The Very First

I've been thinking lately about the beginning of the story, how it begins, where it begins, that sort of thing. The beginning is important, for obvious reasons. I have to confess, but I'm a harsh judge of a book's cover and the first sentence. When I wander through a bookstore, normally heading straight for the fantasy or YA section, I glance over the spines and titles. I'm drawn to certain authors, but also certain colors catch my attention (in particular jewel tones, blues and greens, sparkles - what am I a bird?)

When I pick up a book, if I'm drawn in by how it looks, then I'll usually read the back or summary and thirdly I'll flip the pages to the first sentence. I'm looking for something particular. Will it be good enough? Will I like this book? What's it all about? Even though I'm ready to decide one way or the other, if I'll spend my time on this book or not, I'm also desperately searching for a really good read. Deep down I want the book to be shocking and wonderful and dazzling. I put quite a bit of pressure on the book, don't I? The first sentence needs to capture my attention immediately. Perhaps it will, with a bit of clever, catchy wording, or something shocking about death or being dead already.

Here are some I liked:

Speaking of Weddings.....

England is in for another fairy tale romance!!!!

Prince William and Kate Middleton will be getting married April 29th, at 11am. I am very excited about this wedding because it not only gives me ideas for my own, but also makes me feel so much better about my small, cozy Great Plains wedding.

For instance: The couple is inviting 1,900 guests! Yikes. I don't know if I even know that many people!
Kate has three wedding dresses in case the original is leaked! ( I now do not feel so guilty for having two wedding dresses.)
And the happy couple is forced to endure their faces being plastered all over shoddy mugs and bags and other cheap souvenir items.

( the love mug is particularly fabulous)


picture taken from http://williamkate.org/tag/william-and-kate-memorabilia/

But when all is said and done, it's pretty fabulous. And you have to admit, you kinda want a mug....:)

Though, I am curious to find out how all this planning is done! It is fabulous research for our own stories-- Ange off to marry a man not of her choosing and well, poor Mirth--  I'm sure she would have enjoyed a very lavishly royal wedding. And probably would have had five wedding dresses and worn them all...!

Wedding and whatnots

So, I've been Missing from all the Action at the blog spot. The nice part about this prolonged absence is that I have plenty of reading material for the long break!

The Tragedy-- I MISSED THE BAD POETRY SLAM!!!! AHHHH!!! LACKSCROFT AND ROE!!!!!

And now, I should probably say something of note. Perhaps explain my disappearance.

Well, it so happens that I am getting married. I was not quite aware, when I said yes to the wonderful man that I am marrying that a wedding would be part of this package deal.

Or I should say, I did not realize that a WEDDING is a vicious, ugly beast that I must battle on a day to day basis and hope to someday slay or be slain.

Do not be deceived by fluffy notions of romance. Weddings are vicious vicious creatures. My only hope is to survive the navigation of heinous details such as color scheme ( should the yellow be butter, bright, or pale---I must say this one IS hard as I have no idea what the difference between the three are...is there a "normal" yellow?), flaky or non flaky pie crust ( does it matter? It's pie crust? and why can't I sample?), and how to properly welcome the guests( usually hello suffices and a nice chat about what not, but apparently you need to do other things, like impress them with baskets of goodies and maps of the area and give them bathing supplies,)  and other things that seem to threaten my general sunny outlook of the world and wonder if I'm going insane....

Egads! Gadzooks! Where have I been?

I know not what has been done, but I think I might have been strangely magicked and...
Gasped! Spelled!

And now! What has happened?! What has happened indeed!? So many things. Many many glorious things.

But I have not been cognizant enough to have enjoyed them!

Ah me! and here I sit. Much aged and in a cave with nothing but a type writter and my loin cloth and a beard and a loss for words.

But yes. I should tell you who I am. Or should I?

Perhaps I should begin by saying I know the Seven Brother's of old...Of course, I do not know them from their young years. No no...I know them from their older years.

I know their daughters.

and I know their secrets.

but enough for now. I am hungry and must find myself a bit of something in this godforsaken cave to eat.

What? What? A letter? hmmmm...

And now of course, life begins to be interesting.....



This looks tasty! yum!!!! I should Eat IT!

I will try again and again.

I have discover something most unusual. It was on the top shelf, buried under a stack of old sheet music, in an obscure bookshop; wrapped in brown paper and twine - it appears to be a collection of letters written ages ago. The paper is badly stained and nearly crumbles beneath my fingers, but I'm determined to unravel its secrets. 

Success! I've figured out it is a correspondence between two cousins (and royalty no less) Princess Angevine of Winding and Princess Mirth of Carentas. The girls have both suffered some misfortune; Ange has been betrothed in a fatal alliance, while Mirth has lost her kingdom and must live as a peasant in a woodcutters cottage. This warrants further study...

The first seven letters have been translated and are presented here for everyone to read and make comments on. I must say, I'm curious to know what will happen when Ange finally reaches the Kingdom of Geyona, where someone intends of kill her. Will her disguise work or will tragedy prevail? And how will Mirth survive her new peasant's life with her two numskull brothers and a sick mother? This Stranger who follows her, he is not who he seems - I wonder.

As soon as I know more about their adventures, what the fates hold for Ange and Mirth, I will let you know.

Another thought about 'where my ideas come from' and Gooseyness Award Nominee

I found a wonderful post on-line about writing I wanted to share with you:

How to steal like an artist and 9 other things nobody told me.

The blog is by Austin Kleon, who has recently published a book of poems called Newspaper Blackout. His poems are created just like it sounds by taking a newspaper article and blacking out the other words around. It reminds me of a treasure hunt, or how a sculptor will take a block of marble/wood/soup and then carves out the excess to discover the beautiful sculpture inside.

Back to Kleon's advise list. I'm especially fond of the first one: "Steal like an Artist".  It really is a common question, one I ask myself, "Where do you get your ideas?" The truth is, not necessary that I steal them, steal is perhaps too harsh a word, but I collect them from everywhere and everything: the books I read, games I play, my dreams, walking around downtown, shopping, surfing on-line, vacations to Greece, Scotland, London, Italy.... and so much more.

Of course, since we are retelling fairy tales, the biggest influence on Goosey is the fairy tales they're based on. I love to think we take that basic story premise and run with it to crazy heights.

In other news, I have a new nomination for Gooseyness Award!! Yay! It is the beautiful, wonderful short video below called "Rain Town". I absolutely love this video. You have to watch it, then you will understand.

A Princess must be . . . (Princess Quotes part 2)

"But that's impossible, how could I marry a Prince, I'd have to be a . . . "
"A Princess, and you are, dear."
 Sleeping Beauty

I decided to continue our wonderful discussion about being a Princess. In Part 1 we discussed what it means to be a princess, how she is expected to act, and what she symbolizes in the fairy tale, goodness, salvation or truth. A Princess is all those things, but she is also just a young girl, trying to grow up and understand the world.


a dress like this jellyfish

I recently watched a show called Princess Jellyfish. You may remember I nominated the cast for a Gooseyness Award. While the show is set in modern day, there a Princess theme throughout it. The main character is a girl named Tsukimi who, as a child, believed "All girls can be beautiful Princesses when they grow up" and once her mother promised she would make Tsukimi's dress when she got married, a beautiful lacy white dress like the jellyfish pictured on the right, a fluttery dress that a Princess might wear. Her mother was always reminded of Princesses when she looked at jellyfish. Perhaps this explains Tsukimi's obsession with drawing them.

However, now that Tsukimi is older, she finds reality is very different, her childhood dreams have fluttered away. Her mother passed away when she was little, and she realizes ". . . I have some bad news. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but somewhere along the line, instead of becoming a Princess. I ended up a freak. Mom, I couldn't manage to become a beautiful Princess."

The show follows Tsukimi as she learns about love, as she discovers she may not be such a freak after all, and perhaps she can make that beautiful Princess Jellyfish dress just as her mother wanted, just like she has always dreamed. Don't give up on your dreams Tsukimi! You can do it!

What does a princess dreams about? Does she dream of an ordinary life, where she is not a royal princess? (I'd be curious to know if anyone has ever made a gender reversed Prince and the Pauper. Come to think of it, I've never actually read the original, I'll have to put that on my classical reading list.) Or does a Princess not dream at all, does she put those kind of dreams aside in order to serve her family, and her kingdom? Or, maybe she  is like Princess Jasmine who, when faced with marriage, shouts, "Then maybe I don't want to be a Princess anymore." Or perhaps like Princess Fiona, "I want what any Princess wants - to live happily every after . . . with the ogre I married."

I'm curious to know what Ange dreams about, I don't think she dreamed much, not seriously. I do think she dreamed about falling in love, and these dreams are crushed in the beginning when her mother tells her she is betrothed and must marry a man she has never met before. Terrwyn, what does Mirth dream about?

How many girls dream about being a Princess? In a more recent Disney movie, the Princess and the Frog, young Charlotte declares, "I would do it. I would kiss a frog. I would kiss a hundred frogs if I could marry a Prince and be a Princess."

I've been collecting Princess quotes for a while, so many interesting ones. There are so many more out there, but this next one is my favorite:

"Are you a Princess? I said and she said I'm much more than a Princess, but you don't have a name for it yet here on earth." Brian Andreas

That's right, we are so much more than just a Princess. We are sisters, we are friends, we are lovers, we are dreamers. We are magic makers. Ange and Mirth have so much to discover, their adventure has just begun. It will not be all roses and cupcakes, they will encounter ruffians and scoundrels, badly written poetry, curses that will make them cry and geese that will insult them and bit them. But that's life, it comes with some good and some bad and that's what makes it so interesting.

Goodness Even More

Oh dear, my dear,
who wrote this poetry here?
Why tis I!

Goodness me, yes I see.
Your hand must hurt, do your fingers ache?
Not a bit, I swear.
(No swearing.)
(Sorry.)

Oh good, I'm so relieved,
just a moment if you please,
let me read what you wrote

How many pages do you have?
Twenty Nine.
And, do they all rhyme?
Of course, my dear.
That's quite a lot.
Yes, I know.

If you prefer I will recite them for you my dear.
Oh no, that's quite all right, silently is better.
Then read on, read them all, if you would.
Yes, I shall, though it may take all day,
and what a splendid way to spend my day!

But,
oh no, oh woe
a sudden fear strikes my thoughts,
what if these are lost?
No worries, never fear
I will write you more, my dear.

In shorter form, sometimes rhyming

Oh woe, alack.
I broke my back
climbing up that tree
I just had to see
you.



Come weep by my bedside
Cry tears onto my pillow
and I will die a happy man
or maybe not at all.



Oh me, oh my my
when you stand up so high
I get dizzy.



She had beauty and a mirror
She loved herself the most I fear.

A poety extra-extra-extravaganza

Oh King of Caterpillars
might I have a word?
How do you wiggle your way
through every night and day?
Do you ever hang around upside down?
Or climb to the tallest branch,
to the tip top leaf?
When you are tired,
do you sleep on a mossy bed
with a leaf curling over your head?

Pleasing to see you poetry

Pretty girl, pretty girl
Do you want to dance and twirl?
You can stomp on my toes
I don't even care.
Or, we could sing, we could shout
why don't we try it out?