Yet another foolish endeavor

If you were wondering . . .

2008-06-13T05:09:08Z

mananath's advice:

You know how sometimes people on your friend's list post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when are they working THERE? Since when are they dating HIM/HER? since when???" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you *should* already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy mine below, erase my answers putting yours in their place then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration! One-Word-Answers seldom help anyone out :)

1. First Name: Honestly? Bethany. Later in life? Faren.

2. Age: Early twenties

3. Location: Phoenix, AZ, for the moment.

4. Occupation: Currently the assistant manager of the Barnes & Noble Cafe' (which we refer to as the "Lead").

5. Partner?: No. Like I was saying to my buddy Matt the other night, I don't know how I went through all of college and several career choices without finding one of these. I date from time to time, but no "partner." Is it my selfishness? My tendency to distance myself? Am I just subconsciously trying to wait until I settle down somewhere (assuming this will ever happen)? Anyway, no.

6. Kids: Likely not. I just couldn't handle that responsibility, plus I don't know how I feel about bringing more people into an already overpopulated planet when there are tons of kids already here who are desperate for someone to care about them. If I start to regret not having kids when I'm too old to bear them, I'll look into adoption or foster care.

7. Brothers/Sisters: Two brothers, who are a huge part of my life and quite possibly my two favourite people ever.

8. Pets: My parents just got a puppy, which I suppose is also mine, for now. I want to live somewhere that will allow me to own a horse and a large dog. They can keep each other company when I'm not home.

9. List the 3-5 biggest things going on in your life:
1) Writing. My writing is constantly developing and maturing into something I wouldn't feel embarrassed to present to the world. I have so many different projects going on there that I can hardly keep track of them all, which is likely the reason I haven't finished any of them. But this is incredibly important to me, so I never give up. I just never counted on how much research I'd have to do to write even something as simple as a contemporary novel set in places I've been to.

2) Work/money issues. I want to hold out for a promotion, at which point I could actually support myself, but I don't know how long I can juggle the finances to wait. I keep a calendar of when I'm going to pay which bill for a full month in advance so I can't accidentally spend the money ahead of time. Plus gas prices keep rising.

3) Trying to figure out where I want to spend the rest of my life. I know it's not Arizona. I just don't know where it is. I want to spend some time exploring Scotland and Ireland, because every picture and every story I'm exposed to from that area touches me deeply, and I get the feeling that's where I'm meant to be. I just need the time and money to discover the right place. I may end up in Boston for a little while first. Depends on a lot of things.

4) My future goals in life, and attaining them. No matter where I end up, I want some very specific things out of life. I'm constantly trying to figure out how to get them. They include more schooling and owning a business, which is going to take all my energy and years of my life. I have too many balls to juggle, so I just end up staring at the balls on my shelf collecting dust and thinking about juggling.

5) Friendships, or what makes my entire life worth it. All the stresses and anxieties that I feel about the issues above just fade into the background when I'm around the people I enjoy and even love. I know how to have a good time, and I try to fill my life up with meaningful connections. Taking a vacation from work just to devote to my best friend, going on a camping trip with some of my other friends . . . I take my relationships seriously.

10) College. Oh, boy. Graduated with a B.A. in English a year ago, and am currently enrolled in two summer classes at a community college. Because I can't stop. I need a Master's Degree. I'll probably attain it and find out I won't be satisfied until I have my Ph.D. in something.

11) Parents? Still the same ones I've always had. They're coming up on their thirtieth wedding anniversary, which is something I took for granted as a child, but I didn't expect and wouldn't have guessed a few years ago. I don't always like them, but I always love them.

12) Who are some of your closest friends?: Oddly enough, none of them use LiveJournal. LJ is kind of a relic nowadays, I think. But I'm lucky enough to have had several years with my closest friends all here together. In a month, you're going to find me deeply melancholy when one of them moves far away.

Oh noes . . .

2008-06-11T15:16:13Z

The Irish Literature class I'm taking this summer is doing something to me. I went and found the best store ever, the Irish Gift Shop, and walked out with traditional Irish bangers, black currant jam, and (I hear the Hallelujah Chorus) Bewley's loose leaf tea. So now my family loves and adores me, for last night they feasted on bangers & mash for dinner, and we finished off with a pile of scones, clotted cream (which I personally made), jam, and pot of tea. I love cooking. I'm going to take a bunch of scones to work because for some reason, when I decide I want to make food, I made a lot of it. I have 3 dozen scones, minus what we ate last night. I also sent a little care package to my brother & sister-in-law consisting of a package of bangers, some potatoes, and the leftover onion gravy.

If only I'd had massive amounts of beer to serve with dinner, it would almost seem authentic . . .

Note:

2008-04-25T21:38:39Z

If one more person slaps a hand on my back, they will die. I will kill them.

There is a big fucking scab there, stupid! What do you THINK 4 hours at the tattoo parlour feels like?!

Yes, it's true . . .

2008-04-06T19:22:37Z

I has a tattoo!

Well, I has an outline of a tattoo. Come the 23rd, I will has a REAL tattoo.

faren_maddox @ 2008-03-26T20:19:00

2008-03-27T03:21:08Z

I gots a new haircut. It's dead sexy. I don't have any good pictures of it yet, though. Sad face.

Uuunnnhhhh . . .

2008-03-16T16:57:13Z

I have now been drunk enough to puke. I've been drunk before, but never enough to throw up. But vomit I did, and profusely, this past 3 of the clock. So much alcohol . . . I'm not ever doing that again. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but I definitely asked my coworker to kiss me, definitely pretended to molest an inflatable football referee, and definitely attempted to learn Irish Gaelic. I say fuzzy on the details because I don't remember what my coworker's answer was, what happened to the referee, or a single word of the Gaelic that I supposedly picked up. I do remember that the host of the party still had Halloween decorations in her bathroom, so I'll cling to that as proof that I was sober enough to at least be trying to pay attention to my surroundings.

One of my managers was at this party. I don't want to go back to work. However, due to the vomiting, I have no hangover, so at least I can go to work without being miserable.

I'm alive

2008-03-15T06:31:11Z

It's been awhile since I posted anything, but alive nonetheless. I have been enjoying my fantastic life by quitting my job and proceeding to spend all remaining money I had on things like awesome new shoes and tickets to the Dropkick Murphys concert I saw last week. \m/ <-is my rockfist, because the Dropkick Murphys make me extremely happy. You know what else makes me happy? Stories about post-apocolyptic societies. I have been reading Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling, and I just got back from watching Doomsday. I need to learn how to survive without electricity. And to swordfight. And I need to own a lot of guns. Because the world is coming to an end, and when it does, I will pwn.

In other news, the promotion at Barnes & Noble is going well so far. I'm hoping to force my boss out before the end of the summer and take his job so I'll be making enough money for it to have been worthwhile. We'll see how that goes. The entire staff already wishes I had his job anyway, so it only remains to make him cry often enough to get him to quit. Shouldn't be too hard, I think I have a bigger pair than he does.

And yes, I'm still writing freakin' fanfiction. It's a disease, and somebody please let me know when they come up with a cure, because it sucks my time away like vampires draining blood. (I'm writing an original story [as in, not fanfic] about vampires, by the way. It's fun!)

So that's life at this point. I love it, but I kinda wish it was more like my buddy mananath's. Because he feckin' wins at life.

Fanfiction nonsense

2008-01-20T07:44:51Z

Massive original characters list

Okay, here’s how it works, and pay attention, because it’s important!

This list covers the entire Redemption series (excluding Maggie’s classmates in IAGD, because you only have to keep track of them for 9 chapters) so there are spoilers! There are lots of spoilers! Ahoy, spoilers ahead!
Some characters appear in more than one story, but they only have one listing, so don’t complain about information being minimal. I’m avoiding giving away too much about their future. Some characters are not listed, because they are very minor characters with only one or two appearances in the story. You don’t really need to worry about remembering them.
Characters introduced in Save Me have one asterisk *, in Brothers and Sons have two asterisks **, and in A Foreign Language have three asterisks ***. Hopefully this will help you avoid spoilers. As stated, I didn’t include characters introduced in I Am Gryffindor’s Daughter, and the other stories don’t have any new characters to speak of.
Hogwarts students who play Quidditch at any point in the series are underlined. If you are looking for a complete list of Quidditch players in Save Me and in Brothers and Sons, I have handily included them at the bottom of the page. I have also handily included a list of the professors at Hogwarts in Save Me and the relevant changes to the staff within the series. This is not a complete list of the staff at Hogwarts at any given time, but includes all those relevant to the story.

*Ackerley, Aiken — a very unique Gryffindor (introduced in his 3^rd year) prone to practical jokes but restrained for the sake of McGonagall’s sanity. Possibly insane, possibly just having fun at everyone’s expense. Worshipped Charlie Weasley.

***Bernard, Christine—the Muggle detective in charge of investigating Tim Farella’s disappearance and the suspected drug activity at Greenwood Preparatory Academy. Goes by “Chris”

*Bonnie — Tuck’s daughter

*Booth, Nancy — Head Girl, from Hufflepuff House

***Bradshaw, Annie—Shawn’s mentor and one of the masterminds behind the plan to destroy Greenwood with the Red-Hot drug.

*Branson, Albert — Gryffindor prefect, goes by "Bran"

*Burns, Paulette — A Gryffindor in Matt’s year who goes by "Letty" and likes to charge ahead regardless of consequences. Prefers to play with the boys and roughhouse, despite being asthmatic and anemic.

***Callavetti, Autumn—a popular and pretty girl at Greenwood Preperatory Academy who gets herself thoroughly hooked on Red-Hot

**Carthy, Rosemary — a former tabloid reporter invited to work at Rita Skeeter’s new magazine Wandwork Weekly, a Squib with a yen for wizards

***Cavanaugh, Edward—a deaf student at Greenwood Preparatory Academy who is generally called “Dumb Eddie” and takes a liking to Draco . . . and his English students

*Cross, Max — illegitimate son of Lucius Malfoy and Muggle Carol Cross, only recently discovered his true parentage and is bloody upset about it, Draco’s slightly mad half-brother

*Crowley, Alistair — a prissy boy (introduced in his 1^st year) of dubious height and little interest to anyone outside Hufflepuff House.

*Don — a member of Tuck’s criminal band

***Edwards, Drew—Harry’s Muggle cover identity

***Edwards, Dr. Jamie—Draco’s Muggle cover identity

*Edwards, John — Vianne Edwards’ father and Ran’s grandfather, protective of his family

*Edwards, Vianne — Ran Edwards’ mother, a Muggle-born witch with a limited understanding of the magical world

*Edwards, Randolph —Gryffindor (introduced in his 2^nd year) who is open about being a werewolf, one of Fenrir Greyback’s last victims. Professor Stevens’ right-hand man and practically his second skin, until he becomes his stepson. Goes by “Ran.”

***Farella, Tim—“Big Tim’s” disappearance sets off the investigation at Greenwood Preparatory Academy

***Flip — see “Courtney Ware”

*Forsythe, Faith — Ravenclaw (introduced in her 3^rd year) with several siblings at the school

*Forsythe, Ferris — Gryffindor in Matt’s year with a twin sister in Ravenclaw

*Forsythe, Fayne — Ravenclaw prefect, selected as McGonagall’s assistant this year

*Forsythe, Felicity — Ravenclaw with a twin brother in Gryffindor

***Halsbeck, Landon—a lonely student at Greenwood Preparatory Academy who brings his isolation on himself by being rude and introverted, especially after losing his only friend

*Henley — see "Tuck"

*Jarvis, Douglas — a mischievous Ravenclaw (introduced in his 4^th year) who is forced to fight through serious changes in wizarding society

*Kilburne, Jackson — Professor Kilburne’s younger brother and inventor of spells

*Kilburne, Gregory — new Ancient Runes professor and Head of Slytherin House, only twenty years old

*Kilburne, Diane — Professor Kilburne’s cousin, a Ravenclaw (introduced in her 1^st year)

*Kilburne, Gwynn — Professor Kilburne’s cousin, a Ravenclaw (introduced in her 3^rd year)

*Knowles, Barry — Ravenclaw (introduced in his 3^rd year) who is a victim of the Nightmare Curse

*Laddon, Bradley — an unpleasant boy (introduced in his 1^st year) who mocks everyone from professors and prefects on down

***Law, Stacey—a not-so-typical version of your typical popular student at Greenwood Preparatory Academy. Good-looking, hard-working, and intelligent, he also has a few tricks up his sleeve.

*Lewis, Lark — Gryffindor prefect, steady relationship with Slytherin prefect Lysander Sorenson

*Lisa — Tuck’s longtime girlfriend and Bonnie’s mother

*Little, Milton — Muggleborn boy starting Hogwarts a year late (introduced in his 1^st year), after a case of underage magic in which he was defended by Ginny Potter. A very decent boy with little magical strength

***Malfoy, Scorpius — son born to Draco Malfoy and Vianne Malfoy, née Edwards

*Mann, Morgan — a Ravenclaw (introduced in his 4^th year) who is mischievous and sober by turns, forced to fight through serious changes in wizarding society

*Markham, Roger — Matt Potter’s biological father, murdered by Draco Malfoy

*Markham, Matthias — see "Potter, Matthias"

*Michaels, Chester — Head Boy, from Hufflepuff House

***Parish, Chrysanthemum (Mum)—the tough old witch in charge of secret agents at the New York State Department of Magical Activity.

**Parsons, Lola — Rosemary’s colleague at Wandwork Weekly

*Pauley — a member of Tuck’s criminal band, a low-level wizard

***Phillips, Adam—a fairly popular student at Greenwood Preparatory Academy (partly because he’s selling them drugs), son of Jim Phillips

***Phillips, Jim—the biology teacher at Greenwood, Harry and Draco’s best on-site support during the investigation

**Plumm, Marjorie — Muggle Studies teacher and Rosemary Carthy’s source inside Hogwarts

*Potter, Sirius — oldest natural son of Harry and Ginny Potter, 4 years old at the start of the story and very accident-prone.

*Potter, Charlotte —daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter, 1 year old at the start of the story, commonly called “Charley”

*Potter, Matthias — the adopted (and rather shy) son of Harry and Ginny Potter who nonetheless becomes a model Gryffindor student. Goes by “Matt.”

*Pritchard, Charity — a good-natured Hufflepuff (introduced in her 1^st year) who is not put off by her Potions professor’s true identity

*Pritchard, Justine — a self-important Hufflepuff (introduced in her 2^nd year) with a fairly high opinion of her intelligence and her house.

*Pritchard, Megan — Hufflepuff prefect

**Puck, Geoffrey — Rosemary’s colleague at Wandwork Weekly

***Putnam, Peter—an old friend of Chris Bernard’s, Harry and Draco’s main point of contact with the American wizarding government. A jack-of-all-trades in both public and private service in the magical world. (Also happens to be the cover identity Draco stole to get himself out of trouble when he was acting as Drew Stevens.)

***Rafferty, John—Annie Bradshaw’s mentor, rapist, and Dark wizard at large

***Randall, Shawn—Landon Halsbeck’s best friend, a neglected foster kid with a lot of problems, he is considered dead by suicide though the body was never found

***Rosado, Cristina—an eight-year-old pain in the ass, especially where Crash is concerned. Hank Rosado’s daughter.

***Rosado, Hank—the principal of Greenwood Preparatory Academy, in full cooperation with Harry and Draco in their cover identities as the Edwards brothers

*Simpson, Jean-Luc— son of Hermione Granger-Simpson and Jonah Simpson, called “J.J.” by his sister . . . and only his sister

*Simpson, Jonah — Hermione Granger-Simpson’s husband, a Healer at a magical hospital in Canada in charge of treating werewolf victims

*Smithy, Madeleine — a fun-loving Gryffindor (introduced in her 4^th year), a Metamorphagus who provides a lot of entertainment in the common room

*Sorenson, Apollo — a dead ringer for his brother Lysander in looks and attitude, helping reshape Slytherin House

*Sorenson, Lysander — Slytherin prefect in a steady relationship with Gryffindor prefect Lark Lewis. Giving a good reputation to the house with his easygoing nature and good looks

***Steen, Kendall—Big Tim’s girlfriend; her drug overdose while attending class at Greenwood is the incident that brings Harry and Draco from England to aid the investigation

*Stevens, Drew — new Potions professor at Hogwarts, newly arrived from America with a mysterious and suspect past

*Talbott, Berengaria — a Gryffindor in Matt’s year, a fierce girl of physical strength and strong friendships. Matt Potter’s friend, bodyguard, and later girlfriend. Goes by “Bear.”

**Talent, Tabitha — Rosemary’s colleague at Wandwork Weekly

**Thorndike, Julius — Ginny’s colleague at Department of Magical Law Enforcement

*Townsend, Basil — a bookish, cheerful, hardworking Ravenclaw (introduced in his 1^st year) with strongly developed moral code. Matt Potter’s best friend and constant companion in school and in life

*Townsend, Kim — Ravenclaw prefect with a younger brother in her house, a victim of the Nightmare Curse

*Tuck — Draco’s American contact and friend, an accomplished criminal, whose “real” identity is a nightclub bouncer named Henley

*Tyrell, Thomas — privately schooled by his Dark wizard father, full of delusions of grandeur about becoming the next Dark Lord

**Wackerford, Warbeck — a St. Mungo’s Healer who specializes in mental health and is a frequent contributor to Rosemary’s articles

***Warcheski, Emma—a slightly creepy student at Greenwood who thinks about death a lot and is obsessed with Stacey Law.

***Ware, Courtney—a dangerously immature student at Greenwood whose thought processes are impenetrable to the sane and rational population, obsessed with “Dr. Edwards” and determined to sleep with him. Usually referred to as “Flip” due to her tendency to freak out over basically anything.

*Waverly, Dan — a Ministry Auror, a friendly and able co-worker of Harry’s who is usually called upon for tough assignments

*Waverly, Quentin — Hufflepuff who is often compared to Cedric Diggory (introduced in his 3^rd year) and is a victim of the Nightmare Curse

*Weasley, Rose —daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley, lives in France

*Weasley, Georges — son of Bill and Fleur Weasley, lives in France

*Weasley, Maggie — Hermione Granger-Simpson’s daughter by Ron Weasley, conceived the day he died. A model Gryffindor student, a headstrong young woman, and a favourite of her Weasley relatives

*Wood, Kerry — Oliver Wood’s son, a Gryffindor in Matt’s year who tends to be a cocky, undisciplined daredevil

*Wraven, Niles — grumpy Slytherin (introduced in his 3^rd year), always deathly serious and a poor student. Retaliates against mockery with a few hexes he’s managed to perfect. Has some Potions talent

*Wraven, Gilbert — Slytherin student (introduced in his 1^st year) trying to stay away from his older brother and unhappy about being in his house

Quidditch Teams in Save Me

Gryffindor

Roman Vestrit, Seeker and Captain

Lana Lewis, Chaser

Madeline Smithy, Chaser

Pierce Stern, Chaser

Berengaria Talbott, Beater

Kerry Wood, Beater

Ran Edwards, Keeper

Ravenclaw

Colin Lambert, Chaser and Captain

Saul Worthey, Chaser

Faith Forsythe, Chaser

Doug Jarvis, Beater

Morgan Mann, Beater

Barry Knowles, Keeper

Adam Han, Seeker

Hufflepuff

Poppy Lambert, Keeper and Captain

Algernon McDougal, Chaser

Sadie Greene, Chaser

Hestia Waverly, Chaser

Robert Lakin, Beater

Sahan Suresh, Beater

Quentin Waverly, Seeker

Slytherin

Jackson Kilburne, Seeker and Captain

Apollo Sorenson, Chaser

Fagan Ward, Chaser

Lillith Ward, Chaser

Barret Proust, Beater

Belinda Belladonna, Beater

Lysander Sorenson, Keeper

Quidditch Teams in Brothers and Sons

Gryffindor

Roman Vestrit, Seeker and Captain

Lana Lewis, Chaser

Madeline Smithy, Chaser

Pierce Stern, Chaser

Berengaria Talbott, Beater

Kerry Wood, Beater

Ran Edwards, Keeper

Ravenclaw

Saul Worthey, Chaser and Captain

Faith Forsythe, Chaser

Sarah Waters, Chaser

Doug Jarvis, Beater

Morgan Mann, Beater

Barry Knowles, Keeper

Adam Han, Seeker

Hufflepuff

Poppy Lambert, Keeper and Captain

Algernon McDougal, Chaser

Sadie Greene, Chaser

Charity Pritchard, Chaser (and Seeker)

Hestia Waverly, Chaser

Robert Lakin, Beater

Sahan Suresh, Beater

Quentin Waverly, Seeker

Slytherin

Lysander Sorenson, Keeper and Captain

Ichabod Pollack, Chaser

Fagan Ward, Chaser

Lillith Ward, Chaser

Barret Proust, Beater

Belinda Belladonna, Beater

Apollo Sorenson, Seeker

Hogwarts Professors in Save Me

Minerva McGonagall; Headmistress

Zacharias Smith; Deputy Headmaster, Head of Hufflepuff, Defense Against the Dark Arts

Draco Malfoy; Head of Gryffindor, Potions, Flying & Quidditch coach

Claudette Milles; Head of Ravenclaw, Transfiguration

Gregory Kilburne; Head of Slytherin, Ancient Runes

Rubeus Hagrid; Care of Magical Creatures, gamekeeper

Filius Flitwick; Charms

Sybill Trelawney; Divination

Dorcas Thumbley; Herbology

Marjorie Plumm; Muggle Studies

Staff Changes in Brothers and Sons

Zacharias Smith resigns

Dorcas Thumbley; Head of Hufflepuff, Herbology

Harry Potter; Defense Against the Dark Arts, Flying & Quidditch Coach

Staff Changes in A Foreign Language

Minerva McGonagall resigns

Dorcas Thumbley; Headmistress

Harry Potter resigns

Remus Lupin; Defense Against the Dark Arts

Scarlett Dewberry; Flying & Quidditch coach

Other Staff Changes, unknown time frame

Dorcas Thumbley resigns Headmistress position

Draco Malfoy; Headmaster

Rubeus Hagrid dies of natural causes

Shawn Randall; Care of Magical Creatures, gamekeeper

Concerts!

2007-12-09T18:10:52Z

Went to 2 shows this week, both of which were great for many reasons . . .

First show was Anberlin, Mae, and Motion City Soundtrack. Mae was not so exciting, but it was my first time hearing MCS, so that was a lotta fun. Kinda missed most of Anberlin's set because we were late, which sucks, seeing as they're the reason I went, but it was still good to hang out with Lauren and get to know her a little better. It was at the Marquee, which is pretty much THE concert venue for my style of music, apparently. That's where I saw Rise Against a while back.

Seeing Fair to Midland at The Brickhouse last night was absolutely fantastic. Their opening band bored the life out of me, but the second set was a new, unsigned group called Resident Hero, and they were surprisingly good. Only 3 guys, the main vocalist and guitarist, the other guitarist and backup vocalist, and then the drummer. Their drummer was my favourite guy up there last night—hilarious and entertaining, as was the entire band. They're still too new at this to know they're not supposed to waste time cracking jokes, and that was perfect. Fair to Midland was just surreal, which is the best way to describe any of their music. The singer was such a powerhouse of crazy energy and just weirdness—in between songs, he sometimes fell down on his hands and knees on the stage and looked like he was in serious pain, and after swishing some water around his mouth, I saw him drooling. He was just tearing around the stage and showing off his range like it was no effort, then just collapsing. It was just an amazing night all around.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my weekend. Cheers!

Singleness sucks

2007-11-29T00:54:17Z

Company Christmas party a week from Saturday. The invitation is for me "and Guest." What Guest? Why is it that all the men I know are either taken or related to me?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T18:20:12Z

Warm holidays wishes to all that celebrate . . . unless you call it "Turkey Day," in which case I'll be forced to put your eyes out with a gravy spoon.

:^)

New picture

2007-11-13T04:58:41Z

Another one of the Scottish boys that I heart. Delicious, delicious accent and scruff.

Review of Faith Awakened

2007-11-11T17:47:06Z

I first knew of Grace Bridges through her work for the Lost Genre Guild. She invited me to take a look at the organization that allowed her to blend her passion for well-written speculative fiction and her passion for God, and I was amazed by what a vibrant world it is becoming. She has put so much effort into promoting the work of others, but now she has taken the step of making her own contribution to Christian speculative fiction. Her new book, Faith Awakened, is not only a beautiful story but a testament to the ideals she has long upheld.

Faith Awakened poses a question that I believe is universal: How far do we have to go to find a place that God cannot exist in? While this is the central theme of the book, it is done with subtlety rather than the heavy-handed approach so many Christian authors take. Faith Awakened poses the question, but answers it through the beautifully written lives of Miriam and Faith, two women that seem to have no connection but draw inexorably closer to each other as the story progresses.

Faith’s idyllic childhood comes to a lifetime of spiritual struggles and unanswered questions, while Miriam’s life is a stark portrait of a world gone mad at the brink of its own destruction. The women don’t know one another, have never heard of one another, and live in completely separate societies in times far removed. Yet something about Faith’s journey, one each reader can connect to quite easily, reflects the journey of Miriam as she searches a desolate, rapidly emptying world for a way to survive. Faith travels around our globe in search of an answer to emptiness, while Miriam is busy trying to build a virtual new world so her few companions can survive. The farther they go, the heavier the question weighs: have they finally gone so far that even God cannot follow?

Grace Bridges does in 150 pages what many authors can’t do in 1500 pages. Faith Awakened is a poignant and heartbreaking story about a lonely girl, a thrilling tale of the end of the world as we know it, and the answer to the question of what faith truly means when a person reaches the limit of their understanding. This beautiful new addition to a growing culture of Christian speculative fiction is everything that is best in the genre with none of the pitfalls. An amazing read that ought to be on everything sci-fi lover’s shelf.

John Hannah

2007-11-10T21:22:54Z

Never knew of him outside the "Mummy" movies, thought he was kinda goofy-looking, etc. Just saw "Sliding Doors" for the first time, and now I love him a lot. What is it with the men that Scotland produces? And why don't live there yet?

NEW NAME!

2007-11-09T02:17:06Z

It's still me! It's still me! I got a new name because the old one was something I made up to be intentionally stupid while in high school. I never thought I'd keep this thing. So, anyway, I WAS azwriterchick, but now I AM faren_maddox.

Live with it, people!

faren_maddox @ 2007-10-20T19:01:00

2007-10-21T02:03:42Z

Final update on the creep:

Turns out he was using a false name, has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in another state, and a string of other criminal issues. The police asked me to lure him back onto the property so they could arrest him, so I made up a piece of paperwork he needed to sign for his termination. He didn't buy it, and never showed up. We got back the results of the drug test he took to get hired on with us, which were positive for drugs. Honestly, why did he even bother? He can't be stupid, or he'd have been caught. But still. What made him think we were going to hire him, and that no one would ever find out when he's standing on a bucket to look into someone's window?

update

2007-10-18T17:59:14Z

Creepy married guy who asked me out and works at the apartments I also work at: is a a Peeping Tom. And since my manager is on vacation, I got to fire him. Oh, joy. That was great. What's also great is the police report and the changing of the apartment door locks.

Mike, you're off the hook. You're nowhere near as creepy. :P

faren_maddox @ 2007-10-17T15:28:00

2007-10-17T22:34:22Z

I was just asked out. By a married man who told me he had a wife and two kids just a couple of hours ago. I was kinda like . . . WTF? Actually what I said was "ARen't you married?" Then I said, "I don't go out with married men. But thanks." (Thanks meaning "get away from me, creep," of course.)

Seriously. *shudders* I don't get it. Why would you think it was flattering to invite a woman to join you in an affair that will destroy your home and your children? What did he think I was going to say? "Yeah, sign me up!"

So now my day is shitty because I was reminded that the world is shitty and the only men who are attracted to me are cretins. Hooray for Wednesdays.

faren_maddox @ 2007-10-12T20:11:00

2007-10-13T03:18:19Z

I never post in here anymore. You know why? Because I work a lot. And when I'm not working, I'm probably reading. My life is too boring to have anything to say right now. So boring, in fact, that I'm thinking about moving across the country (assuming I ever get out of credit card debt hell, which is not likely).

The most exciting thing that has happened lately, and today's official rant, is my car getting towed. God damn the light rail system. May He damn all construction workers, because they work for the devil already. When they closed the road offering the only access to the apartments I work at, the city passed out a flyer telling us about a lot we could park in until they reopened the road. So when I was driving to work on the day it should have reopened and it was still closed, I figured I'd park in the suggested lot. But no. Not the suggested lot anymore. You had to stop parking there the day before. Four hours later, my car is gone. It cost me $120 to get it back, and I had to get it from the most ghetto towing company I've ever seen in my life. I'm going to send my chicken-scratch handwritten receipt to the city's light rail department and demand reimbursement. Then I'm going to still be pissed off, and out $120.42, because they raised the price of stamps again.

Light rail is such a joke. Now they're taking my money so I can't pay off my debts.

I'm such a retard Pt. 2

2007-08-29T23:32:41Z

So today I went for a little walk on the easy trail at South Mountain. At 3:00 pm, the point at which the earth starts releasing all the heat it has absorbed during the day. It was over 110 degrees Farenheit anyway. I had a nice time, talked to another hiker, good stuff like that.

Sometimes I think they faked my IQ score just so I wouldn't feel bad.

I'm such a retard

2007-08-20T06:13:33Z

I put away a lot of alcohol tonight. I mean, for someone as small as me, anyway. Funny, I barely even feel buzzed. However, the drinks I had were quite possibly a crappy idea. Here's what I had, in order: a rum & coke, a beer, a straight rum, a glass of wine, and Bailey's & amaretto (both) in a cup of coffee. What the hell was I thinking, mixing wine, beer, and hard alcohol? Am I insane? My solution to this problem: do not go to bed. I'm going to regret it if I do. I'm just going to cruise the internet and drink water. Lots of it. I will regret it inthe morning if I don't.

Delicious actors I delude myself into thinking are real people

2007-08-17T05:32:48Z

I love Charlie Cox very much. He's my backup in case things don't work out with Gerard Butler. That's all.

Harry Potter

2007-07-21T18:44:45Z

Stayed up all night reading it. I knew she'd come up with some convoluted "love conquers all" magical spell to weasel her way out of killing that little shit. So she spared his life and threw all my favorite characters up as his shield. Of course. Amazingly good book, I thought, very good overall tone and feeling, but the ending was just . . . cute. Which is wrong on some deep level.

I am boring

2007-07-09T18:46:05Z

Not bored. Boring. I'm depressed. I'm realizing that my personality on Westeros is very bland, leading to a perpetual state of n00bishness (not to be confused with the Catholic doctrine of Perpetual Virginity or whatever the hell it is.) At this rate, if I ever get to a Con, I will be sitting in the corner watching everyone the whole time. And while I could be self-righteously too cool for that and think this is a good thing . . . I'm not very cool, either. I'm 22 years old, and I just bought 3 decks of Magic: The Gathering cards so a couple girls at work can teach me to play. *le sigh*

Jobs . . . urgh

2007-07-07T17:40:56Z

Monster.com . . . . sucks.
In case you didn't know.