Beggar Magic Book Review

H. L. Burke sent me a copy of Beggar Magic to review! As I loved her Dragon's Curse series (by the way the first book is free on amazon right now!) I knew I had to read her next creation. To be honest, I'll probably read everything she writes. I'm hooked.

Beggar Magic is a standalone novel about two girls and, well, beggar magic. My favorite character is Zebedy, a teenage Highborn who can hear all sorts of voices in the Strains. I imagine she looks somewhat like this, although probably not as pregnant as me. Or as almost-30.

You know, I never realized how intricate a steam-puck outfit really is. I'm not really into that genre so it took a bit of rummaging through my mostly hippie and kawaii wardrobe to find something I thought fit. And I crochet myself a little steampunk hat! As I took these cosplay photos, I thought about what it would be like to be always surrounded by music as the magic in the book is auditory. All the time. Just some type of music, or voices jabbering on. I think I honestly would go a bit mad.

Pick up a copy of Beggar Magic if steampunk fantasy novels of the young adult persuasion are your cup of tea. You won't be disappointed! It's a good read.

Stawberry Shortcake

Can you tell I had fun? Because I did.

My Hipster Little Mermaid

If I had to pick a favorite Disney film, it would be without question The Little Mermaid. I used to pretend play mermaids with my sister when swimming, dreaming we were diving for sunken human treasure.

I've seen the "hipster Ariel" cosplay around a few times on the web, and I knew without a doubt I wanted to do my own! I bought my wig from the etsy shop Girlshowhair. Just to let you know, over my very thick hair and my over-sized 59 centimeter skull, it was not a pleasant wear. I cut short the photoshoot because the wig was very effectively cutting off my circulation. If you have a smaller skull, and are looking to buy from this shop, this wig should work fine.

So what would Ariel look like in human form, if she wasn't a Disney animation? Maybe something like this, if she wore green pants or purple dress and decided to hang out at a local park. While I was dressed up and in character I thought of several good ideas for my costume! Wouldn't it be awesome do to a vlog-type show about the hipster princesses (think Diary of Lizzie Bennet-ish) chronicling their love life and experiences? I'd call it "Under the Sea" and it would be about a teen Ariel who lived in a very strict home and desperately wants to go visit and live in the city. Sadly I think the characters are owned by Disney and I don't want to be sued! If I did film this it I'd have to be careful to base it off the original fairy tale and not the Disney adaptation.

Anyway, I enjoyed my time as Hipster Ariel. I think next time, perhaps she will go out and get coffee like a real hipster!

What Disney princess would you dress up as?

Pants: H&M (mens section) 
Dress: Target, hand dyed by myself
Cardigan: Salvaged (local consignment shop)
Wig: GirlsShowHair

Meet Shannon from Dragons Curse

A blogger friend of mine recently sent me a copy of her newest novel, Dragons Curse.

Needless to say I loved it. I loved it so much I decided to attempt to cosplay as her main character, Shannon. (FYI, this blog post is spoiler free, so don't worry)

I like Shannon. When the novel opens, she is fresh out of academy, where she studied healing and herbs.

Now, Heidi (the author) does not really talk about what type of clothes her characters wear, so I just went with a kind of modern renaissance look. Heidi's book is not historical, but it does have kings and magic and castles, so I figured the dress would be pretty renaissance-y, but not totally from that time period, since its an non-earth world. 

In my mind Shannon would never wear a long dress, even if all the other women in her time period did. She's much to practical. She needs to run around and have free use of her legs and pick herbs, Wearing a long garment to walk around the woods all the time would muddy the hem. Shannon wouldn't stand for that. She'd wear a short dress just to avoid laundry, so she could spend more time practicing medicine and less time cleaning her hem.

Shannon also strikes me as the kind of girl who wouldn't bother with babbles, like rings or necklaces, so I didn't wear any. She's very independent minded, as well as studious and methodical. I fancy her spending all her time with plants and books and, well, no time at all on her hair. She's definitely the kinda girl who would let her hair air dry. Not because she's lazy, but just because the thought of spending time on her hair when she could go to the library would never occur to her. 

What do you think of Shannon? If you want actually meet her and spend a few hundred pages in her head, check out Heidi's book Dragon's Curse on amazon! Shannon is a really fun girl, and her adventure is unique and entertaining. Also..need I tell you that there is a dragon? Well, there is, and maybe you'll get to meet him too.

Anyway, I enjoyed cosplaying as your character, Heidi! And I can't wait to read the next book in this series. I'm hooked!