Apologies, Death, Etc

So.  I disappeared again.  My apologies.  In order to make it up to my readers, in a few moments I shall present the Alphabet of Death.  The idea for this piece of genius was inspired when my sister and I saw a book entitled "T is for Titanic" at the library. We thought that was kinda funny, so we, along with our parents, made the Alphabet of Death. The writers out there may even be able to use it for brainstorming purposes. Perhaps someone has a character who is serial killer that uses methods of killing that are in alphabetical order.

So, without further ado, I present: The Alphabet of Death!

A is for: Arsenic, asphyxiation, assassination
B is for: Bludgeoned, bored to death
C is for: Cyanide, choked
D is for: Drowning, decapitation
E is for: Electrocution
F is for: Falling, falconry accident
G is for: Gas explosion, garden gnomes
H is for: Hit and run, homicide, hanging
I is for: Injection of poison
J is for: Jealous spouse/lover
K is for: Knife in the back
L is for: Loss of blood
M is for: Murder
N is for: "Natural" causes
O is for: Old age
P is for: Poisoning, pheasants
Q is for: Quicksand
R is for: Radiation sickness
S is for: Suicide, suffocation, strangulation
T is for: Trauma, tar pit
U is for: Upset stomach, umbrella abuse
V is for: Venomous animal bite,
W is for: Wildebeest stampede
X is for: X-ray machine malfunction
Y is for: Yak stampede
Z is for: Zebra stampede

Got any additions?  Let me know in a comment!

While I'm on the death theme, I'll pass on an interesting, if not gruesome, link I got off of my library's website. Coroners reports from 1896 to 1935. Cool, huh? One of my favorite things to do with them is look at what the people had in their pockets when they died. Most didn't have anything, but some did. Very interesting.
Also, the stories are fascinating. Tragic, but...appealing, in a creepy sort of way. For example, in 1928, why did Jefferson P. Kemp (age 69) kill Lucy Barber (age 86) and then himself?  Why did Jefferson want to murder an 86 year old woman? What's the story there? Was he drunk? Had she just revealed to him a horrible secret about the past that enraged him so much he shot her, and then was so horrified at what he'd done that he shot himself? For some reason I find it fun to speculate.
Another thing is the names. Two I got from the coroners reports are Idrell and Lietha. I don't remember how they died.

And on that happy note, I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your day.  I'm off to make a clafouti. Yum.

Teens Can Write, Too! May Blog Chain

Today is my turn to post for the Teens Can Write, Too! May blog chain.  In case you couldn't figure that out from the title of this post.

This month's prompt is "Why do you write?"

Hmm.  This one's a toughie.

I write because I love it.  And because my head would probably explode from idea overload if I didn't write my ideas down.  Mostly because I love it.

When I was little, being a published author was one of the first things I wanted to be, if memory serves me correctly.  I think it was the first Harry Potter book that inspired me to be an author.  Did I write anything back then? No. I dreamed up story ideas, told them to my sister as bedtime stories, but nothing ever really made it onto paper or a Word doc.  The first story I started writing I actually created as an attempt to get out of writing a book report when I was twelve(ish). Mom didn't go for it.  (For those of you who don't know and didn't read my bio, I'm homeschooled.  This means my homework is somewhat negotiable.  Be jealous.)  Even though that didn't work, I kept writing the story.  I'm not sure what motivated me.  Then my mom turned finishing it into homework, and thus the very first version of Lizzie Evans and the Black Cat Diamond was born.  I wrote the sequel between January of 2010 and July of last year, and rewrote the Black Cat Diamond for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month.  Known to the rest of humanity as November) last year.  NaNoWriMo is what turned writing into a necessary bodily function for me.  I negotiated for less homework during the month of November, and wrote from lunch to dinner all month. It. Was. Heaven.  I wish every month was November. I've been thinking about writing a parody on Taylor Swift's song "Back to December", and changing it to "Back to November."

I think that's all I've got to say for this post, other than "be sure to check out the rest of the blog chain!", and "did anyone else catch the Doctor Who references in Inheritance by Christopher Paolini?" I think there was one in Brisingr too.  That has nothing to do with this post, but I was curious. 

(Sorry about the white background again.  I don't know what the deal is.)

Want to follow our blog tour? Here are the participating parties, day by day

May 5–http://towerofplot.blogspot.com–The Leaning Tower of Plot

May 6–http://correctingpenswelcome.wordpress.com–Comfy Sweaters, Writing and Fish

May 7–http://cassidymarierizzo.wordpress.com–Cassidy Marie Rizzo

May 8–http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com–This Page Intentionally Left Blank

May 9–http://weirdalocity.wordpress.com–You Didn’t Really Need To Know This…

May 10–http://inklinedwriters.blogspot.com–Inklined

May 11–http://thewordasylum.wordpress.com–The Word Asylum

May 12–http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com–Lily’s Notes In The Margins

May 13–http://laughablog.wordpress.com–The Zebra Clan

May 14–http://planetaryelastic.blogspot.com–Tangential Bemusings

May 15–http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com–Reality Is Imaginary

May 16–http://otherrandomthings.wordpress.com–Dragons, Unicorns And Other Random Things

May 17–http://lonelyrecluse.wordpress.com–The Lonely Recluse

May 18–http://delorfinde.wordpress.com–A Farewell To Sanity

May 19–http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com–The Incessant Droning Of A Bored Writer

May 20–http://allegradavis.wordpress.com–All I Need Is A Keyboard

May 21–http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com–Teens Can Write Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain)

Dickens and Dragons

Charles Dickens is one of my all time favorite authors.  Last night I finished watching Bleak House for the second time.  *sigh*  Just as good as Jane Austen, if not better.  Dickens really knew how to create a twisted plot with great characters.  The heroine of the story is young Esther Summerson, who grew up as an orphan.  When Esther is an adult, she goes to live as a companion to Miss Ada Clare in Bleak House.  Ada and another young person, Richard Carstone, were wards of the late John Jarndyce, who left multiple wills, and thus a lawsuit as to who should get his money.   Richard and Ada might be recipients of that money.
Bleak House is owned by a relative of John Jarndyce (another John Jarndyce), and he takes the wards under his care, and gets Esther as a companion for Ada.
The story tells about the progress of the lawsuit about the money, Esther's parents, murder, secrets, complicated romance, and of all the many subplots. 
My summary really doesn't do it justice (plus it leaves out most of the subplots), so go read/watch it yourself.  While you're at it, look at Little Dorrit too.  My second favorite Dickens thus far.  Both are brilliant.


Dickens was really good with names.  I've had a post written on his names for a while now, and if I remember, I'll post it soon.

I think that's all I have to say on Dickens at the moment. Time to move on to dragons.
First of all, look over to my side bar.  See where I put a "follow by email" button? You do? Good. What do you think of the heading?  Does it make sense?  Or did I bury the "follow me by email" statement under too many layers of recreational word usage?

Moving on.  Sometime last week I sent my sister a phony email about dragons, and it turned into a rather silly/funny serial of emails about a mission to find pink dragons.  I've been thinking about posting the content of said emails on this here blog.  Here are the first two:

Thank you for subscribing to Dragons Are Awesome! hosted by Annoyingsister!  Your dragon fact of the minute is: According to one source, dragons come in all colors, except for pink. 

My sister's favorite color is pink.  After sending that email, I thought I'd better fix it by sending this:

We at Dragons Are Awesome! (hosted by Annoyingsister) are looking for brave souls to go on the Pink Dragons Exist Mission.  Our goal is to prove once and for all that pink dragons do exist.  This mission is not for the feint of heart, and those with severe medical problems (including but not limited to: bladder trouble, asthma, chocolate allergies, and mental disorders), queasy stomach, aversion to blood, and artificially colored hair are strongly advised to stay home and watch us on TV (the mission will be appearing on National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, and Oprah).  To sign up for this noblest of missions, simply respond to this email.  Once you do you will receive a list of supplies that are required on the adventure.

Live long and prosper,

The DAA! team 

I haven't decided on whether I'll continue to post these.  If you would like to give me input, please do so.

My Sister's Reading Requirements

In the past couple days, I've come to realize that my sister has some very strict reading policies.  They're not ridiculous, but when you put them in a list together, they're hilarious. 

1. There has to be a cat.  Period.  A dog will suffice, and maybe the occasional ostrich, but there really needs to be a cat. 
2. Don't kill, maim, injure, or lose the cat (or any other animals, unless it's an alligator).  If you so much as drop the cat in a crowd of people, she'll stop reading.  I'm serious.  That actually happened. 
3. The more explosives you use, the better.  I'm participating in the Go Teen Writers 100 word challenge and I was able to predict which of the paragraphs I wrote she would like the best by the fact that I used explosives. 
4. Use as many pretty ballgowns as possible.  Describe them all.  And they have to be interesting.  For instance: "Cynthia wore a violet ballgown of spider's silk. As she spun through the room, her skirts caught the light, making it look like it was lightning flashing with every dosey-doe." would make her happy.  I think....
5. Use classic cars (her favorite is the 1954 Corvette).  She loves old cars.  
6. Don't hurt the car. 
7. Use lots of duct tape.

That's all I can think of at the minute.  While I'm on the subject of my sister, go check out this blog post of my mom's.  The three of us (well, mostly Mom) are going to be on a local TV show called The Friday Zone, and the post has behind the scene pictures from the filming session.  It's really cool.