The Q Crew

It's time to move on! (New Blog Link)

2015-02-27T15:30:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday, readers.

First off, I want to thank you.

This blog was a HUGE aspect of my middle school years, and I made so many friends through it. I expressed myself, shared photos, and gained the confidence to put myself out into the world and be judged for the content I created. In return, I got so much love and support.

If you'll look at the timestamp on the last post, you'll realize that I've severely neglected this blog. It's in a state of disrepair, like an abandoned building with the weeds coming up out of the floor. Although I still collect dolls, I have so many more interests now, and because of that I think that it would be best to leave this blog up for nostalgic and reference purposes and move my new mind over to a new blog.

It's certainly bittersweet to be leaving this little space of mine, but it feels more like visiting a childhood home, and putting a sign up on the door, directing you to my new address. That's exactly what I'm doing, actually, except I don't have the technical skills to make a legitimate plank bearing my inscription.

My new blog is bearing the name Quinny & Co., which will forever be my brand (the name of this blog will be changed). And the url is actually the name, which is all-around convenient. Here's the link:

http://quinnyandco.blogspot.com

And now, dear readers, I bid you adieu.

Quinlyn

16th Birthday!

2013-12-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone!

My 16th birthday was on the 15th of November, and I had a great day. My dad surprised me by coming in with some pretty birthday balloons, and although they're deflating now, I plan on saving a couple to remember the day by.

Mom and I made my favorite kind of cake--pineapple! Not a pineapple upside down cake, but a plain cake with pineapple in it and cream cheese icing. It is so good.

I put on the candles. Isn't it beautiful. ;)

It was soon time for opening presents, which is of course one of the best parts of any birthday! I had good guesses about some of my gifts, but some really surprised me.

A doll! A doll! Who could it beeeee...

CAROLINE!!!!

She is such a beauty. I didn't expect her, and in a way that made her arrival even better. Her hair/eye combination is striking and I love having an American Girl with curly hair. I haven't taken many pictures of her yet, but I've entered her into a photo competition, so I'll be uploading the resulting photos onto my Flickr. :)

November was a crazy month for me. Not just because of my birthday, but because of NaNoWriMo! As you might have seen on my sidebar, I was an active participant this year. But another post about that is coming up, so stay tuned!

Have a great week.

Quinlyn

Us Singing The Confrontation - Celebrate Musicals Week Finale

2013-09-27T11:52:00.000-06:00

Salut Les Amis!

It's the end of the week and what a week it's been. We've explored shippings, seen some awesome pictures, and cried over Jean Valjean and Cosette. I thought I should end the week with a bang, so here it is.

A couple of weeks ago, my library had a karaoke night. I'd done library karaoke before, but this was going to be different--instead of just a random song off the list, Michael and I decided that we were going to do something special. We sing the Les Mis songs together all the time, and my mom suggested that we perform one of them.

We chose The Confrontation.

We learned the words by heart because we were making our own karaoke disc and it wouldn't have the lyrics on it. We practiced over and over and over, performed it for both our parents and finally decided that yes, we were indeed ready for this. I put on a sort of boyish outfit because I thought it would be strange to get up there as Jean Valjean in a pink frilly something.

We came, we sat, we waited. Then, we got up there.

Yes. Yes we did.

(Mom apologizes for her laughter--she says that she was excited and watching the audience member's shocked expressions. LOL)

It was a very fun performance and I'm glad to be able to share it with all of you...for either your listening or laughing pleasure. ;)

Thank you so much to Amy Dashwood for hosting this Celebrate Musicals Week blog party--I've really enjoyed sharing my Les Mis love with my readers and perusing all of the awesome posts from the rest of the participants.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Quinlyn

The Convict and the Lark - Celebrate Musicals Week, Day 3

2013-09-25T08:25:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Day 3!

(I'm going to do this red-and-black thing the rest of the week, guys.)

There are a number of amazing relationships in the story of Les Miserables. Most of these aren't romantic at all, and those, in my opinion, are the best ones. One of my favorites is that of Jean Valjean and Cosette, which I will spend some time talking about today. This one is a bit more serious than the last Shipping post. Get the tissues out--you might need them. But then, if you're a Mizzie (is that the correct term for us?) you're probably trained to grab your tissues whenever you even see the words Les Mis. So, you're good.

The story of Jean Valjean and Cosette really begins with Jean Valjean and Fantine. Fantine was ruined indirectly by Jean Valjean after she was fired from his factory. He didn't fire her (indeed, he would have helped her if he'd known how desperate she was) but his overseer did, and Fantine was sure that Monsieur le Maire was not as kind as he had always been thought to be. As she spiraled downwards into the depths of despair, she also developed a sheer hatred for this man who had inadvertently caused her so much distress.

When Fantine is abused by a man, she fights back and gets arrested herself. She's given a prison sentence, but Monsieur le Maire lets her go. The truth comes out about her situation, and Jean Valjean is horrified by what he has done to this woman. He cares for her the best he can in the time she has left and they form a bond punctuated by Fantine's intense love for her daughter. However, not even the best of care can prevent Fantine's death, as illustrated in one of the most heart-wrenching songs of the musical.

And suddenly, Cosette (called the Lark by her neighbors) was as good as an orphan with no one to care for her but Jean Valjean, on the run from the law yet again. In the musical, Javert pretty much lets Jean Valjean go after The Confrontation. In the book, it's definitely not that simple. After some shrewd dealing with the Thenardiers he has to employ every bit of his physical strength and mental cunningness (both developed via his convict years) to get both Cosette and himself hidden.

It shows such love on Valjean's part that he would risk his life to save the child of this dying woman, whom he had known for so short of a time. All he knew was that Fantine depended on him, and although he failed her, he was not going to fail her daughter. Cosette adores the man that rescued her. She is a gentle little girl who simply wants to be loved. And love her, he does.

The paradoxes are so beautiful. The Convict and the Lark. The little girl and the wizened man. The one who loves unconditionally because she has never had anything to love until now, and the one who had to learn to love all over again for the same reason. One of my favorite quotes in the novel is this one:

When he saw Cosette, when he had taken possession of her, carried her off, and delivered her, he felt his heart moved within him.

All the passion and affection within him awoke, and rushed towards that child. He approached the bed, where she lay sleeping, and trembled with joy. He suffered all the pangs of a mother, and he knew not what it meant; for that great and singular movement of a heart which begins to love is a very obscure and a very sweet thing.

Poor old man, with a perfectly new heart!

Which, of course, says it better than I ever could.

Along with the other songs performed on Broadway for so many years, a new song was added to the Les Miserables repertoire for the 2012 movie. It's called Suddenly, and it's sung by Jean Valjean about Cosette. I think it was an excellent decision to add this song and there's no better topic they could have added to.

"Suddenly you're here. Suddenly it starts. Can two anxious hearts beat as one?

Yesterday I was alone, today you walk beside me."

On that note, I end my post for today. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Quinlyn

P.S. This one is for my American Girl fan readers! I found this adorable picture of the Cosette actress Isabelle Allen with her AG doll, Caroline, who coincidentally looks a lot like Cosette!

Ships a Plenty, Ships Galore - Celebrate Musicals Week Day 2

2013-09-24T12:59:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Day 2!

(LOL it's red and black.)

From Urban Dictionary:

Shipping - A term used to describe fan fictions that take previously created characters and put them as a pair. It usually refers to romantic relationships, but it can refer platonic ones as well. (Just think of "shipping" as short for "relationSHIP".)

Shipping is a vital part of any fandom, Les Miserables included. Today, young students, I shall teach you how to ship characters with revolutionary flair. *puts on glasses that I have but never wear but I really should*

First, we'll make a quick little list on several possible ships. If you respond to the mention of any of these with salivating, loud squealing, hyperventilation, or fainting, chances are you already ship them.

Eponine/Enjolras (This one is very common and often referred to as Enjonine.)
Fantine/Jean Valjean
Marius/Eponine
Marius/Cosette (which, as everyone knows, is literally the only ship that was made "canon", or happened in the actual thing)
Cosette/Enjolras (DO NOT THROW THINGS AT ME, YOU KNOW THIS IS TRUE.)
Gavroche/Young Cosette (I cannot be the only one who thinks this is adorable even though this is technically impossible since they weren't children at the same time...don't you just love Les Mis timelines?)

Since you can literally ship anything, it would be ridiculous to list them all in this post. Otherwise I'd have to mention things like Enjolras/His Flag and Marius/Cake. But these are the main ones I've noticed. Commence elaboration.

Enjolras/Eponine (Enjonine)

(To be honest, I never shipped them all that much until I saw this picture with Begin Again lyrics, because I love Taylor Swift and the lyrics were just so. perfect.)

Eponine and Enjolras are often shipped together because they're fan favorites on their own (ON MY OWN, PRETENDING HE'S BE--sorry). Together, they're just a powerhouse of awesomeness. First of all, they're both pretty rough-and-tumble, and I'm sure Enjolras would appreciate Eponine's ability to care for herself and do what she believes in. On the other hand, Enjolras is obviously not a fan of people's emotions getting away of anything ("Who cares about your lonely soul?"), which Eponine was fond of doing. Nevertheless, after all was said and done and Enjolras was no longer concerned with the well-being of France's gamin, it's altogether possible he'd enjoy getting to know one better.

Fantine/Jean Valjean

(I think I mainly shipped this because Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway looked so good together...)

I was surprised to learn that I wasn't the only one who had thought about Fanjean. Fantine, in the book, loves Monsieur le Maire dearly (albeit as a friend) because he has proved himself to her as a wonderful human being. After he realized the trouble he caused her, he cared for her and visited her every day. And for heaven's sake, he adopted her daughter!!! Granted, this was after her untimely demise, but still.

Marius/Eponine

(How cute is this picture though. Really.)

Marius and Eponine is one of the most logical ships because Eponine spends most of the show pining away after the young Pontmercy. Some people feel that he should have gone with her all along, and that Cosette was just a passing fantasy, distracting Marius from the real love of his life. I disagree, considering that in the book, Marius actually knew Cosette longer than he knew Eponine. I love that he befriended Eponine and held her while she was dying, but I just can't see them being together. Victor Hugo did not intend it. But of course, I doubt he thought of some of these others, either...

Marius/Cosette

(Sleeves, guys. Who needs a purse when you've got sleeves?)

They got married. The end.

Just kidding--I should spend some time talking about them. So in the musical, they see each other, they sing to each other, they're in love, they get married. It's all good. A lot of people despise Cosette for one reason or another, but I have to say that I don't, just like I don't despise Marius. Both she and Marius did some slightly annoying things but Cosette was a strong girl who loved her father and Marius with her whole heart. And she had a tough childhood! (I'm giving her points for that.) I read another post about Marius having PTSD after his experience on the barricade, and how Cosette married him anyway knowing what to expect. *sniffle sniffle* :')

Gavroche/Young Cosette

3.....2.....1.....

AWWWWWW.

That is all.

So ends my post for Day 2. I'm actually getting more of these done than I thought. I hope they're as entertaining to read as they are to write. :D Let me know what you think about these shippings in the comments--I know we all have very strong feelings about which characters should be together. ;)

Adieu,

Quinlyn

Celebrate Musicals Week, Day 1 - Introduction to Les Mis!

2013-09-23T12:32:00.002-06:00

Hello everybody!

I've decided to participate this week in something called "Celebrate Musicals Week", hosted by the lovely Yet Another Period Drama Blog. I thought it would be a great opportunity to connect with fellow musical lovers and tell you all about one of my very favorite musicals to date...

Les Miserables!

I know a lot of people will be doing Les Mis this week, but I just couldn't pass it up. I'm pretty swamped with schoolwork at the moment so I'm going to be doing three posts throughout the week, including this one. It's going to be so much fun, y'all!

Amy Dashwood posted some questions on the blog to get everybody started:

1. What musical did you pick to "spotlight" this week and why?

Les Miserables, because I've been just a wee bit obsessed with it for several months now.

2. How did you discover the musical you picked (hereinafter referred to as "your musical")?

I remember hearing the very popular On My Own a long time ago. I really liked it and sang it all the time, but as for the rest of the musical, I was pretty disinterested. I didn't even know what it was about. Then the movie came out last year, and it rekindled my interest. Historical people singing? Anne Hathaway? Definitely sounded up my alley. I can't remember exactly what the progression was from interested to loving it, but I started listening to the songs and watched the 25th Anniversary Edition when it came on TV. Another reason Les Mis is my favorite is because, even taking away the musical element, you've got a powerful story underneath. That, I think, is what makes musicals so wonderful. Not the catchy songs, but the story they represent. I'm working though the Les Mis book (all 900-some-odd pages of it) and it's quite a remarkable piece.

3. If you had to pick three favorite songs from your musical, which ones would they be?

Hard question. There are so many beautiful ones, each haunting for their own reason.

Do You Hear the People Sing, because there are so many verses to this song and it's inspirational and rousing.
A Little Fall of Rain, because it's such an emotional song and I love Eponine's final scene with Marius. I remember crying the second or third time I heard it, because I was having a bad day and it was just so beautiful (my brother always wonders why these terribly sad songs make me happy, LOL)
Look Down and its reprises. Again, because there are many ways to sing it and each one represents the lowliest people in the musical. First, Valjean and the convicts, and second, the peasants in the sewers.

4. What's your least favorite song from your musical?

Lovely Ladies.

5. Who are your favorite characters (choose up to three)?

Why are these questions so difficult? :D Alright. In no particular order: Eponine, Jean Valjean, and Enjolras. Eponine because of her hard life and her love for Marius to the bitter end, Jean Valjean because he made such an epic journey from convict to loving father, and Enjolras because he started a revolution based on what he believed in and looked awesome while doing it. ;)

6. Which versions of your musical have you seen/listened to, and which is your favorite?

I've seen the 25th Anniversary special at the O2 theater and listened to snippets from many different shows and performers, including the movie (which I haven't seen yet, but soon!). From everything that I've listened to I have to say that, singing wise, the 25th Anniversary edition is my favorite because the singers are just. so. good.

7. Is this your favorite musical of all time? If not, what is?

Pretty much, yeah. I also really like Phantom of the Opera, Funny Girl, The Sound of Music, and The King and I.

8. Which cast album/musical soundtrack in your collection do you listen to the most?

I don't own any of the albums as of yet, but I listen to the 25th Anniversary and 2012 movie editions the most. Unfortunately, they never made an album of the O2 theater songs (I can't imagine why not!).

9. What is your favorite costume from your musical?

Eeeee!! I'm going to pick from the movie, because goodness, there were some lovely outfits in that thing (and I'm a sucker for historical outfits anyway). As much as I liked Cosette's puffy-sleeve dresses (I definitely think you could fit a couple of small dogs in those wedding sleeves of hers), I'm going to make it a tie between Enjolras's and Eponine's respective barricade uniforms.

10. If you could change anything about your musical, what would you change?

I would have preferred if they had toned down the songs surrounding Fantine's prostitution, because although I understand that she went through a terrible ordeal (as so many women did in those times) it was not made much of in the book and therefore I think they could have done without it in the show.

11. Which role(s) would you most like to play in any musical, if you had the opportunity to do so on stage?

Ahh, dreaming a dream here, I see! ;) Definitely Eponine. But then, what girl doesn't want to play Eponine? I'd also enjoy playing Gavroche, as girls often play his part and he's just so funny. As for non Les Mis characters, I'd enjoy being Lucy from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

12. Do you consider yourself a musical theatre fan in general or do you just like a few musicals?

I know that there are musical theatre fans way, way beyond my level so I think I'll just say a few musicals. I'm picky about musicals, and, like I mentioned above, they have to have an excellent underlying plot for me to really enjoy them.

13. Are you tired of the word "musical" yet?

No but I think the readers might be. :D

14. Turn your music playing device on shuffle (or utilize Pandora if you don't have one) and tell us the names of the first three show tunes that come up-- no cheating! How do these rank on your favorites/most-listened-to list?

My music is so scattered around different places that I did one song from my Musicals playlist, one from my Les Miserables playlist, (both on Spotify, because I love Spotify) and one from my iTunes on shuffle. In order, I got:

Glee Club Rehearsal from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. This is actually one of my favorite songs from that musical and I've listened to it many times.
Bring Him Home from Les Miserables. I really like this one, though I haven't listened to it many times. I especially love Alfie Boe's performance of it. I like that it's a song devoted to Marius, because even though he's a bit ridiculous at times he is, after all, "only young, only a boy".
People from Funny Girl. A classic in every way.

That's it for today's post...come back to the barricade on Wednesday for another one!

Au revoir,

Quinlyn

AG Sale Items--Photos and Reviews!

2013-08-05T12:58:00.003-06:00

Happy Monday Afternoon!

Last Sunday, American Girl surprised everybody with new sale items. I had passed up their last sale, but this one had things that I can never resist--cheap AGP exclusives and retired outfits! I ordered that night for fear that everything would be gone before the next morning. Turns out only one of my items had sold out, but I'm still glad I got it in early.

I opened my items yesterday (the package had come Friday but I missed that info) and I'm very happy with everything I bought. Gather 'round, folks...here are the pictures:

First we have Molly's Pajamas...they recently retired these when her new blue pajamas and yellow bed were introduced. They're really very sweet...I love the style and the stripes (Leah: Vertical stripes are slimming, right...?). By the way, the American Girl description says "Molly’s classic pajamas are made of the softest red-and-white-striped material." They lied. But for $12? I don't really care. ;)

As soon as I saw Kit's Coat on the sale I knew that I must have it. Again, this has been recently retired (you can still search for it and the link will come up, but the link has been removed from the website). I love the look of coats like this, and Kit couldn't go without such an integral part of her story. It took me five minutes to get on (phantom buttons and plastic belt buckles, Yay!) and I'm not looking forward to taking it off, but the fabric is nice and heavy and you have to admit that it looks awesome. I'll probably knit her a hat to go with it.

Julie models the fashion show outfit (American Girl hosts fashion shows and this was the official outfit they sold one year) and the Ruffle Cap. The outfit is simply darling and great quality.

Close-up of the printing on the front and the tag on the sleeve.

Oh, the pants. The pants. They're made of thick cargo material in a great color. I love the little star stitching. There's even a real pocket!

Close-up of the hat, which is totally cool, man.

Lastly, Felicity models the pink skort (I got the shirt with another sale order a few months back). It's really sweet, just a simple stretch cotton material. It's very pink, but as you've guessed by now, I like pink. A lot.

Cute star detailing on the front. American Girl is also written on the back waistband.

Last but not least, I got Lindsey's book. Wave a $2 out-of-print American Girl GOTY book at me and I'm sure to grab on every time.

(Bonus pic I took last night of everyone together! ;)

Hope everyone's having a great summer! Or, if you've already gone back to school, my best wishes for your school year!

Quinlyn

Doll Storage Part 2: The Dolls Themselves

2013-07-31T19:39:00.002-06:00

Good Evening!

Last time, I posted about doll clothing storage. Now I'm going to show you how I display and organize all of the dolls in my collection, with the hope that you might get some ideas for your own dolls!

Large dolls can easily take over any space that they're put in unless they're organized in an efficient manner. When I accepted that I was hopelessly taken over by dolls and needed to change my storage situation (aka sitting them in random places all over my room and sometimes Mars) my mother came to the rescue again. She suggested the rack.

No, no, not the torture device. A shoe rack, to be precise. They're incredibly versatile, you can stack them on top of each other, and even change the shelves to get whatever height you want between each one!

Here's a picture of my shelf from 2010. There aren't many dolls on it there, so you can see the design and how it's put together. At the time, I just used it for my A Life of Faith dolls because it was before we moved and my room got smaller.

Here I am posing with the current state of my shelf, in 2013! I'm about 5'4, by the way, so you can see how tall it can get. Since the previous picture was taken, I've added several extra levels and made room for many more dolls. It can hold my whole collection (minus my Girls of Many Lands, which reside on my dresser), plus Penny, Patriot, and other, smaller pets. I need to update again and either get rid of the small middle rack (it's being used for odds and ends at the moment until I can get a shelf up in my room for them) or use it for AG pets and small Webkinz. Cute, no?

We got my shoe rack turned doll shelving from Sam's Club, but I'm sure you can find them in many stores. This is the exact one I have, except in brown: http://www.bjs.com/store/seville-classics-3-tier-shoe-rack-platinum.134684589-.html. However, several different adjustable styles would work. Make sure that whatever you buy is sturdy, because you don't want your dolls to come tumbling down in the middle of the night! To dress up the shelves, you could add fabric for the dolls to sit on (like I've done with the Ginger Brook Hollow shelf) or perhaps weave in some flowers. Whatever suits your fancy!

Happy organizing!

Quinlyn

My Hanging Doll Clothes Storage

2013-07-25T13:49:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite parts of doll collecting is the clothing. There's something about a well-made doll outfit with lots of little details and intricacies that I just love.

Because I collect several kinds of dolls, I have a lot of doll clothes. Most of my American Girl clothes are stored in a bin, but my A Life of Faith dolls have lots of fluffy dresses that can't be put into boxes. For years I've been hanging them in my closet on the built-in rack, but it's not very large and I needed more space for my own clothes. My mother was starting to go crazy over it, so she came up with a great idea for vastly improving my storage situation without crushing the dresses.

TADA.

Isn't my mother brilliant? Isn't she?

What we have here is a second closet rack above the first one, low enough so that you can still reach the clothes without lugging out the step ladder, but high enough so that the dresses won't trail the level below. This gets them out of the regular closet space and gives them a section all their own. As a bonus, on the top I can fit empty AG boxes.

We bought the extra closet rack at Lowes. This one was about four feet, and it is attached at the end of the closet. If that's all the storage you need, you can stop there. If not, you can buy more pieces and even extend it to the length of your previous rack. Some walk-in closets would probably be a better candidate for this since you can usually see the end of the closet wall much better, but it certainly worked for mine which just has sliding doors.

So, if you're having trouble with doll clothing storage, I hope this helps you! Ask your dad for help if, like me, you're more handy with dolls than drills.

Quinlyn

P.S. You could also use this idea for pet clothes.

My First Story: Miracle Maxi

2013-06-20T12:52:00.001-06:00

Today on Facebook, I was surfing through my newsfeed and came upon something by NaNoWriMo. They challenged everybody to write about their first story. I decided to go back to the first complete story (other than those little booklets with pictures I used to make Michael) that I remember writing when I was about 10 years old.

The typed-up version of the story and the magazine that contained the contest notice. I promise that I had never seen The Princess Bride when I made up the title! ;)

I searched around for the story so that I could take a picture of it for the post, and I found it among a lot of other unfinished manuscripts, usually hand-written on unlined paper. They were about various American Girl characters, family members I hadn't seen in ages, or just my own brother and I. I wrote them before I ever knew about NaNoWriMo or blogs or anything else like that. I liked to play those awesome American Girl games, like Felicity's horse game where you have to jump over obstacles.I could never clear that rock wall...

Seriously though.

I loved American Girl Magazine and in that issue was one of their story contests, where girls could write a story about 1200 words long and submit it for a chance to be published in the magazine. I can't remember if I was afraid of it being too short or afraid of it being too long. Either way, I sat down with pad of paper and pencil and started to come up with an idea.

I remember writing furiously on the little blue play table set up under the window in the playroom. The deadline was coming soon, and I still had to finish it! I'm not sure where I got the idea, but it seemed like I had always had a flare for the dramatic (read as: it didn't make a lot of sense), as this was the synopsis:

A girl named Alex wakes up one morning to find her window piled to the top pane with snow. Everything's fine and dandy until she discovers that her dog, Maxi, is missing and guiltily remembers putting him out in the doghouse the night before. She and her little brother go digging tunnels (just like Maxi!) and make a path towards the dog house. Unfortunately, just as they get there, they hear a splintering crash and realize that the doghouse didn't make it under the weight of the snow. As they turned back in defeat, the little terrier comes bounding up, safe and sound, and they make their way back to the house.

And then a giant dragon comes and torches all the snow and stays for hot chocolate.

...Just kidding.

But yes, that's basically all that it was. I actually did exceed my dreaded 1200 word limit (I also remember sitting in the living room with Mimi, frantically counting my hand-written words before the deadline). Mimi typed it all up onto the computer and although it was too long, we shoved it into an envelope with a required picture of me and a form saying that everything was my own creation (with signatures and everything!). We barely got to the post office on time to drop it off.

...I've never been good with deadlines.

As you've guessed, I didn't win, but it was one of my first stressful, but also enjoyable writing experiences.

And how about that dog name, huh? Came up with it myself. I decided the Jack Russell Terrier was to be called Maxi because he was small, and he would have been sad with any name that didn't make him feel a little bigger.

So that's the story of my first, well, story.

What was YOUR first story about?

Quinlyn

Write For Your Audience--No, really.

2013-06-17T11:19:00.001-06:00

For the past four years, this blog hasn't really been categorized as a writing blog. However, I've been thinking that it needs a little more of that. Since writing is my passion, why not share all about it here?

Yesterday, I was talking to my grandmother on the phone and she said something that hit me. Hard. People had told it to me before, but it had never registered in my mind like it did right then. It was like several people had written the same thing on rocks and then threw them at me, but hers was the only one that hit me square on the head. In a good way.

The simple sentence she said was: "Write for your audience."

Bam.

I mean, that should be obvious, right? At any other time I would have agreed, nodded, stored that away in my safe of writing information. But it just hit me differently that time. Write for your audience.

The thing is, as I realized with a start, I hadn't been doing that. I had been sitting at my computer with the word document open, hardly daring to write about what I wanted to write about because I was afraid people wouldn't like it. But the people I had in my head whilst I was so petrified were not my target audience. It was my family and adult friends. I never once thought about all the teenagers that I'm writing this book for. Sure, if adults like it, then they are welcome to read it with a handshake from me. But that's not who my books are for. I don't want to relate to adults, I want to relate to teenagers. And once I realized that, the thought of writing seemed so much more shiny in my mind. Not that teenagers aren't hard to please, but, in general, they like the things that I'm writing about (oh, you know, romance, mystery, adventure, all that good stuff which I pour over in my spare time). Suddenly, I felt much more connected to my readers.

I'm writing this post in the hope that if you've never thought about the sentence "Write for your audience" in this way before, you will now. It helped me so much that I thought maybe it would help you. If it does, take it and run with it. Write that stellar book for your target audience and don't worry about what the people outside that target audience think of it. And then, when it's all done and published and prettily bound with one of those really cool covers on it, send me a copy.

Quinlyn

Racing to the Finish Line

2013-06-01T19:20:00.000-06:00

(with special appearances by Rosey Rose and Pretend Phasers! *applause*)

The weather here in New Mexico is getting into the high eighties. It's definitely June.

This morning I sat outside for a while reading this fabulous book I got from the library called Doll Bones. I started it yesterday and finished it today. I also posted a review on Goodreads HERE. The sun was absolutely blinding and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. If I looked down at my book and then back up at the sky, it even took on a kind of teal color.

As the school year comes to a close, I find myself racing to finish everything on time. I can't wait until the rat race is over and I can finally kick back and focus on my other work...writing, blogging, and connecting with my friends and readers! I'm tossing around the idea of participating in July's Camp NaNoWriMo. If I come up with a book idea that I want to work on (perhaps the sequel to Charlotte?), then I might attempt it. Otherwise, I'll spend the month on my works-in-progress.

Other summer goals include:
*Watching more Star Trek: Voyager and Merlin than is socially acceptable (kidding on this one...we've only been watching it on weekends to conserve episodes. It will never end. MUAHAHAHA!)
*Reading too many books (right, as if that could happen!)
*Working on my photography skills
*Coming up with some incredibly stellar plotlines and blog posts
*SHARING those incredibly stellar plotlines and blog posts!

By the way, book recommendations are welcome! I'm looking for some really good titles to kick off my summer reading!

What are you guys doing this summer?

By the way, here are some pictures of Michael and I looking all heroic and stuff.

See? Very heroic.

Do not touch that sandwich. I mean it.

Comment. Now.

~Quinlyn

My first Pullip!

2013-04-23T12:18:00.002-06:00

Happy Tuesday!

I like Tuesdays, because they're not Mondays. Monday is over and you've caught your breath from the weekend, not to mention that I don't have any Live Lessons on Tuesdays. But I digress.

I've known about Pullip dolls for a few years now. Chances are, if you're around the doll blogs, you'll hear of them sooner or later--basically, they're Japanese-style dolls with really big heads and eyes, and proportionately tiny bodies.

They're not as creepy as they sound, promise. I've always thought they were cute, but expensive (around the price of AG dolls, actually, because the price of AG keeps skyrocketing). Recently, PullipStyle released a new line called My Select Pullip, a batch of three of previously sold-out dolls without their stock outfits, so you get them cheaper. I've had my eye on Merl since she came out, so I figured now was the time to take the plunge!

I ordered her, and to my delight, the shipping was much faster than I expected and she came within two days. Let me tell you, she is just darling and I like her much better than I expected. Here's pictures to prove it! ;)

(You can see more pictures on my Flickr; I upload them fairly frequently. :)

Now sit there and tell me that she's not adorable. I dare you. ;)

It was an interesting experience for me to delve into a whole new brand that I'd never tried before. Merl is a totally different size than my other dolls, because everything about her except her head is just tiny. I see more sewing in my future (I made the little black dress, actually)!

I did have thoughts about renaming her, because I never thought Merl was the most attractive name. However, I have this hang-up about re-naming dolls...it seems wrong to deprive them of the name they came with, LOL So, Merl she remained. Besides, it's grown on me!

Quality-wise, Pullips are somewhat fragile but worth it, IMO. I will state that they're famous for hands coming off, ankle breakage, etc. Merl's arms have repeatedly tried to come out of their sockets, but I just pop them back in and they're fine. You can also get different bodies for them, that I assume are either sturdier or more flexible.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

~Quinlyn

The Talisman

2013-01-28T12:17:00.003-07:00

A very happy Monday morning to you all!

It's been busy around my house. We're engaged in warfare against end-of-semester troubles. This, being my first year in high school, is also my first year taking finals. I have to wonder whose idea it was to make kids test on everything they've crammed into their wee heads over four months or so.

Anyways, the semester ends today and I'm all but done, so I figured it was a good time to start up communications again!

Along with school, writing has been occupying my brain. But then, when isn't it? I finished NaNoWriMo, completing my word count on November 31st with many other people who are crazy enough to try it. :D However, my novel, to my surprise and delight, is still not finished. It's at 35,500 words and maybe half done. My characters still have battles to fight, worlds to unite, and relationships to cultivate. They can't stop now!

I'd like you to meet my main character, Lark (or sometimes Larken):

(Not my image, which you probably already guessed)

She's smart, fast, and determined to do whatever it takes to accomplish her quest. Along with Charlotte, the book I wrote in 2010, this is my favorite that I've ever done. I feel a connection to the characters, which is something that I have to feel if I'm going to enjoy writing the story enough to finish it. Lark narrates the book, along with a boy that I've deemed Nick (he might get a name change) who doesn't do what I tell him to. He's given me a lot of trouble so far and unless he quits it, he may have to be kicked out of narrating duties. *pauses to give Nick a hard stare*

Alright, that's what I've been doing lately. 2013 should be a year of communication, my friends! Feel free to tell me what your plans and goals are for this spiffy new year.

~Quinlyn

November? Bring it on.

2012-11-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Happy November Everyone!

So, NaNoWriMo is 11 days in. I actually should be at about 11,000 words right now, but I'm a wee bit behind at 9,157. Oh well. I'll just put up this spiffy banner anyway:

Oh yeah! Uh huh! Crowd goes wild!

This is my third year in a row with NaNo, and by far the hardest. With my other books I pretty much just sailed along with little to no problems. This year? Nope! But I guess it couldn't be easy every year. That would be ridiculous, as writers go through big problems all the time.

My novel's current name (which, knowing me, will turn out to be its permanent name unless it's published and the name is already taken by ten other books) is called The Talisman. It's in the Adventure genre and I have a whole slew of characters that are going to be doing cool stuff and bringing worlds together, etc. I mean, you would definitely want to go on a wild goose chase for a legendary object and overthrow not one but two government systems, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?!

I thought so.

The biggest project I've probably done, but hey, I have a whole month to finish it.

Clock. Is. Ticking.

Anywhoozle (Michael LOVES to say that), November is also my birthday month--Yay! I'll be turning the big old 15...gasp. Seems just yesterday I was turning 10...my word. And I'll be turning 15...on the 15th! He he he! Okay I just think that's cool.

And now for the monumental question to end this post...
Have YOU taken the plunge to do NaNoWriMo? Are you behind? Crazy ahead? Steaming forward or stuck in quicksand?

~Quinlyn

P.S. Just looked at my blog and realized I still have Summer decorations up...I should fix that, huh?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Saige!

2012-11-02T14:16:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone!

Today, pictures of the new Girl of the Year doll, Saige, have been leaked. Usually we don't get access to photos of GOTYs so early, so this is a treat!

For fear of cross-posting, I won't post the actual photos here, but Doll Diaries has them: http://dolldiaries.com/american-girl-of-the-year-2013-what-we-know-so-far/
Now of course, this isn't guaranteed to be Saige's official look. This could be prototype or maybe an elaborate scheme to make us all BELIEVE it's Saige, but I'm thinking this is it. ;)

Now that you have images, what do you think of her? My first thought was that she looked a lot like Nicki, but they do have several differences:

Saige has auburn hair, which looks like it might be longer than Nicki's.
Saige has pierced ears (a first for a GOTY doll!)
Saige has the Marie-Grace eyes, which are a blue-green color and very nice.
Nicki had a cooler outfit. Alright, alright, that's open to interpretation...

But about the outfit, I do think that AG could have done much better on it. In my personal opinion, it's too tight, too short, and almost painfully plain. The belt, while a neat design, seems to be positioned too low on her dress. However, I think the boots are really cute.

I also wish that Saige had straight eyebrows. Again, this is just my opinion--lots of people prefer the feathered because they look more realistic, but I favor straight on most dolls. Not all, but most. But let's take a little look-see at the recent AG releases:

Rebecca - Feathered

Cecile and Marie-Grace - Feathered and Feathered

Kanani - Feathered

McKenna - Feathered

Caroline - Feathered

MAGs #53, #55, #56, #57, #58 (the most recent MyAG's released; not sure about #54, as she has bangs and I can't see her eyebrows) - Feathered

And now, Saige - Feathered

Hmm. The data, it is startling. I wonder if AG just prefers feathered eyebrows themselves, or if they sell better?

But enough about eyebrows! ;) I think Saige has very nice hair. I think it'll probably end up to be like Felicity and Elizabeth's hair combined, just without the pincurls. Wavy-auburn, which will be lovely. I also really like, of course, that Saige is from New Mexico! Woo hoo!

Post your opinions about Saige below. :)

Have a great day, everyone!

Quinlyn

Happy Halloween!

2012-10-31T17:27:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Halloween so far...BOO.
Uh huh, I totally scared you.

I've dressed up all my dolls...a yearly tradition. I did all the other dolls a couple of days ago, and Kirsten and Elizabeth got their costumes done today. I probably burned about 100 calories running around, looking for things to use for Elizabeth's costume.

Ladies and gentlemen, the HALLOWEEN Q-CREW!

*WOOT WOOT CLAPPING STAMPING AND HOOTING*

Top row: Leah as Little Red Riding Hood (plus Pepper as the Big Bad Wolf...she takes this job very seriously so I wouldn't question it), Kit as Robin Hood (I used a little pumpkin carving tool as a dagger...ingenuity at it's finest. :P), Elizabeth as a Tea-Zombie (No, you're not supposed to ask. :D), Felicity as Captain Janeway (from Star Trek: Voyager, but she's actually wearing an Enterprise uniform, so you might as well just call her Captain Merriman. ;) ). Bottom row: Julie as a pioneer (the bonnet and skirt match the ones I'm wearing for my costume this year, also a pioneer), and Kirsten as a wizard (I wanted to do a Hogwarts costume, but I was pressed for time and didn't have anything that resembled Hogwarts stuff, so she just ended up a plain wizard. ;))

And now, let's take a little look-see at this. Tea-Zombie...you'd never put the two together, would you? But feast your eyes, because I have. The background is that my Elizabeth has an undue obsession with tea. So, why not carry that obsession with you, even when you're un-dead? The highlights are the tea-bags hanging from her hair and the fact that whereas normal zombies have blood stains, Elizabeth has tea-stains. Oh yes.

And for all the writers out there, I'm about to REALLY scare you:
NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. Just sayin'.

Have a great time out in your neighborhoods asking for candy and getting majorly freaked!

~Quinlyn

Welcome to New Mexico, Matilda!

2012-08-03T18:52:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone,

Today is a grand day, indeed. I've been anxiously tracking the package that contained Matilda, and UPS said that she was scheduled to arrive today. Thus, I waited for the doorbell to ring, announcing the arrival of Miss Marchmont. We went to Target and Albertson's at about 2:30 in the afternoon, so I thought that when I got home at 4:30, she'd be there. Nope.

I ate a meal and then settled down to watch The Waltons, preparing to wait. I didn't have to for very long. A heavy truck rumbled up the road in all its brown and gold glory and dropped a lovely box on my porch, printed with the A Girl For All Time logo.

It was brought into the house and opened on this 3rd day of August, a very rainy day it is, too, so that Matilda surely must feel at home, since it rains so much in England.

Pictures, you say?

Alright!

Me before we opened her up...it took five minutes to get her free. Ties and knots everywhere!

Now to the review type stuff..

She is a beautiful doll and very photogenic, too. Her arms are pretty stiff, though. She has nice underclothes and velvet shoes (which I didn't think to photograph) that slip off pretty easily. Her hair is silky and very nice...a pleasant color, too. Gray eyes and a very unique face shape. I recommend her!

That's all for today...thank for for reading! Matilda says farewell!

~Quinlyn

Happy days!

2012-07-30T16:00:00.003-06:00

Matilda, Last Chance Sale, Olympics.
These are the three categories of today's post.

We'll start off with the Olympics. The opening ceremony was a couple of nights ago, and it was awesome! I loved that they had people in old-fashioned outfits (a lot of you know that I'm a sucker for old-fashioned things) and that they forged one of the Olympic rings right in front of the audience. The 100-foot-tall Voldemort was really neat, too.

We've had the TV turned to NBC a good amount of time since then. My favorite sports are the gymnastics and the swimming, but a lot of the others are cool to watch, too! I was disappointed when the USA didn't win the men's swimming relay...oh well. At least we got silver. France must have been really happy, since we did the same thing to them last Olympics, Lol.

Oh, and I've noticed that the US representatives are often placed in Lanes 4 or 5 for some reason. And if you're placed in Lane 8, you might as well just go home. There's almost zero chance of you winning. XD

Julie has been quite excited as well. She's been twirling about the house, proclaiming that she's going to OWN the 2016 Olympics.

...someone please tell her that just because you have a uniform, it doesn't mean that you're going to win. ;) By the way, I think that the US should take a hint and make the gymnastics uniforms like Julie's. The design rocks, IMO!

Next topic: the Last Chance Sale!

Today, American Girl downed the prices on some of their already-existing sale items and added a whole slew of new ones. I just happened to be on AGPT at the time and caught it...so glad that I did!

Get them while they last, if you find anything that catches your eye! Oh, and if you spend over $50, there's a coupon from the McKenna movie to get $10 off the order. It's 173471. :)

And last but not least, Matilda.

Okay, you probably have no idea which Matilda I'm talking about.

This one:

She's a doll sold from a company located in England called "A Girl for All Time". They also have a doll named Amelia, coming out this September, and others that haven't been revealed yet.

Why the hubbub from me, you ask?

Well, they have a FB account. And they gave away a Matilda doll in a random drawing to one of the participants.

And... well...

I WON! :D

I am blessed to have won this drawing...she's a lovely doll. I can't wait till she gets here.

Welp, that's about it...I hope you all enjoyed this post. Have a lovely day!

~Quinlyn

P.S., here's a picture of the new guest that has been traipsing from wall to wall in our backyard, making a webby mess.

Dollies, dollies, let down your hair...

2012-07-26T11:39:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone!

And a happy Thursday to you all. Yesterday I went to my last knitting club meeting for the summer, so no more of that until September. On a brighter note, I found out that my library has the last Girls of Many Lands book I need to read in order to have completed the whole series, so I have that on hold. Yipee! It's Leyla's. ;)

In addition to reading, I have been on a doll hair kick. I'll go for weeks without really doing anyone's hair except to brush it and make it presentable, but sometimes I'll go all out and start doing different styles. French braiding takes a while, but I've found that it can be the predecessor to several neat styles.

Felicity and Elizabeth have found this out:

I also did Violet and Elsie's hair this morning. :) Elsie's hair doesn't go into a bunch of different styles, but she does look cute with just a ponytail of curls in the back.

I've been admiring my Girl of Many Lands dolls lately...just been on a GOML kick...books, dolls, etc.! It was such a lovely line from American Girl, I think it's a pity that they retired them.

In other news, I got Sugar the other day at Sam's Club! Since she's been retired for a little while from American Girl, I decided that I would go ahead and get her before there were no more and I regretted it later, Lol

And here is a random little birdie that I found the other day. He didn't fly very much, so I wonder if he was relatively young.

I suppose that about wraps it up for today. Have a wonderful week!
Quinlyn

Beating the Summer Heat

2012-07-06T14:57:00.003-06:00

Song running through my head: American Honey by Lady Antebellum

Hello Everyone!

It's been very hot here recently. In New Mexico, it gets pretty warm...but not humid, thank goodness, otherwise I'd be melted to the point of not being able to type this post. I sympathize with you people in the Southeastern states.

To "beat the heat" so to say, we have made our own personal cooling tent. I like to call it the...Tent of Cool. but if you guys can come up with a more creative name than that, I would be glad to hear it. :D

It consists of a tent and one of those misting ropes that spritzes water down into the air. Apparently it's supposed to make the air 30 degrees cooler, and I believe them.

We also have our two kiddy pools that we got at Kmart, a lovely source of standing water which is very nice to splash around in. It suits my brother better, who likes to sit and play with his Lego police boat. Or do this:

My dolls also enjoy the pool immensely.

I'm also thinking of selling tickets to our yard as a Lightning Strike Arena. With the metal framework on that tent and the gallons of standing water, it's the perfect place to be electrocuted while still having a handy-dandy place to watch fireworks.

Speaking of fireworks, the day before yesterday was the Fourth of July, and so we continued our tradition of going outside and blowing things up. There were also some beautiful fireworks going off in our very near vicinity, so we were able to stand right on our driveway and see them. Here are some pictures I took of the festivities;

Sparks flew.

Keep cool!

~Quinlyn

P.S. I finished reading The Magician's Nephew yesterday. Onto The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe!

And the winner is....

2012-06-26T11:12:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the delay in posting the winner of my giveaway. I had a couple of difficulties, but we finally have a winner! I used Rafflecopter to randomly choose one of the entrants. The winner was Entry #24, also known as....

CLAIRE!

Congratulations, Claire!! Your prize will be sent shortly, as soon as I get your address. :) Please email me at quinnyandcompany@gmail.com to claim your prize!

Thank you SO much to everyone who participated in and helped me with this giveaway. You are all amazing, and three years of blogging have been so special.

~Quinlyn

Down to the Wire

2012-06-19T11:27:00.002-06:00

Alright everyone, we're in the home stretch of the giveaway. It ends tonight at midnight. Thank you to everyone who has entered so far! I will be picking the winner tomorrow...how exciting!! Don't forget to tell all your friends about the giveaway. It is much appreciated. ;)

Have a great day and good luck!
~Quinlyn

EDIT:
The giveaway is officially CLOSED. Thank you to everyone who entered. I am going to validate all the entries (make sure everyone gave me the links to their tweets/FB posts/blog posts like they were supposed to ;) ) and then post the winner.

Five more days left!

2012-06-15T17:01:00.003-06:00

Alright everyone, we're coming into the last five days of the giveaway. Remember, you can enter by placing your name in the drawing on the Giveaway tab. You can also get extra entries by posting about the giveaway on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Once you do these posts, you have to give me the link to them or the entry won't count. I go and check all the entries to make sure people actually did the posts and gave me the links, and if it isn't done correctly and you don't contact me about it, the entry won't count.

Good luck everyone!

~Quinlyn

Three. Years. And a giveaway.

2012-05-29T09:16:00.001-06:00

Greetings Readers!!

A couple of you remember the day. Or at least the month. Err...the year...that Quinny & Co came to order. Back then, it was simply called Quinlyn's Blog. My mother in all her wittiness came up with the name that I thought was silly at first, but it stuck better than glue to a snail. (???)

And everyone, that was three years ago today.

I cannot believe that I have been blogging for three years. That I have been surrounded by all you wonderful people for three years. 1096 days. 26304 hours. 1578240 minutes. And a whole lot of seconds.

And I just want to say, thank you all for making this a lovely journey. I couldn't have done it without you.

~Quinlyn

Ha! You thought I was just going to leave you without something to show my appreciation? Erm, well, I mean, you have good reason, since I've done that before, but NOT TODAY.

I am having a giveaway.
*GASPS ALL AROUND*

And there's an item.
*MORE GASPS*

From American Girl.
*FAINTING IN THE FRONT ROW*

Oh yes. It's legit.

I am giving away the I Like Your Style outfit for dolls.

You get the top, skirt, underwear, ponytail holder, and book w/ CD. Unfortunately, the boots did not come with the outfit, so you will not be receiving those. But hey, free outfit, even without the boots, I'd think it's pretty snazzy. ;)

You can enter the giveaway by going to my new "Giveaway" page on the top of my blog, next to the Home, About Me, Contact Me, and Meet the Dolls pages.

Once again,
Thank you.
And good luck.

~Quinlyn