This is hands down the best fractured fairy tale picture book I've ever read. It also unquestionably has the best representation of a fairy tale female that I've ever seen. After randomly picking it up in the library, I wanted to write the author a fan letter based entirely on this book alone.

In this version of Rumplestilskin the miller's daughter falls in love with Rumplestiltskin and they both escape the greedy king together. But, years later, their daughter is kidnapped by the same miserly king. Instead of calling her father for help, Rumplestiltskin's clever daughter hatches a plan to save, not only herself, but the whole kingdom's economy.

I was delighted to see they actually made a play out of this book. Here's a link to the website for that. Unfortunately it's only in Richmond Virginia, so I can't see it. I also think it might already be over. But it's cool just to know they did one. This book certainly deserves it. Heck, I'd love to see a movie based on this book if they did it right.

Book Club

This is the spoilers section.

What, you say? A spoilers section for a picture book? That's right. This one was so cleverly written I'd rather you read it before you read this part.

Okay, are you done? C'mon, it's a picture book, it doesn't take that long. Go to the kids section of your library (only cowards feel embarrassed there) and pick it up. If they don't have it, demand that they get it!

Okay, done with that? Here it is.

I LOVE that Rumplestiltskin's Daughter got to be prime minister. I was inwardly cringing the whole time, worried she would marry that icky king. Because, no matter how reformed he is, it's still creepy. Plus it would have only reinforced the message that women have to get married to live fulfilled lives. Now, I do admittedly like romance. But this story had that with the miller's daughter and Rumplestiltskin. That was so cute, and Rumplestilskin was a cutie. So it this story has it all!

I redesigned my book review blog and gave it a new name as seen in the snazzy new banner above. You can see the whole blog by clicking here.

No worries. I will still post in this blog. I'll explain my reasoning for wanting a second blog below, but this blog will continue to be updated as usual so please keep reading!

I changed the name of my book review blog because I didn't think people would know what the other name (The BitterSea Review) meant, and I'm trying to generate a sort of online brand. Before you laugh, the Domain of the Jade Empress was number two on Google when I typed in Cherie Lee. It's not now. After I saw that, I made this blog supposedly unsearchable (not entirely true, as I found, but quite a bit trickier now than it was), and I stripped my name from almost everything. I'm debating changing the url but didn't want to confuse my few regular visitors, and it doesn't contain my last name at least.

The reason I did this is, while I am always careful not to post anything embarrassing here, I'd rather not be represented by my random mishmash of thoughts. If anything associated with me comes up second on Google, I want it to be just a little more focused, coherent, and show off at least a little of my design and writing skills.

So I've put my name on my book review blog and, hopefully, several years down the line (because that's how long it took with this one) that blog will be second on google under Cherie Lee.

TMJ? Nerves? Infection? Hypochondria?

This is me mostly rambling. Feel free to offer advice if you want, but don't feel like I'm actually using you all as doctors (or dentists). Don't worry, I will and can see one if I decide I need to.

Right, so in the middle of lunch today it started really hurting to chew in the far back right side of my mouth. Okay, at first I thought right away it had to be my wisdom teeth. I have an appointment to have them removed, but I haven't had that yet and it won't be for another month.

Weird thing is, my actual teeth don't hurt. The pain feels a bit like having pulled a muscle and is very hard to pinpoint but hurts the most only on the right side when I move my jaw. The pain radiates to part of my ear and a very specific localized place on the upper right side of my throat.

Okay, probably more info than you needed but it helps me to logic these things out.

Now, since my teeth don't actually hurt, I thought maybe one of my errant wisdom teeth began pushing on a nerve. But then I also remember another condition I would continually see on dental forms called TJM. I looked it up and I won't hash out all the specipics here, but basically it boils down to pain in the joint of the jaw. It has very similar symptoms to my current problem except it says most people have a popping or grinding along with it. The side of my jaw that doesn't hurt has this (and always has) but curiously, the side that does is completely pop free--more than it's ever been.

So I began to wonder if maybe I had an infection in my throat or ear. But I tried one of the TJM treatments (appling heat to the area) and it helped immensely. I do not believe this would help relieve the pain of an infection. But I don't know for absolute certain.

Anyway, sorry to bore you with my raving hypochondria. Hope you're all well.

Today I Have Not Gone Outside At All



This is the nature reserve near my house. It's on the list of places I didn't go today.

It's a bit of a shame since it's been sunny recently, but I've been cloistering myself in the house so I can focus on the work. I'll open the blinds, let in the sunlight, but I don't go out and play in it. Then, when it gets dark, someone (usually my sister) closes the blinds, and it'll be another day when I've had no direct contact with vitamin D.

Word Count Woes

A letter to all those who've dealt with my writing.

Just to defray any concerns, this is just normal depression. I just feel like venting. I'm still going forward with my novel, and despite the tone of this post, I have no intention of stepping in front of a truck on purpose.

You've all been more supportive of my writing than I deserve most the time. You know who you are. I appreciate your support more than I could ever say. But sometimes when you reassure me, that just means I feel like you're too wonderful a person to understand the cruel, cruel world of publishing where great works of literature lay in the bottom of waste bins because publishers refuse to pay for paper to print them.

Every time I whine about my word count one of you dear sweet angels reminds me of the successful authors who publish tomes to rival my own. But the trouble is that some of those people already had connections in the industry. Even some of the first time writers. Still, I do have good days.

Some days I just tell myself that there's a chance that I'll be that one in a million bright shining star that gets published regardless of word count. I laugh and say "take THAT Crime and Punishment!" I remind myself of all the contemporary first time authors I know who went wildly over the industry's acceptable word count for what they were writing: Terry Goodkind, Terry Brooks, J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer... I know at least Rowling and Meyer had no previous connections.

Most importantly I remind myself that I believe in my story. I believe it's ready because, for the first time in 14 years, I am truly happy with it. I truly believe it is how it should be. Are there small edits and clarifications that could be done? Of course. There always are. But I feel this is finally the story in its true form.

But this is not one of the good days. This is one of those days where I read the industry standards and think about the agents that automatically reject based on word count. (There was actually one that had a program on her computer that would pick word count out of query letters and send a form rejection for books too long or too short without her even reading it!) This is one of those days where I ask myself if I'm wasting my time even sending this out. Part of me says it's perfectly sensible to shelve this story and try one of my shorter ones. When I have more credits to my name I can try again. But I'd have to edit a shorter one, and I would just feel like a failure and a coward for not sending this one out. I would worry that I would somehow talk myself out of ever sending anything out. I remind myself that I'll never know if I never try.

I guess I'm fine with being rejected based on my writing. That's too subjective for me to feel like one person (or even 100 people) can tell me what everyone will like. I have actually sent short stories out before and gotten rejections. I was fine with getting rejections, even excited because it meant I was trying. But I stopped sending out short stories because I personally stopped liking them. Not just short stories (which I've never liked), but the ones I had written as well. This wasn't based on the rejections at all because they were all form rejections.

But the thought of being rejected based on word count just makes me feel so hopeless. I keep thinking that even if I'm lucky enough to get someone to ask for the full manuscript, they'll reject it the moment they see it, no matter how much they like the idea or the writing.

Sigh... but moping never solved anything. So instead of crawling into a corner in a fetal position, I guess I'll go eat a pizza bagel and then get to work on my synopsis.

Utterly Devoted? The Psychology of Love

La Belle Dame Sans Merci - By JW Waterhouse
Literally translates as The Beautiful Woman Without Mercy,
Belle dame can also mean witch.
All of this relates pretty well to my rant.

While listening to a book review podcast they mentioned a character telling his love "Everything I do, I do for you." Other than being cliché, this sentiment gives me the heebie jeebies. If anyone said that to me I would probably be like "OMG! You need to get a life!" Okay, maybe it sounds harsh but hear me out. I'm not saying it isn't noble to put someone else before yourself. But if your life is so centered around one person that everything you do is for them, then what happened to your personality? Who were you before you met this person? Don't you have any desires of your own? When you can't fulfill this one person's every need, do you just sit in a corner and stare?

I think love should be about a partnership. To be in an equal partnership, you both have to have to be your own separate person. I don't want a slave (well, maybe sometimes I do, but I wouldn't marry one). I want to be able to have vibrant and dynamic conversations. I want someone who can disagree with me, who has thoughts and opinions of their own. You can't have that if you define yourself entirely through another person.

This is probably why I have a low opinion of so many romances, from Romeo and Juliet to most contemporary fare. I do like romance, but I think the type of mentality that goes into a lot of these romantic stories is disturbing and unhealthy.

Dentists, Agents, and Human Ducks

This duck seems to be saying "What are you looking at?"

I had hoped to wait on posting until my brain felt less like sludge. But I woke up early and it has remained sludge, so in fear of forgetting to post entirely, I shall summarize my day. I rode my bike to my dentist appointment in the pouring rain. Despite being decked out in rain gear (which my sister and I like to compare to being human ducks) water still soaked through to my sweatshirt. But my pants were dry at least. Rain pants were most definitely a good investment. Except I didn't invest in them, my sister did. So thanks to my sister!

At least the dentist appointment was good. The dentist and I actually agreed on procedure! Joy of joys! If I'm going to have a tooth pulled out of my face, I like to agree on how it should be done (i.e. I should NOT be sedated. I only want local anesthetic). He also seems to be taking the wait and see approach to my other wisdom teeth which suits me fine. All of mine are full bony impactions which can be just as much trouble to remove as leave in. Only one tooth is partially erupted and he will be removing that one because of risk of infection.

They also told me I had low blood pressure at the dentists (he's actually an oral surgeon, so it makes sense for him to take blood pressure). I've been told this before and no one seems particularly alarmed about it but I'vew always been curious what it means. Particularly since, with my personality, I've always worried I might have high blood pressure.

I am continuing to research agents to decide a list of ten who will be my first rejections. Hooray!

(And now it's raining some more but at least I'm inside!)

Literary Agents

It is my hope that a literary agent receiving my work does not have the above reaction. This picture is also a perfect representation of how I feel whenever I realize I've forgotten to post.

While looking for literary agents I forgot to post! Again! So my sister gets another free treat. But I'm deciding on a rule change since my sister has enough free treats and will still likely have a chance for them in the future.

NEW RULE: If I post BEFORE someone notices (and tells me verbally, by email, or comment) I have not posted, I will NOT be punished. Not by me or by anyone else. Otherwise, I'll go broke buying treats for my sister because this doesn't seem to help my memory at all.

Laser Tag

Today I played laser tag for the first time. I wasn't great at it, but it was lots of fun and I was better at it than my sister so that's good enough for me.

Beautiful People: Anime Edition

I'm a big fan of Kyoya from Ouran High School Host Club since he's the evil one. But deep down inside...okay, he's still evil there too, but he likes to use his evil for good. I like characters like that. I like to say that I don't have a thing for bad boys--and I don't. I have a thing for villains. Bad boys just do stupid and reckless things. Villains plot. Plotting's hot.

As for his looks. Kyoya's certainly not bad looking, as anime characters go, but it really is his personality that attracts me to him.

The World's Most Depressing Street?

While riding my bike today I passed a place called Macario Ct. For those of you who never took Spanish Literature in school (or had a sister who did) Macario is a great and clever story but on a depression scale, it's a bit like The Little Match Girl. Though it's far better written and actually features Death as a character. Click here for the story of Macario. I couldn't take a picture because it's been pouring rain all day. But put in "Macario Ct. Roseville California" into Google Maps and I guarantee you'll find it.

Happy Birthday Henry Green!

The Made-of-Awesome, Award-Winning author John Green has just become a father! Here's a video of his brother Hank congratulating him. I thought the video title might be confusing so, just so everyone's clear, this is HANK'S brother. NOT my brothers. My brothers had better not be having babies since the oldest one is 11.

Mice Are Nice

I did a mouse themed storytime today. I told Frederick by Leo Lionni and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. Both are great, and the kids seemed to like all of the stories relatively equally, but I enjoyed the other two stories I told the most. I've never told Mouse Count before but had seen another storyteller use Mouse Paint by the same author. I think I like Mouse Count the best because it manages to be, simple, cute, and clever all at once. I like stories that have a little bit of conflict so the snake is great. Probably the best counting book I've ever read. I love the snake's refrain describing the mice "little, warm, and tasty." And the pile of mice in the jar is irresistably cute.

This second story I have done before. It's in an anthology of mice stories, but my favorite is about a hive of bees landing on a mouse's head and how he climbs into a muddy swamp to get them off. I miss the awesome beehive hat that I borrowed from a storyteller where I used to work. But it's still fun to do the bee voices.

Reading and Really Enjoying

So much that I almost forgot to post!

Dinosaurs, Bears, Fruit and Storytime

I did another storytime at the local Whole Foods today. I got to use my booming voice and read the book shown above. Usually, I dislike children's books with obvious moral agendas (like being polite or doing what your parents say). But this one was cleverly done. And I was pleasantly surprised to see it was written by Jane Yolen, a notable fantasy author from my youth.




And this one was the simplest children's book that I've ever personally enjoyed.

No Longer...

I paid off all my student loans the other day. Part of me would have preferred to have to work them off. I know it sounds crazy but it would have been an excellent motivator and I would have felt more like I earned it. I'd also prefer not to have the money for the reason I have it.

But it is good not to be in debt.

In Search of Fox

I went in search of a fox puppet for my storytime today but to no avail. It would seem foxes are not in vogue. I don't have time to order one before the storytime, so I guess I'll just have to make one this time around.

Mmm... Delicious Sparkles

A friend of mine gave me these to me. These candy hearts actually sparkle and have flavors like "Orange Obsession," "Tempting Apple," and "Secret Strawberry." That last one's my favorite as it makes me want to laugh every time. Go on, show them your "Secret Strawberry." It sounds so wrong.

But I have to confess these candies actually taste really good--a lot better than normal candy hearts, which I've always thought taste like chalk. Maybe they're supposed to taste like what Bella would taste like to Edward. There should really be a Bella flavor -- Bella Berry anyone?

Erudite Conversations?

Today my sister and I were in a temporary Border's Bookstore in the mall. They had only been there for the Christmas season, so everything was on sale. I overheard this conversation at the register:

SALES CLERK [talking about all the great sales] -- "We had Gray's Anatomy on sale for a dollar."

CUSTOMER -- "Oh, really? I've seen the TV show but never read the books."

And then a little more of my faith in humanity was lost.

Hooray!

I actually attracted a crowd to my storytime today. They liked Where is The Green Sheep? so much that one kid even asked for an encore.

Wise Man Quotes

I know Zen rock gardens are Japanese and the philosophies I discuss are Chinese,
but I believe a rock garden could put one in a philosophical state of mind.

I thought I'd post now since I have a meeting for my volunteer job and an interview tomorrow. I've also been scouring the listings for literary agents who will represent new fantasy authors. I've found several but now I'm and stressing out over how to write my query letter.

Also I've decided to start a new blog segment featuring quotes from my former Chinese professor who was both hilarious and profoundly wise all at the same time. This one isn't one of the more hilarious ones, but it is very good advice. He was talking about test-taking but it can really be appplied to anything that takes work to accomplish:

"Before you take the test, be a Confuscist, but after you take it, be a Daoist."

Basically, for anyone unfamiliar with these philosophies, Confucius advocated hard work while Daoism is a go-with-the-flow accept and be happy with things as they are type of belief. So basically, it boils down to, working hard but not stressing once you've already completed the work.

Ice Skating

First, I am beginning to seriously worry I'm getting senile. Although, I did remember my blog at several points throughout the day, each time I'd get distracted and didn't do it! My sister's not sure what to do for my punishment. Maybe I'll owe her indentured servitude...

Anyway, yesterday I went ice skating with my meet-up group. I found out that I was much better at ice skating when I was a kid. Never great. But I think a combination of really wanting to be a figure skater and my own desire to impress others meant I was willing to overcome my fear of falling over and cracking my skull open.

Now I've pretty much accepted I'll never be a professional figure skater and I'm no longer concerned about impressing people with my ice skating skills. Only the fear of cracking my skull seems to be left.

However, I did not fall over once yesterday and I went around the rink several times, so I guess that's a success.

P.S. In case anyone notices (and so I don't try to weasel out of my punishment later) this blog does say Sunday, but that's only because I opened an empty one at the time it says and blogger counts the time you opened the new post, not the time you posted it. Since my sister noticed the lack of post before I posted, that means I owe her a punishment.

When Do Restaurants Kick You Out?

This picture has nothing to do with anything but it was hilarious...

So our meet-up group went to an Italian restaurant called Buca di Beppo and we talked for a really long time after the restaurant was empty. But they never kicked us out. At about 11:50PM we decided to call it a night, but I wonder how long we would have had to stay before they kicked us out.

And, of course, this means I forgot to post AGAIN! OMG! But this time I realized it before my sister so I only have to buy her another treat.

Darn

I was trying to be good and do a job application but that means I forgot to post! And even worse, didn't notice until my sister pointed it out! But she's having mercy on me since she knows I was working really hard on this job application, so I only have to buy her two treats (instead of the standard one if I had noticed on time). Still, way better than baking anything! Thanks, Chrissy!

Attention Span

Today I gave a storytime to an audience of one kid, but she was really fascinated by the stories, the type of kid you want at your storytime if you can only have one.

Wow...

I admit I like to make fun of native Californians and anyone else raised in a climate where 40 degree weather is considered to be winter. But even I'm glad I'm not currently having the weather much of the midwest and east coast is having right now.

I Am a Beautiful Animal!

I FINISHED EDITING! And I am FINALLY happy with it. Unlike the many, many times before. I truly believe in my novel, even if no editor ever will. Although, I hope they will. Now for step two: find agent before I succumb to the ever-present temptation to tinker...

My favorite author, Terry Pratchett, has been known to say that he does not feel his novels are ever finished, they simply escape. Mine needs to make a break for it, and I'll do my best to help it. Bring on the rejections!

Editing...

The last chapter of my story. Is the tree beautiful because it is beautiful or because it is in the distance and, for the moment, unobtainable?

Let's find out.

We Are Wizards

This is the Harry Potter documentary about the fan movement that made me decide to watch Wizard People, Dear Reader.

Wizard People, Dear Reader

If you click the title above, you'll be able to enjoy a both hilarious and profound voice over of the Harry Potter movie by a fan named Brad Neely. The whole movie is in a playlist. It sounds like a mix of a preacher preaching Harry Potter and old time oral storyteller turning Harry Potter into Buffalo Bill. If you haddescribed it to me I would never have been interested but listening to it, I loved it. Particularly the scene with the Mirror of Erised, he manages to make his reinterpretation of one of the best literary scenes of all time, both funny and deep. I particuarly like Ron's (or Ronnie the Bear's) response.