Not My Typical Journal Entry...

Dear Journal:
I know it's been awhile since I've written in you, and I apologize for that. : / But you know how it is. Anyways, I decided to write about today, because I did something I'd never done before, and had a splendid time of it. That's worth writing in a diary, isn't it?

You know how I love "The Book Thief". I got it for Christmas because it was recommended to me, and at the time I was beginning to be interested in the WWII era (and I still am). To be honest, however, the first chapter I found a little boring. And I was wondering if I had made a mistake by putting it on my Christmas list.
Of course, I kept at it (persistent reader that I am), and a few more chapters into the game found me interested. And it just kept getting better, and better.
I read it slowly, savored every word (except for the OCCASIONAL swear word. :P), and devoured the book whole.
By the end of the book, I was SOBBING. I mean, wow. What a book. What. A. Book. It was a work of art, really. I started to respect that guy, Markus Zusak, who wrote it. You don't read a book like his every day. And for that, I'm grateful to him.

Um... actually, in Nazi German she would NOT have been dressed that nice. That coat... those shoes...nope. It wouldn't have happened. Just sayin'.

Well, diary, you know I've never met a famous person before, or else I would've written about it.

It just so happens that Markus Zusak came to a library in my town. Thank heavens for my friend who told me, or I never would've known about it at all.
The event started at 7 pm, but the little flyer thingy said that 'early arrival is recommended'. Well yeah, the guy's famous, for Pete's sake. So, I grabbed my Book Thief (and my camera), and we headed to the library. We got there quite early, so we were almost at the beginning of the line. As we waited for the doors to open, the line of waiting people behind us became longer, and longer... and longer. We got a seat up front thankfully, because we were one of the first ones in, but even 45 minutes after we got seated, I kept turning around to check the empty seats, and every time I looked, fans just kept on filing in.
And filing in.
And filing in.
There were over a thousand fans.
To see the guy who wrote The Book Thief.

Again, her clothes are WAY too nice for the era.

Time wore on, the fans kept filing, and the anticipation built. By this time, I'd been waiting for 2 1/2 hours, and I was pretty sore from staying in the same place for so long.

Finally, the whole board of whatever director of the library came up, and did her little shpeel about "being so grateful blah blah for our sponsor.... and these great blah individuals who blah blah made this event possible blah blah blah..."
...until FINALLY.
The guy came on stage!
And I set my own eyes upon him in person! And he had the most glorious Australian accent... which I enjoyed immensely... and he told funny stories... and he talked about the book thief (of course)... and he answered our questions. It was a great presentation. I really, really enjoyed myself. I brought my little notebook, to write down my inspirations from his speech.

"People think you have to have a good imagination to be a writer.

Not true. You just have to have a lot of problems."

-Markus Zusak

"I've written five books. Four of them mean something me, and one of them 

means everything to me. And that's The Book Thief."

-Markus Zusak

(When asked which character from the book he actually loves the most)

"I love Rudy more than anyone in the book. By no means would I let him live through the end.

I know that may sound cold, and hard, and evil. Well, that's just because... I am."
-Markus Zusak

That one brought the house down.

I also finally realized that his last name is pronounced with the z sound, and not the s sound. There is no s sound in his name, in case you ever wondered.

If you can't tell, dear Journal, I had a wondrous blessed time listening to his presentation. But that wasn't even the best part!

After he finished speaking, and we finished asking our many questions, we all got to stand in line and get our books signed, one group at a time. Since we arrived pretty early, not only did we get in the building first, and get our seats first, we got in the book-signing line sooner than most. We were in group 2 out of 17, which isn't bad.

I have to admire that guy Markus because HE PROBABLY SIGNED OVER A THOUSAND BOOKS AND HE DREW A LITTLE PICTURE INSIDE EACH ONE.

I saw each person in front of me get their books signed, and then, finally, it was my turn! I gave him my book, and while he signed it and drew his little thingy inside, I mentioned how much I enjoyed his book.
I know he probably forgot about me by the time I walked out of that room, I mean, he was probably just focusing on writing... writing... writing... WRITING IN A THOUSAND BOOKS! Still, I was glad to tell him how much his book meant to me. Even if he'll never remember what I said for the rest of his life. :) Well, at least he knows that his fans love him. :)

And then, after all that, we finally went home. Occasionally, in the car, even in the dark, every so often I would open up my little book, and gaze at the title page:

It made me so happy, and I was beaming all the way home. :)
It was a splendid time, and the whole thing really was like a dream.
But after all, I'm very glad that it WASN'T a dream!
Signing off now...
Yours Truly,

p.s. This is my only signed book other than the one my friend signed, which I talked about in THIS post!

The Struggle is Real for Writers

Me: *taking a deep satisfied breath* Aaaahhhh a whole evening all to myself! What shall I do today, on this fine Sunday evening? I think I'll work on my book. Yes, that's what I'll do. 

Computer: Wait. What did you just say?

Me: I said, I'm going to work on my book.

Computer: Oh. That's what I thought you said.

Me: Leave me alone, computer. I have important work to do.

Computer: Are you kidding me?

Me: No, I'm not, now go away!

Computer: I will not! You love me, remember?

Me: Nevermind that. Just keep quiet. *turns back on computer*

Computer: Oh come on! Let's hang out for awhile! You can finish that stuff later.

Me: No.

Computer: C'mon, pleeeeeaaaase?

Me: No.

Computer: But you know writing is TERRIBLY hard on your brain. You need to relax. Just come over here and spend some time with meeeeeeeee.

Me: But my brain ISN'T tired.

Computer: Why not?

Me: BECAUSE I HAVEN'T WRITTEN A SINGLE WORD YET.


*Pause*


Sister: *walks in* Why are you yelling at the computer?

Me: ...

Sister: ...

Me: I-

Sister: Sometimes, I think you have some serious mental issues.


THE END

And that's the story of my mental shortcomings.
Ahem. That's all I have for you today, because, well, I gotta go write now. Today, I'm setting aside distractions. Meaning YOU, computer. (which is really quite strange because I'm on the computer right now. Fancy me talking about getting off the computer while I'm on the computer).
Ok, now I'm seriously getting off. BYE, PEOPLE!
-Phoebe

Books, Writings, Happenings, etc...

What am I doing with my life? I'm making (and saving) memories. I do that everyday.

 

 ~Listening to the Cinderella soundtrack and being able to name every scene that goes to each song.

*listens to the music* Oh yes, this is when her mother dies. Such a sad scene. I always loved her mother. Never cared too much for Ella's father, actually. He's awfully ridiculous to marry someone so heartless and self-centered like Tremaine. What? He wants another chance at happiness? With HER? What's the matter with that guy, anyways? *scoff*

~Wishing it was Spring. *sigh* And I know everyone is wishing that just as much as me. But still, I can't help looking forward to it. After all, seeing the little sprouts of green around the yard after a long, grey winter has GOT to be one of the best feelings in the world.
Wouldn't you agree?
Moving on.

~This video:

 

Gets me every time.

~Finally getting up the nerve to start my latest reading project: The Circle Series, by Ted Dekker, which I got for Christmas.
It's actually four books in one, but the whole series together is HUGE. I can't even hold the thing to read it, I have to set it on a table or my bed because this thing is bigger than Bleak House and it's bigger than my Study Bible, which are the two biggest books I own.

Aaaaaand here's a pin I created from one of the quotes! Hopefully the forest picture is ok to use. : / But hey, if you've seen one forest picture, you've seen 'em all, right?

So, I just finished the first book in the series, "Black", and I'm on to the second book. I don't usually read thriller/suspenseful novels, but this one is actually really good. A little weird, a little scary, but quite interesting, yes.
And while I'm still on the subject of books... wait, aren't I always on the subject of books? o_o

~Getting especially excited/passionate about writing my story after taking a long break (and it's been going pretty good so far).
Hey, I'd love to share an occasional scene with you all. But first, I would have to share the basic context of The Hidden Queen. Writing all that would take a post all for itself, but here's just a small smidgen of context for you:

The Hero: Lillian, the Queen.
The Plot: Lillian's brother, the King, is captured, so she feels obligated to find and rescue him because it was her fault that he was captured.
So, she obtains the help of a former kingdom spy, and together with his team, they set out to find the lost King.

 I'm really excited about this story, as I'm sure you can understand if you're a writer. The work is going slowly, but I think it will make a great story when it's all finished.

 ~Working on my list of 100 memory verses. I sense that God has been telling me to store more of his Word in my heart lately, so right now I'm just focusing on a simple goal: 100 verses. I'm combining a few verses of my own with a list I found online. It's going pretty well so far. I forgot how easy/fun it was to memorize. Here's my most recent verse:
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

Hooray for me.

~Watching BBCs North & South once again. Seriously, I love this series. Watching it for the third time, I realized that it is very similar to both Jane Eyre and Bleak House. So if you like either of those two, you'll probably like North & South. I sure do. :)

I mean look. The guy has a top hat. How can it be a bad series?
 And I can't WAIT to read the book (which I'm going to get with some of my Amazon money from Christmas. Yay.)! Which brings me to my last point in this post (wait, does this post even have a point? *shrugs*):

I'm going to buy one more book with my leftover book money from my birthday and Christmas. But I'm not sure what book to get. Do you have any suggestions? If so, do tell! The comments are open!

That is all, friends. :) Goodbye for now! I shall speak to you again, perhaps, when Spring is finally upon us. Or maybe sooner. 
Bye!