DIY: book box

You will need:
- A book with good binding
- A ruler
- A pocket knife or box cutter
- A pair of scissors
- A pen


Step 1 :
Decide how big you want you book compartment to be.



Step 2 :
Trace a line so you know where to cut.



Step 3 :
Cut on the line all the way around.



Use the scissors in the arrears the knife does not happen to cut through.

Repeat set 3 until your box is to the desired depth. This project takes time and patience but is well worth the effort. Good luck on your book boxes.

P.S. Don't throw away your cut away pages. There are so many uses for them. Watch out for another DIY on how you can use them.

so what do you think?

There are words which sever hearts more than sharp swords; there are words the point of which sting the heart through the course of a whole life. -Fredericka Bremer

In other words (no pun intended) words can build up and destroy. And so we must use words carefully.

Today, I am going to be talking about critiquing written work.

I think all of us, at one time or another, have given a critiquing of something. And we ourselves have asked the question, "So what do you think" is nervous anticipation.

Have you ever been given a bad critique? Something said that made no sense and brought your spirits down. It's hard and discouraging. We want people to seriously think about what they say to us. But on the flip side we need to think about we say to others.

To help you in critiquing written work I have a couple tips:

1 - Make sure you ask how many drafts the work has gone through before you give your option.

You would treat a 1st draft work very differently from, say, a 7th draft. In a 1st draft you want to give help in general areas. And then a piece that has gone through many drafts you want to give more attention to the little things, because a lot of the general issues have been sorted out.

2 - Keep in mind the experience of the writer.

I would give different advice for each different person, say an old friend, a professional writer, my younger sister, etc...

3 - Keep in mind the goal of the writer.

Again I would give different advice depending on the goal of the writer. My younger sister probably wants to write more for fun in contrast to a professional writer.

4 - Make sure to be encouraging but honest.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build one another you, just as you are doing."

50 cents

I love my library. And recently I have come to love it ever more. Why? I bought one of my favorite book ever! And only for 50 cents!

*Sigh*

I'm in love! In love with poetry! Dear sweet, beautiful poetry.



They have some amazing poems in here. But I couldn't leave all this amazing stuff to my self. I have to share some awesome lines from my favorite poems.

Lines from "If-" by Rudyard Kipling

If you can dream-and not make dreams you master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat them those two impostors just the same;

Lines from "Our Heroes" by Phoebe Cary

He has a hard battle to fight.
Who strives against self and his comrades
Will find a most powerful foe.
All honor to him if he conquers.
A cheer for the boy who says "No!"

Lines from "Sometimes" by May Riley Smith

And if, though patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet, with sandals looked, may rest
When we shall clearly see and understand,
I think that we will say, "God knew the best!"

The poem "The Optimist" Unknown author

The optimist fell ten stories
At each window bar
He shouted to his friends:
"All right so far."

And what about you? What are some of you favorite poems?

Can she make it?

She's an aspiring novelist. Doesn't know if she can make it, but is willing to let herself go to get it done. Has so many other things that need to be finished. Will she succeed?

This describes both myself and my main character in my still untitled book. 650 words into it, 1 chapter finished, and I'm looking to see how it's all going to turn out.

My excitement for my writing is still at a high. Some of the things I'm most excited about is:
- I'm writing it in first person. (I've always wanted to do that)
- I'm approaching it with a little bit more of a poetic tone.
- I just got off some awful writers block.

But can I make? Those words can not help but creep into my soul. So I guess, like a story, we will have to wait for the ending. And like a story, I want to know how it ends but I still want it to go on forever.

dish washing!

"The best time for planning a book is when you're doing the dishes." -Agatha Christie

Princess Penelope's Parrot {a book review}

About the book:
Spoiled Princess Penelope cannot get her new parrot to talk, even after threatening it and calling it nasty names. But when Prince Percival comes courting, the parrot gets revenge on the greedy princess in a hilarious and fitting conclusion.

My thoughts:
I think this is an adorable book I remember from when I was a little kid. The story is cute, the book has great illustration, and a fun story line.

page number: 32
genre: picture book
recommended for ages: 5+
bad stuff: The princess says some mean things to the parrot. ☺
romance: No
recommendation: I give this a 5 out of 5

Do you have thoughts or questions on this book? I'd love to hear and answer them.

a sneak peek (my current writing project)

Although my current writing project is unnamed, it still has a special place in my heart. And after some thought I decided to post an excerpt from it.

*nervous laugh*

What have I got to lose?

We will just call this bit; coffee & bubbles.

The cream seems to dissolve as it swirled into the coffee. I pull the spoon out of the cup and smile. I dip the wet spoon into the sugar dish. I smile again. There's no one to scold me for this silly act. There is no need for this silly act, but I do it none the less.

The smell of coffee fills the room as I bring it into my bedroom.

Oh, my dear lovely caffeine.

The coffee brightens up my morning as I sip it. I close my eyes once more and savor the the wonderful brown liquid. I sip it again and feel the warmth fill my body.

The October chill seeps through the walls in the bedroom. I look out the window. Beautiful colors dance as the wind blows. Red, orange, green and yellow.

I hold my coffee close to my face as I watch the trees blowing in the wind. Such a beautiful day. I look back over to my laptop. The few sentences I had written look back and seem to mock me. A groan erupts from inside me. Disappointment sets into my mind.

A smile set on my lips as I remind those words I am in control. I have the power of the backspace button. The power to delete. I am in control!

I am in control, right?

My subconscious mocks me. In control? No way! I may be able to push the backspace button but I have no control over inspiration. I search for anything to stop this lack of inspiration. Is there anything else I can do?

Well, as long as I have nothing to write I will take Agatha Christie's quote to heart.

"The best time for planning a book is while washing the dishes." -Agatha Christie.

I decide to take a shot at it and start washing the dishes.

The yellow dish soap becomes bubbles as the contact the water. Sweet bubbles. Yellow bubbles. I take a handful of them and blow. They float around before allowing gravity to work. They all sink; all but one. The stray bubble dances on air. Swinging to an invisible beat. I reach my sudsy hand and catch the bubble. It pops.

I wish I could be like that bubble. Defiant of all writing rules and just dance. Swing to the invisible beat of a good story and just write.

It's a little more poetic than a normal novel but I find I like the style of it. So there it is. The first draft of an interesting piece of written work. Although I don't plan on editing it until I finish the book I would love to hear your impute.

Lack of Enthusiasm

Writing, like any hobby or job, comes with it's own list of woes. While writing block is one of them, there are others. One I have recently discovered is lack of enthusiasm.

While it is easy to start off a writing project with the idea fresh in your mind. Your resolve to finish a project decreases as time goes on.

At the moment my enthusiasm for my current project can compare to a golden retrievers enthusiasm for a game. It's really high right now. But I have started out this way before but all of those project have fallen to crumble.

What did I do wrong?

I question I have often begged the sentences staring back at me. But as I've thought more about it, the answer became more and more clear. For me, it was how I edited my writing. I would edit as I wrote, and as I kept coming back to the same sentences and paragraphs time and time again my enthusiasm for finishing dwindled. The discouragement of bad writing kept me from going anywhere.

But I have edited my ways instead of my writing. I'm one of those people that need to simply write the book then edit it.

15 day challenge button code

I know it's a little late, but I found out a way to post the code for the 15 day challenge. Here it is for anyone who wants it. ☺


</href="http://thethoughtsofabookworm.blogspot.com/2011/07/15-day-challenge-writers-edition.html"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 135px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641190227132097554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fEGDlMB3gP3esVSz02nJAXyCNyPja7Yg3LlBMhp7SNuYulTniRrOP4r5a-unoy0EnV0mQBhOKXTxWW4eFmc3ngr_R2guE1mVzwHPNHBOSPLSlhmhPk6YQo5DlTInV6eXG1BwePxsSvuX/s400/SP_HappyGoLucky_Paper_Cream+-+Copy+-+Copy+-+Copy.jpg" /></a><BR><br><BR><br>>

Day 15 {music}

Can you believe that it's over? Today is the last of the 15 day challenge (writers edition). But do not despair! The memories of the 15 day challenge will still live on.

And being that I had 15 days of blog posts picked out for me, I have written a few more posts. So you don't have to worry about a lack of posts now that it's over.

Day 15 - Your favorite song to write to.

I go in between stages of music with words and then purely instrumentally. So I'm going to post on something in between, Enya.



I don't exactly know how to explain her music so I'll just post some of it. Here is a play list of my favorite songs by Enya.

Day 14 {quote}

Day 14 - One of your favorite quotes about books or writing.

I dreamt a limitless book,
A book unbound,
Its leaves scattered in fantastic abundance
On every line there was a new horizon drawn,
New heavens supposed;
New states, new souls.”
–Clive Barker

Day 13 {book}

Sorry for how late this post is my dear followers. Today was a long work day. But back to our current event; the 15 day challenge (writers edition).

Day 13 - Your favorite book about writing

I haven't read to many books about writing. And being I read so many books, and some of them have slipped my memory so I will just post one I can remember. At the moment I am reading:



This book is good, but I don't know if I agree with it one hundred percent. One thing they point out is how all these book are not very good souly on the purpose of whether information is true or not. Or if grammar and punctuation are correct.

I would like to quote Jenny, over at The Penslayer, when she says this, "Has it ever occurred to those literature teachers that any book may have been written for the sole purpose of creating a good story?". Bravo! Bravo! I don't think I could have said it better.

I do agree that grammar and punctuation are important but us writers are here, writing, to tell a story; to create a world no man has seen before. We are not, at least I am not, writing to impress on a philosophical level. I am here to enjoy doing what I love to do.

So I'll have to see how I like the rest of the book. And maybe I'll do a book review on it when I finish.

Liebster Award

Thank you Jenna over at Literally YA for giving me this award.



"the goal of this award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers"

Here are the rules for this award:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger that gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and Paste the award on your blog.

And my top five picks are:

- Gray's Locket

- The Penslayer

- Trails

- Awake

- My Book of Days

Day 12 {song}

Day 12 - A song about writing or books

Paperback Writer by The Beatles

Day 11 {female author}

This post is day 11 of 15. Can you believe it? We only have 4 more days to go. And remember it's never to late to start the 15 day challenge, whether you start from the beginning and go all the way through or start with day 11.

Day 11 - Your favorite female author

Yay! I'm really excited for this question, despite how hard it will be to chose. Hm. . . There are so many good female authors out there. Okay, I think I know my two favorite (I can't pick one ☺).

My two favorites are Agatha Christie and Jane Austen.



Both of these authors have amazing writing style, characters, plots, and consistently good books.

*sigh*

If I ever wanted to be like a certain author it would either be Agatha Christie with her mind twisting plots or Jane Austen with her unforgettable characters. Both of these authors know what it means to write good books that stand the test of time.

And what about you? What is your favorite female author?

Day 10 {answers}

For those of you questioning the silliness of todays challenge. The reason for me posting this question is a combination of:
- curiosity (I want to hear your answers)
- I liked it
- lack of a better subject

Day 10 - Your answer to, "What is the most important thing I should know about writing".

Although I have several answer to this one question I will just pick one.

(I can hear you sighs of relief through the computer. No I'm not offended. ☺)

The most important thing you should know about writing is that what ever you write you should try to make it original. Originality is an extremely important aspect in writing.

I've read a couple books out there that sounded so much like other books I've read, it ruined the book as a whole. The writer may have had amazing writing style but hearing a similar story from someone different ruined the book for me.

But what about you? I'm really excited to hear your answers, ever if it's just a comment.

Day 9 {writing projects}

I can't believe it: This is day 9 of 15. That means we only have 6 more days after this post. That is both exciting and sad to be reaching the end of this challenge.

Day 9 - What is your current writing project?

Well, my most current writing project is pretty current. Yesterday I put a long thought idea into action and started writing, finally. I've just come off a very long writers block problem.

I need to go off that thought for a moment. I no longer have writers block. This is one wonderful day.

*jumps out the chair and does a dance*

Back on subject:

So, essentially, the book takes a more poetic approach to writing than other novels. The book will be, in first person, about the thoughts and struggles of an aspiring writer.

There not much to say other than that except I'm really excited about it. I just hope I don't run out of steam before I finish the first draft. ☺

What about you? I can't wait to hear about your writing projects.

Day 8 {video}

Day 8 - A video about books or writing

I know I've posted this before, but I couldn't resist! ☺

*in the first version of this post the video was way to big, but I fixed it.*

Day 7 {favorites. . .again}

Day 7 - Your favorite genre to write.

Hm. . . This one is going to be hard to pick. I love to write poetry! But fantasy is so much fun! Then there's sci-fiction. Hm. . .

*thinking*

Well, I guess I'm going to have to cheat on this one. I don't have one favorite when it comes to writing, so I'll just pick two of many:

~ Poetry

~ Humorous short stories


Why these two in particular?

Well, poetry is an unexplainable joy to read and write. Songs and stories put to paper in a way that flows like a breeze on a spring day.

And then there's humorous short stories. Now these are what, I believe, I'm best at. Stories that don't require logic or sense. I guess that's why I'm best at it. ☺

Day 6 {dreams}

First, let me draw your attention to my side button that says 'about me'. I have finally figured out a way to post my picture on it so now you know what I look like.

Second, all of the posts are amazing and I'm have had so much fun reading them. Yesterday we hit the third way mark on our challenge.

*leaps with joy*

Day 6 - Something on your bucket list that has to do with writing.

My writing bucket list dream is to:

-Have one of my picture books published.

Other than novels and poetry I love picture books. Stories, plot lines, and characters displayed in a sweet, short, and creative manner. And as I've been thinking about my direction as an author I've decided I really want to write picture books.

I first discovered this dream after my mom brought home some picture books from the library that we remembered reading when we were younger. Books that I still smiled and laughed at, I love them. I wanted to writing something kids would be reading when they are first learning how to. And I wanted them to read it again, in later year, smiling at the memories that the book holds.

So what about you? What is your dream?

Day 5 {least favorites}

Hello everybody! First I would like to say I sorry I didn't get around to commenting on everybodies posts yesterday, I had an extremely busy day.

Day 5 - Your least favorite character you've written.

Yes, it is okay for tears, (I just wanted to get that out of the way)

No matter how many times we write there will always be characters that rub us the wrong way. Maybe it's a bad guy that's doing its job. Or maybe it's a main character that makes you wish he was alive and in that room so you could tell him a thing or two. What ever the circumstance they will always be there.

We do not take pleasure in not liking our characters, in fact quite the opposite. I have one to many time mourned my incapability to like a character of mine. Who has been this character for me?

Lets call him (Steve). I don't want to use his real name and Steve was randomly chosen. He was perfect, typical, and had no personality. Because of those thing I can't really talk about him much, he was boring. Oh, so boring.

*tears*

I'm okay now. I don't want to end this post on a sad note so I will post a funny writing quote that has nothing to do with what today's post is. (I used the word 'post' three times in one sentence I it didn't sound very good.)

"What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working even when he's staring out the window." - Burton Rascoe.

Day 4 {inspiration}

Day 4 - A novel or author that has inspired something in your writing style.

The author was Howard Whitehouse.
The book was 'The Strictest School in the World. Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy, and a Collection of Fly Machines, mostly broken'. Humorously clever!


This book totally put all of the rules behind it. With no apparent period in time and full to the brim with pure silliness, I fell in love with it.

What this book and author inspired in my writing style is hard to say. Being that I'm not the best at writing serious novels this book helped show me that that's okay. I can still write awesome books even if they aren't the longest or most serious.

It was similar with authors like: Roald Dahl and Shel Silverstein. Along with books like: Muddle Earth (by Chris Riddle and Paul Stewart) and A Porcupine Named Fluffy (by Helen Lester).

So what about you? Who or what has inspired something in your writing style?

Day 3 {first times}

This is so much fun. I've been reading all your post, they have all been so awesome! I'm so happy with the amount of people joining into the fun. Remember, it's never to late to join in.

Day 3 - Your first attempt at writing

*chuckle*

I can still picture it:
Me, age 10, typing out those final misspelled words on word document. Pushing the print button and watching the paper come out, then running to my parents with my four page book. I was so proud, so happy, and absolutely in paradise when my parents read and said they loved it.

As one might expect it wasn't very good, but I still hold that memory near and dear to my heart. I know I've, most likely, wrote other stuff before that ↑ but that attempt was the most memorable.

I can still remember what it was about. ☺

- 10 brothers and sisters get the house ready for Roses, a 6-years-old girls, birthday. On her birthday she got a red wagon and kitten (something I, Lèrowen, had wanted at the time). Then after her birthday breakfast she goes outside with her red wagon and decides to climb a tree. The End.

Day 2 {male author}

Welcome all to day 2 of the 15 day challenge. I'm really excited about the number of post linked to yesterday. And remember, it's not to late to join. Whether you start on late and go through all 15 days or jump in right in the middle. I'd love for you to join.

Day 2 - Your favorite male author.

There are SO many good male authors out there! First, let me say it's hard to pick a favorite author as a whole, not just on one book I liked. After careful consideration and thought I finally picked one.

Stephen R. Lawhead, the author of one of my favorite books of all time. ☺


But it's not just because of this book but it's his writing style. His amazing characters, enjoyable plots, and all over his way of captivating a reader with well put together words.

Mind you, it wasn't easy to pick him. I mean how many good male suthors does there have to be out there? Now that I think about it Stephen R. Lawhead is only one of many favorite authors. Oh, crumb cake!

Some of my other favorites are:
-C. S. Lewis (author of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
-Roald Daul (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
-Frank Peretti (author of This Present Darkness)

Day 1 {favorites}

Hello and welcome all, to the first day of the 15 day challenge (writers edition). I hope these two weeks will be filled with laughs, pondering thoughts, and lots of comments; not just on your part but on mine. ☺

Important! - I will be putting a linky tool at the bottom of all my 15 day challenge post so I can see what you post too.

The first object on our agenda is:

Day 1 - Your favorite character you've written.

Okay. . . Um . . . Yeah . . .

No matter how many times I think it over, I always will have a special feeling for my main character in a book I tried to write called: The Day the Newspaper Came.

1- It was my first NaNoWriMo project.

2- I loved my main character Taylor Suit.

3 - The book stunk.

But despite how bad it turned out I haven't been able to delete it. It holds wonderful memories of sitting down and writing from late Saturday night to early Sunday morning. And I think somewhere deep down inside me I have a hope I could rewrite it.

*sigh*

Back on the note of favorite characters, Taylor Suit would most likely win.

"Who is Taylor Suit," you ask.

"Very good question," I answer.

Taylor Suit is a 20 something year old who is a math and science genius (she also has a real green thumb). Grew up in a small town with her mom, dad, and brother. Her brother left for the army at age 18. And her parents died two years after her brother left. She continues to live in the small town but has dreams of opening a garden shop in New York.

What about you? I'd love to hear any of your comments or questions.