Literary Heroines Blog Party: 2015

I was not initially planning on joining the party this year, (what exactly was I thinking?), but there is something that I simply cannot resist about a really good tag, and this is not only that, it is the Kellie Falconer Literary Heroines Blog Party Tag! Obviously I was not thinking rationally. However, here it is now (and I need hardly say how excited I am about the finished piece)! A good old hearty thanks and cheers to Kellie for hosting this party once again! Note: All my answers on this tag are different from last year’s, but it does not mean the others are obsolete! Just expanded. And if you want to compare or anything, the link is right here. :)

~ The Questions ~

Introduce yourself! Divulge your life's vision, likes, dislikes, aspirations, or something completely random! 

I am Éowyn. Lover of horses, but especially of my own, Windfola. I relish stories that crush my heart to smithereens – but put it back together in the end, and I am on the trail of learning how to write them. A glass of Kombucha and a warm yam topped with cinnamon and farm-fresh raw egg yolks is my perfect lunch (yes I am a total health nut). I believe that a good sled hill covered with slick ice is one of the best things in the world. Finally, I am on a journey to see this world of God’s creation with all of its colors of culture and nature, and whether it be in a garden patch or between the pointed ears of a horse on the plains of Argentina, I know it’s going to be a good one.

What, to you, forms the essence of a true heroine? 

A heroine is someone who always strives to puts others cheerfully before herself, whether that be God, other people or simple duties.

Share (up to) four heroines of literature that you most admire and relate to. 

Nic from The Growing Up of Cornelia by L.M. Montgomery

Oh, goodness I love this girl! The most natural of girls in the world she acts young without being immature, likes childish pursuits and is awkward in normal social situations. Of all the heroines I have ever met she has the most points that I go “Yes, that’s me!” Now if only I can find a Sidney…

Majesty from The Light of the Western Stars by Zane Grey

She is fairly daring, but gets in over her head sometimes; feminine, honest, owns a beautiful ranch in the West, and undergoes wonderful and somewhat terrifying adventures… If Nic is who I most truly feel like in real life, Majesty is the one I dream of being. Not in every way of course, but almost…

Caroline from Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

Sweet, long-suffering, gentle, yet has enough personal struggles to make her likable. Put simply, she just behaves wonderfully. 

Valancy from The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

I feel villainous neglecting Jocelyn and Gay from A Tangled Web for Valancy, but since I couldn’t have both of them here she is! You know those love-hate relationships, where one is always grumbling about the person’s follies when apart, but you like being with them anyways? Well, that is Valancy and I to a tee. And strangely enough, though I can’t abide some of her speeches/actions to be independent, it is some of those variances of feelings on her part that make me like her at all. So, yes, I really think she is a favorite.

Five of your favorite historical novels?

With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin

The Light of the Western Stars

and Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson 

With Lee in Virginia by G.A. Henty

Out of those five books who is your favorite main character and why? 

St. Ives. Simply imagine a man with all the humor of Bertie Wooster, but with a brilliance of mind that is equal to it and you will have him.

 Out of those five books who is your favorite secondary character and why?

Venters from Riders of the Purple Sage. I think he may be more main than secondary character, but I shall pay that fact no heed – Impulsive, upstanding, good with animals, and quite clever in the wilds. There is something about him that makes me think that, with the correct handling, he would make a very nice brother.

If you were to plan out your dream vacation, where would you travel to - and what would you plan to do there? 

This trip is the pinnacle of all my dreaming for this year - I would head west on Rt. 66 to Inscription Rock NM, follow the Trail of the Ancients through the four corners area, then back through CO. This trip might not happen this year, but a girl can Google distances and read maps can’t she? :)

What is your favorite time period and culture to read about? 

As of February 2015? The 19th and early to mid 20th . Definitely English, but the US is also jolly - or not depending on whether it is a war, or domestic novel.

You have been invited to perform at the local charity concert. Singing, comedy, recitation - what is your act comprised of? 

Singing of course…with others.

If you were to attend a party where each guest was to portray a heroine of literature, who would you select to represent? 

Majesty in The Light of the Western Stars. I love the western riding costumes from that era, so it would be her riding outfit that I would choose to recreate.

What are your sentiments on the subject of chocolate? 

My emotions lean toward the dark, rich 90% cocoa bars or chia seed pudding.

In other words –the healthy stuff.

Favorite author(s)?

Jane Austen, Zane Grey. G.A. Henty, L. M. Montgomery, Madeline Polland, Sarah Sundin, J.R.R. Tolkien, and P.G. Wodehouse.

 Besides essentials, what would you take on a visiting voyage to a foreign land? 

An art journal –‘cuz by that time I will have learned how to draw and paint in an acceptable way. Also either a parent or sibling too, because I simply can’t imagine a trip without one or other of them.

In which century were most of the books you read written? 

The 19th.

 In your opinion, the ultimate hero in literature is… 

John Wesley Pringle from The Desire of the Moth by Eugene Manlove Rhodes.

Till my reading of this story I never could have believed that anybody with the name Pringle could be anything but distasteful, but John Wesley utterly somersaulted that notion. His actions are impressive in their understatement, his speeches made me laugh and the vein of tragedy in his life left me in tears. Yes, he is my ideal.

Describe your ideal dwelling place. 

A pueblo Indian dwelling, if not that, than an adobe or old rock ranch house with high beamed ceilings set in a grove of cottonwoods or aspens with a babbling brook close at hand (I am in the midst of reading Riders of the Purple Sage).

Sum up your fashion style in a short sentence. 

Classic, prairie, outdoorsy adventuress.

Have you ever wanted to change a character’s name? 

YES! The hero’s in The Lamplighter. It is not his name though which is his failing – William – no indeed it is one of my favorites, but what the author does with it. I shudder as I write the word Willie. Oh, I know that there are those that can pull off the epithet, but not him.

 In your opinion, the most dastardly villain of all literature is... 

Sir Roger from The Adventures of Robin Hood by Rosemary Sutcliff. That man is… TERRIBLE!!!

Three favorite non-fiction books? 

Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo

Whole Heart, Whole Horse by Mark Rashid 

And – you may laugh –

Walter Foster’s Learn to Draw Disney: Favorite Princesses 

Your duties met for the day, how would you choose to spend a carefree summer afternoon? 

Behind the wheel of my brothers ’68 ford truck, cruising the gravel roads that line the hills and valleys around our farm, feeling the rattle and jolt of it, breathing in the wind. I actually haven’t done this yet, but he let me drive it on a winter afternoon and oh was it lovely!

 Create a verbal sketch of your dream hat - in such a way as will best portray your true character. 

Cream, black felt, or a worn leather. A simply shaped crown – roundish but with an edge – and a broad brim either flat or with a bit of an adventurous tilt.

Share the most significant event(s) that have marked your life in the past year. 

Watching Four Faces West (1948) –Now people, that really is important for it is there that my burning desire to see Inscription Rock was ignited – I could go further with this movie trend…but I won’t. :) I set seriously to work on a novel, and…there was a great deal more, but most of it being already chronicled in this post, I shall not meander on about it here. :)

Share the Bible passage(s) that have been most inspiring to you recently. 

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

- II Corinthians 3:18 -