"The sun also rises." - Ernest Hemmingway. Somehow, those words have become invaluable to me. So I thought it would be nice to pay them tribute by changing my penname. I was most recently The Rose of Battle here. Sorry if I've confused anyone with the change, but I wanted my penname to say something about me. What does this one say? I'll leave that up to you.

Obsessions: Reading, writing, music, violin, Arya, Fur Elise.

Music that most describes me: anything from The Fray. That is so my band. What I'm feeling now, thinking, hoping for...it describes me to a T. My favorite songs, however, are "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls and "Answer" by Sarah Mclachlan.

Favorite Books: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Things Fall Apart, by Achebe, The Inheritance Cycle, The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, anything by Shakespeare. Also love Poe...was he ever wonderfully disturbed...and...the book I am currently reading...Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. That story is just like one long long Tell-Tale Heart.

Things loathed: Dante's Divine Comedy. The idea that Arya might die in the next books. A Farewell to Arms...ick. I've never read such a...depressing story.

Fictional Loves: Arya from the Inheritance Cycle, and Kartik from The Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Isa from Beneath a Marble Sky. And Faolin...oh yes, let's not forget him.

Books I've read that still have me reeling: War and Peace. (See, the real reward that comes from reading War and Peace is not having the story enrich your life; it's actually the fun of being able to brag about reading it. Hee hee. Just kidding. It was an amazing amazing book!) Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (I feel like I skipped something in that book, because it was weird! The plot was nonexistent! But perhaps that constituted some of its beauty.)

Quotes: "So I run because I can, because I must, because I want to see how far I can go before I have to stop." A Great and Terrible Beauty

"Cast me gently into morning, for the night has been unkind." Sarah Mclachlan, Answer

"We have spoken everything...everything short of I love you." The Fray, Hundred

"I'm battle-scarred, and I am working oh so hard to get back to who I used to be." -Near to You, A Fine Frenzy

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies." -Anonymous

"Be the change that you want to see in the world." -Gandhi

"Never settle. Don't give up on your dream." -a teacher of mine.

"All my possessions for a moment of time." -Queen Elizabeth I as she lay dying.

"It is remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. The thought suffices them without investing itself in the flesh and blood of action." -Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

"Whatever rules you will destroy you."-a teacher of mine.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." -no idea who cam up with that one, but it's massively inspiring, isn't it?

Favorite Artist: Vincent Van Gogh.

Favorite Painting: A Starry Night

My Stories: I looked at them the other day. And I decided that they all need MASSIVE EDITING!! So, Ill try to get to that. Meanwhile, I've been revising The Winds of Change and The Curse of Memory on shurtugal. I'm also moving Life Is Change from that site to this one.

So, this little bio is all I have time for now. Happy Reading!

Update: Brisingr...wow. And...wow.

And...so I don't have to say it at the beginning of every chapter...I own zilch. All belongs to the talented Christopher Paolini.