Christmastime is Here!

It's Christmastime! Yes, this post is late...with Thanksgiving and all, I forgot to write up a post. Oops. 

I really love this song, and Charlie Brown, and I'm enjoying teaching this song to one of my piano students, and I'm really excited about the Charlie Brown float we're putting together for the library's participation in our local Christmas parade this Friday. It's going to be awesome. I'll have to post some pictures when it's done.

Speaking of the library...

Rebekah and I are doing a program this Saturday at the Ball Ground Library. We're really excited about it. We'll be reading the book and learning to sculpt Carrie, so it's going to be great. If you're in the area, you're more than welcome to come. Registration is recommended, but not required, so if you want to register, just call 770-735-2025.

Looking forward in December, there's a blog tour coming up! In just a few weeks, I'll be posting my reviews for Bitter Winter and Lacy by Jaye L. Knight and Decree by Tricia Mingerink. They're all absolutely fabulous books, and you're going to have to read them when they come out...assuming you've read previous books in the two series. These aren't books to start on. But both series are fabulous, so read them. And because it's getting to the end of the year, my top ten books of the year post will be coming. That's going to be hard to narrow down. I've read a lot of great books this year. Good thing I've set a precedent of counting all the books in a series as one. Because you'd better believe Ranger's Apprentice is going to be on the list.

And finally, because it's after Thanksgiving now, even though I didn't participate in Black Friday sales this year, all my ebooks are $0.99 for Christmas! So hop over to Amazon and check it out! And don't forget, Creighton Hill is available as an eaudiobook for just $13 on Amazon. eAudiobooks are awesome, just sayin'. I've mostly done them through Overdrive/Libby, but I absolutely love being able to download an audiobook to my phone and carry it around with me. And you can do that for Creighton Hill now.

So Merry Christmas! I need to go plan music and work at the library and practice my Christmas songs for the performance at the mall Sunday afternoon and hopefully work on Acktorek because I'm coming to the climax and my family won't let me chicken out from the hard ending I planned, so that'll be fun. See you later!

Christopher Robin Review

Our church "camp-out" was the weekend before last. I say "camp-out" because it was cold. Like, literally freezing most of the time—it was 20 degrees below the average for the time of year, and warm before and after that particular weekend, so go figure. We managed to get in a hike, but then spent most of the rest of the time hanging out in the cabin playing games, reading books, singing songs, (having an impromptu ballet lesson), and after dinner and s'mores we had hot chocolate and watched Christopher Robin.

Let me first say that I absolutely loved it!

It's a similar concept to Hook: a popular children's character leaves his childhood play, grows up, gets married, has a family, becomes a workaholic, needs his childhood fantasies to become more of a family man. But that's really where the similarities stop. Because Hook was a fun, funny movie ("Mommy could do it!") and Christopher Robin is just so sweet and nostalgic. Robin Williams was a funny guy, which was perfect for Peter Pan. But Ewan McGregor is...I don't know how to describe it exactly, but I thought he made a perfect Christopher Robin. Of course, I could be biased because he plays my favorite Star Wars character, young Obi-Wan, but anyway.

On a side note, this is the story of how Obi-Wan Kenobi married Peggy Carter and the "expotition" that ensued.

The beginning made me weepy, as Christopher Robin has to leave the Hundred Acre Wood to go to boarding school. It shows you his life as he grows up, meets his wife Evelyn, goes away to war while Evelyn is pregnant with their daughter Madeline, and then the war ends and he comes home.

After WWII, Christopher Robin works at a luggage company, but the problem is, they need to make significant cuts to their budget or they'll be laying off lots of employees. Christopher Robin can't let that happen, so he's constantly sacrificing family time for work. To the extent of never really spending time with Evelyn or Madeline, to the extent of Madeline herself working constantly and never playing because that's what she thinks will please her father, to the extent of Evelyn telling Christopher that she hasn't seen him smile in years. And that's why Christopher Robin needs Winnie the Pooh.

Honestly, I loved how easy it was for Christopher Robin to believe it really was Pooh. It wasn't really "Pooh isn't real." It was more "Pooh, what are you doing here?" He had to get Pooh back to the Hundred Acre Wood on a weekend where things were coming to a head and he had to get in a budget-cutting proposal or a bunch of people would lose their jobs. But it turned out that a visit to the Hundred Acre Wood, a reunion with all his old friends, a fight with a Heffalump, and actually putting his family first was exactly what he needed to defeat the Woozle that was going to eat him for breakfast if he didn't have his very important papers. ;) And he had to slow down and realize that "Nothing comes from nothing" isn't really true. "Sometimes nothing leads to the very best of somethings."

The movie is funny, but in a sweet, nostalgic sort of way. Like when Eeyore tells Christopher Robin, who he thinks is a Heffalump, "Thanks for kidnapping me." And when the others all go "Not the song!" when Tigger is about to tell Madeline what a Tigger is. And Evelyn's reaction when Christopher Robin is explaining to her who all the animals are. And it's just so sweet and wonderful seeing all the old characters, so much themselves, so perfect. I love Pooh and Piglet and Tigger and Eeyore and Rabbit and Owl and Kanga and Roo. It's so good to see them again.

I don't want to say too much more for the sake of spoilers, but just know that it was a wonderful movie. If you ever loved Winnie the Pooh, watch Christopher Robin.

P.S. So much of the beginning was taken directly from the end of The House at Pooh Corner. It's so sweet and sad.

King Arthur--BBC's Merlin

I'm doing a favorite character post today. I'm tired out from book release stuff, work, teaching, headaches, and not having much writing time even though I really want to write my books, so I'm not thinking of a whole lot of post topics. Plus Merlin makes me happy, though we're coming down to the end and I hate the end.

My favorite character in Merlin is Prince/King Arthur. I love saying that as I show someone the first episode. Arthur starts out as such an arrogant brat. He's so inconsiderate, he only thinks of himself, he's rude, he's domineering...but underneath, he has a good heart. It's in the first season actually that he first defies his father and risks his life to save Merlin, even though Uther insists that Arthur's life is worth more than that of a servant. Arthur is very insistent throughout the show that he is not of more value than his people.

Arthur grows up so much throughout the show. It's such a gradual change that you almost don't notice until you're at the end and start looking back. He goes through so much.

He fights with his father when his father is trying to get him to do something wrong. This happens increasingly as Arthur matures and becomes more sensitive to his people...and starts spending more time around Gwen and Merlin. Yet he still respects his father. He still loves him. He still wants to make him proud. And I love how Arthur can stay strong for the truth while still trying to be a dutiful son. It's a hard balance, but he does his best.

Arthur goes through heartbreak when he loses his father. (We were all so ready for Uther to die, but it's still sad for Arthur's sake—and it isn't a spoiler because it's King Arthur legends, not King Uther legends, so obviously his father has to die.) He goes through betrayal when he realizes his uncle Agravaine has been working against him and trying to destroy his kingdom (also not a spoiler because you see in his first episode that he's working with the main villain). You see Arthur go through betrayal again when Guinevere/Lancelot happens (again not a spoiler because if you know anything about Arthurian legend, then duh...what's a spoiler is how they handle it in the show). And it matures him. It helps him become the king he's meant to be. It makes him more loyal and dedicated to his people. It refines his discernment of right and wrong and strengthens his resolve to always do what's right. It displays his enormous capacity for forgiveness and forgetting others' wrongs. It turns him into a true leader.

I love how by seasons 4 and 5, Arthur regularly owns up to his mistakes and is willing to take the consequences. If he did something wrong—either recently or in the past—he owns up to it and insists on making it right himself. I love how much more sensitive he is to Merlin. Sure, he still picks on him from time to time, like any good brother, but he notices when something's bothering Merlin and asks him about it. When he's having trouble making a decision, he asks for Merlin's advice. Yes, the king's manservant, trusted advisor, and best friend are all the same person. I love how devoted he is to Gwen, despite all that happened between them. How he trusts her judgment without even questioning it.

I love watching the character arc. It's very well done, and as a writer I appreciate it. But what I love most is the king Arthur becomes. A king who is a true leader. A king who always tries to do what's right, even if it means admitting he made a mistake. A king who is honest and loyal, even though he's been betrayed many times over. A king who is willing to lay down his life for his people. And a king who's also quite hilarious at times.

Arthur Pendragon.