September Revisited: End of Month Wrap-up with Art!

So - I wrote half of this post and then went to work, and after that, I went to ArtPrize.* 

Art was viewed, streets were walked (lots and lots of walking), and I didn't get home until 11pm, so no writing happened. So I am doing my wrap up on the first day of October. Happy October everyone!

September is over (*sniffles*) which means it's time for the Monthly Wrap-Up with Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction. If you'd like to read more about it or link up (and read the other posts!), here's the link.

September wasn't as crazy as August, but I only managed 9 posts. It seemed like more work than that . . .?
September was also the beginning of fall (my favorite season), and contains Hobbit Day, but more on that later.

I finished with the intensive reading/reviewing program I was doing. I got to talk/chat with some authors via the internet, which was awesome, and I discovered a few really great books. My favorite one, Jakob's Colors, didn't make the final list (despite my lobbying and flag-waving), but I plan on plugging and reviewing it here soon.

Also, Fall TV is officially upon us. On that note, did anyone else watch the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiere last night? I think the show is off to a strong third season start, and Leo Fitz is still the best.**

In other random news, I am almost finished reading all the way through Naruto.*** It will probably take me about 20 years to finish the anime though. Especially since I found out that Doctor Who season 8 is now on Netflix (and DW trumps everything). The BBC is much more logical about season lengths, I my opinion. They'll have 12-15 episodes, tops, and they're all 45 min (at least) long. It's like a miniseries every time. (Note, this does not apply to Sherlock, which needed more episodes to begin with).

So, other than ArtPrize (promise to take pictures when I go back on Friday!), and catching up on my reading, I didn't do much of note in September. So here's a quick post recap for you:

Tolkien Tribute:

In honor of Hobbit Day (September 22nd) I wrote about why I love Tolkien so much (limited myself to 10 coherent points). There were many quotes, and much sharing of feels. 

Beautiful People And Book Stuff:

I introduced Orlando, the secondary protagonist of my upcoming YA fantasy novel, Knight of the Blue Surcoat. And I drew a picture of him. He's a lovable fellow who likes horses and food, and accidentally makes enemies. He has devoted most of his life to bettering his older brothers at everything in hopes that his father will *finally* notice him.

For Beautiful People, I featured Luc, a secondary protagonist (and one of the main antagonists) of my WIP, The Last Coffee Shop. I think I can conclude that Luc's roguish ways and lying habit were not a turnoff, and we established that he is actually one of my favorite characters to write about. (To read about the Beautiful People meme, click here)

Book Reviews:

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin was only my second 5 star review of the year. The book is fabulous and you should check it out.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt was soul-crushing but beautiful. 4.5 stars.

I actually finished a lot of books in September, I'm just behind on reviewing them.

Top Ten Tuesdays:

Top 10 Characters I Couldn't Connect With (I had some unpopular opinions here, for sure, but I made sure to include funny gifs as a peace offering).

Top 10 Books You Should Read if You Like . . . where I made book mixes. I mean, recommendations.

Tags:

The Sisterhood/Siblinghood of World Bloggers - I was tagged by E. Rawls and Bogdana the Booknerd, and combined the post. Part I was a fun "Would You Rather?" and Part II was about "Reading Habits." I had fun answering all the questions, and added lots of gifs because I have a gif problem.****

I delved deep into the fires of my TBR pile for the TBR tag, also courtesy of Bogdana. More gifs ensued.

Since that is it for posts and since I have been in the art mood for weeks, I'll leave you with my (now) monthly collection of art discovered on my internet rambles: 

Disclaimer: All art is posted with full links and credits to the artist. It is used only to promote their fabulous artwork and I am making zero profit :) Cheers.

We'll start with this fantastic Little Red Riding Hood piece by Swiss artist Jade Mosch (ELK64 on Deviantart.com). It's called The Wolf and Me, and you can view it full size here.

Copyright Elk64 on Deviantart.com

I feel alone in the woods just looking at it! Mosch used watercolor and gouache. Stunning.

The next piece is by Burdge. Her art is a staple on Tumblr and Pinterest, and for good reason. She captures characters so well, and her art is just fantastic. And it's often adorable. That's a killer combo, so applause for her. This one is called "London Below," and it is fanart from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Didn't Burdge capture them perfectly?! Copyright Burdge

And here is one that made me laugh. And I am really in a Star Wars mood: It's "all about that base" by Desiree Surjadi ( Shorelle on Deviantart.com). Be sure to check our her shop for more great SW art, Game of Thrones, and more.

Copyright Shorelle

Shorelle has a complete series of these (including this one of Anakin that is hysterical) in her Star Wars Gallery.

I will finish off with some of the cutest LOTR fanart I have ever seen. Korean artist Harmonia3784 manages to make the hobbits look like cuddly E. H. Shepherd illustrations.

Copyright Harmonia3784

See? So. Cute. It's like something you'd have framed on a nursery wall.

So that's it for September. October is one of my favorite months, so I hope it seems longer! I've got books to read, art to see, leaves to chase (I still do that), and a costume to plot (I work on Halloween=I'm allowed to wear a costume!). What are some of your October plans?

Footnotes:

*ArtPrize is a giant public art competition that takes place in Grand Rapids, MI. People from all over the world (and at all different skill levels) enter to win thousands of dollars. Half is popular vote, half is critic's choice, but there's not really anything quite like it. And it makes GR feel like a giant festival.

**Iain De Caestecker's (Spelling-Google) acting keeps getting better. And I love his character evolution! And the accent doesn't hurt anything. Just saying.

***At 72 volumes, it's no joke. And I think the inter-library loan people are scared of me now.

****