Showcase 5/23/13

It may have witches and magic, but Charlotte and the Witch, a novel in progress by Alex Lane is no fairy tale.  So far he has written the prologue and first three chapters, but it's already off to a breakneck start.  The basic premise of the story is the possession of a little girl, named Charlotte, by a witch.  The girl learns magical powers, and is compelled by the witch to commit several grisly crimes.  All the while, Charlotte remains conscious of what her body is doing, even as she internally protests.  This dynamic makes Charlotte an intriguing character.  It'll be interesting to see what direction Alex takes the story from here.

Here's an excerpt from the story that captures its darkness well:

She stood back to watch the wooden structure go up in flames. She heard herself laugh. There was a voice echoing inside her skull, “You’re mine now child!” Charlotte heard the screaming of the people that used to be her parents. She tried to cry, but her captor wouldn’t let her."

Sound like something you'd be interested in?  Give it a read on Alex's blog, and leave some feedback for him.

Showcase 5/22/13

For today, our showcase is Justin Thompson's nature blog, "Nature Can Do That?"*

"Nature Can Do That?" is kind of like all the interesting parts of Animal Planet on one site.  There's unbelievable animals, stunning ecosystems, or the occasional silly video (pictured above) featured twice a week.  Some nice posts to check out are the horned lizard, western parotia, the Socotra Island, the comb jelly and the Goliath bird-eating spider.  However, be warned -- the earlier posts are of questionable quality.  Once a research and writing system was set up, the posts become a bit better.

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Tomorrow's showcase will actually be voted on.  After 6:00 PM, click this link to vote:

Voting for Thursday's Showcase (5/23/13)

Want your project to featured in a showcase?  Submit it before 5:00 PM each day either through email (2013peerassessment@gmail.com) or by a comment on the submissions page.

*Don't worry, this isn't us flaunting some kind of perceived totalitarian authority.  We wanted an example of what the showcase would look like, but forgot to ask anybody in class for permission to use their project.  Auspicious start, right?