NaNoWriMo. Also, I am a nerd.

So November 1st marks the beginning of national novel writing month and I'm feeling determined to participate this year. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge book nerd. Here I present photographic evidence:

Pardon my silly looking webcam capture of my senior yearbook. But I digress. I haven't the faintest idea what I'm going to write about. I'm feeling very inspired by historic fiction (always my favorite genre) that takes place anywhere from the 1890's to the 1930's. I'm also very drawn to the paranormal, minus the vampires and werewolves. Think mystic powers and clairvoyance. Novels from Libba Bray, Cat Winters, Sonia Gensler and Shannon Hale are among my favorites, some of them with fairy tale like qualities that make me believe anything is possible. So this month, my goal is to create a world that readers can lose themselves in for a few hours. The goal is to write 50,000 words in one month. I have a tendency to write too much, but then again I've never written anything on this scale, and since I'm taking a term off from online classes, I may as well spend my otherwise scholarly time wisely. Are any other readers out there participating in NaNoWriMo, or just simply dream of being novelists? Tell me about what you'd write about, I love hearing from others :) 

New Vintage Haul in my Etsy Shop!

I've finally gotten off my lazy butt and posted oodles of lovely things in my shop today! My shop views have already improved (hallelujah!) and I am absolutely determined to make my first sale before 2014 comes around. I've got so many gorgeous pieces, an oxblood pencil skirt, a classic black chiffon dress, a vintage dress that look just like the one worn by Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and more! Click HERE to see what else I've listed!

Etsy shop final sale on summer items!

I just dropped some prices super low, these summer items must go! Oh that rhymes, neat. I have a lot of spare time this week so I'll be adding a bunch of new items, vintage AND hand made by yours truly :) I also need to find a way to sell some of the pristine, but sadly not vintage items, that have been sitting neglected in my closet for far too long. Any suggestions on how I can share my overly full closet with the world? Leave a comment with suggestions! And go see my small but growing Etsy shop LilacsAndBirch, formerly BreannasEtsyShop :)

October Photography Experiment: The Inspiration.

I am so excited about all of the things brewing in my mind this month! October is my favorite month so I've been reading and watching all kinds of spooky things. I just finished a book called In The Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (what a fantastic name right?!). It's a perfectly haunting book that takes place during the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 and centers around a 16 year old girl navigating San Francisco. In the book, a family friend of hers claims to be a "Spirit Photographer," inviting people to his studio to sit for a portrait and catch a photo of a loved one's ghost in the process. The leading lady, being of the scientific mindset that she is, believes it all to be a hoax made up to prey on the grieving souls of those who lost loved ones to the flu and World War I. You'll just have to read the book though to know if she is right or wrong about the hoax theory.

The story goes over the ways photos were doctored back then, usually a double exposure, though long exposures create a similar effect. I used to try double and long exposure photography back when I was working with film but I absolutely hated waiting for the results to be developed and the possibility of wasting a perfectly good frame on a roll of film, so this month I'm going to attempt it digitally! I'm making a white dress for the occasion to get a fun antique feel to the photos, we'll see how it turns out!

In the mean time, here's a few of my experimental photos:

And a few photos that have sparked my imagination:

Novel by Cat Winters, cover photo by Symon Chow