Monday, May 25, 2015

My Muse and I Are Going to a Party



Just for fun, welcome to a new kind of blog fest, thanks to Sarah Foster at the Faux Fountain Pen! To meet more Muses/Characters and their partners, click on the Faux Fountain link…
 
1. Who is your muse (or character)? Tell us a little bit about him/her and why you brought them. 
Pern, and Ruth
My muse likes to play around with her name. Sometimes it’s Pooh, because we both love him and she likes to steal other people’s names. Sometimes it’s Charlotte after our favorite spider. Sometimes it’s Pern because that’s the name of one of our favorite (literary) planets and is always an inspiration to both of us. Sometimes it’s Ruth, because it was my grandmother’s name, and the name of the only white dragon on Pern and we both have a soft spot for those two.


 2. What are you guys wearing? Dressing up or keeping it casual?
Well, Pern, or Pooh, says her favorite attire is long and most-times white, resembling a Greek goddess robe with gold trinkets to finish the look. I’ll be wearing a sleeveless long white-to-pink sun dress because this time of year, it’s just too hot to wear pants!
Yum, confit de canard!


3. It's a potluck! Did you bring something yummy?
My fav! Charlotte suggested we bring Confit de Canard with Pommes Frites, as she knows it’s my favorite meal of all time. This is duck marinated in its own fat for a long time, served with very thin “French” fries. We figured someone else would bring a salad!


4. Open bar! What are you both drinking (booze or otherwise)?
Bubbly is a must
 Open bar! Ruth and I will have champagne, thank you, to celebrate this wonderful festive idea. Plus, I know my muse and her drink of preference is champagne. I’ve heard a lot of muses like champagne…
5. Wallflowers or social butterflies?
Pooh is much more social than I am, but I get by. I don’t like to let myself be too introverted at special activities, and Pooh is good at reminding me to “let myself go” especially when she knows I’ll be meeting new and interesting people. 
6. What song(s) will you and your muse sing for karaoke?

Oh, I think we will be sappy and sing “I Hope You Dance,” and then perhaps something more upbeat, like Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s All Right.” I assume there will be dancing?
 

7. What's your favorite party game?
That’s an easy one. Twister, though if we’re going to play games, I might have to re-think the long dress idea...
What fun...

8. Which one of you is more likely to end up dancing on a table top?
Me, I think. Well, then again my muse might beat me too it as she’s even more of an alcohol wimp than I am.
9. Has your muse been a good date and would you ever hang out with them again? 
Yes, Pern is always amazing. But I expect nothing less. I can’t believe the things she comes up with sometimes, but they are almost always just what I need to hear/see/understand. I like having my muse around, which is good because I’d be lost without her and her imagination…

Thanks Sarah, for throwing this “Muse Fest” and inviting us to come. 

Images from:



Friday, May 22, 2015

Announcing Gatehaven a Novel and Study Guide



I'd like to introduce you to a friend's new novel...

Gatehaven is a gothic novel with a strong Christian message, based on Ephesians 6:11: Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Set in a scary mansion in the north of England in 1794, Shannon Aimee and Ian Colquhoun battle an evil Frenchman with dark secrets.

The Gatehaven study guide is a pair of workbooks for students and teachers that is designed for use with Gatehaven, an award-winning novel by Molly Noble Bull.

 




The set includes:
·         Gatehaven by Molly Noble Bull
·         The Gatehaven Study Guide for Teachers by Jeanette Pierce
·         The Gatehaven Study Guide for Students by Jeanette Pierce

About the workbooks...
In this Bible-based study of spiritual warfare vs. the occult, documented background information provides a picture of life in England and Scotland during the late 1700s, emphasizing the status hierarchy and its effects on the people, especially those on the lower rungs of the social ladder and the Protestant Reformation, some of its leaders, and its effects on religion in Europe.

Also included are study questions for each chapter of the novel, a vocabulary list, questions related to the structure of the novel, and a writing assignment that students can complete independently of the teacher.

The Gatehaven study guide set is designed for 8th thru 10th grade students, but older students and adults can also use it. It is available in both e-book and paperback versions. The teacher’s guide contains the answers and grants permission for the teacher to make copies of the final exam.

Author Bios
Molly Noble Bull is a multi-published Christian novelist from South Texas, and Gatehaven is the grand prize winner of the 2013 Creation House Fiction Writing Contest. As a result, it was published in trade paperback and e-book in March 2014. Molly’s next novel, When The Cowboy Rides Away, is scheduled for publication in 2015.

Jeanette Pierce is a retired English teacher living in Houston, Texas. She holds a master’s degree and has taught at high school and college levels. The two study guides for Gatehaven are her first published works, but stay tuned. Jeanette is currently working on study guides for When The Cowboy Rides Away.


Author links

Jeanette’s Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Jeanette-Pierce/e/B00W3X4UOY/
Gatehaven (the novel) trailer: https://youtu.be/M6DqiitjKQY

Buy Links for Gatehaven Project

The novel:



The workbooks:






 ISBN Student guide:
·  ISBN-10: 1508936927
·  ISBN-13: 978-1508936923

ISBN Teacher’s guide:
·  ISBN-10: 1508938113
·  ISBN-13: 978-1508938118