Moving Blog...

As you may deduce from the post title, this blog is moving. Same content- book reviews, much needed updates on movies (*cough* When Calls the Heart *cough*), Robin Hood BBC, just a new name and url and regular posts :P The new blog will also be a little more personal, in terms of my artwork and myself (yes, I've decided that I've borrowed Robin and Marian's face for long enough).

New Blog: kengeandcarboys.blogspot.com

I do have some particular reasons for this change and the decision has not been easy or made in haste. (Thank you to the lovely people who shared their thoughts with me on this subject and supported me without question). As much as I hope to see you over at 'Kenge and Carboys' please do not feel obliged to follow or visit. Either way I appreciate everyone of you and thank you so much for your support during the time I have been at this blog. I wish you all the best in the future with whatever path you take and wherever it leads you. I owe you all so much and I do not know how to thank you properly.

Perhaps 'I love you all' is sufficient enough.

Mel xx

Where have I been?!

The joys of juggling university, a job and other commitments have pulled me momentarily from blogging but thankfully I have a few little morsels of good news to share with you!

Firstly my Mum is doing absolutely fantastic! Thank you again for all your prayers, the doctors are still baffled that she survived but we just praise God :)

Secondly I have just been approved to finish my uni course via correspondence which means regular posting here from now on! YAY!

I have also (after a lot of prayer) started another blog. This blog focuses on some issues that have been on my heart and that are very personal to me. I can tell you right now that it hasn't been an easy step but lately I feel as though I am being guided towards using my experiences to help assist and educate others. I apologise  if this this sounds like a shameless plug but I thought it was worth mentioning, in the event it was helpful to even one of my followers here. Without going into too much detail I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety when I was 17 so with this blog I am basically sharing my experiences (with a Christian perspective) in the hope that I may impart something worthwhile or helpful to someone who is struggling or someone who may know someone who is.

If you are interested in having a look, you can visit the site here:
breakingbutbreathing.blogspot.com

I have also been reading a lot more than I should! I took advantage of the 2-hour train rides to uni :) So look out for a truck-load of reviews soon. Notable mentions are Melanie Dickerson (if you haven't heard of her go now and check her and her novels out. You won't regret it), Shannon Dittermore and Karen Witemeyer (as always her newest novel does not disappoint).

Mel xx

ps. I have recently found a gem of a show called 'Horrible Histories' I cannot tell you how addicted I have become :P

Thank you

My dear friends it has been a while hasn't it! Now that things have begun to settle I feel that it is time that I start to blog once again.

I must thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your prayers during that difficult time when my Mum was very unwell. Things were very dark for quite a while there and it did look as though she would not pull through, but I thank God everyday that she is still here with us. There is still a large chance of her illness returning but we know the signs now and will hopefully be on top of things should it occur again.

I really cannot thank you all enough for your prayers, emails and kind words of encouragement  I honestly don't know how I would have coped without you all there beside me, I am blessed to have such lovely friends. I only hope that I can one day repay your kindness.

xx

On Hiatus

My dear friends,

I just wanted to quickly drop by and let you know I will be on hiatus for an unknown period of time. My Mum was unexpectedly admitted into hospital a few days ago and I do not have the time or the heart to be maintaining this blog during this difficult time. I hope you understand and I thank you for being such lovely friends/followers.

God Bless you all and I hope that you are all enjoying your week wherever you are and whatever you may be doing.

Mel xx    

Just a little Robin Hood Post.

Much

It feels like an age since I have posted anything even remotely related to this lovely series. Be assured however, my love for it is as unwavering as ever and there rarely is a day that goes by without my thinking about it or one of its characters or associated actors (*cough* Harry Lloyd *cough*).

A couple of weeks ago I tried my hand at some sketches of the Robin Hood characters. I posted these on my tumblr page but I thought why not post them here too.



I have yet to get around to drawing Robin's gang. I dare-say you are shocked that I have not drawn Will Scarlett- but in my defense Harry is so wonderfully good-looking I believe it shall be impossible to re-create his perfection in a sketch. And I am having the same problem with Carter to be perfectly honest.

Sir Guy of Gisborne, Lady Marian & Robin Hood

This is my first attempt at drawing in this sort of cartoon style, so it is a little challenging but I hope you enjoyed them and perhaps sometime soon I can post up a few more different characters :)

God Bless,

Mel xx

Note: You may have noticed I made two small changes to my blog today. I added two new pages just below the header labelled 'When Calls the Heart' and 'Gown of Spanish Lace'. By hitting these tabs you will be able to easily see if I have posted any updates on either of these films :) I hope this helps those of you who are visiting purely to find information on either of those films.

Book Review: A Promise to Believe In.

Image Credit: Bethany House

Title: A Promise to Believe in

Author: Tracie Peterson

My Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: 
The Gallatin sisters have only just started to settle in to Gallatin House when tragedy strikes the family, again. With death seeming to follow the sisters everywhere they go, the eldest of the three sisters, Gwen is sure that she is cursed.
All alone and still in mourning, Gwen and her sisters, Beth and Lacy band together and work hard to manage their family's roadhouse. But with the next stagecoach arrival comes more heartache for Gwen when a stranger alights with a revelation which threatens to unravel past secrets. Hurt and humiliated Gwen begins to question whether those closest to her would be better off living away from her, posing the ultimate question can she move past the lies or will she continue to allow it to determine her future?



My thoughts:
I snapped up the three books in this series on a whim after finding them on (super) sale, not having heard of the series I bought them purely because I have nothing but the best to say for author Tracie Peterson- and she did not let me down! This book is filled with unique and loveable characters, humour, adventure and romance all woven together with a subtle yet beautiful message.
All of the three Gallatin sisters are charming individuals who united together are a most formidable force. The younger sister's (Beth and Lacy's) antics make for some amusing reading and the minor characters are quick to steal your heart. And I cannot help but hope to see them feature as major characters in the next two books of the series.  

Gown of Spanish Lace Movie Update

*Just as I stated a few days ago on my latest When Calls the Heart post- From now on I won't be posting any general updates about this film (Gown of Spanish Lace), as a new post but instead will be just updating this post. It's getting a little tedious re-writing and flipping back to my other posts on the same subject, plus this way we can keep all the new info in one tidy place. So keep checking this post for news on this film- any new information will be added to the top of this post with: UPDATE (DD/MM/YYYY). 

Just my own fan-made edit for 'Gown of Spanish Lace'
to brighten this post up :) (Edit: Pictures are not from the film )

Janette Oke's A Gown of Spanish Lace follows the journey of a young school teacher, Ariana who is abducted and held prisoner by a group of outlaws. Her presence in the camp of desperadoes creates quite a stir- and none more so than in the life of the outlaw boss' son, Laramie, who is charged with her care.  (For more information on the book you can check out my review here)


A Gown of Spanish Lace has been one of my favourite novels for quite a number of years now. I read it for the first time when I had just come through a particularly dark time in my life and reading this novel really helped me through it all. So if I seem over enthusiastic about the storyline, the characters and the upcoming movie you must understand that Ariana and Laramie have been some my closest friends in the most trying of times.  




Moving on (I can almost hear you saying 'Just get to the part about the movie already') I wrote a post previously explaining that A Gown of Spanish Lace was listed as an upcoming project on Michael Landon Jr's website (who many of you may know from his success with the various film adaptations of Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly series) I also noted in this post that this film was not confirmed. Now I can quite happily tell you that it's not just a rumor and that after a little searching I found a comment from Brian Bird (screenwriter and producer) below one of his posts to prove it:  

"As for “Gown of Spanish Lace,” stay tuned for more news — a screenplay is in the works"

and a few days or so ago I noticed a another comment on the Facebook page for When Calls the Heart (Janette Oke's other novel which is been adapted to screen) in response to a fan:

            "A script has been written for Gown of Spanish Lace... a film is in the planning stages."

Aren't we all excited!? I have to stop myself from breaking into some cheesy dance every time I think about it (hehe). With the news and updates looking to be far and few between as the film is still in early planning, I encourage you all if you haven't read the novel (or if its been a while) to grab a copy and give it a read. I'd love to hear what you thought of it, and i'd especially love to know which actors/actresses you'd dream cast for the various roles (and perhaps sometime in the future I can make a separate post detailing this).  

God Bless,

Mel xx

Note: All mentions of the film refer to it as 'Gown of Spanish Lace', omitting the 'A' included in the book title. I missed this tiny piece of information last time I wrote on this topic.

Update: When Calls the Heart Movie/Series

UPDATE (03/10/2012):
New photos have been uploaded to the Facebook account. The various pictures now confirm that Daniel Sharman is indeed playing the character in a red mountie uniform- who's name is Edward (not Wynn).


The IMDb site is now up and running, it lists both the cast in from the original filming and also those involved in the filming that has just wrapped up this year. The main surprise is that Maggie Grace who was cast as the original Elizabeth Thatcher is now listed as 'Aunt Elizabeth' while Poppy Drayton is listed as 'Elizabeth Thatcher' (see picture below). Although I have no information as to why this is, I cannot help but wonder if the TV series might be focusing on Elizabeth's brother, Jonathan's family. Those who have read the book may remember his youngest daughter in the first book was a baby by the name Elizabeth. Perhaps begins with Elizabeth and Wynn's story/relationship and then moves on as a series to focus on Elizabeth's niece, her life and her relationship with Mountie Edward (which would fit with the information/videos/pictures seen on the Facebook page). Again this is only my personal guess.

snippet of the cast list- as listed on the IMDb site.

*From now on I won't be posting any general information about this film as a new post but instead will be just updating this post. It's getting a little tedious re-writing and flipping back to my other posts, plus this way we can keep all the new info in one tidy place. So keep checking this post for news on this film- any new information will be added to the top of this post with: UPDATE (DD/MM/YYYY). 

An edit I made from the first 'sneek peak' video staring
Maggie Grace and Stephen Amell in the lead roles.

If you aren't aware already, When Calls the Heart is the first novel in author Janette Oke's Canadian West Series (you can read my review of the novel here). Many of her fans have been aware for quite a few years now that this lovely book was being considered to make that exciting transition from page to TV screen. Production stills and cast lists began floating around and sure enough even an IMDb site popped up. Then articles regarding the filming in 2008/2009 lead eagerly awaiting fans to believe that the film had been filmed - and after a period of silence, the closure of the IMDb site rumours and speculations that it had been shelved arose.
Then at the beginning of the this year things started to 'pick up' and there began sparks of hope that the movie may actually be released. Many of you may remember in March earlier this year that I posted (here) an update detailing a flyer which made rounds, with beautiful pictures and a blurb as to what the movie is about.




Then July brought us the most exciting piece of news- a video, posted to the official Facebook page for the movie along with the news we had been waiting for all this time, a release date: ...late spring or early summer, 2013, on the Hallmark Channel.

Since that last post there has been much 'commotion' on the Facebook Page, which I believe is run by screen-writer and producer Brian Bird. Firstly September opened with the status: Filming of "When Calls the Heart" begins tomorrow! More news coming soon! . Throwing, some-what of a curve ball at longstanding fans who believed the film to have already been filmed. However a well-placed comment from the page stating the film was never finished in 2008 due to the financial meltdown in the US. It is all building to a world premiere on the Hallmark Channel in 2013 as the first two-hour episode of what we hope will be a long-running TV series! Stay tuned for more news! put me at ease.

Pictures shown on the Flyer  with Wynn Delaney (Stephen Amell) and Elizabeth Thatcher (Maggie Grace) in When Calls the Heart (Image Credit:  aBridge International)

Those who in recent times have checked the page may have seen that it is now full of new 'on-set' photos and several 'behind-the-scenes' videos. Which is lovely for the fans. However it does not take one long to notice the change in cast, Maggie Grace who was originally cast as Elizabeth Thatcher and appears in the very first video has now been replaced by actress Poppy Drayton. In addition actor Lee Williams is featured alongside Poppy as Mr. Higgins in some of the photos appearing on the page, I am unsure as to who originally portrayed Mr Higgins but I believe that this is also a re-cast. It is highly likely that the rest of the original cast have also been replaced, which is, of course, to be expected after such a long gap in filming.

 Knowing me as you all do you can be assured that I have been checking daily (perhaps more than daily) on any update on who may be cast as the 'new' Wynn Delaney. Actor Stephen Amell appears as the original Wynn alongside Maggie Grace's Elizabeth, I must admit that I will find it very hard to accept anyone as Wynn other than Stephen, because the last 3 times I have read the book I was aware of his being cast as Wynn and therefore my mental image of the dashing mountie is highly influenced by Stephen's physical appearance.

A behind the scenes clip of WCTH shows Elizabeth
and a young man in uniform being robbed.

The only casting news I have thus far heard in terms of a male who may fit the 'Wynn' role is in a Twitter comment from, the aforementioned Brian Bird on the 12th of August saying 'Teen Wolf's Daniel Sharman signs up for double duty as co-star of@HallmarkChannel series pilot #WhenCallsTheHeart.' Daniel's bright blue eyes and sharp handsome looks do lead one to believe that the young man may indeed be our new Wynn. However there is no official word on the role, so of course I may be entirely wrong-  I am just speculating. But please take a look, I'd love to hear what you think. Also keep in mind the video uploaded today (Aug 22) which shows a 'Behind-the-scenes [...] clip of Elizabeth Thatcher's stagecoach being robbed on the journey west to Alberta.'  If you look closely you can see a young man lying on the ground behind Elizabeth (Poppy Drayton) dressed in what I can only assume to be a Canadian Mountie's uniform , which leads me to believe it is Wynn. I cannot see the actors face clearly but from a casual glance it is possible it could (I use that term very lightly) be Sharman?




The film is now a wrap and with the principal photography done it is in the stage of post-production. I am still a little confused as to how the movie/series will work. With the combining of the past footage with the new footage and with the numerous changes in cast (not to mention the obvious change in hair colour from one Elizabeth to the next)- but I am still eagerly awaiting this series and desperately hope that it stays as true as possible to the Janette Oke's original novel and wish all the best for it's success.        

God Bless and Much Love,

Mel xx

Note: I recently moved houses so here I am, once again, apologising for my neglect of this blog. Now that we have settled properly in, I will be able to get back to normal and within the next few weeks I will be posting some various book reviews along with, an update post about a Gown of Spanish Lace, a nice little Robin Hood (BBC) post and perhaps a more detailed post updating you all on my life (and the changes since moving).

When Calls the Heart: Update and Video

I've been a little slow on reporting the news that has been flooding in of late concerning these films. You will all know by now how keenly I have been following the production of this film due to my love for the book series. So it will not surprise you in the least if I tell you I am fairly much about to burst as I write this blog post. But I'll try to repress these feelings of mine and get straight to updating you all with the new information.

I was too excited not to include an edit using a few caps
I took from the video.

IMDb Site
This site appeared briefly when the films were first announced and then as swiftly as it arrived it vanished again. The site has, in recent history, been once again 'put up'. Despite it's rather empty appearance, this is a great sign that things are moving forward in terms of a release date- which according to the site is 2012.
  
When Calls the Heart Facebook Page
The film now officially has a facebook page! The page lists the film as a Hallmark Channel original film, so as most of us already deduced it will be airing first on the channel similarly to the beloved 'Love Comes Softly' series.There is no still no news of an actual release/air date on the page (or on the Hallmark Channel site for that matter) but the page has commented that in will be:

 'Coming in late spring or early summer, 2013, on the Hallmark Channel'. 

Another interesting comment made on the page gives us a little hope in terms of future sequels:

The first book will serve as the jumping off point for the series. Lord-willing, the other books in the series will foliow as sequel movies once the series has run its course. 

Now for the most exciting news, the above Facebook page has uploaded a video...YES A VIDEO. The caption boasts: "When Calls the Heart" appetizer from the first stage of filming? This is never before seen footage, so enjoy! The video itself runs for about 2 and a half minutes and...gahhh I want to tell to you all about it, but I'll let you all run off and watch it yourselves here. 


God Bless you all, 


Mel xx

Robin Hood Action Figures

A few days ago I posted that I had made some rather Robin Hood-ish purhases lately that I wished to share with you all. I know I have quite a few blogging friends on here that are fans of the wonderful BBC Robin Hood TV Show that aired from 2006-2009. So I thought you won't mind if I share my joy at finally having completed my action figure collection/family. It took quite a few months of searching online but I was able to piece by piece (or rather figure by figure) add to my collection and I now finally have all of the 5 inch figures. 




I am a little disapointed that all of the characters were not made. How dearly I would have loved a Will Scarlett (*sobs*), or an Allan A Dale figure and I could not believe that they didn't make a Much! But nevermind, I'm glad they at least made these few characters.

Here are a few closer photos of the figures.

 Vaisey Sheriff of Nottingham and
 his right-hand man Sir Guy of Gisborne

Lady Marian and Robin Hood  

The Nightwatchman, Robin and Little John.
Note: This 'Robin' differs to that of the one in the
above photo with Marian.