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R.M.Whitaker's Interests
General
Fedoras, trenchcoats, long, pearl necklaces, fashion of the 20's and 30's, ballroom dancing, tapdancing, tennis, games with the family, romantic pasts, memories, romantic movies, romantic books, romantic music, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, thunderstorms when the rain is pounding on the window and you're all safe and warm inside with thick, soft socks and a cup of hot cocoa, curled up on the couch with a book. Singing, acting, performing in front of a captive audience, getting attention, Girl's Camp every summer, Education Week, reading, writing, learning something new and exciting, making new friends, going to the bech and running away from the tide, warm sweaters, crazy cute shoes, holding hands with the one you love, watching the look of surprise in someone's eyes when you tell them that you like Jazz music, and listening to my brother play the piano. He's the best pianist in the world! And so is his wife! lol
Music
I love, love LOVE music from the 1920s through 1963!!!!!!! The Everly Brothers, Fred Astaire, Elvis Presley, the Temptations, the Drifters, the Beatles, the Beachboys, Frank Sinatra, Gordon MacRae, and Nat King Cole are just a few of my favorites.
Movies
At the moment my favorite movie is "Just Like Heaven" and I also really like "13 Going on 30". Pretty much any Chick Flick in which there is no nudity, sex, or a butt-load of bad language is also an instant favorite for me. Also just about any movie starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers! Mark Ruffalo is my favorite actor and Reese Witherspoon is my favorite actress (that may be why I love "Just Like Heaven" so much!). That is, they are my favorite from THIS time period. If we're gonna go back a little ways I also love Danny Kay, Fred Astaire, Gordon MacRae, Audrey Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Shirley Jones,Jane Powell, and lots more!
Television
TV gives me a headache and I can't stand watching it!!! But I do watch "American Idol" and occasionally, when the mood strikes me and I'm feeling lazy, I also watch "What Not to Wear" and "Monk", the latter is my favorite because it's so funny but so suspensful!
Books
Where do I even begin?! I've loved reading since I learned how to at the age of four and I remember that one of my favorite places in the world as a little kid was the kid's corner at Boarders where I would pull books off of the shelf and sit and read for hours while my mom and older siblings looked around the store!
My favorite books would have to be The Tennishoes Among the Nephites series, The Children of the Promise series, The Work and the Glory series, The Allience, The Redemption of Althalas, A New Dawn, Ella Enchanted, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Cyrano de Berjerc (which is actually a play, but I still love to read it as a book), the Harry Potter series, the Scriptures, Mrs. Mike, and billions more that aren't entering my head at the moment............
This is a cover I drew for my first ever book, "The Legand of Two Worlds."
Heroes
The Savior, my mommy and daddy, my brother, and my sisters, Gordon B. Hinkley, Alma, Nephi, Moroni, Ammon, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George W. Bush, and thousands more!!!
About me: I began writing at the age of eight. My three older sisters used to tell stories on tapes for my little sister and I to listen to and they would always draw the characters for us and my mind would become swallowed up in the worlds that were created in my own home by my heroes (my sisters). One day my sisters decided that they would work together to write a story. My oldest sister was the bookworm of the house at that time and before I went to bed and in the morning I would sit on her bed with her while she told me about the stories she'd read in her soothing, dramatic voice.
It was on the day that she told me they were going to write a story for me- on the day that I first realized that stories COULD be written by normal people at home- that I began my first attempt at writing.
I started a book that I first called "Lissie" about a mermaid named Lissie who befriended a mermaid witch-in-training who was her age. In the story, Lissie and Linda (her witch friend) turn into humans while playing around with magic and on land they ended up living in a castle by the sea. While Linda fell in love with the prince, Lissie found love with the handsome and fun stable boy. I wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote that same story up until the time I was eleven years old, always making it better and better. Eventually I changed the name to "The Legand of Two Worlds" and I am still very much in love with the story and plan on writing it over again sometime in the future.
So the first book I ever wrote was a romance. Can you believe such a story coming from an eight-year-old? But since then I have written nothing but romances. But I am trying to expand my range a bit now.
I first found fictionpress through a penpal of mine. My sister had a penpal, so decided I wanted to get one as well. When I learned that she also enjoyed writing, I asked her if I could read some of her work. She sent me to fictionpress to read it. I recall with perfect clerity the awe I felt as I looked at all of the stories on the site. I'd searched for months for such a place and had just given up hope when I found it! I wanted to post "The Legeand of Two Worlds", but I decided that I wanted to wait a little while for that one and wrote a testing chapter for the site. But, as often happens, I liked the testing chapter so much that I continued with the story and, however poorly-written, it is one of my favorites, entitled "The Apprentice".
I continue to write and hope to do so for the rest of my life, whether my works ever get published or not.
You can read my stories here- http://www.fictionpress.com/u/423116/
Who I'd like to meet: The Savior (obviously), George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferon, all of the founding fathers, Emma Smith, Joseph Smith, Ronald Reagan, Fred Astaire, George W. Bush, Jane Austen, and the love of my life!
Well, most of the pictures from prom turned out horrible. I didn't take any myself. My mom just did and they're pretty awful. Almost all of them are blurry and in the few that aren't, the lighting's really weird or my eyes are closed. So I'm going to ask my friends for some copies of theirs. But in the meantime, I've put up one good picture of me in my dress. It's in the album "My Photos," if you'd care to take a look.
I put some pictures of Paris up! There are a bunch, but I only went through and picked out some from the first half of my pictures. There are a lot more, believe me, and I'm going to put up some more when I can. If there's anything in particular you want to see (or want to see more of) just holler!
It's okay. I didn't really say anything else at the end of the comment. Just that I was going to post those that picture of me and Penny in the snow if I could find it. I'll talk to you later!
Don't you hate it when you just accidentally put your hair up really prettily? Because then you can never figure out how you did it! I used to do that all the time on the bus (back in middle school). On the ride home, I'd get annoyed with my hair and put it up real quick. And then I'd get home and see that it looked absolutely amazing! But of course it was pretty useless by that point, since school was over, and I was never able to show it off for anyone. lol. I really do love your hair in that picture though! The next time I curl my hair into ringlets, I'll have to see if I can mimic it. I don't think I'll be able to though. I don't think have the right haircut for it.
Yep, that’s my backyard. But don’t think our whole neighborhood is like that. We live at the end of the street and our house and our three neighbors’ houses (one of which is abandoned now, actually), are backed up to woods. The rest of the neighborhood is just your average suburb. My mom just really likes that country style (hence the fences, the arbor, etc.) And we’ve got two fences- the white one for the inner yard around the pool (to keep Penny in), and the rickety broken-down brown one for the outer yard. Part of the brown one has rotted apart, though it’s hard to see in the picture. My dad had to take down the posts and lean them up against the rest of the fence. They look like big Xs. We’ve got fruit trees in our yard too! Two apples, a pear, and a cherry. Occasionally we’ll use the cherries for a pie, but they’re really sour and the birds always get at them.
Yep, that was my mom in the background of one of the pictures. I actually didn’t see her until you mentioned it! lol. I always just looked at puppa. I should have taken a picture of the front of the house too for you, but I didn’t. I wasn’t wearing actual clothes at the time (just pajamas) and my shoes (slip-on Birkenstocks) weren’t good for walking around. I think my mom might have actually taken a pict
- Glad you like the room. And my profile, lol. I've never thought about my profile before, but thanks.
- We were all dressed up for my birthday, to go out to dinner, which we didn’t end up doing. We decided to get take-out from Applebee’s instead because it was late by the time the movie ended and I don’t like restaurants that much anyway. I have to be in the mood for them.
- The first few pics are at Jenny's house and the last 3, with the cake, are at Katie’s house.
- No, the cell-phone definitely isn’t mine. It’s either Sarah’s or Katie’s. My cell-phone’s really old and boring and I barely use it because my parents would make me pay if I used up too many minutes.
- Sheesh. You’re crazy if you don’t think I look weird and disgusting in that “blowing out the candles” picture. We’d just woken up. I’d lost my contact case so I was blind as a bat and squinting at everything. Lol. Icky. I just thought the smoke looked kinda cool, like you.
aw...lucky! It has only flurried here in Tennessee. I wish it would snow! Well, I suppose there's nothing that can be done about it. Besides the fact that it was not a white Christmas, it was still great.
Ah...yes, the infamous research for a story. I hate that! lol. It makes the process of writing SO slow. lol. I hope you put out another chapter soon, though. As far as my story goes, I a m doing good. I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, an event that encourages people to write 50,000 words of a novel in one month). I made that goal back in November (the official "month) but I have not written anymore since then. I've been so busy, that I've only posted slightly edited chapters of my nano novel. I really need to write some more though. lol.
Seems like you have a big project on your hands, though, so it's understandable that your writing has slowed down. Don't worry, though. I'm sure your paper will turn out fine. (:
Have you already applied to colleges? You are a senior, right? lol. I imagine that is demanding a lot of your attention too. I know it has for me.
Oh I'm so glad you sent me that "Gone with the Wind" spoof! I'd seen the part where Carol walks down with the curtain dress, but that's it. And my mom has mentioned it in the past when "Gone with the Wind" came up in the conversation because she thought that I would like it, but I forgot about it the next day, so I never actually tried searching for it myself. It's hilarious! Thanks for the laughs!
It's called "Wings of Eagles". That's weird, though, that you never got an update. Hm...
Well, I am glad you are doing good and that you haven't abandoned "Lantham Manor". It's just too good. I'll be eagerly waiting for it, though. School does get in the way of a lot of my own writing, so I completely undersatnd. (: Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine in school and be able to graduate.
Oh, yes. Christmas break. I can hardly believe it's that time of year already! My how time flies!
hi! how have you been? It's been forever! lol. Anyway, I have a new story up on FP, and I was also wondering how your story was coming. been a while since you have updated. (: I'm eager to read more of you story.
Hey girl, thanks for the site! I'll have to check that out, and I've realized that as I've gotten older, I've become more dedicated to stories. I also have my wonderful, encouraging friends to thank for that too. I believe it's God preparing me for writing as a career. You know, teaching me how to stay to a story so I can do it in college and stuff. Anyways, happy writing! ~Gabi <3~
Oh, yes It was really good. And you know, despite all the things that happen, I find it more of a character book than a plot book, which is really great. I just love how Stephanie creates the love between Edward and Bella! (: Is New Moon as good?
I know! I am SHOCKED. Truly, truly shocked. I guess they just always said "good day" instead? Or I know in England, a bit before in America, they used to say Hallo and Hullo. But I learned about the hello thing while listening to the radio in the car the other day. It wasn't invented until Alexander Graham Bell made the telephone. Bell first used "ahoy" as the typical greeting on the telephone and it was Thomas Edison, in fact, that decided hello might be better. Isn't that interesting? I must say, it makes it awful difficult for me though. I used the handy-dandy "word finder" on microsoft word to find all the places I used hello in Solitaire. I've got 31 places to edit, lol. Eek! That's no fun.
Whoah! I've just made a very shocking discovery! Did you know that the word "hello" wasn't invented or used until 1870?!?! Maybe I'm the only one who never knew this, but I always thought hello went way, way back. Before the American Revolution, at least. I think I've got some edits to make on "Solitaire" . . .
I've always like classical music, but I never know where to start with it, you know? Like whenever I hear a classical song I like, I make a note of it, but I just don't know where to find all the pretty classical songs. There are just so many that I don't know where I'm going. I'm lost, lol. Do you have any favorites that I could check out?
I'm glad you like the movie clip too. Isn't it cute? I'm so in love with Irish accents. Actually it's been up for a few weeks now, I think. I'm pretty sure I put it up when I changed my background to this London-themed thing.
Hey! I put a new song on my page that you should definitely listen to. It's very beautiful, I think, and it's what I've been listening to lately when I write. Apparently it's from some movie called "The Piano" but I've never seen the movie before. I just think it's a very powerful, pretty song. Talk to you later!
Well, I finally found time to reconstruct my summary. I don't know if you read Renne's comment about it, but she said she liked #1, however, she said the way I described Abigail and Julie would make people refrain from reading it.
And you said that you like #3 becasue it mentioned Julie didn't want anything to do with Luke.
Well, I put them together and came out with this...
Abigail had a distorted view of love until Luke came along. Through her growing affection for him, she learns what real love is. What happens, though, when Luke begins to show interest in her sister who clearly wants nothing to do with him?
Hey there! Your lovely drawings made me want to draw Elizabeth, but I was too lazy to actually do it right. lol. Michelle and I have been talking a bit about our dream weddings lately so I was looking at runway wedding gowns on the internet. And I saw a model who had an Elizabeth-like look to her. She's way too pretty for Elizabeth, of course, because Elizabeth's no model, but I liked the look of her. I painted colonial clothes on over the wedding gowns and they're now saved in my pictures on here. lol. Don't laugh at my awful paint jobs.
Well, I need a little help...again. lol. I was bored and decided to write out an appropirate summary for "For the Love of Luke". I came up with three different ones...which one do you think is better and would draw more people to the story?
#1 Abigail is the town's beauty, and she's not shy about flaunting it. Julie is the bitter, envious sister. Abigail has never loved until she meets a certain man, but what happens when this man begins to show interest in Julie instead?
#2 Abigail is used to getting everything she wants, including every guy's heart. No man is an exception until she meets Luke. Abigail falls for him, and is determined to win his love. It's too bad that he's already fallen for her sister Julie
#3 No guy was immune to Abigail’s charms...no one except Luke, the only guy Abigail has ever loved. Instead, he has fallen for her sister Julie, who wants nothing to do with him.
Thanks for voicing your opinion. It helped. Though I do Like "Envy and Pride" I am still kind of attached to "For the Love of Luke". I'm probably going to post it as that first, so people can find it with ease, and If I decide to change it later on, I will.
I already asked S.Reene this question, but I wanted to know your opinion as well. I was thinking the other day and I found another possible good title for my next story (the one that was origianlly titled "For the Love of Luke"). I would like your honest opinion on which title you like better..."For the Love of Luke" or "Envy and Pride". I kind of like both.
Well, I have finally caught up with reading "Cats and Dogs". I'm really exited about how it will end, and I'm excited about your new story too!
Anyway, I never answered your question regarding the reason that I'm going to Korea. Sorry. It's basically a vacation thing. I'm going with my Grandma. I'm actually leaving this Thursday.
Anyway, how have you been? have you been busy? I assume that or either your working on planning out Lanthom Manor because it's been awhile since you posted.
Oh! I almost forgot! Congratulations on the dance competition win! That's AMAZING! I only wish I could have seen it myself! Congrats! Congrats! Congrats! And felicitations too! (That's congratulations in French, lol) Bye!
Well I dooooo declare, Miss Whitaker! You are far too flattering! lol. Honestly!
But thanks, I am glad you're liking Solitaire so far. And I do like that coat an awful lot too.
You couldn't find the other picture because I took it down- I just thought it looked kinda silly with all that paint I put on when I was playing around. And I couldn't get the paint off again, so I just decided to take it off here.
Hey- how many more chapters do you think you have left of "Cats and Dogs"? Not that I'm trying to rush you or anything, but I do think you should get cracking on these last few chapters. One- because I want to see what's going to happen! You've been keeping me in suspense for far too long, my dear. And two- because I know you're getting really excited about Latham Manor and now you've got me all pumped up too! I can just feel it! I know this is going to be your best story yet! It has to be, with how excited you are about it. I've come to realize that that's true- at least with my stories, anyway. I started "Working for Nicholas E. Collins" on a whim and look where that's gone. lol. I'll probably never finish it and (although I swore I'd never do that), I really just don't care anymore. But then take "Voyage" or "Solitaire." I was really eager to start those and they've been two of my better stories. You have to have a lot of excitement for a story to write it well, I think. So please do hurry (if you can) for Latham Manor to start. I really can't wait to learn more about it, because although I'm excited for it right now, I still don't have a true "feel" for it yet, you know?
Oh and one last thing- you did get that last message I sent, didn't you? Please say yes! I'll die if I have to write it all over again again. lol.
And just so you know, I had such fun looking at all of your new pictures that I decided to post two of my own. They're really awful and they're a bit old too, but you can see my beloved hound's-tooth coat in them both! lol. That's the only good part.
Of course I'll give my opinion! I'd be honored to.
It's strange though- I've done some research myself on Victorian fashion and I've read a lot of books in the time period and about the time period and some of your pictures don't fit with those. The painting, the red dress, the bottom picture with the two women, and the very last picture just don't seem right to me. Unless . . . Well, I suppose if they were all from the very late 1860s onward, they would work. But until then, the skirts weren't so thin. That style- with the thinner skirts and bustles- didn't come around till the 1870s. Or, at the very earliest, 1869. If you want even more great pictures and information, go to wikipedia.org They've got great information on the Victorian era if you just type in "1850s in fashion" or "1870s in fashion" or whatever decade you want.
Personally, I prefer the early to mid-Victorian styles (fuller skirts, crinolines, etc.) to the later (thin skirts, bustles). So anytime from 1830 to 1868, basically. When I start it, I'm going to set "St. Agnes's Eve" in sometime from 1855-1865- I'm not exactly sure which exact date yet- just to give you an idea of my preferences.
I think it's just because all these books I've been reading and loving lately- especially my beloved Fingersmith- have been taking place in that era. Plus, I really prefer that silhouette. I'm not a huge fan of bustles. I like the fuller skirts.
But of course it's entirely up to you. When you picture it in your head, what do you see? Thinner skirts? Bustles? Full skirts? Crinolines? I'd just think of that and then go from there. Be sure to tell me what you e
