The House Poet

My name is Ophelia and I am a notebook hoarder.  I admit it. I love beautiful notebooks with colorful covers and creamy smooth pages. I usually don't even write in them; I just love having them for their beauty and their infinite possibilities. On top of one of my (many) bookshelves, I stacked up my notebooks to take a picture. The crazy thing is, I actually have more then just those, but for some reason they didn't make it into this picture. I've received some as gifts and others I bought myself, entranced by their loveliness. Notebooks can be glorious, and for a writer they represent so much. The empty pages are aching for ideas, scraps of poetry, names for characters, bits of dialogue that won't leave your mind.  Some of my favorite notebooks are ones I've bought from Japanese bookstores or stationery stores. The pages are so silky and the covers are always fun to look at. I also love notebooks featuring art from artists I admire, such as Tove Ja...

Dear readers, how is this week treating you? The fact that we've been having sunshine and warm days over here has been quite nice after all the rain and cold temps we've had! Now that my kiddos aren't sick, their energy levels seem higher than usual. I think spring fever is starting to blaze! ;)  I am working on a couple new projects. I still want to finish my fantasy novel WIP as soon as possible, but I haven't been able to get in the zone for it lately. It might be because I need to find the time to settle back into my world and characters. Hopefully that can happen soon. When my kids were napping, I used to work on my WIP during that time, but now that they don't nap anymore, it's so much harder to work on things.  But, I've been having fun with a new fantasy piece that I'd like to turn into either a super long story or novella. I love the characters so far and really like how I wrote the beginning. I'm definitely excited to see where this ...

I love Sunday nights in January because that usually means DOWNTON ABBEY!  I'm getting ready to watch the second episode of the new season tonight and I'm already in bed.  How, you ask?  Well, I woke up this morning with a sore throat, a stuffy nose, and a fuzzy head. My wonderful hubby has been helping me with the kids and took care of them all after dinner. He's putting them to bed as I write and it's lovely just to lay down in bed and rest. I've even been able to send emails, reply to comments, and work on a new short story all from my warm bed! Thank you, dear husband!!  But, seriously, why did I have to get sick a week before my next Feis?? Ugh! I wanted to practice and prepare all week, but I think it's more important to rest and try to get better. I'm still planning to go to dance class on Tuesday, so if I'm still feeling sick by then I'll be taking some Tylenol and dancing away!  I worked hard on my Hard Jig and my Blackbird set last ...

Yes, that is what I'm doing. My three sweet cherubs are playing nicely together (miracles do happen!) and I am able to sneak some laptop time. Yesterday I even worked on my fantasy WIP for a little while and that felt really good!  I have been incredibly busy and I really want to write my Feis post! The Feis was amazing and I can't wait for the next one in January! We adults are supposed to get a school dress made for it, but we still need to be measured. So I'm crossing my fingers that it will be ready in time! I'm also learning the Blackbird set dance for my Novice set dance and I love it! I'm trying to get the set part down, with all those fun rocks and such. ;) Oh boy!  New goal: San Francisco Oireachtas 2016! I am THRILLED about this because we live right next to SF and my TC said I will probably be able to do the adult traditional set at the Oireachtas! She's going to help me prepare; I love how supportive my school is. Such a blessing! We are also try...

I've changed things up here on my blog and I have to say, I like the new look! ;) As you can see from the post below this one, you can now find me and my blog on Blog Lovin, so check that out! I know I've been writing a lot about the novel I am working on, but I haven't imparted too much information on what it is about. This past week, the Deacon of our church asked to read what I have written so far and that was exciting; no one apart from me has read it and I am dying for some feedback. Since I am nearing the end, I've decided to share a little of my characters and their world with you all! :) All characters, names, idea, and settings are copyrighted to Ophelia Leong. A Peek Into Zalea's World: Part 1 Setting: The first half of the novel primarily takes place in a country called Milania. Milania is a large country, similar in shape to the USA, and is broken through the middle by a wide river known as Whistling Ford River. Whistling Ford River is maintaine...

Hello all! I can't believe the summer has flown by so quickly! I am definitely looking forward to cooler weather, Fall colors, crisp leaves littering the ground, pumpkin everything, and Christmas decorations!! (Yes, I love Fall!) Also, I am back into my Irish Dance class again after my school had a summer break and I am so happy! I am now preparing for the East Bay Feis on the last weekend of October, so wish me luck! I've got lots of work to do before then! ;) As for my writing, I've hit over 73,000 words in my novel now and I am inching closer to the end. However, my characters have minds of their own and keep bringing things up that I, the author, have to deal with. They are so logical! I'm worried that my novel is going to be crazy long, but that might just mean I'll have to cut some scenes that don't work. We'll see. This whole writing a novel adventure has taught me so much and there is more to learn! I've had a few pieces published and I am ...

I can't believe it's already the end of July! This summer has gone by so quickly! This morning I found myself thinking about Fall and all the changes we are going to see in the weather and trees. Grey skies, chilly mornings, random hot chocolate cravings, acorns crunching all over the place...lots of fun to look forward to! Actually, I just want the heat to go away. On Sunday, we took the kids, along with my dad, to the beach. It was their first real "beach day" and we had fun, but it was exhausting. Taking three young kids to the beach takes a lot of you, just saying. They didn't even want to go near the water, which is understandable since the waves are loud. So they just sat in the sand and played for a couple hours while I went into the water and splashed around. I felt like I was 9 years old again! Anyway, back to the real world now. I have a few sandy tote bags that I need to clean out, not to mention a crazy amount of laundry. So, writing news! My p...

Hi everyone! Busy times over here. I've done nine loads of laundry so far this week and I've put the twins in underwear the past few days. I'm hoping to finish up potty-training and get them used to underwear and using the potty. Potty-training twins is no joke, especially boy/girl twins. Half the time I think I'm going about it all wrong. Anyway, wish me luck! They've been pretty good about it so far, little cuties. Anyway, I wanted to share a link to an online poetry magazine that I was recently published in. The editor is a very nice woman and I was so excited when she wanted to publish one of my poems. I submitted two poems for the "Short" themed issue, and she chose the one I was most proud of. It's only four lines, but I love it dearly. It came to me while I was listening to "Tears For Affairs" by Camera Obscura. A great song by a great band. :) Here is the link:  Allegro Poetry Issue 3 March 2015 My poem is about three-quarters...