Beautiful People #16 - Introducing Archer

http://paperfury.com/beautiful-people-16-march/

 

This is my first time ever doing beautiful people and I'm super excited! This gives me the perfect chance to introduce you to my protagonist Archer , who's story I'm working on at Camp NaNoWriMo. Well actually I was suppose to work on his story this month and then edit at Camp but I'm not sure I will meet that goal. Archer is by far one of my favorite characters, so it seems fitting he would lead, without further ado -lets begin.      
 1. What first inspired this character? Is there a person/actor you based them off?

 

I found this beautiful gem on pinterest and within a few minuets I knew he was going to be an amazing character. That side grin became a trade mark for Archer.

2. Describe their daily routine.

Archer is a Prince. The second son to King Leopold and Queen Eleanor, his days are less stressful than his brothers. He generally wakes early and goes for a ride on his horse Leo ( that's a story in its self). Then when he gets hungry he might decide to make it back to the castle in time to dine with the family, but most days he just sneaks food from the kitchen on the way to his next adventure. His afternoons are spent in one of his two favorite spots - the river or the library. That's a normal day that doesn't hold any prince duties ( the days that do he would rather forget, so I won't bother describing them.)

 

3. If they joined your local high school, what clique would they fit into?

I was homeschooled so umm hello there handsome ;) However fitting with normal high school cliques I'm not sure Archer would be exclusive to any group. He is very athletic, he likes to hunt , and read. I can't choose......ok he would be that  jock that talks to EVERYBODY .

 

4.Write a list of things they merely tolerate. Ex: certain people, foods, circumstances in their lives…

Archer tolerates his Mother and brother Piers. He does this better some days than others. He is tolerating his arranged marriage (which is soon).

 

5. How do they react in awkward silences?

Usually by making a joke. However he often embraces silence because that means less questions or idle chatter.

 

6. Can they swim? If so, how did they learn?

Yes Archer can swim, and finds it quite enjoyable. He learned with his best friend Basil when they were both young and out on a royal family picnic. Archer who is not only older but larger than Basil jumped in first and instantly regretted it ( though he tells the story different). It wasn't long before he dragged Basil into the cold water with him. King Leopold was the one who turned their shallow water play a little deeper and helped both boys learn to swim.

 

7. What is one major event that helped shape who they are?

I'd say the most recent event that is shaping him , is his impending marriage to a girl he is not fond of. This will test the man he wants to be.

 

8. What things do they value most in life?

Archer values his fathers opinion and Basil's friendship. He loves his roan colored stallion and hunting.

 

9. Do they believe in giving other people second chances? Do they have any trust issues?

Archer should believe in second chances considering how often he needs them himself but alas he doesn't. He is a firm believer that what you are once you will be again ( now might be a good time to disclose that I as the author do not agree with all his opinions). He doesn't trust his brother but that hasn't affected his trusting others.

 

10. Your character is having a rough day…what things do they do to make them happy again? Is there anyone they talk/interact with to get in a better mood?

 

Having a rough day, then Archer takes it outside. He either practices archery or challenges his brother to a sword duel. If those options don't help he might take a long walk by the river or find Basil to confide in.

 

That's it for Archer, who would be greatly pleased we talked about him so much by the way :)

 

 

 

Anyone else doing Camp NaNoWriMo,? This is my first time, nervous and hopeful that it will encourage me to finish Archers story. I would love to connect with you , cabin mates anyone?

 

 

Book Review : Heist Society by Ally Carter

                                             (image mine, isn't that a cute pup in my lap!)
This Trilogy by Ally Carter is one of my favorites! I read book 3 first, as usual doing things backwards :) I fell in love with the characters , the family dynamic and the logistics of the world of thieves.

 When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria ....to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen she planned a con of her own --scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind.
 Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator , the gorgeous Hale, appears, pulling her back into the world she had only just escaped. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster's priceless art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Now. Only a master thief could have pulled off this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list , he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help. Kat's solution : track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and , hopefully just enough talent to pull of the biggest heist in her family's (very crooked) history. And, with any luck, she just might be able to steal her life back along the way.

From the description above you can tell that the plot is not only going to be good but fast paced and it was!! I never once found myself feeling bored and wanting to skip ahead. Ally Carter knows how to hold your attention, between the characters and their backstories , to the facts about the art and everything in between.
 My favorite character from the series is W.W Hale the fifth. Give me a sassy character , add some charm and wit and I will always choose them :) As far as love interest goes he is a good stand-up guy who lets Kat know he likes her but doesn't push to hard (which I appreciated) .
 The family dynamic is awesome, I loved the group of flawed people who love each other and are willing to be there for Kat (even if she did ditch them for a boarding school). It just works well, Uncle Eddie, Kat's father, her cousin Gabrielle , to the members who aren't blood but still family Simon, Angus and his brother Hamish. They each bring something unique to the table.

 Some people might find the act of thievery offensive, their is some talk about Kat's boobs when her cousin dresses her for a job, and Gabrielle is described as always wearing short skirts with high heels. I also found Kat always asking Hale "Why are you doing this?" a bit redundant considering he answered the same every time; I mean he is the love interest we know he is doing it for her. It was just over the top in my humble opinion. But if you can get past these, the over all book is amazing! I definitely rate it five out of five stars!

Book Review : FourSouls

Image is mine

 

I bought this book a year or more ago and just got around to reading it before Christmas ( and am now reviewing it two months later, good job Emily). I had really high hopes for this book.

 

They sought what they called epic life.....

who hasn't dreamed of it? Setting out on the open road. Traveling with your closest friends. Experiencing the world. The call of adventure pulls with herculean force on the daring soul. But this wasn't just high adrenaline travel. These four young men - Matt. Jedd, Mike and Trey - stepped of the path of graduate school and careers to search for something bigger. Something Epic.

 Four souls captures the tales of their journey around the globe, into the Guatemalan highlands, Russia's far north, the mountains of southern Africa, villages in Bangladesh, Nepal's Himalayans , rural Vietnam, and other rarely traveled lands. Everywhere they went , they lived and worked with the locals - learning , sharing, serving.

 More than just a collection of thrilling stories, Four Souls chronicles the dawning realization that came through the adventures: that life to the fullest - what the authors call epic life - is found only in radical commitment to Jesus Christ.

 

It took me awhile to get into reading it as I felt it started slow. I loved the descriptions of the places they stayed , and how they told the life stories of the locals they stayed with. I enjoyed that they took excerpts from each guys journal and included that- it was a nice way to see what they felt at the time , instead of a later date.

 Some of my favorite quotes are :

 

"I don't think our responsibility as Christians is necessarily to love the greatest number of people possible. We just need to do a good job loving the people we are supposed to love, whether that's a big number or a small number."

 

...but to end up in places like this , you have to go beyond what you feel totally comfortable with... "Or at least beyond what other people feel comfortable with you doing , " interjected Mike. "Faith makes it possible to rebel against the expectations of the crowd."

 

"Epic Life .... It's living out ordinary life for eternal purposes."

 

I enjoyed this book, and it's got quite a bit of highlighting throughout of passages that really meant something to me. It was well written and the diverse subjects of the book match the diverse places and people they encountered.

I would give it a three out of five stars, and added it to my bookshelf.

 

 

Peace

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Matthew 7:7

I have been busy recently , with two puppies and  working on the homestead, so I haven't been reading as much in my bible as I normally do. Yesterday though I took a break from everything else and sat down to just read in my bible.

I could feel the tension slowly leave my body the more I read, and I felt this nice feeling I haven't encountered in awhile - PEACE. When I took the precious fur babies out for a walk I just felt at ease. Like it was ok that life is hectic, that things go wrong, that I still had all the same problems; it all just faded to the back of my mind.

Sometimes in life we get so caught up in ....well life and we forget that we have a God who longs to give us the peace we need. He loves us right where we are and that fact awes me everyday, because everybody always wants us to be better or do better , but the creator of the universe meets me right here in my mess and calls me beautiful, loved. It doesn't get any better than that, someone who see's more of your soul than anyone else ever will and accepts you like that!

On a side note - that nice stroll I took with my mischievous little pup and his sister didn't end well since he dug up an ant hill and got bit all over his tummy. Still the peace remains :)

John 15:9-17

9.As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment , That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you , that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you , that ye love one another.

Loving The People We Are Blessed With

                        

²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.  Acts 17:27 & 28 (NIV)

 I am not a big fan of  New Years Resolutions. I guess because so often what's on the list doesn't matter in the long run - in the view of eternity. Another reason is how many of us actually get our list done? If you do, then please let me in on your secrets , and what you accomplished :)
 I did make a list this year, sort of on a whim. With a total of 6 goals. Everyday God amazes me with the little things he shows me. He meets me in the areas of life I struggle to pursue his best, on the days I often feel my worst, the Creator of the World Meets ME. This was one of those times.

 At the top of my list was this : Enjoy everyday, never take a breath for granted; love the people God has blessed me with.
I am often (or always) more antisocial and reserved than I should be. I know my own faults, and in this knowing I have found the love of my Savior to point me in the right direction.

 Last night I laid in my bed not quite tired but not wanting to be up doing anything productive. When a thought came out of nowhere to pray for a person I had met once. My Dad and Sister both work at the same establishment , often with the information you get from both you can piece together the lives of their coworkers. We live in an ungodly world, full of hurt and pain and in this you find broken people. I think that I don't quite have my life together like I should, and then I hear of people who spend their time partying , getting drunk, and who turn to drugs for comfort.
 But what hit me hard last night was the fact that to the world most of these people have their life's  together, they are in relationships and have a job , some are pursuing higher education. As I compared my life with the life of one said person, I didn't feel better about myself. In that moment I heard God telling me that this was life without him, that I should pray for this person and pray hard.
 I felt overwhelmed with sadness. My creator blessed me with a desire to always see peoples potential, what they could be or become. I felt what God must feel everyday looking down at his creation, the potential for so much better than what we settle for.

So as an extension of my New Years Resolution I am going to pray for a specific person until I see or hear about a change in their life. I am going to lift them up to my creator every time I think of them and add them to my nightly prayers.

My challenge to you is find someone, anyone who you think could use God's love and presence and pray for them till something changes.

Some of us might be here for the long haul, and in truth we may never see the fruit of our prayers on this side of Heaven. I am excited to do this though, excited to bring someone before the Lord for as long as it takes!

Two for Tuesday :Obedience

                                   Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

   Romans 6:16New International Version (NIV)
¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Read :  John 14:15 - 14:21. Bonus Verses : Romans 5:19 ,  Hebrews 5:9

As a kid I never wanted to wear shoes (unless it was plastic heels, but that's another story entirely). This is a practice that has followed me into adulthood. I can remember growing up and my dad always insisting I wear shoes. As a child I felt he was sucking the fun out of feeling the grass and dirt. Shoes were a restriction I didn't want to deal with, and that often led to disobedience on my part. My dad would tell me to put shoes on, (and if I'm honest) I would try to sneak past him without the required footwear. I paid the consequences when I stepped on a rusty nail that almost went through the top of my foot (also another story for a different time).
 Now I'm  "grown" and my dad no longer chides me to wear shoes - okay sometimes but not as consistently . The other day I was helping my mama outside and stepped on something that caused pain but I couldn't find the source. Once inside I had to remove a billion (okay more like five) shards of whatever I stepped on.

 The point is, I often see rebellious teenagers and think glad I was never like that towards my parents. It's true I never went out and partied or did drugs or got arrested. But disobedience runs deeper than that. It's a heart issue. Me ignoring my fathers warnings all those years, they led me to some trouble.

 I have this tendency to do the same for my Heavenly Father. He gives me a command and for the most part I will TRY and follow it. However my heart is not always in it.......disobedience is subtly sometimes. I have to learn to follow God with ALL my heart, that includes those tiny little things I don't think matter but do. You see any disobedience is disobedience at large.

  ^" If ye love me, keep my commandments." Jesus said. He is asking for my obedience and in fact my heart. What better way to show you love God (and your parents) than to obey them. Because just like my dad knew I needed shoes to protect my feet, God knows what will cause me harm in the future.
Forever &Always,
Emily