manic monday

vogue italia, november 2008 (via fashion gone rogue)

more fiction.

know what you want for your 18th birthday yet?” Mother smiled.
Giselle swallowed the bite of chicken she had just taken and answered “I don’t need anything special,” she said in a voice that could give you a toothache.
Emerson rolled his eyes. His little sister was such an insufferable saint. It was impossible to keep up with her.
“Now, don’t be modest,” Father chimed in, “your 18th birthday is a big deal.”
“Not to me,” Giselle calmly answered. “I don’t need superficial presents to keep me happy. I’ve already got everything I want.” Her smile lit up the room like the sun.
Emerson felt like throwing up. Instead he stuffed some more potatoes down his throat, hoping they would just shut up. It was just a matter of time before…
“Did you hear that Emerson? Now, why can’t you be more like that?”
Emerson glared at his sister. She didn’t notice. He hated how perfect she was. Though she never means to, she always makes him look far worse than he is. Their parents didn’t appreciate him at all. It was always all about Giselle. With her innocent charm and helpfulness and devotion to God and brain-dead obedience. Oh, yes, and she was straight. She was everything a Christian parent could ever dream of. Sometimes Emerson wished she would just…
Suddenly all the candles blew out. Glass shattered. A flaming arrow zoomed over their heads. Giselle screamed. Emerson and his father jumped up. Before the latter could grab his musket, dark figures flew into the dining room, cackling their heads off. More flaming arrows followed. Before any of the Yagers could tell what was going on, the parents were bound and the kids ushered outside. Their parents screamed “Giselle!” and Giselle started crying. Emerson was offended that his parents didn’t call his name. Seriously? Was he such an abomination unto God? That infuriated him much more than the sudden attack.
The attackers made all kinds of commotion inside, setting as much as they could on fire. Their parents screamed and screamed. The noise terrified Emerson. It terrified him even more when one of them was abruptly cut off and the other screamed harder still. Both of his hands were held behind his back, as were Giselle’s. He tried to wrestle loose, but their kidnappers were inhumanly strong. And still, they were laughing. Emerson looked at Giselle. She was silently crying. A dark cap was forced over Emerson’s head and he could see no more. His heart hammered in his chest. He couldn’t believe this was happening. It was all so fast…
“Where’s your God now?” a rasping voice asked near his ear.
“I’m the only one here who doesn’t believe in God,” Emerson snapped, “Let me go.”
“Ah, well. That won’t save you now.”
He felt a sharp pain in his neck and was slowly losing consciousness. All he heard was the fire crackling in the distance.

it’s the prologue for a novel-length story i’m working on right now. it still needs a little tweaking, but i thought i’d share it anyway. i started it over a year & a half ago for nanowrimo. i didn’t finish. a couple of months ago i started working on it again because i thought it was such a shame to abandon a story i had already written over 10,000 words of. besides, i’m so sick of all those modern, romantic, vegetarian vampire crap stories, i feel compelled to write something better. lately i’ve become so obsessed with finishing it. i’ll do that sometime next month. & then i’ll probably spend a few more months editing it. & then i’ll get it published, if only through something like lulu. why not, right?

thanks for reading! feel free to give your opinion on it.

friday features

this week another craftanon etsy street team edition. i think i’ll do these regularly, once a month or so. my fellow teammates are always churning out so much amazing stuff & i need to promote the team more anyway :p

enjoy!

these are, obviously, all from etsy. you can find more team members by searching for ‘craftanon team’ there.
be sure to check them all out! & heart them! & buy them!

book time!

(bookshelves above my bed, way less than half of the books i own)

with all the books i’ve been reading lately a post like this was inevitable, really. (since i got myself that new stack of books the sunday before last i’ve read seven; halfway through the eight, the virgin suicides ♥, right now) besides, i’ve been neglecting my blog way too much & needed to post something new & different.

if you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might remember that one of my goals for this year was to read at least 78 books. so far i’ve read 33.

1. twee vrouwen – harry mulisch (for school, when i was still in it)
2. een leeg huis – marga minco (school)
3. artemis fowl: de russische connectie – eoin colfer
love this series. fantastic characters, plot, general writing style. wish i could get them in english!
4. coraline – neil gaiman ♥
i should not have watched the movie first. i kept automatically comparing them, which greatly detracted from my enjoyment of it. still awesome though.
5. bezonken rood – jeroen brouwers (school)
6. sleuteloog – hella s. haasse (school)
surprisingly awesome.
7. terug tot ina damman – s. vestdijk (school)
8. artemis fowl: de verloren kolonie – eoin colfer
9. bloodsong – melvin burgess ♥
10. the girl who loved tom gordon – stephen king ♥
11. cirque du freak: sons of destiny – darren shan (re-read)
best ending to a series ever.
12. vittorio the vampire – anne rice
13. dead until dark – charlaine harris
one of the few modern vampire books/series i really love. i love sookie (finally, a good, strong female main character who isn’t annoying), i love the vampires in it (who are actually vampires), i love the tone & setting. it’s the perfect antidote for that twilight shit.
14. gossip girl: er is geen betere – cecily von ziegesar
love this series too. it’s pretty much the only ‘chick lit’ i can stand to read.
15. stargirl – jerry spinelli ♥
i can barely express how much i love this book. read it if you haven’t already.
16. series of unfortunate events: the reptile room – lemony snicket
so tragic, yet so very funny & clever. this year i will really finish this amazing series.
17. the fountainhead – ayn rand ♥
same as #15.
18. de gevleugelde kat – isabel hoving
recommended to me by a friend. it’s so original, i love it. it’s translated to english too.
19. dead as a doornail – charlaine harris
20. definitely dead – charlaine harris
21. dreamcatcher – stephen king ♥
22. de grote freakshow – darren shan (re-read)
23. all together dead – charlaine harris
24. monstrous regiment – terry pratchett ♥
loved, loved, loved this. just all those girls dressing up as boys would make this one of my new favourite books. but it’s also just hilarious. i really should read terry pratchett books more often. if only the english ones weren’t ALWAYS loaned out at the library…
25. m is for magic – neil gaiman ♥
26. haunted – chuck palahniuk ♥?
the most disgusting, disturbing, brilliant book i’ve ever read. it’s really funny too, at times.
27. series of unfortunate events: the wide window – lemony snicket
28. doing it – melvin burgess ♥
i’ve come across this book so often & was always hesitant to read it because the plot didn’t speak to me at all. but, melvin burgess is one of my favourite writers & no matter what the story is about, i tend to love it. so i did finally read it & predictably loved it. besides, how could i resist a book that was an ‘assault on teenage morals’?
29. anansi boys – neil gaiman ♥
30. het transgalactisch liftershandboek – douglas adams
aka the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. this was such a pain to read. not because of the story, no, no, no, i loved that, but because of the language i’d read it in. it was the perfect reminder to not read books translated from english anymore if i could help it. they changed all the names (& i think places? the story started somewhere near amsterdam) & butchered a lot of the jokes & science things & generally dutchified it SO MUCH. my god. i’m totally re-reading this in english. & staying away from translated books. (in the spirit of ranting at dutch: i actually started reading the translated neverwhere from neil gaiman today, i had already loaned it from the library before the aforementioned translation-trauma & after two pages i already couldn’t stand it anymore (‘alles kits‘? said by a grown woman? what the hell?) & went right back to the library to get it out of my sight. & then i went to the bookstore to buy it in english)
31. series of unfortunate events: the miserable mill – lemony snicket
32. series of unfortunate events: the austere academy – lemony snicket
33. living dead in dallas – charlaine harris

what books have you read lately? any recommendations? want me to review the books i read as i go along?

manic monday