Tag Archives: Ella Enchanted

Hello, Lauren Redding

I am a Disney Fanatic, fairy tale scholar, ballet dancer, Ravenclaw, and general obsessive fangirl. And, an English Major.

Lauren Redding

Fairy tales and ballet! A winning combination!

I read like, well, like an English Major. As in A LOT. I’m frequently teased for my reading face, it’s “a signpost for all to read” (Shannon Hale’s Razo? Anybody?) I laugh, cry, snort, roll my eyes, and, more often than not, talk to the characters or the author while reading, telling them exactly what I think of their behavior. I then type it all up in very long Goodreads reviews. [I once went over the 20,000 character limit for a review and had to go back and cut unnecessary punctuation]

My love for grammar is the logical lovechild of my love of language and my love of the preciseness found in math. However, I am a huge proponent of incorrect grammar as a stylistic tool.

I am as much an expert on fairy tales as an eighteen year old person can be an expert on anything, and I love to argue about them, especially Disney versions and/or gender politics. I love the fantasy of the tales, the timelessness, the connection with ballet culture, the history, the diversity, the repetition, and the way that we can track written versions of stories to learn things about the societies in which they were written and crafted. I especially love how loosely written they are, leaving room for interpretation and imagination, which leads to such wonderful retellings from Robin McKinley, Gail Carson Levine, and Cameron Dokey.

My favorite author is L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), and my obsessive reading of historical fiction when I was a little girl (as well as a lifetime of ballet classes) has embedded in me a curtsey impulse that nothing in 21st century society has succeeded in squelching.

Any writing I do is usually either unpublished rants I pretend are blog posts, or in my daily journal.

One of my favorite books is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

Hello, I’m Emily Strong

I’m a lover of fantasy, Batman, and Disney; I’m a doodler, and a professional movie quoter… And I’m an English major!

Emily Strong

Please enjoy this picture of my face.

Ever since I was young, I have loved to read and write. I read so much that my mom had to ground me from it! I started writing stories when I was elementary school, but I just need to work on finishing them. Someday I hope to be a published author, and I am also investigating the possibility of going into editing and publishing. This being my first semester here at BYU, I am considered a freshman. However, I was able to attend a community college during high school (In Tri-Cities, Washington) for dual credit, so I already have my Associates Degree. I am excited to be able to jump right into my major with the hope of being able to keep up with all the seasoned writers!

Some of my favorite literature is Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s Wheel of Time series

Find me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.