My Recent Work Elsewhere

Should you be interested:

How Our New Definition of Freedom Causes Cruelty
In the past, freedom meant to ability to obey one’s beliefs. Now, freedom is the ability to require others to obey one’s own beliefs about oneself. 

 

It's OK for Babies to Swallow 'Me-time"
(The funny thing is that despite the title, this article was written to discuss a mother's need for rest and refreshment. It's just that mental rest isn't quite the same thing as 'me-time.')

 I've also posted about the modern husband. 

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

I just noticed that, after a long absence, Christie of the lovely blog Spinning Straw into Gold has posted again. Away I went to read the article. It turns out that she has won a "Very Inspiring Blogger Award" (yay!). As I scrolled down, I discovered that she has nominated Don't Forget the Avocados for the same honor (yay again!).

Thus, I am supposed to share with you seven things that you may not know about me.

1. The knees of my jeans often have food and drool stains on them. This is not because I eat with my knees. It is because my fifteen-month-old likes to wipe his hands and face on my body while expressing his impassioned desire to be picked up.

2. I really like the color red. Red tea pots, red dish towels, red mugs, etc. Even my toaster is red. However, I never did manage to convince my husband that a red accent wall would be a good idea.

3. The heroine of my novel-in-progress is from Berkeley, California, and her mother is a professor of folktales. This background becomes useful to my heroine when she is kidnapped by a folktale queen.

4. I prefer to compose all stories and articles in Times New Roman, even if I need to change the font to something else afterwards. Somehow, Times New Roman keeps the words flowing more smoothly for me.

5. I am fond of nasturtiums, feverfew, and Martha Washington geraniums (I picked some of the latter to put in my bridal bouquet).

6. The first "real" book that I read independently was Little House in the Big Woods. I devoured this at the age of eight, and thus began my life as a reader.

7. My younger sister used to hide my books to try to make me play with her.


OK, now it's my turn to nominate some other blogs. I'm sticking to those of a literary-ish theme.

Vintage Novels: Suzannah writes some very thought-provoking articles about writerly and readerly things.

Semicolon: I keep an eye on the book reviews here, and have found some great titles I would not have read otherwise.

Amongst Lovely Things: I really appreciate Sarah Mackenzie's discussions of classical education, homeschooling, and building a family culture around books.

Alison's Open Sketchbook: Alison is a visual artist, not a writer, but I enjoy the thoughts that arise in her life as a creatively-inclined mom.

Like Mother, Like Daughter: Most of this charming blog is not about books, but take a look at the Library Project on their site (the button at the top doesn't work: search for the term in the search box, or use the link I'm providing).

Why I Won't Post as Much for a While

I have been wanting to (a). focus on fiction in a more disciplined way, and (b). be pushed to improve my writing. Over Christmas I decided that the perfect solution would be to take an online class. I need to take it now, since there is another baby Mussmann on the way (due this July) and newborns aren't always very good at allowing their mothers to spend hours on the computer. If you know what I mean.

Therefore, I have registered for a novel writing class for Winter Quarter. The goal of the class is to produce a complete novel outline as well as a polished fifty pages of the novel. I'm very excited about working on my story concept and about immersing myself in the world of fiction for a few months. Hooray!

The only sad part is that, because my writing time is limited, I probably won't be able to blog much. If I vanish from this space until April, fear not, I am not dead--merely busy, and hopefully producing a masterpiece-ish tome of insight, adventure, and pleasing sentence structures.

A Book You May Want to Read

I've been reading reviews and other articles on Suzannah Rowntree's blog for a while now, and was interested to hear that she is going to release a novel of her own this March. The premise sounds intriguing, and I look forward to reading my own electronic copy.

Suzannah sent me some announcement material to share, and here it is!

Synopsis

Blanche Pendragon enjoys her undemanding life as the ward of an eccentric nobleman in 1900 England. It's been years since she even wondered what happened to her long lost parents, but then a gift on the night of her eighteenth birthday reveals a heritage more dangerous and awe-inspiring than she ever dreamed of--or wanted. Soon Blanche is flung into a world of wayfaring immortals, daring knights, and deadly combats, with a murderous witch-queen on her trail and the future of a kingdom at stake. As the legendary King Arthur Pendragon and his warriors face enemies without and treachery within, Blanche discovers a secret that could destroy the whole realm of Logres. Even if the kingdom could be saved, is she the one to do it? Or is someone else the Pendragon's Heir?


Author Bio

When Suzannah Rowntree isn’t travelling the world to help out friends in need, she lives in a big house in rural Australia with her awesome parents and siblings, trying to beat her previous number-of-books-read-in-a-year record. She blogs the results at www.vintagenovels.com and is the author of two non-fiction books, The Epic of Reformation: A Guide to the Faerie Queene and War Games: Classic Fiction for the Christian life. Pendragon’s Heir, her debut novel, springs from her lifelong love of medieval literature.

We Shop Because We Yearn (at The Federalist)

My opinion on why we buy pink (or blue) baby tubs and crazily-expensive wedding dresses. Plus a Dorothy Sayers quotation, which always makes an article better.

We Shop Because We Yearn 

Bridal gowns, baby gear, and other stuff we shop for are part of the human quest for identity and quietly acknowledge the realities political correctness seeks to deny. 

In “Murder Must Advertise,” a Dorothy Sayers mystery novel from 1933, the aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey goes undercover in an advertising firm. The narrator tells us, “He had never realized the enormous commercial importance of the comparatively poor. Not on the wealthy, who buy only what they want when they want it, was the vast superstructure of industry founded and built up, but on those who, aching for a luxury beyond their reach and for a leisure for ever denied them, could be bullied or wheedled into spending their few hardly won shillings on whatever might give them, if only for a moment, a leisured and luxurious illusion.” 

The advertising of our decade is very similar: products are advertised not as shirts, cereal, or face lotion, but as “something to make you look thin,” “something to help your kids get good grades in school,” and “something to make you look like Jennifer Lawrence.” The items with which we fill our shopping carts are as much ideas, fantasies, and forlorn hopes as they are food and raiment. Advertising is manipulative, but in its own limited way, it also reveals the yearnings of the American heart.

Read the rest HERE.

Two-Year Blog Anniversary

Wow. I have been keeping this blog for two years! It doesn't feel that long.

When I first started posting, I lived in a little student apartment with my husband. I remember having him read my first post, and being extremely excited when it achieved multiple page views. Four or five! More than just the two of us! It was heady stuff.

In these two years, the post that has received the most page views is the one about how Fashion Was Easier When Women Wore Corsets.

Second most popular was the first in the "How to Homeschool Without Warping Your Kids" series.

In my personal opinion, the article that probably had the best illustrations is this one because it has little bunny memes that I made myself.


Writing for this blog is a lot of fun. I'm grateful that I've been able to do so. Thanks very much to all of you who read what I post!

A New Project That Is Very Exciting

I haven't posted in over a week, for several quite defensible reasons:

1. I've been traveling
2. We are trying to convince our sweet little son that his sudden desire to party at night is most ill-advised
3. I've been working on a new project.

The new project is very exciting.

I would like to announce that "Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife" (a blog about vocational relationships from a Law and Gospel perspective) is now live! You'll be able to read articles by a variety of fantastic Lutheran women about topics like virtuous singlehood, mothering, and hospitality. Take a look at the first post and stick around the read the other articles that are already up.

A Baby, an Article, and a Preemptive Notice

Dear Blog Followers, 

Lots has happened this week!


1. My article, Facebook Mobs and the Death of Individuality, is available to be read in the Federalist.

2. My little son was born and is doing well (8 pounds, 11 ounces). Naturally, we find him breathtakingly adorable.

3. The preemptive notice: if I don't answer your comment, it's the baby's fault. It will also be his fault if next Tuesday's post is delayed. :-)

An Update and Some Felt Owls

Dear friends and readers,

Perhaps you have noticed the sudden silence of this blog. The truth is that I have been seized by crafting fever. Instead of writing, I have been sewing and (ahem) pouring over little felt animals on Pinterest. After much thought, I have decided that little felt owls and handmade leaf babies are intrinsically related to stories (my husband thinks that’s a stretch). Therefore, rather than leave the blog silent, I will be sharing some of my handiwork until my brain refocuses on fiction. I have been drafting a few patterns for little toys and will be sharing them as I go.

Here are a few of the latest efforts:

A future Christmas Tree Ornament (part of a series of woodland animals)

Little Leaf Babies and their Leaves

More Christmas Ornaments: Sleepy Owls

My Work in Enchanted Conversation

I'm excited to say that a guest post of mine is appearing in Enchanted Conversation: A Fairytale Magazine. The post is entitled, "Fairyland and the Deep-Down Third-grader." Check it out:

HERE

The site is full of wonderful stories and poems, so you will want to browse around!

From http://www.flagsclipart.net 

My Guest Post at Imagination Lane

Read my article on ways to build a "living" fantasy world by developing vibrant moral/belief systems for your universe. You'll find the post at Imagination Lane. While there, check out Alexa's articles on writing fiction!

"Truly Foreign: Creating Fantastical Worlds in Fantasy"

Special Announcement: Read My Piece in the January Issue of 713 Flash Fiction

The Hum of Refuge is a piece of flash fiction that I wrote last month in response to the contest prompt, “And you think razor wire will keep me out?” It won through to publication! Read it online at Kazka Press , and feel free to leave me comments here. Does anyone recognize the setting?