February in a Nutshell

IT’S.

TIME.

FOR.

NUTSHELLS WITH ALLISON!

Who else is in complete denial over the fact that it’s now MARCH?  I’d like a second shot at February, pretty please!  Last month was a BLUR.

Two months out of twelve are GONE, people.  *eye twitches nervously*

Oh well!  The only thing I can do about February now is to talk about it.  🙂  So let’s get started!

– WATCHED –

The Hobbit Trilogy

I JUST DON’T GET TIRED OF WATCHING THIS TRILOGY, OKAY?  THE EMOTIONS THESE FILMS EVOKE NEVER END.

I was showing the trilogy to my twin, and I FINALLY converted her to how awesome Thorin is (or rather, how talented the actor is).

AH – the story, the characters, the music!  Come on, guys.  Stop fighting it.  Underneath those purist layers of resistance, you KNOW they’re good movies.

Maybe one day I shall torment all of you Tolkien-ites with a blog post about how great the movies are.  Great except for, you know, the part where everybody dies.  :/

Cinderella

I had a “Me Night” and curled up in front of the TV with this old classic.  I was watching it more closely and openly than I had previously.  The movie is charming and has a sweetness to it that doesn’t grow old.  Old Disney classics had really mastered the animal characters to an art – producing furry sidekicks that are far superior to any recent Disney offerings.

Lilo and Stitch

A truly . . . different movie – this film wins the prize of original concept!  I can’t think of anything else quite like it.

Some girls squeal and aww over . . . I don’t know . . . girl stuff like When Calls The Heart or Jane Austen?  (I’ve heard that girls do that, I wouldn’t know).  Anyway, my sisters and me sniffle and aww over Lilo and Stitch.  The theme of finding and choosing your family never fails to touch me.  On top of that, we have one of my other favorite themes: The Monster Becoming Human.

Hilarious, heart-warming and unique with an aesthetic that it sure to win anyone over.  Aliens, Elvis records, sisters, Hawaii, surfing, and Ohana.  What’s not to love?

– READ –

I read 17 books in the month of February!  YAY ME!

No five stars from me last month, but several four star ratings.  I feel that’s quite generous. *winkity wink*

– WRITING –

I submitted a short story to a magazine!  It’s been several months – perhaps half a year? – since I’ve submitted to a magazine and it felt great to be back in the saddle again.  Okay, it was also a tad intimidating, because it had been so long since I put myself out there.

Unfortunately, I think I made a teeny error while submitting it (forgot fill out one measly box) and their policy might be to automatically delete anything that isn’t submitted perfectly.

Oh well.  I’ll be able to inquire in about ten weeks.  I just LOVE waiting, don’t you?  #Sarcasm

I wrote over 10,000 words, guys!  I haven’t been seriously writing since October of last year, so this was a wonderful improvement!

Even better news – it was all on Ambia!  I’ve been working on a short story featuring Cynthia and a novelette featuring Poppy!  Poppy’s story was supposed to be a short story but it turned into a novelette.  *shakes fist at computer*  Oh, you traitorous story!

In other news, The Reluctant Godfather was chosen for the book of the month by Author Book Club!

Technically, this happened in January (shush!) and I forgot to blog about it – which is odd, because I was extremely excited and proud at the time!

I had a few lovely shout-outs on social media regarding The Reluctant Godfather!

And Beth Wrangler, the author of Child of the Kaites wrote this lovely blog post about The Reluctant Godfather!

*LOUD SNIFF*

Again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU EVERYONE – THANK YOU.  I just cannot thank you enough for all this enthusiasm and support.  It means the world to me! <3

I celebrated the release of A Royal Masquerade’s paperback edition in this blog post!  *CHEERS*

By the by, A Royal Masquerade and The Reluctant Godfather are both on sale for only $1.99 and signed paperbacks are now available from yours truly!

Last of the self promotion here (YOU CAN’T STOP ME!) I also launched a little mini campaign to celebrate The Reluctant Godfather’s two year anniversary by asking (also know as entreating on my hands and knees) my lovely reviewers on Goodreads to march in force upon Amazon and help me get my numbers up!

My goal is to reach the much lauded mythical number of 50 reviews on Amazon (a goal that seems to be as difficult to achieve as a Sasquatch sighting for most of indie authors).

I’m now sitting at 37 reviews on Amazon – only THIRTEEN more to go!

– OTHER –

Narnia Party

Yet another idea cooked up by Yours Truly.  While on social media one day, I saw an indie author talking about how she and her sisters were having an all-day Lord of the Rings party, featuring movie marathons and Lord of the Rings inspired food.

My first thought was:  Why should the Tolkien fans have all the fun?  I claim this idea in the name of Narnia!

And thus we had a Narnia party.

But the REAL Narnia – none of this New Movie Nonsense – nossir.  Don’t misunderstand me, I REALLY LIKE the new Narnia movies (the first two films).  They’re wonderful fantasy films in their own right, they’re simply not true to Narnia and never have been and never will be.

For that, we must turn to the good old BBC.  Their movie adaptions are famous (sometimes infamous) for their faithfulness to their original source, and Narnia is no exception.  If you have good taste, you’ll watch and enjoy the four BBC Narnia films.  😉

We dressed up in fantasy costumes (yes, we’re that nerdy) brought out the cut-glass goblets and had a serious movie marathon with themed food.  The menu included toast and frosted cakes and tea (Mr. Tumnus’s food of choice), Turkish delight (nasty stuff, but necessary for a proper Narnian party), meat pies, and other such delicacies.

It’s not something I could do on a regular basis (we were slightly zombie-fied after so much TV and food) but it was a fun day!

Baking

Several tasty treats.  🙂  Including a chocolate, marchisio cherry filled cupcake with cherry-flavored buttercream frosting.

There was also a Macaron Mess that made was slightly Disgruntling and Disappointing – but, eh, let’s not talk about THAT flop.

So how was your February, my friends?  Did you do anything special for Valentine’s Day?  Are your surviving this Rather Nasty thing called Winter?  Tell me everything!