My Art From Inktober 2021 (Part Three)

                                       

                                                       Click here to read part one and part two. 

This is sadly my last Inktober post for 2021, but, I will be doing it again next year, so stay tuned.

                                            Once again, here is the prompt list for Inktober 2021: 

                                                 

                                                    And here are the rest of my drawings:

Day #21 Fuzzy- I interpreted this as having a fuzzy memory. So I drew my character, Horatio, from The Mystery of the Body Thief. Horatio has amnesia, so, I decided to go a little abstract with the design of his fuzzy memories. 

Day #22 Open- I interpreted this as being open to the spirit world. I decided to draw Matilda Moore from Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass with a silhouette of ghosts behind her. 

Day #23 Leak- I interpreted this as having magic leak out of a magic lamp. 

                                Day #24 Extinct- I decided to draw a dinosaur. It was very fun to draw. 

                          Day #25 Splat- I decided basically to draw a drawing of an abstract painting. 

#26 Connect- The movie The Mitchells Vs. The Machines was originally called Connect. So I decided to draw the dog from the movie (part of the drawing references a joke that shows up in the movie). 

#27 Spark- A drawing of my character, Riona "Fire," she was the first character that came to mind when I thought about the word "Spark." She can turn back and forth from being a human and a phoenix, so I thought the prompt would fit her. 

#28 Crispy- At first I didn't know what to draw for this prompt, so I looked up the definition of Crispy and one of the descriptions of the word was about bacon. So I decided to draw that. 

#29 Patch- I decided to draw a rag doll. 

I think this doll belongs to one of my characters, but I'm not sure which one. 

So, because of that I'd love to hear your suggestions about which character should own this doll in the comments down below. 😉

#30 Slither-  A drawing of the Norse god, Loki, and the world serpent. 

#31 Risk- This is a drawing of the final chase scene between the Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In this drawing Ichabod is going to be taking the risk of crossing the bridge to get away from the horseman. 

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Which drawing is your favorite? 

-Quinley 

The Mystery Blogger Award

 I was nominated by Maith at Maith's Musings and Vanya at Chirps of a Forest Bird thank you so much, Maith and Vanya. 😊

                                                                    The Logo: 

The rules: 

1) Display the award logo on your blog.

2) Mention Okoto Enigma, the creator of the award.

3) Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

4) Answer 5 questions from the blogger who nominated you.

5) Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.

6) Share the link to your best post.

7) Nominate 10 – 20 bloggers and notify them that they are nominated.

8) Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice, including 1 weird or funny question.

9) Continue the chain!!

Three facts about me: 

1. What inspired me to start writing Fantasy was Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as Nesbit's writing. And what inspired me to write Gothic Horror were the authors Washington Irving, Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, and Oscar Wilde. 

2. I've been drawing and creating stories since I was little. I used paper dolls to play out story-lines. The paper dolls would usually be princesses or mermaids, and I drew them myself. 

3. My favorite Greek goddess is Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and my favorite Norse god is Loki, god of mischief. 

My Best Post(s): 

I'm going with the posts I had the most fun making and am dividing them into categories. I've done this because my favorite post is different and wouldn't really show the whole blog itself, but instead just a part of it. 

Acting and improv: 

But Soft What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks? and 

Phoenix and Annabelle Get Interviewed For a Villainous Job 

Reviews: 

Play Review: Frankenstein 

Animation: 

Pandora's Box (Animation Project): Scriptwriting, Storyboarding, and Concept Art.

Writing: 

The Fairies or the Faylena (short story). 

Drawing: 

Using Polls to Create Art #1 

(Though singing and songwriting is a thing that I intend to do on this blog, I do not have a post featuring it yet. However, I may have one in the future....) 

Maith's questions: 

If you could travel back in time, which era would you visit? 

(Image from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon#/media/File:Akropolis_by_Leo_von_Klenze.jpg)

There are many many different eras in different parts of the world I'd love to visit--way too many to include in an answer to this prompt. But I'll go with a single answer for this: I'd visit Ancient Greece. And I probably would visit the Parthenon and other ancient temples if I went there. 

Which superpower would you like to have and why? 

I've always wanted to be able to shape shift. It just sounds like such an awesome power to have. I mean, I could shape shift into an animal and do things I wouldn't be able to do as a human. 

Also, I may have always wanted this power ever since I read a book about a prince who was cursed to turn into a bird at the most inconvenient times. While it may have been a curse for him, it would be a gift for me. 

What is your biggest and greatest achievement till now? 

I'd have to answer with two things: First, finishing my first draft of The Mystery of the Body Thief, and second, getting into a theatre company that helped me learn more about Shakespeare and acting in general. 

The one book you could read over and over is _____. 

(Images from Goodreads, here and here)

Two books fit this perfectly. One is Igraine the Brave, and the other is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I have read both books many times, over and over again, because they are both so good. 

Which artist would you never get tired of listening to? 

Erutan and Karliene. That's two answers, but I usually listen to their music when I write. Their songs are usually covers of music from TV shows, movies, and video games, though they do write their own original songs, which generally have a Fantasy or Gothic feel to them. Also, Karliene writes about women in history. 

Would you rather experience the formation of the universe or the end of the universe? 

The formation. It would be neat to see the Big Bang happen and see the planets form. It would be such an exciting experience. 

                                   Vanya's questions: 

                       What are your all time favorite books?

This is a very tough question, but I'll create a list of books that are my favorite: 

Fantasy- 

The Voyage of the Basset 

Igraine the Brave 

We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera 

Lord of the Rings 

The Hobbit 

Gothic-

Frankenstein 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 

Coraline 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle 

The Picture of Dorian Gray 

Epic Poetry- 

The Iliad and The Odyssey

The Journey to the West 

And there are others, but I decided not to include all of them.  Because that would probably take up most of the blog post. 

                                          What is your biggest dream ever?

I long to open my own film company and make my own movies that way. That will be difficult to do, but I think it would be really neat.  I also want to act in my own film version of Hamlet, as Hamlet, and I want to make film adaptations of my novels--acting in them (as one of the characters) and directing them. 

                             What is your favorite thing to do in free time? 

I do acting, singing, songwriting, drawing, animations, and writing--pretty much everything I blog about on here. I also do yoga, mediation, doll customization, and photography. 

                                                     Who is your inspiration?

(Image from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_McFadden#/media/File:Gates_August_2016.jpg)

For acting it has to be Gates McFadden (who acted in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Dr. Crusher). She was the person who inspired me to do acting. 

(Image from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Waterhouse#/media/File:John_William_Waterhouse_001.jpg)

John William Waterhouse inspires my artwork. And Cartoon Saloon (the creators of Song of the Sea, Wolf Walkers, etc.) inspire my animation. 

Erutan, Karliene (who were mentioned previously), and Johann Sebastian Bach inspire my music. 

And the authors who inspire my creative writing vary depending on the genre. 

Would you rather spend a day in home without doing anything or in some old fort?

   Is the fort haunted? What time period is it from? And what area of the world is it in? Either way, yes I'd go to the old fort and go ghost hunting in it. Maybe stay in it over night and see if I'd see any ghosts. 

I nominate: 

Meri Greanleaf 

McKayla

Maya 

Jasmine 

Jan 

Annika 

and anyone who wants to do it. 

My questions: 

1. Would you rather be a mermaid/merman/merperson for a week, or a fairy for a year? 

2. If you could meet any fictional character, whom would you choose to meet? And why? 

3. What's your favorite song to listen to right now?

4. Would you rather spend a month in a house that is haunted, or in a village that is haunted? 

5. What inspired your current project(s)? And how different or similar is your project now from the thing that inspired it? 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Who inspires you to create art? And would you also like to spend a day in an old fort? 

-Quinley 

|The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | Novella Review

I often have different stories that I come back to every once in a while. Sometimes they are ghost stories or stories that are in the genre Gothic. Some of the many the Gothic novels or novellas I find myself rereading again and again are: Coraline, Frankenstein and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Interestingly enough, the first thing that introduced me to Washington Irving's story was a play of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow performed by a local theatre. After coming out of an acting/improv class I was looking at the posters hanging on the wall outside the classroom when I saw one for a play called The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The poster had an eerie feel to it and I was intrigued. I then decided that I was going to go see it, and I did. I was amazed afterwards that the ending had surprised me and left me thinking. The performance of the actor, who had played Ichabod, would influence the way I perceived the character in the future. I related in a weird way to his version of Ichabod, and if he happens to be reading my blog post right now, I would like to thank him for introducing me to this story.  I have kept the poster from that show to this very day, I have it in one of my old writing note-books as it brings back fond memories.

Afterwards, I decided I would check out the book. I read it once and I got the exact same feelings that I did from the play, and so I reread it and reread it over and over again...

and now I've read the Legend of Sleepy Hollow thirteen times (at least that is what I think). I put in a random number because I forgot how many times I have read it, because I read it a lot.  Either way Ichabod Crane would very much be freaking out by the unlucky number thirteen, especially since it would involve him. You probably already know I enjoy this book a lot, and this review will give you the reasons why I ended up reading it an unlucky number of times! 

The Review 

Irving in writing this book combines a mixture of the Gothic and satire. There is no dialogue in the story, because it is told the way that a storyteller would tell a tale around a campfire, or even how a historian, who was not there to witness it, would have told it. At the beginning we are introduced to the character of Ichabod Crane and to Sleepy Hollow itself. The hollow is introduced in a mysterious way for it is haunted and something is causing the drowsy feeling that come over people when they enter it. The narrator even remarks "the place still continues under the sway of some witching power that holds a spell over the minds of the good people." (32) As for Ichabod's entrance it is a satirical one, which still manages to keep in tone with that of the gothic atmosphere and somehow doesn't feel out of place. Ichabod is unusual in appearance and "one might have mistaken him for a genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from the cornfield." (35) The narrator then proceeds to insult Ichabod throughout the story, while also mentioning that he is the hero of a romantic tale. 

The Gothic genre is often paired with the romance genre, because it has tragic heroes. For Ichabod that really isn't the case. He is tragic in a self-indulgent way, but not a tragic hero with any ties to a Byronic past. 
In a very storyteller-like fashion we are introduced to the Headless Horseman (or the Galloping Hessian) who had his head knocked off by a canon ball. The Headless Horseman has often been portrayed in modern media as cutting off people's heads left and right. While we don't know that didn't happen to Ichabod, the townsfolk are never necessarily plagued by the fear that they might be next. Instead they live with the Horseman as a legend that is retold at parties. The story has its own eeriness, which is further embellished by the encounters some townsfolk say they have had with the Horseman, barely getting away with their lives. 

(Image from wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headless_Horseman#/media/File:John_Quidor_-_The_Headless_Horseman_Pursuing_Ichabod_Crane_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg )

The Headless Horseman is believed to be based on a lot of different historical events and legends. One inspiration is believed to be the legend of the Irish Dullahan, about a headless horseman and sometimes even a headless horse. It is believed that "Irving took the concept of the Dullahan and added elements that would be more frightening for his target audience, Americans. Irving uses the name of an actual town in the United States and his villain is called the "Galloping Hessian"-- a reference to the real German soldiers hired by the British to fight in the Revolutionary War known for their extreme violence." -- Dr. Emily Zarka, The Original Headless Horseman. Many movie adaptations show the Horseman holding a pumpkin as he rides, but the original text doesn't mention this. Irving's Horseman won't slash your eyes out, but it does seem to have an uncanny resemblance to the Dullahan. As Irving wrote, "[Ichabod's] horror was more increased on observing that the head, which should have rested on [the horseman's] shoulders was carried before him on the pommel of his saddle." (69)  In Irving's story, a pumpkin is not seen until the end, when shards of a pumpkin are found sitting next to the schoolmaster's hat.  It is also believed Irving was inspired by a battle from the Revolutionary War, for it is documented that there was indeed a Hessian who lost his head to a cannon ball. Roger Lucklurst wrote in his article that at "the Battle of White Plains, the British commanders sent forward their Hessian horsemen – merciless German mercenaries with a fearful reputation. On virtually the first cannon fusillade, one of these mercenaries had his head shot off. He was hastily buried in the churchyard of Sleepy Hollow, since the Dutch church had a feel of the homeland." - The Horror of the Headless Horseman.  Because the readers of Irving's novella would understand and relate to this event in American history, this would add to their fear of the Horseman.  
The last part of the book is even more interesting and mysterious to read, because of the additional elements of history and legend that Irving brings into his stories. Like a ghost story around the campfire, Irving leaves the end ambiguous. I often hear people express disappointment upon picking up this book, or even decide to turn away from it because the story might be gory or even brutal. However, what is scary about this book is where your imagination can take you, not what the Headless Horseman actually does to Ichabod, because we don't know, it is left unanswered. And it is perfectly deliciously spooky left that way. We don't need the Headless Horseman chopping off people's heads left and right in order for it to be scary. Not knowing what the Headless Horseman actually does is scarier, I mean they are so many possibilities. If we actually found out what happened to Ichabod, would the story still hold the same mysteries and even eeriness? I think not. Your imagination can do powerful things and Irving tapped into how it could be used to scare you. And the unknown, as we know very well at this moment, is very scary on its own, because you never known what will happen or what indeed has happened.
If we are going to focus on something else, rather than Ichabod's disappearance, we should focus on the satire of the story. The narrator is firmly not in favor of Ichabod, despite calling him a romantic hero for the story. The subplot while still managing to keep the eerie feeling of the hollow itself, does have a humorous take on the romantic side of things, if we are to call it that. The romance all and all is not taken very seriously by the narrator.

(Image from wikipedia, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=50&offset=0&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns12=1&ns14=1&ns100=1&ns106=1&search=the+legend+of+sleepy+hollow&advancedSearch-current=%7B%7D#/media/File:Washington_Irving's_Illustrations_of_the_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow,_Designed_and_Etched_by_F.O.C._Darley_for_the_Members_of_the_American_Art_Union,_1850_MET_MM89542.jpg)

For example, the main character has been named "Ichabod" which means "No Glory," perhaps foreshadowing what will happen to him in the future. The narrator delights in contrasting Ichabod's "quest" in wooing Katrina Van Tassel with the knights of yore and many romantic heroes. His "only study was how to gain the affections of the peerless daughter of Van Tassel. In this enterprise, however, he had more real difficulties than generally fell to the lot of knight-errant of Yore, who seldom had anything but giants, enchanters, fiery dragons, and suchlike easily conquered adversaries to contend with." (46) Ichabod has to deal with others issues which are of far less epic proportions (even if he views himself as an epic hero).  One of which is Brom "Bones" and the fact that Brom likes to play tricks on Ichabod to sabotage any relationship he may have Katrina Van Tassel. And it isn't quite as fair a competition as one may think. Brom decides to play some immature and unfair tricks on Ichabod, such as training a dog to bark whenever Ichabod is teaching singing lessons, or stuffing up Ichabod's chimney in the schoolhouse causing the schoolhouse to be filled with smoke.

The satire comes out the most during the times when Ichabod and Brom are fighting over who has the right to Katrina's hand in marriage. She has a lot of money, and both of them would gain a lot in marrying her. However, even when it seems like Ichabod might win this battle of sorts, the narrator is taking the time to describe how badly Ichabod dances, "Ichabod prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal powers. Not a limb, not a fibre about him was idle; and to have seen his loosely hung frame in full motion, clattering about the room, you would have thought Saint Vitus himself, the blessed patron of dance, was figuring before you in person." (59) The narrator delights in making Ichabod take on the persona of a fool in situations where it seems Ichabod has gotten higher ground. Even when Ichabod wins, he never actually does.

(Image from wikipedia, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=50&offset=0&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns12=1&ns14=1&ns100=1&ns106=1&search=the+legend+of+sleepy+hollow&advancedSearch-current=%7B%7D#/media/File:Washington_Irving's_Illustrations_of_the_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow,_Designed_and_Etched_by_F.O.C._Darley_for_the_Members_of_the_American_Art_Union,_1850_MET_MM89543.jpg)

When Ichabod is not trying to woo Katrina he is often spending time with the women of the village talking about gossip and telling ghost stories. By doing this Irving brought the familiarness of the town to life. That the town is alive in not only the horrors of the night, but alive in the way that everyone in the town seems to know each other and delight in the gossip spread around, adds a richer atmosphere. Ichabod is never exactly free from gossip ever, and even when he vanishes he becomes firmly a part of the town gossip and is even turned into a ghost story in his own right.

(Image from wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichabod_Crane#/media/File:What_fearful_shapes_and_shadows_beset_his_path_-_The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow_(1899),_frontispiece_-_BL.jpg)

I have often see portrayals of Ichabod where he is presented as silly and scared, scared enough that he doesn't even want to come across a ghost, but that is not the case. Always when people read ghost stories or listen to ghost stories there is a small part of them that actually want to come across this apparition to experience it. I must say he is not alone in that, because I sometimes imagine what it would be like to come across an apparition, and if it ever happened what I would do. While Ichabod is superstitious, a part of him also delights in the supernatural. During his walks home he half-expects to come across the Galloping Hessian upon his path. Ichabod would "look over his shoulder, lest he should some uncouth being trampling close behind him. And how often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling amongst the trees, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian on one of his nightly scourings!" (41) And while he might have been frightened, he is interestingly frightened in a way that he desires to be scared by it, and perhaps have a new story to share with the townsfolk. When the Galloping Hessian isn't there, he is rather disappointed that it wasn't who he thought it was going to be.
Despite The Legend of Sleepy Hollow being written as a satire, where things tend to be over-exaggerated and sometimes too comical to seem real, I often felt like the characters are real people and not comical archetypes. Irving creates characters that show an interesting side of human nature. The complexity of the story, is perhaps why it is so hard to make a good film version of it. The novella lives between comical and realistic and is stuck firmly in between the two. Disney decided to go with the extremely satirical route in their animated movie, but it took the scare and atmosphere out of the story. Other versions have sometimes gotten it more balanced, but couldn't figure out how to keep the humor present while telling a ghost story.
Somehow The Legend of Sleepy Hollow manages to be in the middle between two genres and seemingly maintains the satire and humor, while also telling a story that is going to give you chills. Even during the scariest part of the book, Irving puts a bit of humor in. And I tend to notice that depending on how you read it, the atmosphere and the scary elements can be the most present or the satire can be, or it can even be a blend of both. It really depends how you read it. This is even why in writing this review I feel like I'm not deciding what part of the story I should focus on, because both the satire and the atmosphere of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are present in the story, it just depends on where you look.

                            My overall rating: 

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Have you read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? If so what do you think really happened to Ichabod Crane? 

-Quinley

Halloween Drawings

Happy Halloween everyone! To celebrate Halloween, I drew some drawings:

A drawing of trick or treaters walking through a forest, (possibly Sleepy Hollow ;) ). 

This was incredibly fun to draw since one of the trick or treaters is dressed up as 

Hobbes (from Calvin and Hobbes). 

The textures in this were fun to draw. 

A drawing of Clara from Splendors and Glooms. 

Her eyes didn't look right the first time I drew them, 

but they look better now. 

A drawing of Christine from The Phantom of the Opera, 

This was quite fun to draw (I based her costume on the costume from the 2004 film). 

I tried to draw Lizzy-Rose holding a violin, since she 

plays a violin in the book (Splendors and Glooms). 

That didn't work, so I decided it would be better to do a 

portrait of her without an instrument. 

A drawing of Raoul from The Phantom of the Opera,

his clothes and hair were fun to draw. 

                                              
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Which drawings are your favorite? What are you dressing up as for Halloween?
-Quinley

Spooky Books to Read During Fall

Hello everyone,
I hope you are having a good October.
To get into the Halloween theme, I thought it would be fun to make a post about my favorite gothic books. (In no particular order):


                                       Coraline 

(image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Coraline-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0380807343/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538610118&sr=1-1&keywords=coraline+book)

This is kind of fantasy and sort of gothic at the same time, and maybe a little horror. (Though mind you I tend not to like horror stories.) The story is quite fun and there are some Shakespeare references here and there since two of the characters used to be Shakespearian actresses (though, those references tend to be very brief.) This story has a lot of twists and turns and likable characters as well as characters that may terrify you.

            Splendors and Glooms 
                   

(image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Splendors-Glooms-Booklist-Editors-Choice/dp/0763653802/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538610233&sr=1-1&keywords=splendors+and+glooms&dpID=51lYXH84q7L&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch)

            If you like gothic books, you will like this one. The story is set in Victorian England.
                  There are a lot of mysteries in it, and being gothic, it also has some magic.
                    The main characters in this story are quite likable and relatable, although
                     the antagonist is terrifying. I enjoyed that there were facts about the Victorian period                           throughout the book.
                   


            The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 

(image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Sterling-Unabridged-Classics-Washington-Hardcover/dp/B00ZQB4F9U/ref=sr_1_77?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538681791&sr=1-77&keywords=the+legend+of+sleepy+hollow) 

This was really the first gothic book I read, and was also the cause of many of my fan fictions, and a few movie reviews. It is one of my favorite gothic stories with its twists and turns, and of course my favorite character Ichabod Crane and his romance (and love triangle) with Katrina Van Tassel. And the question of who Katrina should marry (Brom or Ichabod) adds a lot of drama to the story. Sadly, that drama is a lesser known part of the story. It is only near the end, that you finally get to see  the famous figure of the story, the Headless Horseman. 

         The Phantom of the Opera 

                

(image from Amazon, 
https://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Opera-Inktober-2016-Sketchbook-ebook/dp/B01N9VXMMG/ref=sr_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538609684&sr=1-25&keywords=phantom+of+the+opera+book) 

(Also even though the cover above is for the sketch book and not the actual novel I thought I should add it anyway, since it is such a cool cover.)

I am in the middle of reading a full version of this book. My description below is based on an abridged version of it, I have already read.  
This book is perfect for those who like operas and mysteries, especially those who do theatre, because most of the mysterious that happen in this book tend to take place back stage (as well as on stage, and below stage.) And also in this book there are wonderful backstories for the characters, that will make you like them even more. 


          A Drowned Maiden's Hair 
            

(image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Drowned-Maidens-DROWNED-Sep-12-2006-Hardcover/dp/B00EEUIIRY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1538609046&sr=8-2&keywords=a+drowned+maidens+hair ) 

If you like calmer stories that aren't as spooky as the others I mentioned, then you will like this one. It's not as scary as the others. This book was written by the same author who wrote Splendors and Glooms, however, it shows what spiritualists (or fake spiritualists) were like in the Victorian times. And this book also has a similar plot line to Oliver Twist. This book does have some sad parts in it, but overall it is a good and calming book. 

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Have you read any of these books? Also are you excited for Halloween? 

Love, 
Quinley            
                               
                               

Mr. Robertson's letter (A short story.)

(Before reading this post, just so everyone knows when I say The Legend of Sleepy Hollow I do not mean the horror movie, I am talking about The Novella by Washington Irving, this story I am posting is not a horror story.)  

Hi everyone, even though it is not October I decided I should share one of my short stories about Mr. Robertson... (Also this one isn't very "Halloweeny," it's more the romantic subplot side of the story.) This is a test story to get to know my character Mr. Robertson a little bit better...
anyway here is the story:

My dear sister Jennifer,

Love songs, and ballads of woe are often sung in the presence of Katrina Van Tassel. She is the daughter of the rich farmer, who hosted the autumn ball after which Mr. Crane was allegedly chased by the Headless Horse…thing. Twas but a year ago, yet the townsfolk are still talking about it, and gossiping among themselves about what happened to Mr. Crane. 

I am afraid I am going off-topic for what I started telling you about was Ms. Van Tassel. She is the most beautiful girl in Sleepy Hollow and every young man wants to marry her, unless, of course, they were already married or had their mind set on someone else. Ever since I've been in Sleepy Hollow, Brom Van Brunt (for that is his real name, though everyone calls him “Brom Bones,” which is quite a silly name if you ask me) has thought that I too want to marry Katrina, which I have no desire or longing to do. 

From what I heard Mr. Van Ripper, father of one of my pupils, Isabella, and owner of Gunpowder the horse, which Mr. Crane rode on that fateful night, has told me that Brom is known for punching suitors of Katrina. Brom wants Katrina for himself and only him. I do believe that Miss Van Tassel hates being thought of as an object, prize to be won, or a damsel in distress, though when I talked to her she showed no signs of that. 

Besides meeting Katrina, I have also met another young woman. Her name I can not place (However if do remember it I shall tell you). She is quite skilled with the musket and is equal in skill to Brom (she is possibly even better than Brom). Some townsfolk even claim that she disguised herself as a solider and fought in the Revolutionary War (against England), though I can not verify, if this true or not, for she tends to keep to herself and has no desire for love. 

How are things going in England? And how is your book going? 

Your loving brother,

Mr. Robertson 

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What do you think? What do you think of the woman who Mr. Robertson says is better at shooting a musket than Brom? 

Love,
Quinley

If My Characters Lived in Modern Times

Hi everyone, Camp Nanowrimo has started!:) I am so excited!:)
Also Happy (belated) Easter and April Fool's Day (I didn't have a post planned for either, since I was working on my blog anniversary posts).
 Anyway, on with the post, here is what my characters might do if they lived in modern times:

Lady Annabelle 

from the Lady Annabelle Mystery Series 

Annabelle would probably be a police (or private) 

detective, if she lived in modern times (and if she wasn't a princess).  

She would love reading mystery novels like, Sherlock Holmes, Murder Most Unladylike, 

The Secret of The Sealed Room. 

Mr. Robertson 

from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: The New School Master (my fan fiction of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) 

He would probably be a teacher of literature and history,

and would be especially fascinated with the American Revolutionary War 

(and would be trying to figure out how the British lost). 

He would live in New York (near Sleepy Hollow.)

Tesariel (Tess) Short 

from Tess Short book one 

                                           Tess would probably be a writer
                               (and compete in NaNoWrimo and Camp NaNoWrimo),
                          would be a member of a book club, and would be a huge LOTR
                                (The Lord of the Rings) and Hobbit fan.

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What would characters do if they lived in modern times? Which of my characters is your favorite? 

love,
Quinley

P.S. I may not be able to post as much as I normally do, since I will be doing Camp NaNoWrimo.