Monthly Archives: April 2017

#LoveWritingChallenge

Soo…instead of more Filler posts, I’ve decided to participate in this writing challenge by Katie Kling and her friend Kristin that will last during the month of May. Leave your thanks for this over at DarkFairy’s, who wrote about it first. 😉

What’s the challenge about?

#LoveWritingChallenge is a Social-Media-Parade for Authors.
Katie and Katrin want to share their love for writing and want to know about other peoples projects. That’s why they came up with this cross-media challenge to help people discover new books and get to know new authors.
For this they thought up theme weeks. Each week will be a new theme with seven sub-theme, starting on 1st May.

How can you participate?

Pick one or more themes of the challenge and simply write a post about it, create a picture, make a video or do whatever you like for your Blog or Social Media account. What exactly you’ll be talking about is up to you. You don’t have to write something for each daily theme, you might even make a collection post or something just for the weeks theme. They don’t want to have a strict set of rules.
If you write a blog post, link it to the main post and/or leave a comment there.
If you post something on Instagram, tag @thewritingcat or @katie_kling_autorin.
If you post on Facebook you can tag @autorinkatiekling.
Additionally use the Hashtag #LoveWritingChallenge.
This way they know about the participations and Katie can sum them up in post at the end of the week.

Week One

Die ersten Themen

The first themes

Conclusion

Well, this is what you can expect the following weeks.
Let’s see if I’ll make it through it. 😉
PoiSonPaiNter

Reading Together #18

Another Tuesday, another Reading Together.
You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.

As a reminder:

Gemeinsam Lesen” as it is originally called, is a project by German book bloggers Schlunzenbuecher. Each Tuesday you have to answer four questions regarding your current read.

For more information and my old participations take a look at this page: Reading Together.

Without much further ado, let’s take a look at today’s, obviously translated, questions:

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

I’m still reading Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent or Sleepy Hollow: Schaurige Erzählungen (Ghastly Tales) a book that I started reading back in 2014. It’s a collection of different essays and stories by Irving.

After a few days of reading I’m now on page 111.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

Alles dieß lasse ich als eine reiche Fundgrube hinter mir, welche spätere Erläuterer bearbeiten mögen; auch zweifele ich nicht, daß die Tabaksdose und der »halbvergoldete Becher,« welche ich jetzt an das Tageslicht gebracht habe, später Gegenstände zu Kupferstichen hergeben, und beinahe eben so viele bändereiche Abhandlungen und Streitschriften erzeugen werden, als der Schild des Achilles, oder die weitberühmte Portland-Vase.

or in English:

All this I leave, as a rich mine, to be worked by future commentators, nor do I despair of seeing the tobacco-box, and the “parcel-gilt goblet” which I have thus brought to light the subject of future engravings, and almost as fruitful of voluminous dissertations and disputes as the shield of Achilles or the far-famed Portland Vase.

Thanks internet for providing online reading material…I really wouldn’t have wanted to type and translate that…

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

Since last week I’ve come across some very interesting essays, one being English Writers on America, another being The Art of Book-Making and the last one being The Boar’s Head Tavern, Eastcheap. All of them have quite interesting points that even seem valid today.

In the first one he talks about English media relying on unreliable sources telling them about the New World (aka America) and this quote stood out to me in regards to the way modern media portrays certain things:

Knowledge is power, and truth is knowledge; whoever, therefore, knowingly propagates a prejudice, wilfully saps the foundation of his country’s strength.
W. Irving: English Writers on America

In The Art of Book-Making he describes a dream sequence were authors act like beggars and put together their own garments by using the works of those that came before them, essentially implying that no work of fiction – or even non-fiction – is new and just made up off thoughts and writings of authors of previous generations.
It’s a fascinating picture of something every writer came across at some point.

The last one deals with being a fan – in this case of Shakespeare – and what fans are willing to do to re-live what their heroes have written or to explore their writings differently. In Irving’s case he recalls a journey to Eastcheap where he wants to visit the tavern described in Henry IV.  Things like that are still done today and not just for books, but also movies and TV shows. It’s even encouraged through provided tours or guides to explore those places yourself. While we were in Bath, e.g. we followed an audio guide to take us to the places of Jane Austen’s life and books in the town – during my commute days I then listened to Northanger Abbey that partly took place in there. We did the same in London, where we followed – amongst others – a Sherlock Holmes audio tour, even if it was more in regards to the first Robert Downey Jr. movie than the actual books. I believe it can be quite interesting to see where the inspiration for a story or movie was taken from and then see how it was changed through the authors eyes.
And I’m pretty sure I read a post about this the other day, but I can’t remember where it was…

If anyone has a clue, let me know!
It wasn’t this one by the Schreibmeer (Writing Ocean, though probably also a pun on schreib mehr/write more, as it’s a page giving you writing advice), but it’s still an interesting (German) read: From Cosplay to self-research the hard way – When authors slip into the roles of their characters.

Another essay that might be interesting to some might be The Broken Heart, about the very true effect of women actually dying from heartbreak.

Seeing as there is quite a lot of stuff for these four available online, I’m pretty sure a lot of people seem to consider them similarly interesting. And I’m pretty sure I have to re-read the early pages to not miss out on other potentially interesting essays.

I also came across the Rip Van Winkle story, which seems to be rather famous, but I can’t say I ever actually heard about it… It does remind me of Schandmaul’s „Reich der Träume“ (Realm of Dreams) though, which I kind of put into a story here: Back from a Dream.
Though I do believe the story of someone disappearing into a dream land for years and returning to find their old life in ruins is quite a common and old concept. Which probably is the reason, why I didn’t care that much for the story itself…

On a different note: I’m pretty sure I can enjoy the essays about life in England/London more, now that I’ve actually visited it. Just like I appreciated the nods to the Gothic culture in Kinder des Judas more, after being more involved in it.

4. Do you have a booky project of the heart or a favourite book where you don’t waste any chances to make it known, because you think everyone should hear about it? Tell us about it!

Uhm…not really…There are books that I occasionally recommend to people, but I wouldn’t call them projects of the heart…that’s more likely to happen with shows, series and comics these days…
Though I did go to my local library to support/advertise the Märchenspinnerei yesterday…

Additional thoughts

Last weekend I send off a translated and lengthened version of  the first part of the Neubrandenwolf for a writing contest. I also wrote down a story for the latest Bücherstadtkurier contest, the one where my story got chosen a couple of years ago, but I haven’t send it to them yet. I’ll probably read through it a couple more times, before daring to do that.

opefully I’ll get some other writing done for The Queen’s Wish or even some of the old stuff lying around … we’ll see…

PoiSonPaiNter

© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Friday Filler #1

As I said on Tuesday: I might try another thing on Friday.
Fittingly it already contains the name „Filler“, which has a double meaning in this case, but anyway.

What is the Friday Filler?

The Friday Filler, or Freitags-Füller, is a Blogging activity by Barbara from Scrap-Impulse where she gives you five sentence fragments that you then have to complete, or rather: fill in.
And I’m basically using it as a Filler post, until I can come up with something more interesting again. You know, Filler, as in „episodes that have nothing to do with the actual plot“, those things most people loathe to come across in (mostly) Anime adaptations. 😉
But let’s take a look at today’s fill-in the gap sentences – the bold words are what Barbara gave us. I’ll have the sentences in German first and then add the translation.

1. Ich lese_____ – I read_____/ I’m reading_____

Ich lese noch immer die Essay- und Geschichtensammlung von Washington Irving. Es waren mittlerweile schon ein paar interessante dabei, da erzähle ich aber nächsten Dienstag mehr dazu.
————-
I’m still reading the essay and short story collection by Washington Irving. There have been a couple of interesting ones amongst them, but I’ll talk more about those on Tuesday.

2.  _____Resteverwertung – _____utilization of remains/_____utilizing remains

Ich bin ziemlich gut, was Resteverwertung von Lebensmitteln angeht. Zeug einen Topf oder eine Pfanne zusammenschütten und kochen/braten, das kann ich. 😀
————-
I’m quite good at utilizing remains, at least from groceries. Throwing stuff into a pot or a pan and cooking or roasting it, that I can do. 😀

3. Am Montag_____ – On Monday____

Am Montag kommt hoffenltich mein Arbeitskollege wieder, den ich seit zwei Wochen mal wieder vertreten muss.
————-
On Monday my colleague, that I again had to substitute for during the last two weeks,  will hopefully return.

4. _____ein Traum – _____a Dream

Das Leute, dass was ich schreibe gut finden ist ein Traum.
————-
That people like what I’m writing is a Dream.

5. Im übrigen_____ – By the way_____

Im übrigen schreibe ich immer noch am ‚Wunsch der Königin‚, auch wenn ich momentan eher damit beschäftigt bin den ersten Teil des Neubrandenwolfs etwas auszuweiten und zu überarbeiten.
————-
By the way am I still working on ‚The Queens Wish‚ even if I’m currently more occupied with lengthening and editing the first part of the Neubrandenwolf.

6. _____besonders für mich – ______especially for me./_____special for me.

Zu akzeptieren, dass es Leute gibt, die tatsächlich gut finden, was man schreibt ist ziemlich schwer, besonders für mich.
————-
To accept that people actually like, what you write is pretty hard, especially for me.

7. Was das Wochenende angeht, heute Abend freue ich mich auf _____, morgen habe ich geplant, _____ und Sonntag möchte ich ____! – About the weekend, today I’m looking forward to_____, tomorrow I plan to_____and Sunday I want to_____!

Was das Wochenende angeht, heute Abend freue ich mich auf das nach Hause kommen, morgen habe ich geplant, wieder ein bisschen an meinen Texten weiterzuarbeiten und Sonntag möchte ich am liebsten nicht wieder nach Neubrandenburg müssen!
————-
About the weekend, today I’m looking forward to
coming home, tomorrow I plan to work a bit more on my stories and Sunday I want to not have to return to Neubrandenburg!

Additional thoughts

It wasn’t easy to translate the sentences so I decided to keep both versions side by side. I hope that makes sense. I also probably interpreted some of the fragments differently than what was intended.
However, I’m pretty sure the seventh sentence might be the same for almost every weekend – and as it’s already the evening I’m already home so … anyway, there probably won’t be much variation as I spent most of my weekends with my dad …

Well, you can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.

PoiSonPaiNter

© For the the banner belongs to its rightful owners.

Reading Together #17

Remember when I last told you about the stuff I was reading at the time?
Really? Wow, great memory! That was more than two years ago!
Anyway, since I’m not really happy with the post-count recently I decided to start participating in this activity again, so you’d get at least a post on Tuesdays – I might participate in another one on Fridays as well, we’ll see.

As a reminder:

Gemeinsam Lesen” as it is originally called, is a project by German book bloggers Schlunzenbuecher. It was created by Asaviel and later adopted by Schlunzenbuecher.
Each Tuesday you have to answer four questions regarding your current read.

For more information and my old participations take a look at this page: Reading Together.
Without much further ado, let’s take a look at today’s, obviously translated, questions:

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

Today I decided to pick up Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent or Sleepy Hollow: Schaurige Erzählungen (Ghastly Tales) a book that I started reading back in 2014.
It’s a collection of different essays and stories by Irving and I basically only bought it originally to read Sleepy Hollow and decided to actually do so after starting with the Sleepy Hollow TV Show. The story itself is located somewhere in the back of the book, so it’s still a long way to go for me, as I’m still on page 46.
 

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

Mit dem Gefühle tiefen Bedauerns beobachte ich, wie die literarische Animosität zwischen England und Amerika von Tag zu Tag wächst.

or in English:

It is with feelings of deep regret that I observe the literary
animosity daily growing up between England and America.

Technically I cheated with this one, as the page starts with the title (English Writers on America) and a quote from Milton about Freedom of Speech (the „Methinks“ one), but this one seemed more interesting.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

Seeing as it took me years to pick up the book again and my relatively slow progress with it, I wouldn’t be surprised if I put it away again after reading a few stories.
It’s not that they’re not interesting, but they’re a bit complicated and long and – what probably bugs me most – in a horribly small font. It’s exhausting to read, so I don’t get far when I actually do.
I can’t quite remember the previous stories, but I don’t feel like starting from the get go again, so maybe I’ll just skim through them to refresh my memory…

4. Are you planning the Reading Together beforehand or are you answering the questions spontaneously on the day?

Well…as I haven’t participated in two years this one was quite spontaneously done…
Still, if I had the chance to know the fourth question beforehand, I’d use it.
I remember preparing the first three questions more or less beforehand, when I knew which book I’d be reading, so that I only had to add the page number and quote when I’ve done the reading on my way back from work.
Though, I do not plan what I’m going to read on a Tuesday so it could be featured on a Reading Together. Even if I had a few books where I hoped they’d last until Tuesday so I could talk about them. 😀

Additional thoughts

I really hope this’ll get me back into Blogging, but I’m still busy with those pesky stories and life-stuff, so we’ll see if it’ll work.
You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Crow Moon

Let’s face it: You all know I’m a lazy Blogger, so you shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of posts recently.
But I’m still kept busy by that writing project I mentioned the other day and I was at another Sabaton concert and I watched through Iron Fist and Wynona Earp and some other things. So yeah…
Yet, you still get part four of the Neubrandenwolf-Tale!
(You can find all chapters in proper order and some more information on this page: Neubrandenwolf)
So, have fun with:

Crow Moon

The slight hysteria following the discovery of his paw print had finally passed and any news regarding it were of the ‚just passing by‘ or ‚just a stray dog‘ variety. Thomas felt save enough to resume his usual routine. With the crows already cawing at him when he walked by, he also looked forward to playing with them.
The week before the full moon he took the bus as usual, but a quite unusual smell tickled his nostrils right away. A wolf. It was rare for him to meet one of his kind, but he recognized them anywhere. Pushed by the people behind him he made his way through the crowd following his nose until he found the source. In one of the double seats in the back sat a man all by himself staring back at him, surprise, fear and recognition written on his face. Since the refugee stream had reached the town Thomas had seen more and more of them regularly on the bus, but this one he certainly hadn’t met before; though he had always wondered if other wolves had come with them. The expression of the other made him wonder whether he had even seen another wolf before, so he made a quick decision and sat down beside him. The two of them just sat there not knowing how to start the conversation, especially in such a public place.
„I’m Thomas“, he finally started, fearing the other would have to get off soon.
„Amir“, the other answered meekly not looking at Thomas, but at one of the men standing in the bus bent, eying them.
To Thomas he seemed like another refugee, so he guessed the two knew each other or the other even knew what Amir was. Thomas looked from the man to Amir and whispered: „Can we talk?“
Amir looked at him for a moment, seemingly searching for something in his eyes, before he waved the other man to them with a nod. He came closer and they exchanged a few words Thomas couldn’t understand.
„Home we talk“, the other man told him, a stern expression on his face.
„Good“, Thomas agreed with a nod.
A few stops later, in one of the other cheaper districts, they got out and Amir and the other guy led him to their flat. They shared it with a few other adults and a few children that eyed him curiously. Amirs friend gave them a quick explanation and a phrase or word was whispered amongst them over and over, he assumed it meant ‚Werwolf‘. The children and women collected their things and soon left the flat, so that the men were alone.
„You wolf?“ Amirs friend asked after a moment, while Thomas was still just standing in the middle of the room, while the others sat on the old and worn couch and armchair or leaned against the wall.
„Yes“, Thomas agreed confidently, even if his flight instinct told him to be ready.
He was in a room with four men he didn’t know, one of them like him and frightened. What if they had lured him here to do something to him? The hair on the back of his neck stood up, but he tried to remain calm; he didn’t want to succumb to prejudices. Not in a situation like this.
„You kill?“ He now wanted to know, measuring him.
„NO!“ Thomas nearly yelled at him in protest.
The other nodded and pointed towards an empty space on the couch. Reluctantly Thomas sat down under watchful eyes before the other continued, waving towards Amir: „He kill“
Thomas‘ gaze landed on him and Amir had his head hung low in submission. „What happened?“ Thomas wanted to, even if his own fear could be heard in his words.
„They send wolf in my village. It kill all. Wife. Children. Family all gone. Me survive and people bring me to flee camp“, he explained, his eyes fixed on his hands. „When moon come wounds heal and then me monster and I kill all. No guns, no stop me“, he continued and Thomas could see the tears welling up inside Amir’s eyes and heard his voice breaking at the memory. „I flee on and meet Yussuf“, he finally looked up and towards the other. „When moon come I warn and he joke, but when me monster he and other“, he tried to explain by demonstrating the missing word by hitting his head.
„Knocked you out?“ Thomas tried.
„Yes“, Amir agreed, „But they no kill. They keep me live and knocked out each moon.“
„He no control“, Yussuf added.
Thomas looked from one to the other before offering: „I could teach you.“
„You control?“ Amir looked at him for the first time, hope shining in his wide open eyes.
„Yes. I can control it“, Thomas confirmed with a nod.
„What you do?“ Yussuf asked, demand in his voice.
„I eat and then run where no one else is“, Thomas gave him the short version.
„You run?“ Amir asked; admiration and surprise in his words.
„Yes. In the fields“, Thomas confirms again and the others exchange a few words.
„I want try“, Amir finally told him; seemingly afraid he would retract his offer.
„Do you have someone you trust that will come with us?“ Thomas tried to phrase as easily understandable as possible.
„That dangerous!“ Amir disagreed.
„Yes, but that is how I learned not to hurt people“, Thomas admitted.
„All trust dead“, Amir said after a moment of silence and looked at his hands again.
„I come“, Yussuf interjected, earning an awed expression by Amir, before adding towards Thomas: „When you want run?“
„The full moon, March 12th, a Sunday“, Thomas told him and Yussuf wrote it down on a slice of paper that lay on the table.
„You help me?“ Amir wanted to know.
„Of course, I’ll show you everything“, Thomas promised and then instructed: „You need to eat a lot before you leave, meat is best. Eat until you’re full. You also need a bag where you can store water and your clothes. Wear wide and old ones.“
Yussuf made more notes and Amir nodded gratefully: „Thank you much, wolf friend!“
[Edit: This is a new scene]
When he had left Thomas had given Amir his phone number and they had agreed to meet up during the days leading up to the full moon. One evening they walked around the nearby lake, chatting.
„What did you do back home?“ Thomas asked, but only earned a confused look; the language barrier wasn’t always easy to overcome. „What was your job?“ He tried again.
„I was – Biologist – I studied plants“, Amir replied, a sparkle in his eyes.
„I wouldn’t have picked you for a plant guy“, Thomas laughed and then explained with a smile: „You don’t look like someone interested in plants.“
„You not look like IT person either“, Amir countered, a smile spreading on his lips.
„Good point“, Thomas agreed and the both of them started laughing.
„The lake is pretty, but not like lakes at home. There many water flowers and beautiful tress around. Not like this“, Amir reminisced looking longingly across the still water.
„Have you been to the park yet?“ Thomas wondered and only earned a shake of the head.
„In winter it’s not as pretty as in spring and summer, but I guess you’d like it there. Lots of plants“, Thomas explained.
„Can we go there?“ Amir quietly asked after a pause.
„Sure“, Thomas agreed with a wide grin.
They were silent for a moment before he asked: „Will you be able to work as a Biologist again?“
Amir only shrugged. „I not know if me allowed to stay. This house“, he paused, searching his mind for the word, „temporarily. Might be we sent away again“. He avoided looking at Thomas when he mournfully admitted: „I not know names and words for plants“
„That shouldn’t be a problem. I have a friend that studies Biology. I could ask them for a book or help you pick one up from the library“, Thomas offered after thinking about it for a moment.
„You do that?“ Amir asked in surprise.
„Sure. If you’re less fearful for your human life, you’ll be less afraid of your wolf life and the change will be easier“, Thomas explained calmly.
Amir smiled and then just hugged Thomas tightly: „Thank you much.“
[/Edit]
On the full moon day Thomas went to the bus station to pick them up. As the buses had a horrible schedule at this time of the day on Sundays they had agreed to meet him on his hill. Together they then walked along the way he usually already ran. He didn’t want Amir to turn at the edge of the district and he could already feel the wolf stirring inside of the other, so he fastened his steps. Finally they made it to the field and he led them to the forest at its border. There he put down his bag and motioned for Amir to do the same. Under the watchful eyes of Yussuf they removed their clothes and put them neatly into their bags. Amir was shaking by now and covered himself with his hands. Thomas grabbed him by the shoulders, „Breath“, he ordered calmly and Yussuf translated similarly, just in case. It felt to Thomas like his own wolf wanted to react to Amirs. This was his territory and the other wolf was trespassing. ‚No he wasn’t‘, Thomas scolded himself, ‚I invited him‘ and the wolf calmed down a little. Without warning Amir couldn’t hold it back any longer and started to turn. Thomas stepped away and let him. Completely transformed Amir snarled at him and Thomas held out his hand. „Hudu'“, he tried in Arabic, but the wolf turned towards Yussuf instead. He could feel the bloodlust and instinct taking over, but before Amir could jump, Thomas tackled him to the ground, now in wolf form as well. The two of them rolled on the ground biting and clawing at each other; Yussuf seemingly forgotten. It was soon apparent that Thomas was the stronger of the two and Amir yelped into a submissive position. Thomas barked at him and he started running, Thomas following suit. They ran and they fought and greeted the moon to their hearts content.

Behind the Scenes

Basically the only thing that really happened here is the fact that we have an increase in refugees that also take the bus. Though, I never really talked to any of them (there was this girl I asked about her singing the other day, but that was basically the entire conversation) as I’m not really the kind of person to start a conversation, let alone have small talk, with strangers/people I don’t know – unless it’s at a concert when I’m by myself or really want to ask the other person something, for some reason…
Anyway, the other thing are of course the crows (careful: one of my very first posts). There is a at least one murder here somewhere that is quite loud and pretty creepy…especially when you just want to reach your bus (or go to work). Currently it’s seagulls by the way, so they take turns? I don’t know. I only know that ever since I watched Hitchcock’s The Birds I’m very suspicious of large amounts of them flying around… (Same on a smaller scale with mist, since reading Stephen King’s The Mist, as I haven’t seen the movie-versions yet…) Good thing we have so few birds and mist up here…[/sarcasm]
By the way do I think that „The Year of the Moon“ might be a good title for this thing.
What do you think?
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story as well.
Stay tuned for part five: Water Moon! 😉
PoiSonPaiNter