?
Though the children cannot remember it, the Enzes' first Christmas in America has always been Vati and Mutti's favorite memory.

5. What is the most memorable gift they have ever received?
It is difficult to buy many gifts for a family of ten, but one year Vati was able to get a small, cheaply made doll for every one of his girls. The dolls were to be their first and their last, and Mae especially treasured her doll in an old hatbox until it withered away into forgetfulness.

6. Do they consider it important to be with family during celebrations?
Mae has no other family in America; her grandparents, aunts and uncles stayed in Germany; she has never even met them. Her immediate family is who she spends her holidays with, and that is exactly the way she likes it.

7. Do they usually wait till the last minute to purchase gifts, or do they buy them ridiculously early?
The Enzes rarely buy gifts, but when they do, the presents are always on sale right before Christmas.

8. Favorite Christmas song? For fantasy authors, is music a part of their celebration?
Vati instilled a love of "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen" or "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" into his girls from their earliest Christmases--it is by far Mae's favorite Christmastime hymn.

9. Do they celebrate for religious reasons?
Mutti--yes. The rest of the family celebrate to eat good food, drink delicious drinks, and simply be together.

10. How do they celebrate the beginning of the new year?
Vati used to obtain a small amount of lead each year; he would melt the lead in a spoon over the stove and pour it into a cup of cold water as the New Year began. An old German tradition dictated that if the lead formed a certain shape, the New Year would be safe and prosperous, but if it formed another, the New Year would be lean and wanting. Mutti eventually talked Vati out of his superstitions, but Mae always remembered watching the lead cool in the small wooden cup.



Well, that was fun! I hope your writing is going well--I can't believe we have less than ten days left. I am REALLLLLLY behind. Oh, boy. Gotta write.

Happy Thanksgiving [Almost]!

Elisabeth

The World Through a Different Lense

Hey, guys! Hope this post finds you well =)

Today I did an exercise which I knew existed, but which I had never really tried. And. I. LOVED it. The exercise was simply rewriting a scene or a very short story in a different POV. I, personally, need to be moved very deeply by literature which I remember for years to come. I found a brilliant scene in an college literature anthology called Images of the Holocaust by Jean Brown, Elaine Stephens, and Janet Rubin. If you're interested in that particular period of history, I HIGHLY recommend this book.
Anyway.
 The scene was from ANOTHER book called Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust by Yaffa Eliach, who survived the Holocaust herself. It's very short and in 3rd person limited. After reading it about 10 times and really liking it, I decided to try this POV exercise out and switch it from 3rd limited to 1st. I think it turned out rather well =)

I'm not going to post it on here--firstly because the original story is SO much better, and secondly because the story doesn't belong to me. If you want to read it, I think you all have my email address. I suggest trying out this exercise on one of your favorite scenes from one of your favorite books, or even from a scene in your own novel. It's really cool how different POVs affect how you explain things and how you describe situations.

Hope you have fun with this one!

~Elisabeth

Mwaha...ha?

My evil laugh needs work XD But besides that....

I haven't done much writing, but I have good reasons which may or may not include watching Tangled, The King's Speech, and shopping at a bookstore which was having a 90% off sale. Oh yes. At said bookstore which I may or may not have visited, I bought a little book. Said little book is called "The Writer's Little Helper" and I've found it appropriately named. My favorite feature so far is called the Ten Scene Tool. The author, James V. Smith, Jr., suggests using this tool in place of the classic outline, mainly because outlining...