Tell Me a Story

Once upon a time ...

There was a girl named Meg. She loved stories more than anything else in the world. When she opened a book, she was captivated by the funny characters, the magical places they'd go, and the great adventures they had.

One day, Meg decided to write a story just like the ones she loved. She created a fun character and put her in a magical place where she had all sorts of great adventures. Meg had so much fun she wrote more and more. She submitted her stories at school and won prizes. Her teacher even showed one of her stories to the school principal! Meg was happy.

But then her family packed up and moved to a new town, far away from her old school. Meg was still happy writing stories, but her new teacher didn't like the way she told them. He thought they were childish and scolded her in front of the whole class.

Meg's mother was unhappy in the new town. She worked really hard and was tired in the evenings. Meg's mother said her stories were childish. Meg should be good in math and science so she could be a doctor and earn lots of money. Meg's mother said stories don't make money.

Meg became sad. She stopped showing her stories to her teacher and her mother. Time passed and Meg found it harder and harder to write stories. She started to believe storytelling is childish.

So when Meg grew up she didn't pursue storytelling. She dressed in gray and worked in a gray cubicle. There were no fun characters and magical settings and great adventures. Meg wrote stories about war and hard things. She thought storytellers didn't make money.

Meanwhile, another storyteller who did write about fun characters and magical settings and great adventures was making money. More money than the queen of her country. Her stories were read by children all over the world, her characters were not just fun but also famous, and the magical settings enchanted millions.

Meg looked at that storyteller and realized it was okay to tell any kind of story she wanted. She could create fun characters and magical settings and great adventures. Stories are not childish. Stories make people happy. Stories make people dream and wonder and imagine and discover.

Meg has grown up, but she still loves stories. She loves fun characters who go to magical places and have wonderful adventures. Meg learned something new about storytellers, too.

If one storyteller can make one person happy with their stories, then many storytellers can make many people happy.

For the world is full of wonder,
And not bitterness or regret.
A storyteller helps us remember
The child we cannot forget.
~ Meg North


This post is dedicated to Louisa May Alcott, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, the Brothers' Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, James Barrie, Beatrix Potter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, C. S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl ... and J. K. Rowling.

The End

Or is it?

Read more...

Look at Her Looking at You

Have you looked at her up close?

It's The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli. Look at the lovely expression in her hazel eyes, the curls of her blond hair, the way the ribbon wraps around her tendrils. One of the reasons I love art so much is that it demands to be looked at, not merely absorbed like a TV show or dashed off like an email. I hope this blog shows you ladies wonderful paintings to look at. To really see. She is beautiful, the goddess of love. She looks like a maiden of spring, for that is what love can feel like. Innocent, feminine. The way Botticelli saw a true goddess of women.

Has Venus blessed your Life?
Made you a good Lover and Wife?
Venus bestows divine Treasures
Upon women of Spiritual Measures.
~ Meg North

If you were the painting and Venus was looking at you, what would she say? What would be the expression in your eyes? What would be the gifts she'd want to bestow upon you? Have you accepted her gifts and used them wisely with your boyfriends and husbands?

Venus could also be cruel, if you've ever read the myth of Cupid and Psyche. She acted like a fairy-tale stepmother instead of a happy goddess. Likewise, when we neglect Venus's joys and beauty, we also become snappish, critical, and cruel.

Let her look at you ... and smile.

Read more...

The So-So's of Sewing

I have a confession to make -
Which may be rather tough to take.
I sigh and hem and haw and crow,
But it's the truth: I do NOT like to sew!
~ Meg North

Isn't it strange! A Victorian lover, enamored with gorgeous historical dresses, tatted lace, crocheted doilies, knit shawls, and all manner of antique textile beauties. I can fully carry on a conversation about how sleeves started dropping from the 1850's then becoming pagoda sleeves in the 1860's before changing to the famous leg o'mutton, the gentle elliptical shape the hoop skirt took after the Civil War finally culminating in the familiar 1880's bustle, the gradually changing dress forms from bell to A to S-curve to Gibson girl.

I have a slew of cross stitch and small sewing projects I've tried over the years, from a sunflower bookmark I started when I was ten to a moon ornament with horrid stitches I threw in the trash last summer. I love patterns and notions and walking around a fabric store ... opening pattern books and ogling vintage styles. I am enamored with antique fashion and could readily imagine myself a costume designer, surrounded by buttons and thread and thimbles, draped in yards of velvet or satin.

But to actually sew? I just don't like it. It's boring, I get frustrated, my fingers and hands ache, I don't have the dexterity to do it (though I've played the piano for over half my life), and it requires so much concentration I can't immerse myself in it like music or drift off into distant worlds like with writing.

So what do you think ladies? I can call myself a true born-again Victorian ... but perhaps one who has a dressmaker construct her gowns!

Read more...

For the Love of Jane

Dog mommy, dog mommy, take care of me ...
Dog mommy, dog mommy, I'm little, you see.
Dog mommy, dog mommy, give me a hug.
Dog mommy, dog mommy, who loves her pug?
~ Meg North

This is one of the most beautiful prints I've ever seen. This lovely artist does many more - find her at: Watercolor Queen on Etsy.

Read more...

Enjoying the Sunshine

Upon this garden bench we sit
On a pretty spring day.
Watching bees and butterflies flit
Amongst the flowers of May.
~ Meg North

Read more...

A Boy's Will is the Wind's Will ...

INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.

A blank page. A hand is writing: TWELFTH NIGHT. We see

WILL sitting at his table.

WILL (VO)

My story starts at sea…a perilous

voyage to an unknown land…a shipwreck

EXT. UNDERWATER. DAY.

Two figures plunge into the water

WILL (VO)

the wild waters roar and heave…the

brave vessel is dashed all to pieces,

and all the helpless souls within her

drowned

INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.

WILL at his table writing

WILL (VO)

all save one … a lady

EXT. UNDERWATER. DAY.

VIOLA in the water

WILL (VO)

whose soul is greater than the ocean …

and her spirit stronger than the sea's

embrace … not for her watery end, but

a new life beginning on a stranger

shore

EXT. BEACH. DAY.

VIOLA is walking up a vast and empty beach ….

WILL (VO CONTINUED)

It will be a love story … for she will

be my heroine for all time

INT. WILL'S ROOM. DAY.

WILL looks up from the table.

WILL (VO CONTINUED)

and her name will be … Viola.

He looks down at the paper, and writes: "Viola" Then:

"What country friends is this?"

EXT. BEACH. DAY.

DISSOLVE slowly to VIOLA, walking away up the beach

towards her brave new world.

THE END

Happy birthday, Shakespeare. :)

Read more...

Daffodil Daffy-down-Dilly

Daffy-down-dilly, daffodil sweet -
Are you as loony as a daffy bird?
Do tell me please, but if you are
I promise I won't say a word.
~ Meg North



"Daffodils"

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
   Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
   In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

~ William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Read more...

Lovely Modern Bridal Trousseau

Wedding season is coming! If you or someone dear to you is getting married, then let's celebrate with one of my favorite antique rites of passage: the bridal trousseau.

In the 19th century, trousseaux were a huge deal and very expensive, consisting of a number of new dresses, hats, petticoats, chemises, corset covers, stockings, nightwear, and drawers. The women in the family would work for months leading up to the girl's marriage, painstakingly tatting, crocheting, knitting, lace-making, and stitching on billows of white cotton and fine silk. The blushing bride would also receive heirlooms for her home in her trousseau, including linens, crockery, and special decorative pieces like vases and bowls.

Modern registries take care of the household items, but you can still give a lovely gift of the trousseau to the bride in a modern way. Seek out lovely pieces to gift her on her wedding day, to wear on her wedding night and to surprise her new husband during their honeymoon. She'll be delighted to treat herself, too!

• Honeymoon set: chemise or nightgown of silk or satin, pretty panties, and a long robe of silk or satin
• Pajama sets: sleepshirts and drawstring lounge pants in pale hues like ivory, pink, butter yellow, sage, and baby blue
• Soft sweet slippers
• Spa robe in white waffle-weave
• Lovely matching bra and panty sets
• Camisoles and dainty boxer shorts
• Babydoll chemises
• Manicure set
• Pampering beauty products: lotions, hand cream, body butters, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, face care set
• Hairbrush, comb, and handheld mirror
• Candles

All wrapped up in tissue paper in a beautiful box, with rose and lavender sachets, this would be a gift fit for a princess. The bride would be delighted to receive it, especially if you added a special touch like monogramming to her robe or engraving to the handheld mirror.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful wedding season. :) 

Read more...

Taurus in the Spring

Taurus eyes are smiling bright,
After the fire of Aries might.
It's time to slow and sit a spell,
For picking daisies in the dell.

Ruled by Venus, queen of love,
Taurus adores the finer things, of
Which are food, music, and wine -
Singing, partying, all quite fine.

If you are of Taurus birth,
You'll know how much you love the earth.
Garden deeply, planting well.
Yet don't forget to sit a spell!
~ Meg North

Read more...

The Beauty of Growth

Within the rose's petaled face
I see a potential of beauty.
Her destiny is to be fair of face
And to grow is her duty.
~ Meg North

A good definition of the meaning of life would be to grow. Everything grows and changes, so beautiful to witness on these early spring days. Baby green leaves sprout from the trees, grass blades are fuller and thicker after a weekend of misty rain, daffodils have sprouted golden heads, and the lilac tree's buds are forming.

But growing can also feel like duty. It was painful to be young and experience things so deeply. Milestones felt more like stones around my neck than stepping stones to womanhood.

As the wheel of the year turns yet again towards the warmer months, I feel a softening inside me. I have passed many thorns of duty's growing years, and now can relax and bloom where I live. I still have things I want to accomplish and goals to reach. But some days are made to merely sit, prettily, quietly, looking out at the world. Enjoy a day of quietness, of feminine grace. If the meaning of life is to grow, then perhaps the meaning of happiness is to be content.

Wishing you much contentment, deep sighs, and an enjoyment of your own pretty world today.

Read more...

A Walk Along the Flowers

 

With basket and pruning shears in hand, this lovely auburn-haired lady strolls amongst summer flowers. I love her vanilla-creme gown with its sky-blue sash, her braided auburn hair, and the tufty white roses nodding in the warm morning.

 

Paintings such as this one give you so many beautiful ideas for recreating outdoor landscapes, with country charm and old-fashioned sensibilities. Look to the art of an earlier time period to see their vision of beauty - in color! Monet's water gardens are famous, as are Renoir's roses. Art Renewal is my favorite website for finding large, beautifully captured antique paintings.

 

What ideas spark your interest, from this particular painting? Isn't it fun to daydream!

 

Here is my list:

• Gravel or sand walkway. I'm not a fan of lawns. I'd rather have pretty pathways winding between flowerbeds.
• Balance between formality and casualness. So many different colors and kinds of plants in this cottage garden create a lovely contrast against the formal design. 
• Whimsical color scheme. It's plain that this gardener loves plants, not just sticking to one color or theme. I admire her mix of cool tones and warm tones.
• Cottage garden flowers. I see roses, delphiniums, hollyhocks, daisies, and there are probably other old-fashioned favorites like candytuft, sweet William, and peonies.
• Neatly trimmed hedgerow. The green border around this garden makes me realize that adding a border is like having a frame around a painting. Boundaries acentualize the garden.
• Different heights. From the apple tree with its ripening fruit down to the low daisies in the front corner, different heights add visual interest.

Have you ever looked at a floral painting and longed to recreate it in still-life or in your backyard? All it takes is the ability to really see, and translate what you see into principles to follow.

It's fun!

Read more...

Lamplight

And when the lamp in evening dimm'd,
The smudgy glow illuminated her face.
Night's still voice, like a church hymn,
Sang of a comet in the starr'd space.

All he had to do to have her heart
Was to let the day's brightness fade.
Turn down the sun's pointed light-dart
And contemplate the shadows he'd made.

For where is love found, but in the dark?
Let us never fear its hue.
Sing dear nightingale, the shadow's lark,
Of the love one finds in you.
~ Meg North

Read more...

The Victorian Picnic!

Queen Victoria made picnics popular during the latter half of her rein, around the 1880's and 1890's. The Edwardians picked up this trend and their outdoor picnics were sweet, lavish, and took up an entire day. Jane Austen also has picnics in her novels, famously the one in "Sense and Sensibility" at Colonel Brandon's Delaford estate.

With the weather warming here in Maine, our large front maple tree showing sweet little green leaves, my daffodils in the front smiling, and the grass growing, I'm in the mood for a picnic!

"Give me books, fruit, French wine, fine weather, and a little music out of doors played by somebody I do not know."
~ Keats


Here are some fun and functional picnic ingredients:

Wine and Wineglasses
Cheese
Baguettes
Rosemary Artisan Bread with Garlic Olive Oil and Pepper
Focaccia Garlic Bread
Panini
Wooden Board to serve
Deli meats - freshly shaved ham, turkey and roast beef
Crudites - veggie sticks with dip
Fruit salad
Chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches
Flowers
Music
Books, or Notebook and pen
Umbrella or parasol
Blanket
Basket or large tote bag

Read more...

Favorite Reads

What favorite tomes line your bookshelf? Which have become your beloved friends, their pages dog-eared or stained with spaghetti sauce, covers chipped and folded, binding cracked from laying it facedown so many times on your nightstand?

To be a reader is to always have a companion you can turn to again and again, for friendship, fantasy, adventure, and the sheer delight that comes from books.

My favorites:

Jane Eyre - my favorite novel

Little Women - Louisa is my writer-angel, watching over my shoulder

Walden - I find Thoreau wicked funny

Adventurous Classics - Les Miserables, Great Expectations, Sherlock Holmes, The Red Badge of Courage, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Moby Dick, Treasure Island, Black Beauty, Robinson Crusoe, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, Around the World in 80 Days, The Lord of the Rings

Jane Austen's Oeuvre - All six of her novels are great

The Gothic - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera, Poe's short stories, The Scarlet Letter

Poetry - Shelley, Byron, Keats, Longfellow, Tennyson, Dickinson, Whitman, Poe

Edwardian Children's Literature - Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, the Oz books, Peter Rabbit - these inspired me to become a writer when I was little

Modern Historical Fiction - Girl with a Pearl Earring, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Dante Club, The Red Tent, The Killer Angels, March

Read more...

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan ~ Review

My passion for the 19th century sometimes takes me down interesting paths. My most recent read, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", by Lisa See (finished at 2:45 this morning!), took me to early 1800's rural China, into a complex, intimate, poignant, and painful chapter of Chinese female life.

Lily, the main character, opens this story as a memoir-esque account of her life with her laotang - her 'old same' - Snow Flower. Laotangs were intense and long-lasting bonds between Chinese women begun when they were six or seven, and continuing throughout their lives. Lily couldn't choose her husband and rarely saw him throughout their marriage, so the real love of her life was Snow Flower. The fan was a beautiful way to communicate between the girls as they grew up. In China, women were not allowed to read men's writing, so they developed their own phonetic language called nu shu. Unfortunately, this langugage contains a lot of contextual meaning, which can be easily misinterpreted.

Both Lily and Snow Flower were born in the year of the horse (I'm a dog!), on the same month, on the same day, and were matched up by Madame Wang to be old sames. When Lily is seven, Madame Wang looks at her child's feet and says she will have perfect golden lilies - bound feet. Thus, Lily's life sets on a path towards a better circumstance than being a poor farmer's daughter. There is an element of the Cinderella story here, which actually originated in China several thousand years ago.

Through their two-year ordeal of footbinding (described in exquisite yet nauseating detail by See), Lily and Snow Flower spend plenty of time at Lily's house. The minor characters were drawn vividly and true-to-life: Lily's Mama, strict and conniving, her Aunt, jolly but suffering through an unexpected and heartbreaking death, her Elder Sister, quietly preparing for marriage, and her cousin, sweet and placid. I have respect for See, that she didn't shy away from the ever-present death spirits in the 1800's. Some historical fiction authors gloss over how difficult life was; but this book delved into horrific and poignant detail.

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" has incredible strengths as a novel - a lyric and descriptive glimpse into 19th century China without being too preachy or textbook-y, a strong love story, a well-defined character motive (Lily wants to see Snow Flower), memorable minor characters, and a sense of detachment and acceptance when describing a woman's secluded life, which reflected Lily's point of view. I believed that this book could be one that Lily wrote, not See, and that's a feat.

However, I think See sometimes fell into the trap of telling, not showing. I would have liked to know more about how it felt to be a successful mother; when Lily finally gives birth to a healthy son, that part should have been explored in depth. The novel was rather short, and I would have liked more depth, and more scene description rather than limiting to a paragraph. The pace was a little too fast at times; this was a world I wanted to linger in, and the author moved briskly.

Some critics have compared this novel to Jane Austen. I think that's an error, for not every novel about female friendship is like Austen. Jane's prose is spicy, witty, and contains skewering satire about both men and women. "Snow Flower" may have female friendship, but it is not Austen! It is much darker, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and messier. So, if you're looking for a modern Austen, this is not it!

Overall, a really awesome novel, but I have to say I prefer "Memoirs of a Geisha", by Arthur Golden. I'd give "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" 4 1/2 stars out of 5. Well done!

Read more...

Author Pics!

Do you see the real Me?
The Girl who loves History?
I'm not hiding behind a Mask -
Answer any Inquiries you ask ...
Only let me Write a Book or Two.
We all have Reading to do!

I got my author headshot photos taken today. This is the real me, not an image of a painting any longer!

Read more...

New Book in the shop!

Beauty and the Budget: A Frugal Get-Gorgeous Guide is ready in the shop!

7 chapters, 38 pages, 20 free beauty tips, and so much more!

Check it out, ladies!

Read more...

Song for Bob

I've been listening to the soundtrack for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" film all day. It's haunting and beautiful, almost contemporary but still containing elements of old-fashioned folk.

My mother loved old-time Westerns, so I grew up watching John Wayne and Gary Cooper strutting their stuff in cowboy boots, wrangling up outlaws, and riding into Indian camps with guns blazing.

Modern Western films like this one about Jesse James, Unforgiven, Open Range, Tombstone, and others have quickly become favorites of mine. It's another aspect of the 19th century I adore so much. My favorite TV show only ran three seasons. It was a hard-spitting Western called "Deadwood." If you aren't too squeamish about language or violence, check it out. Truly an extraordinary drama.

I haven't even seen "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", but I'd definitely buy it. These kinds of films bring a grittier side to the 1800's to life, but a side I love nonetheless.

Read more...

Baskets and Sugar!

A Tisket, a Tasket,
A Pretty April Basket ...

This time of year I always feel terribly domestic and energetic, like Mary Poppins. I just want to whoosh into each of my rooms, spoonfuls of sugar in hand, nose-wrinkle ready, and straighten everything. I'll perch a robin on my fingertips, call my reflection cheeky, and snap my way to household cleanliness.

Read more...

Writing

I was four years old when I wrote my first story. It was about a Halloween party. Frankenstein, a witch, a mummy, a skeleton, and a talking jack o'lantern ate cake and played Halloween games.

For me, writing is a fascinating and exciting combination of tour guide/time traveler/journalist/bookworm/scientist/researcher with a dash of English professor thrown in. I get a real thrill from bringing dusty time periods to life. I shamelessly make stuff up and combine it with real things that happened, for an intoxicating blend of the real and not-real.

If I couldn't write, I'd still be creative through painting, photography, or music. Words just happen to be my chosen form of expression!


Writing routine:

I don't have a set daily routine, but writing is my routine. I just get the 'itch' in the evenings, around 8:30 or so, after dinner. Then I give my hubby a kiss and say, "I'm going to get some work done." I pick up my pug, slip into pajama pants, and curl up in bed with Gordon, my laptop. I usually get an hour or two of work done every evening.

I always write with music. My favorites are instrumental soundtracks, quiet piano, and bombastic classical like Beethoven. I've been known to keep one CD on repeat for eight hours, and I'm enamored with composers as much as writers.


Process:

I usually work on one novel at a time that is a reflection of what I'm currently feeling. My first novel tried to 'say something,' but now I just write what I want to read - lovely and lush, with a strong heroine, awesome descriptions of the 19th century, and dramatic events.

Story ideas tumble right out of me; my current idea came to me fully formed on a boring spring afternoon: plot, character names and bios, setting. I opened a new Word file and wrote everything down, then named it "notes". I opened a second Word file where I actually started writing the story, and a third file called "speed pad" where I write scenes. I cut the scenes fromt the speed pad file and paste them into the story file. In this way, I'm continuously working on a new scene rather than revisiting old material.

Once the scenes are done, I organize them into chapters, then edit the whole thing for historical inaccuracies, plot holes, dialogue problems, and character continuity. It's a simple process, but takes about two or three years.


Inspiration:

Sometimes a person will inspire a story, someone I've known and want to include. Sometimes it's a setting, like Ireland. Sometimes it's a time period, like the Civil War in 1862. Sometimes it's a feeling or a mood - dark, moody, Gothic, passionate. Sometimes I'm paying homage - my latest story tips its hat to The Phantom of the Opera.

Inspiration means nothing without excitment. Some aspect of the idea should grab me in the gut, make me want to dive in and dive deep and spend time with this story. I must be compelled, or I won't be able to sustain the necessary obsession to keep going!


Advice:

Writing is something everyone can do, but not everyone feels the same way about it. Some writers make millions selling formulaic novels or gimmicky nonfiction. Some latch onto a genre and run with it. Others become journalists, screenwriters, copywriters, ghost writers, freelance editors, magazine article writers, or academic writers. It's a huge field.

Forget the notion that any of these avenues are better or worse than another. Pick one, focus, and become serious. A real writer shuts off the TV and goes into their office to work. It doesn't really matter what you produce after those TV-less hours. What matters is that you're actually doing it.

Something must compel you more than a paycheck, publishing credits, Pulitzer Prizes, or Wikipedia entries. I think it's important to have a healthy obsession about it. Find your obsession, and you find your talent.

Read more...