Called by Name: Of Myself

There are many other characters I could discuss, but more is not always better. I started this series with characters very close to me--my own characters--and so I will end with myself.
Readers of this blog will most likely know me as Galadriel, a name I chose upon joining my first book forum. Although I didn't really understand the character at the time, the name has grown--or perhaps shrunken--to fit. For Galadriel is a powerful lady, who remembers much others have forgetten, yet she herself is doomed to fade from a world that no longer recognizes her.
Related to Galadriel is the name Nenya_s Wings, which I chose for NaNoWriMo when "Galadriel" was already taken. For Nenya is the Ring of Adament that Galadriel weilds in secret against the One, while "Wings" reflects my flight-hunger, a desire to soar with the wings of a hawk in the sky.
For that reason, I chose Kestrel as my title on ApricotPie, a homeschool writing site. In Skye, the first story I posted there, the title character remembers her friend Kestrel who died attempting to free her imprisoned friends.
Another online title of mine is CrimsonWaters, which I use on Ted Dekker's Circle in honor of his Circle Trilogy, for the crimson lake in that world is a mark of redemption's sacrifice.
As for my birth name...I don't give that out online. While it may be easily used among face-to-face aquantences, giving it to someone online marks trust. It says, "I trust that you are who you claim to be, and therefore I will tell you who I am offline."
But the name I long for is in Revelations 2:17
And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who recieves it.
God has a special name waiting for all who accept him, one only he and you will understand. And no matter how well other names--Galadriel, Nenya, or Kestrel--may seem to fit, only that name will reveal our true self.

Books

Top Three Authors:
J.R.R Tolkien
C.S. Lewis
Ted Dekker.

Top 3 male characters:
Aslan of Narnia
Frodo of LotR
Justin of the Circle Trilogy

Top 3 female characters:
Lucy of Narnia
Luthien of the Silmarillion
Bonnie Silver of Dragons in Our Midst

Top 30 fiction books/series in no particular order:
1. Narnia
2. Lord of the Rings
3. Silmarilion
4. Princess Bride
5. Dragons in Our Midst
6. Oracles of Fire
7. Binding of the Blade
8. Circle Trilogy w/Green
9. Echoes from the Edge
10. AD Chronicles
11. C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy
12. Squire Tales
13. Till We Have Faces
14. The Door Within
15. Starlighter
16. The Time Quartet by L’Engle
17. Birdwing
18. Auralia’s Colors
19. At the Back of the North Wind
20. The Bronze Bow
21. The Divine Comedy—yes, it’s a classical poem, it still counts
22. Inkworld
23. Roverandom
24. Abarat
25. Music of Dolphins
26. Children of Hurin
27. History of Middle-Earth in twelve volumes
28. Screwtape Letters
29. Broken Angel
30. The Hobbit

Top 3 books most recently read:
The Silmarillion
Return of the King
Redeeming Love

Worst 3 books ever read:
The Awakening by Kate Choplin ---so dull and boring
The Things they Carried—weird perspective on Vietnam war
Of Mice and Men—I don’t mind the death of MC’s, but really, it has to be handled better

Top 5 scenes from any book:
Rachel recognizing Justin, Red by Ted Dekker
Benjiah’s resurrection, All My Holy Mountain by L.B. Graham
Aslan’s resurrection Lion, Witch Wardrobe
The triple wedding, The Bones of Makaidos by Bryan Davis
Return of Gandalf, Two Towers

The book(s) that made me cry the most:
All My Holy Mountain
Red by Ted Dekker
Green by Ted Dekker
Tears of a Dragon by Bryan Davis
Enoch’s Ghost by Bryan Davis
I Know why the Angels Dance by Bryan Davis
The Silmarillion by Tolkien

The book(s) that made me laugh the most:
Dragons in Our Midst/Oracles of Fire by Bryan Davis
Echoes from the Edge by Bryan Davis
The Princess Bride

The book(s) that made me feel the best at the end:
All my Holy Mountain
The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis

Contemporary or Historical?
Historical. Contemprary is too angsty

Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror?
Fantasy all the way!

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
Mass Market Paperback—cheap and you can fit several in a purse!

Barnes & Noble or Amazon?
Amazon--cheaper

Bookmark or Dog-ear?
Bookmark, dog-ears look awful

Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by title, or organize not at all?
None of the above…first by genre, then by title

Star Wars or Star Trek?
Neither…haven’t seen either

Keep, Throw Away, or Sell?
Keep, unless it’s awful

Keep dust-jacket or toss it?
keep

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Well, I have like, one book with a dust-jacket…but still on

Little Women or Anne of Green Gables?
Anne of Green Gables…she’s much more imaginative

Short story or novel?
Novel

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
When someone makes me…so I guess when tired.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
Once upon a time, without a doubt.

Tear Jerker or Belly Laugh?
Preferably both, but if only one…tear jerker

Charlotte, Emily, or Anne Brontë?
Haven’t read any

Buy or Borrow?
Borrow, because I have no money

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation, or Browse?
Browse, because no one I know likes my tastes

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)? Collection

Crane or Conrad?
Haven’t read either

Standalone or Series?
Series!

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Cliffhanger only if there is a sequel

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
When I have time

Favorite genre series?
I can’t decide

New or used?
Used is way cheaper

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Enoch’s Ghost by Bryan Davis

Green Video

(Warning, The Wordsmith's Shelf will be taken over by Green info for the foreseeable future)

Green by Ted Dekker--Prizes

As a fan of Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy, I was excited to see a Forest Guard challenge for those who want to spread the word about his latest release Green.
Rewards
BECOME A LIEUTENANT OR CAPTAIN IN THE FOREST GUARD: Every Forest Guard will have the opportunity to earn the level of Lieutenant or Captain in the Forest Guard.
HOW TO BECOME A LIEUTENANT: You must receive 600 points including 5 recruits. (You get 100 points for every recruit.)
HOW TO BECOME A CAPTAIN: You must receive 2000 points including 15 recruits. (You get 100 points for every recruit.)
HOW TO RECEIVE THE FOREST GUARD GRAND PRIZES : In order to qualify for the Grand Prize, Runner-Up prize, 3rd place and 4th place prizes, you must have at least 50 recruits. Prizes will then go to the hardest working person who has done the best job and has the most points.
Lieutenant: Emailed certificate of lieutenant status, your name in the next Ted Dekker book under the list of Lieutenants.
Captain: Emailed certificate of captain status, your name in the next Ted Dekker book under the list of Captains, an advanced copy of Dekker's next book.
Fourth place: Set of signed Circle series
Third place: Ted Dekker Merchandise super pack...
Runner up: One of three swords, Ted Dekker Merchandise super pack
Grand prize: Ted Dekker Merchandise super pack, and lunch with Dekker in Austin (trip paid for)
Time to throwdown the challenge... :P Come on. You know you want the shiny sword... and it helps there are books involved... So go sign up as a recruit, then go join the Forest Guard. "And remember when you've nicked 'im, it was me what told you so" Sp type in 6992 for referal number.
Here's the advice given..
1. Email Updates: Add forestguard@gfnhq.com to your address book and watch for our email updates and also keep an eye on the “News” and “Special Missions” sections. We’ll give you new ideas for how you can be participating about once a week.
2. Special Missions: Participate in the special missions we’ll be launching throughout this campaign. Check out the “Special Missions” page to read the latest on those and stay in the loop. 3. Recruits: Learn about recruits under the “Recruits” page and find out why you should start finding your recruits right away.
4. It’s Easy: Just do what you do naturally—talk to your friends and people in your community about Green and the Circle series. Read below to see how to use the cards we’ll send you.
5. Rewards: Check out the amazing rewards available to you for your efforts on the “Rewards” page.
6. Report back: Reports aren’t as intimidating as they sound…it takes about a minute to send in a report and a couple of clicks. Don’t worry…this isn’t like school. But we can’t reward you and give you credit for your work if you don’t tell us about everything you’re doing to get the word out. It’s really important that you go to “Earn My Points” all the time and send in reports about what you’ve done. All rewards will be decided based on your efforts and the points you’ve earned.
7. It’s Up to You: Get creative and have fun! We know you have so many amazing ideas and know about things your friends love lots more than we do. We’re giving you the freedom to be as creative as you want to be. Your Primary Mission Your biggest mission as a Forest Guard member is to help us find new recruits. What’s a recruit? A recruit is a new reader of Green and the Circle series. Each time you find a new recruit, you need to get them to sign-up on the recruit page.
When a new recruit signs-up, two things will happen:
1. They will receive exclusive offers on Green and other Ted Dekker books.
2. You will receive 100 points towards the Forest Guard rewards for each new recruit who uses your Forest Guard number
. IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT RECRUITS:
1. Recruits must sign-up at [teddekker.com] in order to receive the special offers.
2. You will only get your 100 point credit for the recruits who use your Forest Guard number when they sign-up on that page, so be sure to tell everyone you influence to use your number.
3. Many of the Forest Guard rewards require that you get a certain number of recruits in order to qualify, so be sure to check out the rewards page to find out how many recruits you need based on what prize you hope to earn.

Recent Reads

After a long, empty period, I have returned to the blogsphere....not really. This is just a quick visit to get some feedback. I will name three books I recently read. Whichever one gets the most votes will be the topic of my next blog post.
The Bones of Makaidos by Bryan Davis
Black by Ted Dekker
or C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy
So vote!