{ Wood Lands }

sources can be found on my pinboard.

Dear blog,

From here, via Pinterest

I don't like your face.

Just kidding. Well, sorta kidding anyway. I'm not liking the look of it anymore (so BORING) but I'm not feeling the time and commitment that's required to make it perfect. Perhaps I will work on it a little at a time and do a massive update.

First however, I should actually start blogging again. It's been over a month. Oops.

Summer has been kind of hectic between work and my (un)social life. Spare time has been spent playing Assassin's Creed on my friend's PS3 and watching awesome summer TV. This season's new favs: "Suits" on USA and "Teen Wolf" on MTV (don't judge me!!). I also took a staycation from work and painted my room. The color is nothing crazy, just a nice creamy mocha, but it is a drastic change from the old color which was a dark red. I'm still working on putting the room back together, so the walls are still naked. I bought new linens from Ikea, but I'm actually not that pleased with them. The cottage-loving freak in me wants to do a cream-white-blue color scheme, but that totally doesn't match any of the decor items I have besides a random sailboat and a crap ton seashells. And I totally do not want a nautical bedroom. Oh well, like everything else in my life, it is still a work on progress.

Oh dear, now I have an urge to give
Nathan stubble every once in a while...

Writing has been touch and go. Instead of agonizing over coming up with a third book for my Jane Austen series, I decided to just cram the first two together into one book. It's a completely viable idea, but I do need to work on whittling down the story. It's a little unwieldy now. As far as "Ghosts of Fallen Leaves" goes, I'm mostly waiting to hear back from my beta. She has such wonderfully observant things to say that she's really helping me pinpoint the weaknesses in my writing. I've already come up with some great changes improvements based on her comments. I'm constantly updating the project on Inkpop, swapping out old and new chapters as I go along.

Anyway, I haven't been too internet-active recently, but I have created an account on Pinterest and I'm using it for my author stuff. I've got a board, which features some images that make me think of "Ghosts of Fallen Leaves". They're a whole mishmash of different 'inspirational' photos, ranging from spooky ghost stuff to Queen Anne style houses that give the reader an idea of what the Historical Society house looks like. There's also a bunch of photos of hot guys in great clothes that mostly represent Nathan in my head. None of the guys look like Nathan, but they're wearing clothes that I image Nathan would wear. I used to say he dresses like  J-Crew model, but their style has changed as of late, so that no longer applies. Nathan definitely doesn't have that 'male model' look (he's too baby-faced, the poor guy) but he does dress nicely and somewhat expensively. A few of the photos are Ciaran-related images, as well. And a few are of Scott. 

Well, there's an random update for you. I hope I'll be back more regularly in the future. In the meantime, I'm watching "Psych" from the beginning in an effort to justify the money I pay Netflix. Unlike some people, my head didn't explode when they changed their contracts and fees. Instead, it exploded when it realized that I never freaking use it and yet I still pay for it. 

Exactly what is it that I do with my life?

And to wrap things up, here is my new favorite band, The Head and the Heart. It's such a lovely summer album. They got me through painting my room. On a side note, they were playing with my perennially favorite band, The Decemberists, in a show within driving distance of my home. I am more than a little peeved that I couldn't go see them. The Decemberists play with bands that I love, but never when I see them. This needs to be corrected during the next tour. 

A Childhood Garden

If I had to name a movie that had an everlasting affect on my imagination as a child, it would have to be the 1993 adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. Everything--the costumes, the settings, the cinematography, even the colors--has stuck with me over the years. Both of Mary's homes, Colonial India and rural England, were equally exotic to me. The mysterious manor house with its thick shadows and dark paneling still represents the stereotypical 'spooky mansion' in my mind. It's a beautiful film, a true classic. And besides, who doesn't love Dame Maggie Smith as a strict housekeeper?

When Penguin released a new series of classics for children a couple of years ago, I finally bit the bullet and bought a copy of The Secret Garden to read. For better or for worse, I managed to get through my academic career without reading many 'classics'. After having to suffer through Wuthering Heights and Les Miserables, I've always been very wary about reading classics. I didn't read any Jane Austen, Robert Lewis Stevenson or Charles Dickens until well after graduation. 

I was, therefore, very pleased to discover how much I enjoyed reading The Secret Garden. Granted, I'm sure my reading experience was somewhat influenced by the movie, but I found the atmosphere of the movie matched the book completely, so it wasn't difficult at all to imagine myself in that world. Obviously the people behind the film took extra special care while adapting this story. 

I was reminded about this very special story by a blog post brought to my attention by Etsy's Facebook feed. Penguin seems to love popping out new, attractive editions of classic literature and later this year they are going to release three titles with very awesome covers made by artist, Jillian Tamaki. She designed and hand-stitched covers for The Secret Garden, Black Beauty and Emma for a series called Penguin Threads. Though I already own two copies of the book already, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to add this one to my collection as well. 

Classics are called classics for a reason, I guess, and that's because they have staying power. The Secret Garden is one book that will always stay with me in my imagination. Which 'classic' story has stuck with you throughout the years? I'd love to hear your thoughts!