Vivienne's Adventures

  My mother is awesome! Not only is she the best at cuddling, she's pretty! ^_^ My mom has recently been dealing with a pinched nerve that, combined with frozen shoulder, is making her life...interesting. And painful. Yet she still manages to have the best smile. I love her so much, you guys! She's the reason I started reading when I was three, and the reason I've read so many books, watched so many movies, tried new things, and enjoyed so much anime.  Her sisters are both really fun as well, but Mom is special. (She does tend to come into my room on occasion to completely muss up my hair, but that just makes me laugh.) One of my favorite things about her is how she can get me hooked on a book I've never read with how she explains it. She knows how my brain works, and how big into stories I am. And interesting characters. I'm so lucky to have such a gorgeous, creative, bookworm Mom. ^_^

This week, we get to celebrate the fact that my grandparents have been married 53 years! That's crazy awesome! I know my grandparents have been through a lot. My Grandpa is awesome. He's an active guy who likes to help, knows his way around electrics (and typewriters), and is a wonderful listener. And talker. ^_^ He and Grandma recently moved back from Arizona, after about a decade. During that time, Grandpa became a pastor and got his first book published!  I was so excited when his book came out! He decided to write about our ancestors. While originally from England, they were among the first passengers to go from New York to California by taking a ship south around the cape. He's done so much research and could talk to you about it for hours (or just about anything for hours), and it's been fascinating to learn about people I never had the chance to meet (and wont, unless someone has a time machine). I am so glad that he's my grandpa and that we have my grandma b...

  Let me tell you a bit about one of my closest friends ^_^ For the purpose of this blog, she'll be known as Lady Caeliana (because we decided it was too pretty not to use). Caeliana is one of those people I met in college, and then once I got to know her, I decided to keep her. She's a lot like me in a number of ways, but she's so gleeful about the things she likes that it's impossible not to share her enthusiasm. Her love for nail polish and nail art is only surpassed for her love for her doggie.  She's got the sweetest dog and I love them both so much! Currently, Lady Caeliana and puppy are several hours away, but! The fun part about visiting is being able to take the train! And then staying for at least a week so that we can share stories, play with colors, and catch up on everything. Lady Caeliana and I have a lot of fun together, and I wish she was closer so that we could just run over and stay up till 4am talking and doing nails, but alas. ^_^ I'm excited...

  Today I'm going to tell you a bit about my sister. For the purposes of this blog, her name is Remy. Remy is awesome! She's a nurse and a mother and one of my favorite people. We don't always share the same opinion on things like fashion (she thinks some of my favorite weird pieces are ridiculous, but whatever), but we do share a lot. She got me hooked on a really fun book series that I'm still working my way through, and there are who-knows-how-many movies we both love. But all of that pales in comparison to how much she as a person means to me. Not just 'cause Remy is my sister and we grew up together, but she stood by me during the crap years of high school. (Don't even get me started on that whole "high school is wonderful" thing. Nope.) She saw that the other girls in my class were, shall we say, less than kind, and she did her best to help me through it. When that didn't work, she basically moved me to her group of friends. (It was a good sh...

  Because I like making things a bit easier on myself sometimes, I've decided to talk about some of the people in my life (other than my nephew lol) who are bright spots in an often dark and frustrating world. I mean, this blog was meant to highlight the happier things. On that note, my Aunt Piper! She's not only the only person allowed to cut my hair, nor merely the first of her and her sisters (including my mom) to have a grandkid, nor is she just my biggest cheerleader. She's a fun, vivacious creative extrovert who keeps pulling me into her fun events and has been helping me set and reach goals. She and her husband recently got a house, and they've been renovating the crap out of it! (...literally. there was so much neglect to fix on this poor house.) Four months later or so, I got to visit and actually see the house! It's so pretty! And even though it's a bit farther than their last place, it's so perfect for them. I also got to reconnect with my aunt an...

  Do you ever get stuck and struggle to see how you can adult (or deal with life, honestly)? I have been there too many times to count. However, last year, the midst of the world literally and figuratively being on fire, I got some time to hang out with my aunt. She helped me figure out what I wanted to accomplish, and how to get there, and I felt like my brain got a bit more straightened and organized. It was nice! Since then, I've reached several of those goal, made more, and I'm getting ever closer to being published! I am actually really excited! I should hear back from my editor soon and then I can continue getting Hummingbird all polished and ready! It's been different having someone who's on my side to help me reach the goals we set up, and someone to report to, but it's different in a good way.  I met up with her the other day and after I told her what I've been up to in terms of writing, she said, "I leave you alone for four months and you write tw...

  Even in these crazy times, one thing never changes. Friends are amazing. I have to admit, I may be a bit biased, but my friends are simply awesome! My nephew and I recently got to have a dinner with a couple of friends, and while the Little One made a total mess, he had a great time! He only got fussy when I had to wash my hands and he decided that he couldn't walk past the one guy he'd just met for the first time. (Little One <3 My heart) (But dont worry, he was quickly consoled.) I was kind of amazed at how well he did, but also super happy because I got baby cuddles and got to see my people! I also decided to officially adopt one of my close friends as my new sibling. They're an amazing person, and when I told my sister, she was all for it--as long as she could meet our new sibling. But my sister and her husband have been so wholeheartedly accepting and excited that it fills my heart as full as it can be--and more! I dearly love my friends, and me and mine like to a...

  So, this is our lovely new nursery at my church! We have been working on building an addition for the last few years, and it's finally ready to go! I'm super excited because we have a fantastic area for the babies! Not only that, but I feel like I've finally reconnected with church for the first time in a long time. There's something about actually being involved that makes things feel more...real? I guess?  I recently started helping with the online service, and now I'm the official online announcements person! Which has been super fun, actually. And now, my church has asked me to step into the role of Nursery Coordinator, since our awesome previous Coordinator decided to step down. I'm super excited (definitely nervous, too) about this new responsibility, but I am really excited to continue loving on the babies and the little ones at our church. I feel so blessed to be part of a loving community dedicated to taking care of the littlest at church. ^_^  I know...

  Hi! So I've noticed something recently. Blogging is pretty fun, but somehow it's more fun when you adopt a personality other than your own and blog as that person. Why is that? My theory is that it has something to do with the magic of escapism. Oh, and acting. Either way, it's fun to adopt the quirks, way of thinking, language, and mannerisms of someone else. Like Vela. Or my dnd characters. One thing I have been enjoying learning with this blog is how to constantly make it fun for myself. If I'm not having fun, I know my writing will start to slide, and my lovely readers will have a harder time connecting with it. So, I keep myself having a good time, trying new things, learning, and I feel like I've grown as a writer. This is a whole different beast than writing a novel, and it's been a fun experience. Here's to a fun ongoing blog! And of course, thank you to my lovely readers! 

  This weekend was so much fun! I took my friends Elliott and Chris to Leavenworth, and we had a blast! I know, kind of cliché to use that phrase, but I had such a good time. I made sure we stopped at the Alps, the fudge store that's about ten minutes from Leavenworth because every time my family and I visit Leavenworth, we gotta get fudge. It's a thing. haha But I enjoyed the drive through the mountains because the three of us talked about DnD the entire way there. I love my nerdy friends! Chris had never been to Leavenworth before, and I had been missing the adorable Bavarian village, so we made a day trip of it. The one thing we really wanted to do that we couldn't, was get yummy waffles from the Waffle Haus, so obviously, we're going back at some point for waffles. Oh, and the tea shop! Ohmygosh, I had far too much fun. I ended up leaving with six different new teas to try out (and one of them has sprinkles!!) Next time we visit, I want to get my nephew a cute littl...

  I get to take some friends on a new adventure! One that isn't over voice chat in an imaginary world, though that's fun too. No, this time, I get to take two friends to Leavenworth! One hasn't ever been before, so I decided we needed to fix that. Besides, I haven't visited Leavenworth in years, and it's just a darling little area to visit. Gorgeous and full of fun shops and scenery and oh man! I plan to take lots of pictures, so be warned, I may recap our adventure next week. ....I am ridiculously excited about this day trip! Oh! I also wanted to mention, since Sylvia forgot yesterday, that I have a second blog, talking about my DnD adventures. Updates go out Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm, so go check it out here:  chaoticgoodbeans.blogspot.com  <3 Other than that, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and I hope you all take some time to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been blessed with. ^_^ Sunshine is so nice!

  Hi! I'm Sylvia, Vivienne's muse! I'm also a character in her first book, The Death of Hummingbird. I decided to give her a mental break today, and tell you all how excited we are for the end of June! Why so far out? Well, our friends usually put on a Writer's Retreat each year in June, but last year, because of reasons, we didn't get to do it. But! Now that we have the vaccine and people are feeling more comfortable with things, we are gonna do the retreat!  The last retreat we had was amazing! Vivi really got to connect with her story--the one she's currently rewriting, actually. This time two years ago, she was really struggling to figure out how the story should be told, and was getting a bit frustrated. At the retreat, she got lots of advice, and we even got to join a one-night-only critique group, and she read the first chapter or so, asking for help to make it better. In the end, they had so much fun talking about it that she figured out a lot! She staye...

  I love how frazzled I look in this picture. I really wasn't as frazzled as it seems...ok, maybe a little. Last week, the Little One didn't want to nap. *heavy sigh* He was super awake and was quite playful, and really cute. I tried putting him down for a nap twice. Twice! And both times he just kept talking to himself or the doggie napping in the same room. I ended up wrapping him up in his favorite blankie and sitting on the couch with him, and let him play with a plastic bottle of orangina that I'd finished.  He then proceeded to start playing with my hair, messing up the shorter side. Then, he pretended the orangina bottle was a hairbrush and rubbed it all over my head. It was about this point I realized he was copying me! The little cutie was playing with my hair like I sometimes do with his, and I'd brushed his hair that morning, so he returned the favor. ^_^ My heart! Thankfully, the next day he took two mini naps! I took him with me on a mini adventure to get c...

  So, I'm working on my third story so far just in this calendar year. This one, unlike book 2, "Ziggy," isn't writing itself. I love this story, but it's quite a bit more complicated than "Ziggy." Book 1, "Hummingbird," was also more complicated, but it was two main characters sharing one storyline. Mostly. "Ziggy" is all in Ziggy's point of view, and ended up shorter.  "Zarath'gar's Curse," on the other hand, has two storylines that converge toward the end. But until that point, I'm writing two separate stories. And one story has two points of view. I am really amused that every time I switch to the other story, I have to reread a few chapters to remember where we were on that story. By the time I'm done with this story, it will be a lot stronger than the last few drafts (which were already better than that last version of "Ziggy" that I went and fixed).  I haven't been working on this sto...

  Good morning!...or afternoon? Anyway, I'm back! I finally convinced Vela to give me the reins back, and I have some fun news! We're going to start another blog! This new blog will post twice a week about my DnD adventures, as seen through the eyes of the characters I play! Last week was actually pretty fun, letting the characters share their stories, and I feel like they need an outlet. This new blog will be called Chaotic Good Beans, because the characters I play are such adorable, good, protective people. I've actually been wanting to record these stories as actual storylines, instead of just taking notes. (Altho I do love taking notes) So, I'm eager to see how this turns out! I have played different characters in one-shots and short campaigns, so every now and then we'll see a new story from a guest character! I'm actually really excited about this. ^_^

  My name is Izanagi Kyo, and I'm a licensed Huntsman, meaning that my job is to help keep Remnant safe from Grimm. Grimm, if you've never seen them (be glad), are big black monsters with bony faces and claws, and glowing red eyes. Conveniently, they don't leave a mess behind when we kill them. My adventure has only just begun. I recently graduated from Shade Academy, got my license, and I ended up being sent to a little town in the kingdom of Mistral to meet someone. When I got there, I met three other hunters, and the town was shortly attacked by wolf-like Grimm called beowolves.  They were playing my song, so I went out, and the four of us killed the beowolves before they could get to the townsfolk. ^_^ I live for killing Grimm. I'm good at it, I like it, and it has the added bonus of keeping people safe, which is always important. (But mostly I like killing Grimm.) After that bit of exercise, me and my three new companions finally met the person who summoned us, and...

  Greetin's! I'm called Shylocke, it's nice to meet you! I'm from the Sunriver Axolite clan from the Burovian Desert, but I left because of wanderlust. It's more interestin' to see where the shinies come from and collect them firsthand, instead of merely tradin' with the travelers who visit the oasis.  In any case, I've been travelin' round Rivalia for the last five years, but it's hard to fully trust the other folks I come across, so very few actually know my first name. I've been across the Oakris Peaks north of my desert, in and out of the Kadash Jungle to the west of Marrowfell Valley, and recently got back from a trip into the Ossian Swamps for a retrieval mission. Our mission...didn't exactly go as we thought it might, but we all came back alive.  You see, we ran into an old friend of mine, named Vanaria. She was the one who sent for me, but when we found her, we also found she was working with a bunch of hill giants who wanted to s...

  Ooh, new friends! Hello! My name is Zarya Melor'ica, and I am a paladin of Melora the Wild Mother. I live in the world of Thalassa, which is essentially a massive ocean with lots of islands and few continents. I'm a water genasi (elemental human) so the water is like a second home to me.  Vela asked me to give you all a quick introduction, so here we go! Long story short, I was picked up by pirates, later attacked by a terrifying person on a black ship that we called the Iron King for lack of an actual name. He cursed me, blew up our ship, and vanished. Since then, my friends and I (the survivors of the ship), have been trying to gather what info we can on him, trying to figure out what he wants, and how to stop him from going around murdering people. In the time that I've travelled with my ragtag bunch of lovely weirdos (myself included), I've died twice, we've dealt with Pelagia islands' mind flayer problem, cleared out an island full of manticores, travelle...

  Hello! My name is Kerran! A few months ago I escaped from the Underdark into the surface world of Estrea. I found that things up on the surface were wildly different than what I knew, but I made friends! There's Eleody and Meadowhawk, Falkner, and Izzy! Izzy's kind of like my little sister, though she's a tiefling and I'm a dark elf. Falkner is a dwarf and like a big brother! (He seems gruff, but he's very protective.) Eleody and Meadowhawk are fun. They're magically stuck to each other through these special bracers, and I think they're starting to maybe Not hate it. Anyway, Vela asked me to introduce myself and tell you a little about my adventures. After getting to Estrea, I found friends and we started traveling together, fighting monsters, and then we got targeted by bandits. That in itself wouldn't be so bad, except they were going to go after our innocent friends. So we hunted them down, found out the leader was cursed, so we chased her into a di...

  Good afternoon and happy Monday! This is Vela, once again, here to take over Vivienne's blog. I've decided it's much too fun to give back just yet, and I've just had the best idea! I'm going to pull in some of Vivienne's DnD characters so they can tell you stories you haven't heard yet!  I'm going to invite Kerran Asra (he's a dark elf sorcerer), Zarya Melor'ica (she's a water genasi paladin), Da'cada Shylocke (they're an axolotl barbarian/blood hunter), and Izanagi Kyo (he's from a different role-playing game system...I'll let him explain). They all have such interesting adventures, and fascinating friends. I can't wait for you to meet them all! I will say, I may be partial to Kerran, mostly because I know he has magic tea! I keep asking to try one of his blends, but I never seem to be in the right place at the right time. One day! Anyway, I must run off to make me and Vivienne some tea, so I hope all you lovely readers...

  Greetings, dear readers! I have decided not to relinquish control of this blog back to my alter-ego Vivienne, and she wasn't able to talk me out of it. I wanted to talk about this coming month. It's spring, and with the change of season comes a new challenge. Vivienne has decided to participate in Camp Nanowrimo with a friend, and the two of them are planning on finishing their current books.  Oh! Before I continue, can you keep a secret? Lovely! I must admit, Vivienne is a bit perturbed by me. I've not exactly shown her all my cards, as it were. I like my secrets, and I like forcing her to keep writing me into stories in order to discover who I am, what I know, what my plans are, and where I am at any given moment. It's quite a lot of fun! In the story Vivienne is currently writing, I've got a little library in Manchester, England, on a parallel realm. I wanted so badly to be part of her story that I made myself integral to the plot, and I'm the only reason t...

  Greetings, dear readers! My name is Vela, and I've taken over this lovely little blog. I don't know if you're aware, but this is a special date on the calendar. Today marks March 32nd, a day where rules are...iffy. Oh, but I just realized, you may not know who I am. Let me remedy that. I'm Vela, one of Vivienne's alter egos. Some of my friends would describe me as odd, obsessed with tea, an excellent shot with a bow, and...vampiric.  Unfortunately, I can't recall why exactly my friends think me a vampire, but I can assure you, I am not. Let me state for the record, once and for all, that I am not a vampire. I am a dragon. Of course, I have a human form, and I subsist off little more than tea, but this in no way makes me a blood-drinker. I am also a privateer on the Emerald Rose, a wonderful ship full of interesting people. In all my adventures, I've actually never encountered a vampire, another dragon, or any other odd creatures...Well, besides the fae. (T...