Author: Jen D.

Graduate of Rowan University with a Bachelor's Degree in English and a Bachelor's Degree in Writing Arts. Proud bibliophile. Proud mother to way too many cats, inside and feral. Mother to a beautiful baby girl.

Possible Project

So last night I was laying in bed and had the most amazing thought.

I’m volunteering at Pensacon next weekend, and author and great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker, Dacre Stoker, will be there.

So I’m like, I should totally do an interview with him. I get a lunch break and hopefully he isn’t sitting too far away from where I’ll be sitting (still don’t know which celebrity I’ve been assigned to), so I’ll take that time to do a short little interview that will be posted here on the website.

What do you guys think? Do you have any questions you want asked? Let us know in the comments!

dacre stoker, interview, pensacon, questions

Research Paper Writing Tips

I have a love/hate relationship with research papers. I love writing them, but I hate being on a deadline. Here are some of the tips I’ve found handy while writing papers for school.

  • Make a list
    • If you have multiple papers due, as it always seems to happen, make a list. I put the items in order of their due date or grade importance. As a procrastinator, I found this helped. It’s also positive to see things being crossed off. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment.
  • Become best friends with your style guide.
    • As an English major, I was very familiar with the MLA style guide. In fact, my favorite book for school was my “MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.” I used it so often that I named it! Even though most schools put it on the “recommended” list, I urge you to buy it. You won’t regret it!
  • NEVER use Microsoft Word’s Bibliography tool.
    • I’ve heard teachers mention this a lot, and I’ve seen people have points taken off because their citations were incorrect because they relied on Microsoft Word’s citation tool. This is another reason to cling to your MLA Handbook.
  • Allow yourself breaks.
    • Take a break to read a book, or to watch a movie. Writing a paper is stressful enough without you getting burnt-out. Take an hour or so to do something you enjoy, then go back to your paper. Often, you’ll have new ideas as a result of letting your mind rest.
  • Know your writing style.
    • Some people are writers who double and triple edit with an outline, while others are stream-of-consciousness writers. Personally, I am the latter, but that style of writing isn’t for everyone. Knowing your writing style helps you plan out your paper easier. I never use an outline, but some people need it.
  • Don’t forget to eat and sleep!
    • Sometimes you get so engrossed in writing that you forget to eat, or you pull an all-nighter to get that paper done last-minute. While I completely understand the need to stay up all night to finish the paper, it’s not healthy, especially if you’re working on one paper after another. It also affects your writing when you can’t concentrate because you’re too hungry or tired. Take that break for lunch, take a nap. Your paper will be all the better for it.
  • Never plagiarize, even if your paper is going to be late.
    • I know a lot of teachers drum the plagiarism fact into your head, but it’s really important. Most teachers I knew would gladly have given you an extension rather than have you plagiarize just to finish the paper on time. Even if they take points off, it’s better than the alternative. If you plagiarize, at the very least you’ll get a 0 on the paper. At the worst, you could be expelled. Take the ten points off, trust me.
  • Try and have fun.
    • I know that papers can be stressful, but you should try to have fun. Try to make the paper about something of which you are very passionate. Argue something that you can turn into something fun. Sometimes teachers will allow you to write something different, as long as it’s relevant to the class. For example, my teacher allowed me to write about “Pride and Prejudice,” even though we read a different Austen work in class.
  • Don’t hesitate to talk with your teacher.
    • They want you to succeed as much as you do. If you’re having a problem, tell them. If you can’t get the paper in on time, tell them. If you need reference materials, ask them. I’ve never met a teacher who wasn’t willing to help.

Well, I hope this helps some of you with your papers! I hope that you have a good school year and good luck on your papers!

austen, fun, jane austen, Microsoft Word, MLA, MLA Handbook, papers, plagiarism, pride and prejudice, research, research papers, teacher, Word

The White Princess on Starz

Rating:

So, after I finished “The White Queen” on Amazon video, I, of course, had to continue the story and watch “The White Princess.” This was not the first time I have seen the show, but as a Philippa Gregory fan, I had to watch it again.

My first reaction was that I wish they had kept some of the same cast. I understand that they’re all older, but “Princess” happened right after “Queen.” Like, literally right after. “The White Queen” ends with Richard III dying at the battle of Bosworth and Henry Tudor being crowned king. “The White Princess” starts off with Elizabeth of York (Lizzie) finding out that Henry was now king. Now, I understand that making the parents of the main cast older, as they are much older than they were at the start of “The White Queen.” Still, they could have used the same actress for Lizzie and Henry. The only person who was played by the same actress was Lizzie’s grandmother, Duchess Cecily. I know this shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did.

Another thing that bothered me was that Lizzie went from hating Henry to loving him in such a quick fashion. I realize that after a few years you grow to love someone, but Henry had done so many bad things to her. He practically raped her. He locked up her cousin, who was a very innocent, mentally challenged young boy. He even ordered that, when the soldiers went to fetch her at the end of the battle of Bosworth, the soldiers should kill “any boy they find there.” So, he essentially ordered the death of her brother. He also killed Richard III, who was supposedly Lizzie’s love and lover. I don’t understand how she is able to forgive him all of that, let alone love him.

The book goes a little more into Lizzie’s feelings towards Henry. He’s very suspicious about those around him and is always thinking that there is a plot going on. He often accuses Lizzie of conspiring against him, and she resents him for it. While the book does say that they love each other, it seems more plausible to have them dislike each other.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazing series. It follows the book fairly well, minus the animosity between Lizzie and Henry at times. Lizzie is a very relatable character. I felt very sorry for her, since her mother seemed to care more for her son than she did Lizzie and Lizzie’s children. She was constantly plotting to get Henry off the throne, even though she had married Lizzie to him for her to be queen. I realize that Elizabeth’s son Richard would have been the rightful king, but she is basically plotting against her own daughter in favor of her son. I felt so bad for Lizzie because she is forced into the marriage against her will and then has her mother going against her.

I would have liked to have the series continue until Elizabeth’s death. A big part of the story was the curse that Elizabeth and Lizzie cast upon the people who killed the princes in the tower. It’s revealed that Henry’s mother ordered the deaths, but since the youngest boy, Richard, got away, the curse was not complete. With Henry ordering the death of the “pretender,” who Lizzie believes is her brother, the curse would be completely upon the house of Tudor. The curse said that the male line would die out. Lizzie is constantly telling Henry that they cannot kill the “pretender” because it would be the death of her boys. If the story continued, we would see Lizzie’s reaction to her oldest Arthur’s death, which is part of the fulfillment of the curse. However, the story ended almost abruptly after Lizzie witnessed the death of her cousin Teddy and her supposed brother. It just felt incomplete.

Anyway, don’t think I’m too harsh on this series. Is it as good as “The White Queen”? No, I don’t think so. That seemed to be a more complete story. However, if you watched that, you really should continue the story.

 

 

To purchase the season of “The White Princess,” go here.

book, historical fiction, Starz, the white princess, the white queen, tudor, tv series

Update from Jen

Hey all!

It’s me, your neighborhood not-so-friendly Jen! I figured I haven’t done a more personal blog recently, so I thought it was time to update you guys! Cause you guys are the best readers ever.

So, some exciting things. I’ve been working a lot. I work at a little store called The British Pedlar. We sell imported British food, candy, and gifts. I like it. I get to work on WatL stuff all day and eat yummy candy. I’m slowly but surely trying everything. My favorite is the Mr. Kipling Mini Battenbergs. They’re soooo good! They are little squares of sponge cake with apricot filling wrapped in marzipan covered in sugar. I wasn’t sure I would like them, now I’m addicted. I also really liked the Cadbury Twirls. If anyone in our readerverse has tried the Cadbury Flake bar, this is basically a Flake covered in more chocolate. For those who don’t know what a Flake is, it’s a very crumbly chocolate bar. It’s really good. You should try it. Anyway, work is fun.

I love being able to work on my MacBook Pro. I feel like a real writer! I’ve got it all loaded up with awesome programs such as Calibre (see my review of that awesome program here), Word, Kindle, and iBooks. I also have Adobe Creative Cloud, which has Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and others. My new desktop iMac also has these programs, as I use them so often. I do all of the Quotes of the Week in Photoshop using images marked “for non-commercial use with modification” on Google Images. I love playing around with Photoshop. I added the text to our story “Uncovering the Phantom” in Photoshop.

Oh! Speaking of “Uncovering the Phantom!” The cover is finally finished. I had been looking through Google Images for the perfect picture and I stumbled on this one Etsy seller who had these amazing pictures of women in Victorian dresses that she made. I consulted with K. Leigh and Cym to see if they liked the photos, then immediately messaged the seller. She said that we could use her image, even modified, as long as we give credit. So, next came the task of finding someone to edit it. I had asked some friends to do it, but they got too busy to finish. So I asked my fiance James if he could edit it, and boy does it look nice! I can’t wait for you guys to see it, but it’ll probably be after the fourth part of the story since it pertains to a plot twist.

Now, we hope to publish the first part of the story soon. I have just finished writing the next part of the story, which contains the twist. We really hope you like what we’ve done with our Round Robin writing. It’s interesting to do since you never know what the other writers are going to do with what you’ve written. We have done it a little bit differently, as we have done a slight outline so that we know where the story was going. However, all of the details are all Round Robin-ed. You guys should like it. If you’re a Phantom fan, you should love it.

One thing that I am excited about is coming up on the 23rd-25th. It’s called Pensacon, which is the shortened version of Pensacola Comicon. The past two years I have volunteered as a Celebrity Handler, which is the most awesome job ever. Basically, I get to sit with a celebrity for the entire time I am working. I take the money from the customers and take photographs of the celeb with the customer. I got put on this team because I cannot stand for a long period of time due to my knee problems, but I absolutely love it! The first year I got to sit with Maximiliano Hernandez, who played Agent Jasper Sitwell in the Marvel-verse. He was awesome and insisted on signing everything I had for nothing. He was so incredibly nice. The second year I wanted to sit with Sean Maher, who played Simon Tam on Firefly/Serenity. However, since he was only going to be there two days and I volunteered for 3, they asked who else I would like to sit with. I threw out Sylvester McCoy, figuring that he was taken but it didn’t hurt to try. I was lucky and they sat me with him. If you’re not familiar with him, he played the 7th Doctor on “Doctor Who.” I was worried because he didn’t seem to want to be there, but it turned out he was just jet lagged and he turned out to be the sweetest man! He signed a picture for me for nothing. This year I’m crossing my fingers to sit with Dacre Stoker. Now, that name may sound familiar because he’s the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, who wrote “Dracula.” Yes, that Dracula. As an English/Writing Arts graduate, I have a deep need to sit and talk with this man. Not only because of his relatives but because he, too, has written his own Dracula novel, titled “Dracula the Un-Dead.” So yeah, here’s hoping. Cross your fingers for me!

Now that I’ve rambled on for what seems like forever, I suppose I should stop. Keep a lookout for the first installment of “Uncovering the Phantom,” as that should be up soon!

-Jen

bram stoker, dacre stoker, doctor who, dracula, dracula the un-dead, english major, firefly, illustrator, indesign, mac, macbook pro, Marvel, max hernandez, pensacon, photoshop, round robin, round robin writing, sean maher, serenity, story, sylvester mccoy, uncovering the phantom, writing, writing art major

Follow Us!

Categories

Latest Articles

Made with love by JKC Productions. All rights Reserved.