Gearing Up

For once I feel like I've really managed to get caught up with all of my homework. Not only do I have everything done for tomorrow, aside from reading a chapter or two, but I've also got everything finished for Thursday. It's a really nice to feeling to have all of that done.

Thankfully this means that I'll be able to get some sleep earlier than one a.m., and that is awesome. The last couple of nights have been late ones, and that is starting to take its toll.

Hopefully next week I can start getting things set for NANOWRIMO. I have never participated in it before, so this should be interesting. It's a little nerve-wrecking to be honest, but I'll be able to work through it I'm sure.

It would be awesome to manage to finish the novel that I've been working on for the past several years. Alright, I've got a book review to polish and post and then maybe I can finish my reading. Sleep sounds so nice...

Sneak Peek

So I asked Sarah what I should blog about, and she said that I should blog about her having a headache… and though she thinks that I can come up with one-hundred words about a headache, I’m not so sure. At any rate, instead of a usual post tonight I’m thinking that I’m going to insert an excerpt of my “novel-in-progress”.

Now mind you when I say in progress I really do mean in progress. This is from the beginning, feel free to let me know what you think:

The room spun; colors and objects bleeding into one another. Chilling voices rang out, screams and shouts penetrating the mad scene. In agony she fell to her knees, and cradled her head in the palms of her hands. Her thoughts were in a tumult as she fought to grasp some pillar of comprehension. The familiar darkness threatened to take hold.

A light knocking accompanied by a voice softer than the others teetered at the edge of her conscious. Gradually she returned to the present, feeling drained. “Melody?” Her mother questioned. “Melody, are you alright?”

She lifted her head, mystified by the tears that had pooled in her palms. “Yeah.” Her voice felt as though it was lodged somewhere in her throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Staggering Dedication

Once more I am fighting the clock, despite having had the whole day to write anything at all for this ridiculous project. My dedication is staggering I am sure.

I feel as though I have been quite unproductive today, though I did manage to finally watch the documentary "Meeting Resistance". It wasn't quite what I, was expecting it to be, but it was good none the less. I also managed to watch "Miss Austen Regrets" for the second time, which I enjoyed even more than the first time. I know, I'm a bit of an addict.

On the list of things that I should have done today are writing more of my novel and reading in general. Having failed in both of these respects, I feel that I haven't accomplished much. Tomorrow however is another day and for the moment I don't have to work so perhaps I will be able to find some ounce of motivation.

Miss Austen Regrets

Last night I watched "Miss Austen Regrets", which is a movie made by the BBC about Jane Austen. It was based off of her letters. The interesting thing about the movie is that it wasn't made as a documentary, but rather in the same form as the movie adaptions of her novels.

I really enjoyed it. It was an interesting look at who Jane was.

She was known to refer to her novels as her dear children, and I think that makes a lot of sense when the circumstances in which she lived are considered. At that time women did not stand to inherit and therefore were reliant on either marriage or the generosity of their brothers and/or married sisters for their security. Jane never married, and neither did her sister Cassandra. To further complicate things her family was never very wealthy. Once her father died, Jane along with her mother and sister then had to look to her brothers for support and the sale of of her novels. Although the money made from her novels was not near enough to support them.

Anyway, moving back to her statement regarding her novels being her dear children... In each of her novels her heroine's were given the option that she never was. They were able to marry for love without the pressure of money, because in every case either they had the money or the man they fell in love with did.

The movie gave the impression that Jane never married, because she knew that to do so would take away her freedom. She seemed to fear that she would no longer be able to write because she would then be too busy raising children and caring for a house. This probably wasn't too far off the mark, in which case it makes sense for her not to have married. How could she unless she had truly been in love? Freedom is too dear a thing to relinquish.