Anonymity

Dear Vinepire,

Do you remember watching the make out scenes in your favourite movies as a teenager, or reading steamy dialogue in a piece of erotica and secretly wondering : “How could they do this, knowing that their friends, siblings, spouses, their kids will get to see this?”. Sometimes, I feel the same way about blogging, and I know, there are no kissing scenes on this blog.

But back to the artists : how can they reveal so much about themselves, and I don´t mean nude scenes, but core beliefs, painful memories, dreams, while throwing their work into the public eye? As everyday people, we are bound to social conventions (to a point where we use preconceived opinions about the most mundane things) and to a sense of privacy. We instinctively keep things secret, just for the sake of secrecy. What would that stranger do with information that has only meaning to me, because it is mine? I would still never tell anyone except trusted friends about the day I stood up in front of my literature class and read, without noticing the slightest of sous entendres, a poem by Baudelaire featuring a woman dancing like a snake at the end of a stick… Just to end up listening to a long and elaborate praise from our teacher about the beautiful erotic imagery… I felt like the biggest creep in the universe, and did not look my professor in the eye for at least half of the school year… so yeah, embarrassing would be the word. And yet… I tell it to you, Vinepires… because I am anonymous. But most writers don´t use a pen name, just look at authors of erotica, like 50 Shades of Grey or the Sleeping Beauty series (although Anne Rice started publishing this one under another name, she soon revealed her real identity as author of the work). And there does not seem to be much embarrassment involved…

I admire them for doing it, but just don´t understand the mechanics of that process, and so I turn to you, dear reader, for an explanation for this phenomenon. Why is there no place for blushing, once something is brought into the spotlight?

Thank you so much for reading,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : And don´t hesitate to share some embarrassing stories of yours, I´m feeling left alone here!

I have been nominated!

Dear Kat Ryan,

Thank you so much for the nomination, you made me feel so amazing! And to you, dear Vinepires, please visit this awesome blog : http://www.confessionsoftheperfectmom.com/

The Liebster Award has been created to help bloggers with a small amount of followers get more, while at the same time promoting their favourite blogs, I know, pure awesomeness. But the nominees must complete a task : answer 11 questions, and send out the same amount to the bloggers they nominate. So thanks again to the (nearly) perfect mom and blogger Kat Ryan for a set of nice questions (I think blushing once a day is enough ;)).

1. What is your favorite color?

I love red (obviously) but my favourite is dark blue.

1. Are you a girly girl?

I think so…

1. What is your favorite food?

Until recently, it was swedish “reindeer bread” with Kalles Kaviar paste. I actually ate so much of it as a kid that I got sick… But the best food ever is anything my grandma cooks, I don´t know how she does it, I guess she´s a magician.

1. If you were stranded on an island, what are the 3 things that you would want with you?

It would be a really good machete. rope and matches. I think I have a plan for a zombie outbreak!

1. Do you have any pets?

Yes, and I love them so much!

1. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I am so afraid of answering that question, I feel like I could spoil it by telling…

1. Who is your favorite girl celebrity and why?

That´s such a good question! (are you sure you´re only nearly perfect? ;)) I admire Anne Rice, she is such a strong woman and her work is just as touching as her biography. I look up to her because she shows a lot of courage, a quality that doe not get highlighted enough when it comes to female role models.

1. What about your favorite guy celebrity and why?

I love Dr. Weil, he made me discover a diet that makes me feel and look fantastic! 😉 And the balanced lifestyle he promotes and stands for is a great guideline for my day-to-day choices.

1. If you could dress just like anyone (real or fiction) who would it be?

I would love to dress in Khaleesi´s gowns, they are so festive and just imagining them on me makes me feel very feminine.

1. What was your childhood dream?

I always wanted a dog, it was my to go wish for Christmas and birthdays. I got a cat instead, and my best childhood friend! I am so thankful for that and i hope that more kids get to have pets, there is something magical about the connection between children and their animals, they just get each other ❤

1. If you could live anywhere in the world without consequence (you would wake up knowing the language, your family went with you, you had a job/place to live and so on) where would you live?

I would love to live in a small cottage near the sea in Sweden, I could eat as much “reindeer bread” as I want! But seriously, the nature is beautiful there.

So these are my answers, and now come your turn, dear nominees! Brace yourselves, my questions are coming :

1. What is it you most like about yourself? How does it impact others?
2. If you could invite anyone, dead or alive, to your next dinner party, who would it be and why?
3. Which smell makes you weak to your knees?
4. Who is your celebrity crush?
5. Who is your favourite vampire?
6. Say you had to choose a pen name, which one would it be?
7. What is your current diet (omnivore, vegan, vegetarian…) and why did you choose it?
8. What is the number one quality of a good book?
9. If you were to walk into a patisserie and order any crazy creation you like, what would it be?
10. Who is the best fictional villain?
11. If you had to live an adventure in a magical universe, which one of those would you choose : Narnia, Hogwarts, Westeros, Middle earth or Wonderland ?

And here are my lovely nominees!

http://daysofjay.wordpress.com/

http://mochaandmoccasins.com/

http://sgvegetarianexplorer.wordpress.com/

http://momsgenre.wordpress.com/

http://thesecretingredientblog.com/

http://beforethedownbeat.wordpress.com/about/

http://talkingcovers.com/

http://jeveuxlaventure.wordpress.com/

http://christinarosendahl.wordpress.com/

http://thislittlehomeinpeckham.com/

http://safeeats.net/

I hope that you will have as much fun with the questions as I had, and that your blogs will grow!

Thank you so much for the nomination, for reading along and for the huge compliment that this is,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : Feel free to answer the questions you like the most in the comments ❤ (I love questions, so I had a hard time abstaining from answering my own ones!)

Architects and Gardeners

“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they’re going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there’s going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don’t know how many branches it’s going to have, they find out as it grows. And I’m much more a gardener than an architect.”
― George R.R. Martin

Dear Vinepire,

I have stumbled upon this fascinating description of writing styles by the author of the Game Of Thrones series. I usually hear the terms “outliners” and “those without outline”, but find the image he offers us much more accurate. What do you think of his explanation, do you agree with the imagery he uses?

Thank you for reading,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : Are you more of a gardener or an architect?

Unconditional Love

Dear Vinepire,

One of the reasons the vampire is such a versatile symbol is, in my mind, its connection to family life. And please don´t worry about my childhood here! I will explain.

So when we think of vampire romance, it gets easy to get the kinds of love involved all tangled up and get confused. See, if you had to move to Forks and get involved with the hottest guy in town, who also just so happens to have the urge to jump to your throat, it is likely you believe your love for that sparkling creature to be unconditional. Bella loves Edward despite who he is, but that is far from unconditional devotion. See, if he stopped behaving like a gentleman from another century and treated her even more badly than she already lets him, if he showed cruelty towards her family, she would (hopefully) not feel that way anymore.

Now look at her father. Despite having been a responsible parent, he got cut out of her life because she could not stand the weather in this part of the country. He forgave her the moment she needed a place to stay, and since, tolerated patiently her dependent and risky behaviour. He supported her during her break down, and went as far as tolerating the presence of the vampire who left his daughter in that state, just because it made her cheer again. He loves her despite the way she treats him (and she went as far as reenacting her parent´s break up), because of whom she is : his child. If she were the kid next door, he would not care, because he loves her conditionally.

Now look at the families around you. Parents love their children no matter what they were to do, but what about the partner? They do not love each other because they are in this union, but because of the kindness, generosity and respect they showed each other in the good and the bad times. They love conditionally in each case. So why does the first kind of love we ever experience seem so superior, more reassuring and giving than a steamy romance? Maybe, because we did never have to actively earn our family´s affection, it was enough to be born. In addition, we can be sure that we will be loved until the end of time, no matter what lifepath we choose. I loke to think of this as a gift, and of the love of our romantic partners and friends as a reward. We got the frist, because it gave people happiness to make us happy, and the second, because we have made others feel this way.

While I see both of those loves as necessary and am thankful for their presence, I can´t help but feel like there would be more joy in relationships if we were more open to give presents to, rather than award our loved ones…

Thank you so much for reading,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : What do you think about these kinds of love?

Adopt, don´t buy.

There was a cat,

Asking for a pat,

It was a stray.

Into my house

It brought one dead mouse,

I said : „Please stay.“

PS : Every year after the holiday season, many animals used as gifts end up in shelters. To make living presents is irresponsible. Please adopt animals instead of buying them, they are just as good companions, I know it first hand.

Cardamom-Banana-Milkshake

Dear Vinepire,

Sometimes, even classics need a polish up, and today we´re going to do it with the banana milkshake. I remember drinking it in summer so often, that I was not hungry at dinner time afterwards… but I never did it during wintertime. I just want something more spicy during the cold season… and here I found it! http://food52.com/recipes/12698-banana-cardamom-milkshake

I fell so deeply in love with this genius version of my favourite childhood milkshake that I decided to change it a little to fit it into my daily diet. I recommend you to test out the original version (and get addicted) and maybe try out this little recipe of mine.

For 2 portions :

-1 large banana

-1 cup of almond or soy milk

-1 pinch of cardamom, grounded

-1 large pinch of cinnamon

Simply mix it all together in the blender, until smooth ad foamy, and voilà! Because you used plant-based milk, it will be poor in calories and very light, while still melting like a mousse on your tongue. I recommend almond milk because of the rich consistency. To my fellow chocolate lovers I suggest replacing the spice with a good teaspoon of cocoa powder… hmmm. The milkshake is also delicious on ice!

Thank you so much for reading,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : If you want to make your own almond milk, look it up here.

Salty French Toast

Dear Vinepire,

I could not get my mind of pain perdu since I wrote the las post, and I wanted to give the salt-loving of you something to fantasize about : crispy, spicy, hot and salty french toast! I have digged deep into my favourite food blog and found this little miracle here : http://food52.com/recipes/7030-crispy-salt-and-pepper-french-toast. But as always, I adapted the recipe to my taste, and played with a few variants, here comes the result.

For one person :

-1 free range egg

-2 slices of toast or old bread

– A handful of mushrooms (whatever kind you like)

-1 small onion

– Fresh or dried “herbes de provance” or any kind you like

– Olive oil

Heat a pan and add olive oil. Chop the onion into small squares and the mushrooms into thin slices and let them fry at medium heat for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, beat the egg and the salt together and let the bread absorb it completely. Pushing the onions and mushrooms to the side, place one slice into the pan and cover it with the fried mixture (not all must fit onto the slice). Top it with herbs and pepper before closing your sandwich with the other slice. Let it fry on each side for about a minute, and voilà! You have just made a perfect breakfast for weekends, which you can savour with ketchup or sorrel jam. My favourite variant of this recipe is adding chopped chilli pepper (about and inch) to the mixture.

Thank you so much for reading,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : The toast was so crispy that I could not resist cooking it for dinner as well… what can I say, I think I fell in love!

Adopt an idea for your novel!

Dear Vinepires,

Have you already heard about NaNoWriMo? It is an online event taking place over the entire month of november (but gets often out stretched into summer sessions, and editing periods). During this time, writers young and old gather in front of their notebooks and write like crazy, trying to reach the contest´s goal : 50 000 words. That´s where the name of the National Novel Writing Month comes from. Along the road, usually grows a community, high on coffee and adrenaline, and people start to exchange ideas. They inspire each other in the so-called “Adoption Sections” of forums, where they gather and leave behind ideas for storylines, character flaws and even enchanted objects. The unfortunate thing about that exchange though, is that the forums get wiped out every year and all of that creativity fertilizer sinks into the ground leaving behind only vague regrets.

Will you get inspired to write the book you carry inside?

I don´t want the inspiration to end this year too, and so I would like you, Vinepires, weathered NaNoWriMo veteran´s as well as newbies, to get your creative juices flowing. Let´s get together and create a place where writers can help each other do what they can do the best.

The principle is simple : everyone has the right to post in the discussion below his/her writing ideas. One only has to contribute if an idea standing below has gotten “adopted” for one´s own purpose. You are free to invent everything story-relevant, from a frightening setting to a fantastic beast or the unexpected twist in a love story.

Thank you for reading and writing with me,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : I leave behind : An antique book (a diary? a novel?) that each morning gets found with freshly melted candle wax on its cover, although no one seems to ever touch the book.

And : A character in the possession of a pocket watch, which he often consults without apparent reason. In reality, it does not show the time, because it stopped working at the moment something tragic happened to him. It has since become a constant reminder of his promise, to avenge his…

Stop the book-DIY!

Dear Vinepire,

The book-sacrifice must stop. I think those crafts are pretty, inspiring, and absolutely unjustified. The thing that disturbs me here is not the use of word-filled pages as artistic material. We always incorporated what was considered precious into our artworks, just look at the marble and expensive paint! We also destroyed what was beautiful (and I´m not referring exclusively to Fontcuberta´s Fauna) to offer to our Muse.

The problem lies in what the owner of the book feels when killing his copy : it will be worth more to me once I can do more with it than reading. Or does anyone cry over the victim of that sacrifice? Of course not, we only rip out the pages we consider covered in worthless material. Now here comes my question : when was the last time you read a book that made no addition to your life? Now don´t mention the bad quality of writing and the insulting ideas it contained. Bad reeds can be good for us, in some ways. They shake awake your sense of critical thinking and boost your self-confidence. Seriously. Stephen King talks about this magical moment, when you lye down a read and think : “I can do better than that!”. And here might be the beginning of a new book, maybe even a good one.

Back to your bookshelf : which book do you regret buying, or think you have lived long enough with? Choose one title, and then go back to the moment you laid it down with relief. Would your values be a foundation just as strong if you haven´t read it? Would the belief in your talent? See, the worst reading-experience of your life was really a beneficial one, just for different reasons. Don´t throw away the rock bottom you can go back to when you need to get reassured, it´s precious.

Thank you so much for reading,

Your Vine Vampire

PS : My worst read was a cookbook (now don´t accuse me of breaking the rules here, if you read a little further, you´ll see that it really was falsely labelled fiction). It was entitled “Recettes Végétariennes” (Vegetarian recipes) and featured a palette of side dishes… I wanted to cut the pages out, and certainly not to transform them into an artwork! The insulting underestimating of vegetarian cuisine it represented, and my disbelief as to the fact that something written with no knowledge about the subject (vegetarians don´t live of grass, there is protein involved!) got actually published were just the perfect foundation for dislike. It still stands proudly on the lowest floor of my kitchen shelf. I flip its pages on days when i lack cooking-inspiration : it makes every other recipe instantly look delicious.

You can´t judge the quality of your own writing.

Dear Vinepire,

Did you know what those other writers are saying behind your back? Because I do : you don´t know the true quality of your work! Now don´t be shocked, but I think it might be true…

Here´s the deal. Your words spill out from under your fingertips in a stream so vivid, you can almost feel your ideas flowing. No matter how thoroughly you edit, there will always be some of that heat in your work, forever. And that is probably my favourite thing about the craft, which allows the everyday person to create that sort of hocrux for their imagination. The downside, however, comes into light the moment you compare your take on the book with other´s.

They have not carried those images inside of them, did not let them into the world with as much anguish, and so lack that emotional attachment to the words you so cherish. Don´t hold a grudge against these poor souls, they don´t know any better. Instead, do the only thing in your power and step back from it all. To pass the time during the first storm of readers following your books début (be it in the family circle or on the best-seller list), sit down and remember which work Dickens thought was his best, then laugh about it.

Now whether you decide to open to criticism or not is your decision, but I recommend to trust your opinion the most, even when you´re probably wrong. You will see things that aren´t there, ghosts of talent, shadows cast by mistakes. That´s the price for the privilege of writing what you think, how you think it should appear on the page. So, when those same illusions have set the creation-machine into motion, why should you walk away from something so effective? Trust your erroneous beliefs, and let them become the only ones with the power to make you accept constructive criticism. You´ll stay confident and become more open for advice. And in the end, you can´t know how good your book really is (let alone how long this label will stay with it as the years go by), so you can as swell stop bothering about it altogether.

Thank you so much for reading,

Your Vine Vampire!

PS : Do you remember by how many editors Harry Potter got rejected? That´s something that boosts my writing-confidence!