History Of Halloween

  Hey there people! Today is Halloween. Halloween is quite controversial in this family, but now Mom says that the kids can go trick or treating! Since today is a special day, I have decided to look into the History of Halloween for this blog post. My mind is still not made up about it, for now I just believe what my parents believe about it.
    If you go back to the very beginnings of the holiday, you will find that Halloween is most typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samuin (pronounced sow-in) or the festival of the "Summer's End". The Celtic people celebrated Nov. 1 as their new year, the day when Summer was over and winter, the time of cold and of the dead began. They believed that the border between this world and the spirit world became thin on that day and that spirits (both good and bad) came into the world that night. It is believed that they used costumes to ward off the bad spirits.

    However, the word "Halloween" did not come into use until the 1550's, deriving from the term "All Hallows eve." As people came to America from different countries, they brought their varied Halloween traditions with them. However, Halloween wasn't really developed into the holiday it is now until the late 1800's or early 20th Century. Today, Americans spend more than $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the second largest commercial holiday in the country.
     Now, I'm not saying anything really for or against Halloween. I have a lot of friends who are devout Christians who are really against Halloween but I also have some friends who really like it and say that it's just harmless fun.
     Me; I'm not sure yet but I'm bordering on the harmless fun side. I guess it just doesn't matter to me so much anymore because I'm too old to dress up and go door to door getting free candy.

No work Friday

  I'm glad I didn't have to go to work yesterday. Not Jay's, Traxside or even with Dad. I got a good two chapters finished in my teen novel. (and chapters in that book are much longer than those in Appaloosy.) I haven't worked much on Golden Sunrise (working title) because I need to study a little bit more about the period of history that it's set in.
     I set up a little "Haunted Trail" for my siblings today and they had fun going down it and back up again. It was almost more cute than scary. I wish I could have a picture, but Somebody had to loose the camera. I'm still simmering over that.
     Don't you wish sometimes that you could look in hindsight all the time? Sorry to change the subject so dramatically, but I sure wish I could. Like, "Don't say that about that person because even though it's true the people you're telling it to will exaggerate it and tell it to everyone and then suddenly no one really trusts you because you spread rumors."
     Or maybe, "You better get back to that person RIGHT AWAY even though you're really busy and don't have the time, otherwise they'll feel underappreciated and that you are a jerk, and never answer your emails again."
     Both have happened to me, and I really regret it now. Thankfully though I have made amends in most situations, but I've learned from my mistakes. If there's one thing you think about today, it's think before you speak. (or don't speak)  =)
  Mattie

Royal Court

     What is Royal Court? Well, it's something I just jumped into this year. I'm now a candidate and I went in yesterday to be interview judged.
     Is something or other for 4-H and I think the main thing that you do is hand out ribbons at the fair but I think you have to show up to some other things. When I filled out the application there was no description. But I like most of the things in   4-H and Royal court sounds like another way to be involved.
     They mostly asked questions on involvement in the community and 4-H. Thankfully I've had enough experiences to tell them all about it. I think I got pretty red, just sitting in their talking to the two people in a quiet room but I think I'll make it out okay. They were nice. I'm not sure if I'll win, they announce who won on awards night (the 15th of November)
    Although since there are only four candidates, I think I'll have a fairly good chance.

Writing Tip of the Week

 Hi there again! Sorry I didn't get a chance to write yesterday. Did my school most of the day and I went to Youth Group tonight. Interesting group, that is. It's called the Studio and I went with some friends (okay as of now I'm not mentioning anyone's real name on the internet unless they already gave me permission) Saw some other friends I knew too. It looks like they do a lot of fun stuff there and there is a lot of other homeschooled kids there. The Pastor at that church is a good one and the kids seem like good Christians too. I had fun.
     Now for the writing tip. I was thinking that I would post one once a week. I am certainly not a pro at all this stuff (although I think I'm becoming closer) but one of my favorite parts of being an author is helping other kids out.
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Writing tip-- Character development

 Character development in a story is very important for overall novel quality. If you do not have a strong character that people will like, you story will not be strong.
     The first thing I did with my book Appaloosy was develop the main character, Storm. When I first started writing this book, however, I was thriteen and didn't really know that much about writing, only that I really liked it. :) I did know alot about my character because he was the horse I always wanted. I didn't need to do much developing. I am now on my fourth book (written, not published) and now before I began to write the story, I get to know my character. I reccomend that if you can you should draw a picture of your character. What color hair does he/she have? Are they tall? Short? Fat? Thin? What color are their eyes? All of these things have to stay consistant through the story. Then learn all of his secrets. Where has he lived? What is his favorite kind of ice cream? What's his biggest fear? Hope? Dream?
     You should also know what your character behaves like. There's nothing like having a person (or horse!) behave out of character in a book. You should know your character like a good friend. After all, he/she is the one that will be leading you through an entire novel!
  I have scratched the surface here in character development. You can go as far as you want with this, just make sure you know your character well before you begin to spell out his problems.

-Mattie

A windy day . . .

     Nothing too unusual has happened in the last two days. Yesterday I worked at the Traxside in Enderlin. I tried waitressing for the first time, rather than cook. I can't figure out what would be better, but for now I think I'll waitress. I like cooking because then you don't have to deal with annoying people but I have a hard time wading through and jumping over stuff in that kitchen.
     Woke up at 6:30 AM this morning, (early for me!) started school with Geometry. I use a computer program for that, if you're wondering. I was glad I woke up early because I got my school done by 2:00. I could have went to work at the Traxside but I stayed home to work on my third novel. Well, actually I'm working on two but the one I worked on today is the third in my horse series. I already have the bare bones laid out and the title, "Golden Sunrise". Kind of funny, I still can't think of a name for my second one.
     The other book I'm working on is a teen novel set in the time of the great depression. It's about people, so it's hard and slow going. It's just so much easier to write about horses.
     It is raining outside and the wind is blowing constantly, the weather said it could gust up to 50 mph! I put the calf in the barn but the poor horses are still ouside. Hopefully it will warm up for a little longer. I don't want snow yet!

I Need More Books!!

  I already need some more Appaloosy books. I sold ten while I was visting Grandma in South Dakota and found that I only have six copies left in the bottom of the box. 200 down, 800 more to go. :) Well, that's my goal for now anyway. I hope I can get them ordered in time for the Snowball Festival in Valley City. Come Visit Me ! Ley still has my second book but I hope I get it back soon.
   I think I will publish an excerpt of it on this blog. Look for it soon! It is still untitled, so maybe I will have a poll for the name of the book too.

    I'll upload another quick picture. (Thanks Michele for having a camera ready. Although I hate pictures of myself they sometimes come in handy)
  Here's one of me at the Premium sale at the Ransom County Fair with my filly Sunny. A little bit of inspiration for me, she also helps to  keep my stories on the realistic side. She's two years old and I've been working on breaking her to ride and she's doing great! We took first in the Senior division at the fair.


Boy-I'm Feeling Nervous. How about you?

                                          

Roofing

     Sometimes it seems like days just go by too fast and busy for me to post anything. I have been helping my dad and brother to roof a house and have come home too tired to post anything every night. I haven't gotten anything for my birthday yet, and I don't plan on getting a vw anymore. For right now anyway. So I think that I will tell you a little bit more about me.
     I live in rural North Dakota with two brothers and five sisters. I own two horses (neither or which are Appaloosas) and one miniature cow. My parents have a lot of chickens, guineas and ducks. So it's kind of like a hobby farm, but we only live on five acres so it's not really.
     I am the oldest in my family and I am not really tall but not really short, either. I have blueish eyes and red hair. I hate the way I look sometimes, but there's nothing I can do about it so I just live with it. (and try to have fun) 
   My action photographer, (aka my ten year old sister Clarissa) is in South Dakota right now, so I'll have to rely on old pictures for now.  Here's a picture of me when I was first starting to sell my book, about two years ago.

     My favorite things to do are riding horses, writing stories, playing violin and guitar, driving, working at the DQ in the summer and jumping on the trampoline in the rain. I've lived here since I was thirteen, and the first summer we lived here was the one that I wrote my book Appaloosy.
    More Later!
        Mattie

Ahhh Fall Now

  I've always liked the fall. It's getting a little cooler, leaves start falling off the trees, halloween is soon and so is my birthday. Of course, I don't really like the fact that school starts again and Ice Cream, Etc. is closed and now I have to work at Jays. My mom and six of the kids are gone so just me and Sawyer are home. I've been helping my dad work on a roof in town lately and so he owes me and for my birthday I'd just like him to take me to Missouri so I can buy a car. (no I don't have my own yet--I just drive his) But I don't think that's possible, so otherwise I'd like to put my birthday money toward getting an electric guitar. I'm sick of acoustic. Kinda selfish, aren't I? It is my 17th (!) birthday so I think it should be kinda special. I mean, I only have one left while I'm still living in this house. :)

    As far as my second book goes, it is still untitled and right now it is in the hands of Ley Bouchard, editor of the Valley Equestrian Newspaper. She is going to read it and edit it some. I hope to have the book in my hands by December!