Tower Challenge!

Having been inspired {as well as enchanted and thoroughly entertained!} by Disney's 50th animated film Tangled, I have a challenge for you all! And no, it's not a giveaway. ;)

Okay, first things first: the info. Let's backtrack a moment; I am a writer, always have been {though I didn't realize it until I was about thirteen :P} and always will be. We can get into my whole lifelong love affair with books, dead authors, and my writing policies later. For now, all you need to know is that I write. And you'd better enjoy writing to some degree also because this challenge is all about writing {more or less}. Now, the deal is this: write in fifty words or more {the minimal is 50 words} what your life would be like/what you would do if you *drum roll please* lived in a tower. :D

There, aren't I a genus?

Okay, okay, details. Using your imagination, picture to yourself {in as positive a manner as you are capable of please} what your life would be like if you lived in a tower your whole life and what you would do every day to while away the hours. Think about it, really think about it: what does your tower look like? How'd you get there? Does anyone live with you? Do you read/bake/paint/sing/practice the Force/etc. to while away the hours or do you just sit there and daydream about escaping the tower someday? Are you content with your situation or do you long for something else? Do you ever actually get to go outside? What happens if a terrible storm blows through and rips the roof off your tower? What would you do? Perhaps you've been out battling trolls/goblins/orcs/vampires/werewolves/nasty thugs and are only in your tower for a short time to recover and let things settle down a little?

Once you've got a general, naturally very rough idea of your tower experience figured out, grab some paper {or the nearest computer} and start writing! Don't worry too much about spelling and grammar while you're writing the first draft of your story, you can polish most of that up later before posting about it.

Now, the rules. What's a challenge without rules my dears? All right, that's enough; get back over here and listen to them, I promise I won't bite. ;) Rule 1: the minimal word count for your story is fifty {50} words but if you can and will go over that then go for it!!! :D Rule 2: in order to qualify and participate in this challenge you have to do the following: post a link back to this post at your blog/Facebook/Twitter {if you have it} pages and any other writing/book/movie sites where dwell people who might like to participate in this challenge with you, please leave your name and acceptance of the challenge in a comment to this post, and tell five {5} to ten {10} people about it {and do remind them to mention who told them about this challenge in their comments please}, and you have to be a follower of this blog {if you're not already a follower, feel free to scroll down and become one right now! :)}.

This is a free challenge and anyone is welcome to join in on the fun! :) Guys as well as girls are both warmly welcomed {it certainly would be interesting to find out what a guy would do if locked in a tower ;)}. The deadline {quick, get ready to mark your calenders!} is June 18th, 2011 to give you all plenty of time to think of something simple to write. You can join in on the fun at any time between now and June 17th; when you've finished writing your story {the majority of which MUST take place in a tower located somewhere in the Solar System}, you can either post it to your blog {sending me a link to it when you have done so please} or post it to your Facebook account as a note {also sending me a link please}, I don't have a Twitter account so I have no idea if one can even post a story to it so if Twitter is your only social network or if you have none of the above but would still like to participate, I suggest that either you contact a friend of yours with a blog/Facebook account or me and get them/I to post your story in your name for you.

At this point in time, I haven't decided if there will be prizes for anyone or not {I kinda tend to have bad ideas for prizes anyway} but I'll update you on that score later.

Okay, ready? Get set. Go start writing!!!! :)

Tangled Movie Review.

Title: Tangled.

Starring: Mandy Moore {Rapunzel}, Zachary Levi {Flynn Rider}, Donna Murphy {Mother Gothel}.

Year of Release: To theaters in November 2010, to DVD in March 2011.

Genre: Fairy Tale, Romance, Action/Adventure, Retelling, Humorous, Family, Animation, Instant Classic.

Plot: From the first opening line of "This is the story of how I died," this movie takes you on a whirlwind ride that rocks you with laughter and changes your view on the classic fairy tale Rapunzel. Opening with a quick, interesting and highly important rundown of Rapunzel's birth and kidnapping by the hag, the fast pace of the movie is immediately felt and we are then introduced to our heroine who, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, begins the day as any other in her secret tower. While she is fending off boredom and daydreaming of the mysterious "floating lights" that always appear on her birthday, the palace is being raided by a dashing thief named Flynn Rider and his two partners; making their escape with the precious crown of the long-lost princess of the kingdom, Flynn sizes the first opportunity to ditch his companions and vanishes deep into the forest with palace guards scrambling about looking for him. Seeing Rapunzel's tower, Flynn climbs it and is promptly hit over the head by the tower occupant who wields a frying pan with hilarious accuracy.

Reviving shortly afterwards, Flynn finds himself tied with locks of golden hair to a chair and is interrogated by the owner of the hair. Rapunzel, knowing her "mother" won't be back for three days' time and having a great wish to see the floating lights, makes a deal with Flynn: he takes her to see the lights and gets her back home safely in exchange for his satchel which she has "hidden where he will never find it." Reluctantly agreeing, Flynn first finds himself bored as Rapunzel runs around exploring the outdoor world that she is seeing for the first time up close and then he tries his best to twice get her to give up and go back to the tower. However, with the palace authorities {along with a very silly soldier horse}, Flynn's disgruntled associates and the angry hag after them, the two young people are forced to work together and slowly find themselves falling in love. But the struggle isn't over as they race to the unexpected but wonderfully dramatic climax!


Likes/Dislikes: There is, of course, an element of magic in the form of a magical sunflower and Rapunzel's fifty-foot train of golden hair {it's a wonderfully hilarious scene when Flynn learns the secret of her hair!} and the hag is a little strange but I'm glad she doesn't go around casting spells left and right on everyone. The end is quite exciting and different from the original story {which I enjoyed very much} and there are plenty of hilarious scenes throughout the movie. There are also about two or three scenes in which the characters are in peril so I don't recommend letting violence-sensitive seven and younger children watch this film.

Rating: PG and I agree with this rating. The film is highly recommended by the reviewer however!

Date Report Written: April 4th, 2011.

Tangled Movie Pictures.

Although I have been reading quite a bit lately {always am} I haven't come across an exceptionally well written or humorous scene {which also doesn't give the plot away} to post on Wednesdays like I'm trying to get into the habit of doing so instead I shall post a series of pictures I found yesterday from one of my newest favorite movies. Note: there will be a review on this movie popping up here on Saturday as I still haven't finished the delightful Tiphereth Trilogy by Miss Hepner due to being bogged down with school and books I have to read for school and which have library due dates fast approaching. :( Enjoy the pictures nonetheless! :)


P.S. I'm uploading and posting them today instead of tomorrow because tomorrow I have an eye doctor appointment so we're turning it into a shopping trip and will be busy running around for most of the day.

Only the Strong Movie Review.

Title: Only the Strong.

Starring: Mark Dacascos {Louis Stevens}, Stacey Travis {Dianna}, Geoffrey Lewis {Mr. Kerrigan}, Paco Christian Prieto {Silverio}, and Richard Coca {Orlando Aliveres}.

Year of Release: 1993.

Gene: Action/Adventure, Drama, Martial Arts.

Plot: When Louis Stevens, a Special Forces officer, returns from his time in the army training death squads on an island in the Caribbean, he pays a visit to his former high school in Miami and learns from his old teacher, Mr. Kerrigan that things aren't going so smoothly. A local gang runs the neighborhood and most of the students have a slim to none chance of graduating due to various reasons, which include family problems, drug usage, violence and a lack of interest in their studies. During his visit at the school, Louis gets the students' attention which the teachers have all tried and failed to do, and he makes a favorable impression on everyone there. Suddenly reanimated with the force of his new plan, Louis' former teacher talks the school principal into letting Louis teach some of the students how to defend themselves using Capoeira, a Brazilian musical form of Kung Fu in which Louis is efficient. They reluctantly agree and send Louis the twelve toughest and worst students in the school.

Undaunted, Louis begins instructing them and slowly, the people around them notice a significant change for the better in the students. One teenager, however, turns out to be more of a challenge for Louis and when he tries to get Orlando to come back to his class, he unintentionally confronts the youth's cousin, Silverio, who runs the local, troublemaking gang. At first, things seem fairly peaceful, but when Louis starts counseling Orlando to make his own decisions and not give in to his cousin's orders, trouble begins to brew and the school is ruthlessly vandalized and set on fire by Silverio and his gang members. Knowing that he is the cause of the tragic fire, Louis gets out his fatigues and takes the fight to the villains and battles them on their own turf for control of the neighborhood.

Likes/Dislikes: The villain, of course, has a foul mouth but since this is an older movie, the language isn't quite as bad as the modern stuff Hollywood is turning out. For instance, there is no F-word snuck in anywhere. This being a movie about fighting, there is some blood and Louis does get knocked around a bit but there is nothing graphic shown. There is one short kiss between Louis and the main girl but nothing beyond that and the best part of the movie is that there are no bikini clad females wandering around anywhere, even though it takes place in Miami! All in all, this is one of the best films of this category that I've seen in awhile and I certainly recommend it.

Rating: PG-13 and up, mainly for the fighting content. Wouldn't want to give any already energetic six year olds any bad ideas, now would we? I don't know what the original rating is.

Date Report Written: March 23, 2011.

Quiz.

I saw this over at Whispers of the Wind and couldn't resist! ;) Enjoy!
1.What's your word count?I don't remember; numbers never stay in my head very long.

2. How long until you finish?
I have a deadline for the revision so sometime around June hopefully.

3. If you have finished, how long did it take you?
Well, I wrote the original draft at easy stages with several friends over the last two years. You do the math.

4. Do you have an outline?
No, I have an original draft! ;)
5. Do you have a plot?
Well, of course I have a plot!!

6. How many words do you typically write a day?I never count them though I imagine it hovers somewhere in the hundreds; especially if I'm writing an exciting scene.

7. What was your greatest word count in one day?
Hmm, around a thousand I suppose. Never really counted.

8. What was your least impressive word count in one day?
Ten to twenty words. So lame.

9. What inspired you to write?
Jane Austen, G.A. Henty, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Louisa May Alcott, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – in a word, my heroes. ;) Oh, and my own love of good books and frustration at not being able to find the perfect one!

10. Does your novel/story have a theme song?Uh, I don't think so.

11. Assign each of your major characters a theme song.My main character already has, like, three! She's very complex.

12. Which character is most like you?
Probably Jarha; I can understand him the most.

13. Which character would you most likely be friends with?What kind of a question is that?! I'm already best friends with all my characters!

14. Do you have a Gary-Stu or Mary Sue character?
Huh????

15. Who is your favorite character in your novel?
Probably my main character but I also like her buddies a lot and Aruternin rocks!!

16. Have your characters ever done something completely unexpected?
Yes; unfortunately three of them have the reputation of doing unexpected things all the time.

17. Have you based any of your novel directly on personal experiences?

Nope.

18. Do you believe in plot bunnies?What's a plot bunny?

19. Is there magic in your novel/story?I don't think so though there are a few interesting new developments.

20. Are any holidays celebrated in your novel/story?
Yes.
   
21. Does anyone die?
Uh-huh, yep. Very gruesome deaths too. ;)

22. How many cups of coffee/tea have you consumed during your writing experience?
I try not to have beverages around me when writing.

23. What is the latest you have stayed up writing?
In general or with this particular novel?

24. What is the best line?

"Hold; what's your name friend?" Jarha Zells asked, holding up one hand to stall the man's chatter, which he seemed to sense, could go on and on if left unchecked.

 
"Ah, now there's a story! My mother, bless her dear heart, wanted to name me after her father's uncle's nephew's half cousin's niece's sister's adopted pet pigeon and my father wanted to name me after his great-grandfather's twin brother's uncle's step-son's nephew, and my grandparents wanted to name me after themselves {imagine a scout introducing himself as Bertha! How absurd!} And there was this great big, huge, massive, gigantic argument the day after I was born as to what I would be called. So finally my older sister comes in and says, 'his name will be Welloldboy Val Castaway Flips' and that was the end of that."

 
25. What is the worst line?

Now how would I know that?!

26. Have you dreamed about your novel/story or its characters?Yep; it's one of the most effective ways to get over a sticky situation in the plot.

27. Does your novel rely heavily on allegory?
Not this particular one.

28. Summarize your novel/story in under fifteen words.Fifteen words indeed! Okay: "Princesses betrayed, guardians arrive, prince lost in action, lots of drama, big battle, insane spy." Told you that fifteen words don't cut it. ;)

29. Do you love all your characters?
Yes.

30. Have you done something sadistic or cruel to your characters specifically to increase your word count?Haha! Who doesn't?!
J

31. What was the last thing your main character ate?I don't think she ate. She just crashed out and went to sleep. Doing battle is a little tiring you know.

32. Describe your main character in three words.
Strong, insane, heartbroken.

33. What would your antagonist dress up as for Halloween?
None of the people, however evil or insane, celebrate that stupid "holiday."

34. Does anyone in your story go to a place of worship?Most of them go to church if they're in town; if they're snowbound in the mountains they just get out their Bibles and do some studying together.

35. How many romantic relationships take place in your novel/story?
Haha! Not telling, it would give too much away!!

36. Are there any explosions in your novel/story?
Well, of course there are explosions! What with the already explosive combination of insane scouts, spies, dragons, and being snowbound for months on end, you can bet there are explosions!

37. Is there an apocalypse in your novel/story?
Not exactly though some people think that the union of the two most insane and crazy persons ever born is the end of the world.

38. Does your novel take place in a post-apocalyptic world?
No, though the sequel might. ;)

39. Are there zombies, vampires or werewolves in your novel/story?
No way! Zombies would go back to the grave were they to meet my main characters, vampires would shrivel and dry up, and werewolves would promptly be killed.

40. Are there witches, wizards or mythological creatures/figures in your novel/story?Witches and wizards would flee screaming in terror at the mere mention of my characters' names. There are other mythical beasts like dragons, dwarves and fairies of course, but they're not important.

41. Is anyone reincarnated?
absolutely NOT!!!

42. Is anyone physically ailed?
Ailed? As in wounded and near death?

43. Is anyone mentally ill?
No. Not exactly. . . . It depends on who you ask in my little fantasy world. ;)

44. Does anyone have swine flu?Nope. Swine don't hang out in the snowy mountains.

45. Who has pets in your novel and what are they?

My main character has a Northern Harrier falcon, Aruternin has a hound dog {I think}, and then there are horses of course, and that dragon.

46. Are there angels, demons, or any religious references/figures in your novel/story?
No.

47. How about political figures?
No.

48. Is there incessant drinking?No; they only drink a little wine when they're sick or wounded.

49. Are there board games? If so, which ones?
Chess.

50. Are there any dream sequences?
Like nightmares and flashbacks? Yes. Prophetic dreams? Not so much.

51. Is there humor?
Sure is.

52. Is there tragedy?Uh, read the book and find out because I'm not saying!

53. Does anyone have a temper tantrum?
Hmm, yes. J Several times actually.

54. How many characters end up single at the end of your novel/story?Anyone under twenty; with the exception of Benadiah and his lady who are forced to wait a few years till they're older.

55. Is anyone in your novel/story adopted?
Not exactly.

56. Does anyone in your novel/story wear glasses?
Yes. And yes, it takes place in a Medieval-style fantasy world.

57. Has your novel/story provided insight about your life?
Why would it?

58. Your personality?
Are we still on the insight question?

59. Has your novel/story inspired anyone?Nope. ;) Well, except for my darling friends who wrote it with me. It's a series you see.

60. How many people have asked to read your novel/story?
No one expect those who helped write the original.

61. Have you drawn any of your characters?Never even tried; I'm not very talented with art.

62. Has anyone drawn your characters for you?Yes; one of my co-authors did. She's an awesome young lady!

63. Does anyone vomit in your novel/story?
Not yet they haven't!

64. Does anyone bleed in your novel/story?
Yes; lots of bleeding happens and blood is spilled everywhere! Hahaha!!!!!

65. Do any of your characters watch TV?
No, but if they did have TV Doomer would certainly watch it.

66. What size shoe does your main character wear?
*snorts* Who cares??

67. Do any of the characters in your novel/story use a computer?
No.

68. How would you react if your novel/story was erased entirely?Well, I've already lost my copy of the original but thankfully my buddies all have copies.

69. Did you cry at killing off any of your characters?

No; I never cry.

70. Did you cheer when killing off one of your characters?
*grins wickedly* Not saying.

71. What advice would you give to a fellow writer?Read the masters {most of which were already mentioned}, limit your intake of television and movies, don't play computer/video games, and read, read, read! But under no circumstance should you read anything that was published after 1960; especially anything you find in the teen section at your local library!!!

72. Describe your ending in three words.
Not again; ARUTERNIN!!!

73. Are there any love triangles, squares, hexagons, etc.?
Nope. ;)

74. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the least stressful, 10 being the most) how does your stress rank?
About a 2. I already wrote most of it so the revision should go pretty smoothly. If only the weather would let up! ;)

75. Was it worth it?

Was what? The novel or this quiz thing?

Sabrina Movie Review.

Title: Sabrina.

Starring: Humphrey Bogart {Linus Larrabee}, Audrey Hepburn {Sabrina Fairchild}, William Holden {David Larrabee}, Walter Hampden {Oliver Larrabee}, Martha Hyer {Elizabeth Tyson}, Nella Walker {Maude Larrabee}, and John Williams {Thomas Fairchild}.

Year of Release: 1954.

Gene: Black-and-White, Classic, Romance, Comedy.

Plot: Sabrina Fairchild, the daughter of a chauffeur who works for the wealthy Larrabee family, falls madly in love with the rather wild younger Larrabee brother David. Despairing of being noticed by the distracted young man who's been married three times already, Sabrina tries to commit suicide by locking herself in the garage with all the cars running. Her plans are ruined, however, when the hard working older Larrabee brother Linus unexpectedly walks into the garage, calmly shuts off all the engines, and, after quizzing her about the engines, carries the fainting Sabrina up to her room near her father's. Sabrina is sent to Paris where she takes cooking lessons, writes long letters to her father, and tries to get over her crush on David. Meeting a friendly old baron distracts her somewhat and her new companion buys her a whole new fashionable wardrobe.

Two years after leaving, Sabrina returns home as an educated, fashionable, and sophisticated young woman. David, now engaged to be married to the heiress of a business associate of Linus', picks her up at the station, completely unaware of who she is till they pull into the courtyard of his grand mansion and she hooks the horn to get everyone's attention. Shocked that the girl he barely noticed has blossomed into such a beautiful young woman, David seems to fall head over heels for Sabrina who soaks up every minute of his attention. Linus, keen on David's marriage, conveniently gets his brother bedridden and then distracts Sabrina by courting her himself. At first, this cold blooded business man is simply trying to prevent a social scandal but eventually he begins to fall in love with Sabrina, and starts mentally panicking over what to do about his newfound feelings for a girl twenty years younger than himself. 

It is David, who realizes that Sabrina has also fallen in love with Linus, who saves the day in the most unexpectedly yet predictable manner in the end.

Likes/Dislikes: It is an old Hollywood trend to have younger girls and older men fall in love and get married in many of its movies, and if done well then this isn't such a bad trend. Sabrina, in one of her letters home, writes that she "has learned to be in the world and of the world" which goes against what Jesus taught us. Linus and David call each other names {"He thinks I'm an idiot" says David to Sabrina when he's explaining something to her} but these family interactions are quite amusing to my family and I.

Rating: Being an old movie, it's officially unrated: my personal rating is PG.

Date Report Written: February 21, 2011.

Note: I tried to post this yesterday but apparently it didn't go through. :) Oh well. I shall hopefully have a review on The Tiphereth Trilogy next week if all goes well.