Day 221: Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.  ISBN: 9780440229490.

Kira is a thread worker, someone who works with embroidery and other techniques.  While she was taught, most of it apparently comes to her through "magic."  She just feels her fingers take over and do the work.  I think we all wish we had skills like that, but part of the reason they are so cherished is because we have to work so hard at them.  Certainly there are prodigies in every field, and people who just have a knack for learning certain skills.

I remember as a child trying to find that one thing I was good at.  I hopped from ballet to tap dance to guitar to writing to whatever else I could think of.  My parents were generous and encouraging in my interest, but when I felt I had failed they didn't encourage me to continue.  Instead I was allowed to move on to the next thing.

As it is I feel the only thing I really have any "magic" ability for is writing Rupert stories, and that is a stupid, stupid "talent."  By now I've been writing Rupert stories for three days straight for NaNoWriMo.  I'll be making updates on my twitter account @libs_lib, where I also make updates about what I'm reading.  I'll try to keep it updated with what particular story I'm working on, so you can be all excited about buying them and making me rich.  Rupert the Magical Pony, imma turn you into a Magical Cashcow.  Yeah, probably not, but in the meantime I will try to spread much Magical Pony Joy.

Do I wish I had a better talent?  Sure, but I know at least a few people that Rupert makes happy, and I hope there will be others.

A decent, if short, review can be found at Books R4 Teens.

Day 220: Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.  ISBN: 9780440229490.

I loved the idea that as people in the village got older they added syllables to their name.  For instance someone who begins life as Ann could end life as Annabella.  It's almost like building in an honorific into the name: the more syllables you have, technically the more respected you are.  Those who reach four syllables are considered by the community to be "all knowing," the wisest and most informed.

I like this mostly because as we grow older we change as people.  It makes sense to me that we should also change our names, but recognize the past that who we are now was built on.  Women get this opportunity when they marry, and while it does mark a change in their lives and who they are, it also implies some loss of identity.  They once belonged to their father's family, and now they belong to their husband.  Taking another last name does not so much give credit to your past as it erases it from everything but your family tree.  There's always the option of hyphenating, but that gets messy after several generations and most of us only change our last names once or twice.

Personally, I've never really liked my first name.  The only problem of course, is that I don't know what other name to give myself.  For awhile I toyed with Vivian Leigh, but that was a name for a much older woman, a woman who smokes cigarettes with a holder, drinks brandy, wears gaudy costume jewelry, and writes filthy, filthy romance novels in her six bedroom mansionette, probably located in Virginia or possibly Georgia.  I am obviously not there yet, though you will never see me smoking cigarettes, not even with a handcrafted ebony holder.  This is a name I came up with when I was about 13 and actively writing smut.  Had I been ambitious in that area I may have actually tried publishing under that name when I became a little older.

I would consider taking Danny's last name (which is not actually Walker).  It unfortunately ends with an ee sound, which would not go well with my first and/or last name (Amy Leigh).  Yeah, toooooo many ee sounds.  I could see myself becoming an Amelia at some point, which only gets me up to three syllables.  Maybe people who know me can recommend better names?  Do you like your name, do you have other names you use as pseudonyms?  What are they, why do you have them, how long have you had them, and why did you choose that name for yourself?

A decent, if short, review can be found at Books R4 Teens.