Character Sketch of Emy

Name: Emy (pron: ee-mee) Featherling

Age: 14 

Occupation: Singer and entertainer with the bards

Home: a caravan wagon

Physical Appearance

A. Face: Fair; almost elf-like, but softer lines

B. Hair: Straight, white-gold

C. Eyes: Cornflower blue

D. Nose: Small and upturned, I guess...I can't explain it very well

E. Mouth: a 'rose bud' smile

F. Skin: Fair

Physical Build: Five foot two, slender and graceful

While Sitting: Back is straight, shoulders back

While Standing: Stands erect, head slightly bowed

While Walking: Walks slowly and gracefully

What you notice first: Her eyes 

Place of Birth: In a caravan wagon somewhere between Castle Riely and the Western Shores of Ithreal

Parents: Balien and Marina Featherling

Siblings: Has none

Places lived: Everywhere, as a traveling bard

Friends: Her best friend Gwyn; they grew up as orphans together. 

Relationship with God: When she was ten she had a 'spiritual revolution' and since then has become incredibly learned in the Bible and holds tighter to her faith than the skin on Polish sausage

Characteristics: Patient and wise for her age; she is an angel in human form.

Scars: (physical/mental) The day her mother died

Special Skills or Knowledge: Skilled with the harp and voice; she astounds people with her ability to write moving songs. Knows just about every Bible verse down to the number.

Interests and Favorites: She loves teaching children and playing with them; her music; Avidly reads all she can.

Favorite Music: Songs with deeper meanings

Favorite Books: The Bible of course

Favorite Sport: She doesn't play sports. It isn't lady-like

Dislikes: Mice, death, and sickness

Horses: The way they are portrayed makes all the differance

This is a topic that really got me started writing The Legend of Skyrian. I realized a need for horses to be portrayed for what they really are: Horses.

 If you have differing opinions please, share them. I'd love to see other angles of this...

In many books and movies and video games horses are evoked as perfect angels that come at your beck and call, you know the kind. "My Little Pony" stereo types. This has always irked me.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think horses are angels and are some of the greatest things on the planet. But I also realize there is a a line to be drawn. 

Horses are not people.

Seriously, if your going to write a book about planets you get the facts. You don't simply write planets to be what you assume they are. They may end up to be just like stars in different skin. The same way horses need to be explored before you write up what you think they are like. You have to know them.

Some one once told me words I will never forget: "You can't write about something you don't know about."

When you do, people who do know about it will see through your story right away and the whole thing will collapse. Take this book and its reviews for example. Pay special attention to Writer/rider, ~*RanchGirl*~, and Lifelong horsey girl's reviews. (writer/rider's and ranchgirl's reviews are on the sidebar)

In my books I am really trying to stress that real horses don't match the media's view of them. I want my horses to be horses. To roll around, get dirty, play horsy games, ignore their owners commands on occasion, have mood swings, run away when said owner approaches with a bridle; you know real horse stuff!! Things that real horse people experience daily. Getting frustrated with a stubborn pony is as much a part of loving him as when you learn a new trick together and something just clicks.

If you take away a horses 'bad side' and replace it with perfect behavior, you might as well have your character brush a cardboard cut-out.

Okay, I'm not sure if I got my point across clearly,(there's still plenty I want to say!) but its all I have time for right now.

A hurried Cheers!~Gwyn

My Thanksgiving

... was great! We stuff ourselves to the brim((some of us over)) on turkey, stuffing, cranberries galore!, potatoes of every kind, and total of seven pies were made! We did m=not eat all this on our own, though, rest assured. My Uncle and English Aunt(I always have to put that :)) along with my grandparents came out. Oh, and I almost forgot he was so quiet! One of my Mum's co-workers from the coffee shop came too because Mum found out he didn't have family up here and was going to be by himself for Thanksgiving. Little did he know! Lol, that's just Mum for you, she would invite everyone who weren't doing anything for a holiday if she could. :)

After eating was the seemingly universal nap time. Whatever. Not for me!!! I was practically bouncing off the walls demanding we DO something! I think it was all that sparkling 'wine'. {I had half the bottle!}

After finely rousting my youngest older sister we went over to spread to love with our horses. Hugging them, petting them, taking to them, even taking some pics with the sister's phone; the whole nines yards you could say. Then, after Corona bit the sister(I'm sure he just thought her finger was a carrot), we hiked around the place, resting at last on the hill where my profile pic was taken, we watched the sun sink down on the horizon (4:20pm!)

Then is was time to round up and feed the horses. Instead of doing it the usual way, chasing them on foot back-and-forth trying to get them into the yard, I suggested we take the pickup. Not just any pickup, but the pickup. The one that smokes when you put it in park, the one that smells like a lawnmower because oil or gas, I can't tell which, is dripping slowly onto the exhaust pipe; the one that's steering is like pushing a tractor wheel up hill. In other words: the most fun truck to drive ever! Where every drive is a survivalist adventure!

Yeah, well, imagine that with me at the wheel and my sister riding in the back chasing a herd of frolicking horses across a huge expanse of pasture. Our guests thought it was amusing too.

That's pretty much all of note that happened that day. 

Today, for me, is much worse. I have got a cold. Again. And this one is worse then the last. Grrrrrrr. My throat is on fire!

Ah, well. Nothing for it but to Cowgirl up.

Cheers!~ Gwyn

The horses in my li-- ahem, story

I found some pictures on the web using Google Images of horses that, for the most part, match the three main horses in my novels. I also did some mild enhancing...

Here they are...

These two here are Skyrian, who takes center stage in book one. He is the First Stallion

This is Enya(pending) The name Enya is Gaelic for 'little fire'. She is the First Mare and doesn't enter the story till the second book.

...And we seen this lady before! Once again its Gana. Who I haven't completely figured out where she will come in....

Okay my thirty minutes are way past so....

Cheers! ~Gwyn

Horse-Hair Necklaces

I've just found (another) hobby for my self!!!! {I know, I know, I've got to stop..... :P} Making jewelry! Mostly horse hair stuff {its unique}, but I do bead and make ribbon necklaces; I've even made a pair of horse hair earrings{but never will again! Very difficult! :P}

But as I said, horse hair, though the hardest, is my total favorite. The only reason I know how to braid is because of horses hair! I had to know for Showmanship horse shows, Rodeo Queening competitions, etc....

These two are Christmas presents for my friend in Ukraine and her little sister....

The black and white one is for Kate, Sam's little sister, and is made from double Stuff's mane.

Sam's I made from Shyanne, Corona, and Double Stuff's manes because those three are her favorite horses:)

I think these are very special and a great and beautiful way to remember a wonderful four-legged friend. I have one of my old pony {R.I.P Kiawa!} and it is very dear to me. When he died I wore it non-stop for three months; and I still wear it often. Since then I have made one of Bingo, my old comrade, and I will soon make one from Shyanne's mane and then Corona's and then Roanie's.... That is... after I finish with Christmas orders! Oy, I've got a lot to do! Not including one for a birthday that's due Sunday. Ahhhh! I don't even have the girl's horse's hair yet! Not to mention a pendant! I've also got to write a two page essay for Psychology!  And next week is school exams!! Gaaaaaaah! And I've got to go to a birthday party tonight!! AaaaAAAhhh!!!!! I guess the real question is: What on earth am I doing on Blogger??!!!

*Dashes off!!!*

~Birthday~

How old am I? A lot of you were close!! {Earwen, you might be right ;D lol!} I am now 15. *starts singing the Taylor Swift song*

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone!  I see I'm not the only one with a Nov. birthday! So, Happy Birthday to the rest of you!

My grandparents came out and we had pizza for dinner followed by an enormous chocolate cake!! De-lish! And then, the best part, (in Lucy P.'s voice) presents! Here's a list of what I was given:

• My fav! A field watercolor/oil easel with paint box!! Whoohoo! From France too! Fancy stuff! ;D
• A new drawing pad Just in time; I was out of paper!!
• A huge drawing pad I'm talkin' 16.5" x 18.5"!
• Bamboo goat hair paint brushes The fancy kind you have to hang up to dry!
• A gift card to Maurices (sp?) Yay! I can get clothes without having to spend my money on them! :P
• About 8 strings of beads for necklace making I'm really into that right now! Post about it later....
• The Kingdom of Heaven director's cut! Need I say more??
• 15 pennies from my lil brother :) 
• A purse Okay, I am not one to rave about purses(I usually just jam a couple bucks in my pocket when I go shopping) but this one is cute!! It's orange cloth and.... I'll just have to post a picture later! along with my easel :)
• Beautiful horse folders to put my drawings/paintings in
• Watercolor paper
• Eragon's Guide to Alagaesia I'm not a huge fan of the Inheritance Cycle but this has got fantastic illustrations!!!
• Ink for my calligraphy pens
• $100 total from my grandparents Saving up for that violin...!
• ...And the traditional Birthday Socks: purple fuzzy things :)
  

And that's my Special Day for you;) I'd better get cracking with all those art accessories!

Tally ho! ~Gwyn

WhooooHoooo! It's ma Birfday!!!!

The title pretty much sums it up! Yippee! This week has taken forever to get to Friday! Speaking of which, I've had a lot of people remark on my birthday being 'Friday the 13'. Personally, I see no reason to be unhappy about it; I like Fridays! Last day of school for the week, you can stay up late and no house chores! What's not to love? And the #13? It's actually my lucky number ;D Maybe I'm just a counter-weight person! lol ;D

  Interesting fact about the No. 13: The reason it was widely known as an unlucky number is because there were thirteen people present at The Last Supper and one of them, Judas, later betrayed Christ. 

 I never knew that. I always did wonder why 13 was supposed to be unlucky; well, now we know.:)

Returning to my B-day:

I shall post all about it tomorrow after its happened, and, in the mean time, can anyone guess how old I am now?

I need some chocolate l:'(

Today has got to be one of the worst this year for me.

I woke this morning fresh and semi excited because I was going to get my braces off finely!! 

Well, I get there and they talk like I'll get them off this very am! But then I took some x-rays and two roots aren't quite straight, so, no go. TWO TEETH! 

Not happy.

This afternoon didn't go so bad. We 'winterized' everything outside. Washing the deck, replacing plastic water buckets with rubber ones, cleaning out the yard water tanks and filling them to the rim, draining the summer pasture tanks, etc...

I had to move Cokie and Wilber into one of the yards too, and in the process of opening the gate, my thumb got caught up between the chain and the gate post, and, before I could get it out, Cokie{our biggest, fattest, tallest horse} spooked and ran into the gate smunching my thumb flat D(:) Yaaaooow!!!

Not an hour later I dinged up my left hand pretty bad too. And then found out there was Youth Orchestra tonight. My bow hand's thumb was wrapped in athletic tape and swollen and my string fingers were swathed in vet wrap{it was all there was at the time!} Great.

Well, we end up going even though my brothers hands were cut up too. {a bad day for hand and fingers, eh?} We get there and... no one else does. Y.O. is next week.

Very not happy. Pass the choco, please...

A FULL weekend

After 23 weeks two of our hens have finely started laying! My mum was ecstatic! It was hilarious; she opened the coop door and let out this loud "WHOOOP!!". She never made that noise before! She's usually quite laid back....

Anyway, after that she and I went to town to put my name on my 4-H group's bank account because last month I was elected Treasurer and Secretary. The whole switching over names and info took an hour, and I got to know "June" pretty well.:)

 Along the walls of the bank are big framed pieces of leather with lots of area ranch brands burned into them. I stared at those a lot as June straightened the records. There were some I knew and most I didn't. I tried deciphering them too. Brands are like a whole language of their own: There's the Walking J, a j with little 'feet'. The Triple C, three c's stuck together. The Flying E, or Lazy E, an E on it's back with 'wings'.    And those are just a few...! (the ones I can explain :P) Many of them I couldn't begin to read. A heart on a stick, the odd squiggle-bar-letter, and so on.

{{Can I just say right now that I love living the Western life? Just 'cause I really do! ;)}}

  

  After that it was off with my brother(who plays cello) to play at a special Mass for a friend's parent's anniversary. That went very well and I'm quite happy with my performance, if I do say so myself:) Yeah, I really enjoyed it :)

Sunday was the big violin concert. The very one I have been dreading. The one where... the Youth Orchestra plays! Ahhh! We were soooo not ready...! And yet... by some miracle we pulled together at literally the last second and sounded fine! Whoo! God is great!! I had been worrying a bit. Just a bit. O.o How fruitless it was! And I'm glad it was(:D

Em and I played The Lover's Waltz again and afterwards got asked to play it at a wedding, a concert, and a talent show! And almost every parent at the concert came up to us to say we did real well. That felt really good. I get a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about it:)

Yes. 'Twas a good, if packed, weekend.

I had regular violin lessons today and I discussed getting a better violin. The one I have now is good quality and good for starters, but now that I'm getting really, seriously into fiddling, I need one with not just good sound but great sound. I'm saving my money up and I hope to get one *maybe* by Christmas or later... Cross fingers! The one that I would really like is $9,000, but I don't think I can afford that so I'm shooting a bit lower. Okay, way lower. Like, less than $1,000. We'll see!! My birthday is coming up *gasp!* next week?? That snuck up! Yup, next Friday! Yay!! I'll have to stick one of those count down clocks up...! :D

~Till the next exciting thing!~Gwyn~