How Reading Affects My Writing – Past, Present, and Future

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

When it comes to books and words and the creation and consumption of both, although I write nearly every day, I’ve always considered myself a reader first while only second am I a writer.

Of course, there is factual truth to this statement: I literally learned and continued to read stories before I started writing them (although the timing for both is close; I clearly recall writing my first “novel” in grade two).

Even now as an adult, my almost-daily reading occurs earlier in the day (dinner time) than does my almost-daily writing (after dinner, the last thing before I go to sleep).

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Finally, I’m a Finisher (or, Holy Heck, I Wrote a Trilogy)

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Although Sag loves the thrill of a new project or friendship, you don’t always finish what you start. Work on keeping your promises and commitments.

(Source: http://astrostyle.com/sagittarius, among many others.)

~

I’m not a follower of astrology or other form of pop culture personality typing, but sometimes, it seems, these systems follow me.

I was born under the astrological sign of Sagittarius. People of this sign are said to highly gregarious, to have an incurable wanderlust, and also to be notoriously distractible – to the point that they rarely complete what they start.

Even though I’ve never felt I embodied any of these hallmark Sagittarian traits, the presence of the last one in the above list has always caused me some distress.

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Home is Where Too Many Hearts Were (Medieval Mondays #3b)

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Remnants of Peveril Castle’s keep: the basement as viewed from the upper level

Peveril Castle, located in Derbyshire, England – the site where much of my novel-in-progress takes place – had one of the smallest examples of a castle keep in England.

As shown in the artist’s rendition to the right, it contained only two rooms – a principal chamber and a basement underneath that was likely used for storage and accessed via a spiral staircase.

The keep also had a latrine, a wall cupboard, and a large window looking out over the rest of the castle and the surrounding Hope Valley, but it didn’t have a fireplace, any food service rooms, or even a well.

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On Commemorating Personal Accomplishments with Nail Polish

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

It all began with the random thought that occurred to me while at work on the final chapter of my WIP:

I should paint my fingernails so that when I finally type “The End”, I’ll do so in vivid colour to help me remember the moment forever.

It being the first attempted novel I’d have ever completed making the event something of a big deal to me.

Still, this notion to adorn myself was quite a departure for me. I’m hardly a deft hand when it comes to personal ornamentation:

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Vacation is the Enemy of Creative Progress*

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

My time off included a whole lot of this

The week before last, I was on vacation.

“Holiday” as my friends across the pond and Down Under would say.

Or as I like to call it, “staycation”, for it was a vacation where, rather than travelling someplace, I remained in my home town.

(For the record, I make a further distinction between a “vacation”, which to me involves travel, and a “holiday”, which is travel to someplace particularly noteworthy or exotic. But that’s just me.)

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A Castle was a (Noble)Man’s (and Woman’s) Home (Medieval Mondays #3a)

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Remnants of the keep and curtain wall of Peveril Castle in Derbyshire, England

As a child, I used to like drawing pictures of medieval castles.

These drawings always took a similar form: a large square in the middle of the paper, two taller turrets on either side, and a wall that extended the remaining length of the page on either side. I even owned a stencil that had a guide for making square waves that I used on the upper edges of each part of the picture.

For a frontal, ground level representation by an eight-year-old, I actually think I did pretty well, having depicted the three key components of the average medieval English castle: the keep, the tower, and the curtain wall.

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On a Day Without Rain or Writing

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Believe it or not, I don’t spend all my spare time writing.

Image by @lovely_free_bird

I don’t even want to spend all my spare time writing.

The reason for this is because writing is far too solitary a pursuit – the loneliest of all the arts in my opinion, due to it possessing the least impressive and share-worthy interim stages.

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Everything Already Troubling About Fifty Shades of Grey, and Then Some

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

I really did try.

After years of hearing and reading complaints about E.L. James’s BDSM-erotica bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey – after having previously convinced myself I’d never read it – that the kinky subject matter didn’t interest me; that I didn’t want to join the global sales bandwagon; that I was too good for so-called “mommy porn” – I came to have a change of heart.

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in the Middle Ages? (Medieval Mondays #2c)

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Dinner scene from the Luttrell Psalter (c.1320-1340, Lincolnshire, England)

I first began this series on medieval food by questioning what sort of experience one would have if transported back in time to a 13^th century dinner table.

The time has now come to take a seat at said table and finish finding out.

The very first point of difference one might encounter relates to the time of day “dinner” was actually served. One might expect that turning up anywhere between 6:00 and 8:00pm as is common for modern dinners (particularly in North America) would also apply to the 13^th century.

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How I’m Spending My Summer, 2015 Edition

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

It’s that time of year again.

Summer is the best season there is. This may be my personal opinion on the matter, but I do believe there’s some degree of universal truth to it as well: the weather is warm, the days are long, people are friendlier and happier, and the clothing is less encumbering.

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When it comes to books and words and the creation and consumption of both, although I write nearly every day, I’ve always considered myself a reader first while only second am I a writer.

~

I’m not a follower of astrology or other form of pop culture personality typing, but sometimes, it seems, these systems follow me.

Peveril Castle, located in Derbyshire, England – the site where much of my novel-in-progress takes place – had one of the smallest examples of a castle keep in England.

It all began with the random thought that occurred to me while at work on the final chapter of my WIP:

The week before last, I was on vacation.

As a child, I used to like drawing pictures of medieval castles.

Believe it or not, I don’t spend all my spare time writing.

I really did try.

I first began this series on medieval food by questioning what sort of experience one would have if transported back in time to a 13th century dinner table.

It’s that time of year again.

I first began this series on medieval food by questioning what sort of experience one would have if transported back in time to a 13^th century dinner table.