Bromley! He's the newest addition to my bear collection - did I mention before that I collect teddy bears? Well, I do - and was my birthday present to myself. He has the sweetest little face in the whole world:
And beautiful fur - two tone in both caramel/chocolate and vanilla/chocolate. I've never seen a bear quite like him before, and I just couldn't resist. That'll teach me to walk past the bear shop on my birthday!
Since I'm taking pics, let me introduce you to a few more members of my bear family. I have many, many bears, but most of them live upstairs and I'm too tired to go up there now (who invented stairs? What an idiot. Let me at him...) so I'll confine myself to the ones who live downstairs for the moment. First of all here's Ellie:
He's an artisan bear, which means he's one of a kind and completely unique. He's also the most expensive bear I've ever bought. The sad, thoughtful look on his face enchanted me. He's a growler - which means that when you tip him the right way he makes a melancholy little groaning noise - and he's weighted, so that when you hold him he feels rather like a puppy or a baby, or some other living thing.
Finally, I introduce:
The Wolf. That's his name - The Wolf. I bought him just after I started work on FrostFire, but he's obviously far cuter and more cuddly than his counterpart in the story! I love his collar of bells.
That's all I have for you today. Not very useful or writerly, I'm afraid, but better than typing 'wibble' twelve times, which, believe me, I considered!
If anyone has any ideas for better blog posts, please put them in the comments...it'll be worth it.
26 comments:
Aww, I love your bears - the bears that I do still have (yes, I have a few that live on top of my wardrobe) look nowhere near as cute as yours!
You could do an interview with one of your characters! Those are always fun to read.
I love your bears, Rosco especially!
Jesse: I have my share of tatty, ratty, well-loved bears from when I was a kid too. Those ones live in my bedroom and writing cave, mostly. The ones I've taken pictures of here are 'company' bears, the ones who live on the back of my sofa and charm visitors!
Alex: Good idea. I wonder if I have enough brain juice to carry that out...
I'm a SUCKER for teddy bears but had to stop buying them at some point....I have to say your post has me tempted to start buying them again NAUGHTY YOU! Um, what was the name of that bear shop? LOL
Oooh yay! I love teddy bears!! They're so cute. I know it's kinda childish but... they're so ADORABLE! But your teddy bears are much cuter than mine BY FAR. I wish I had Ellie.
Lynsey: Oops! Sorry! I gave up buying them myself for a long time, just because I felt obscurely guilty that I had so many. But I decided that getting a special one every now and again doesn't hurt anyone. And Ellie, The Wolf and Bromley are all 'Charlie Bears', if you're interested. You can find them online...
Megha: Why is it childish? People of all ages collect them! I'm in my late twenties, the lady who runs the bear shop is in her forties, and my mum is in her sixties - and WE all still love bears. There's just something about them. Apart from Rosco, none of the bears are very expensive. You can get an Ellie (her official name is Cinders, by the way) here: http://www.corfebears.co.uk/osp-1513.php?refID=GoogleProductSearch and a lot of other places online.
Aw, Teddy bears! <3 Now I'm thinking of all the stuffed animals that I've neglected. I have a bear that lives on my bed, and wears an adorable little vest from my dad's university. I've had him for a long time... (to give an idea of how long I've had him, I'll tell you his name: Colonel Softfur)
Heh heh heh! It'll see you a Colonel Softfur and raise you an Amanda Panda...
LOL.
Zoe: I used to have SO MANY teddy bears. I still have them in a box somewhere... I still adore teddies with all my heart (who DOESN'T? They're ADORABLE LITTLE THINGS!!!), but I only have one teddy bear OUTSIDE of the box. Oh yeah. I gave that to my baby cousin. Awh. Lemme go look in that box... If I can find it...
OOh your bears are utterly cuddlicious.I know it isn't a real word, but I don't care!
Megha: Get some of them out and give them a hug!
Vivienne: As bookish people, I think we have the right to make up whatever words we like - and that's a very good one!
If you like bears Zoe, check out mine...the one with the pink ribbon is 3 1/2 inches tall :-0
(Sorry...it's a shameless plug I know!)
http://deborahs-beehoneydesigns.blogspot.com/2010/08/its-all-about-bears.html
Plug away, Bee - plug away! Your bears are lovely.
Oh your teddies are absolutely ADORABLE. I love them. Just want to give them all big cuddles.
I collect donkeys myself :)
People who collect animals of any kind (cuddly or real) are a-okay with me!
BTW Zoe, I'd LOVE it if you continued to post more like THIS - more about *you*.
Hmmm. Thank you for letting me know that, Megha. It's something I can think about, anyway.
OMG your bears are adorable!! I want to give them big squishy hugs lol. I have far too many cuddly toys but I just can't bring myself to throw them away. My biggest teddy is nearly as tall as I am if you hold him upright (his legs don't support him enough to stand on his own) and I've had him since I was about 18. He takes up loads of space but I couldn't part with him lol
I just had a look at the website link you gave & am soooo tempted to get my credit card out :o)
I'm sure they'd like that! I probably don't give them quite enough squishy hugs for their liking. Mooawwhhaaaahaaaa! No one can resist my omgsocute links...
How cute! I especially love the first one -- look at that face!!! *hugs* Anyway, we all have our wibbly (is that a word? I don't think so, but who cares?) days. We forgive you. ;) Thanks for posting, anyway! You are very loyal to your blog readers. Don't feel badly! Although I would like to maybe see a post on how you plan as you go along writing... do you plan each chapter before you write? Do you go on sudden writing rampages and then plan a little before continuing? How do you pace yourself? Just an idea... I love all of your posts, anyway. ;)
Ha ha - I'm sure Bramley appreciates the love. That is a very good post idea, and I will think about it when I've got, you know, some brain juice again...
Oh, good! If you do decide to do it, I look forward to the post! And, of course, it will give me a chance to ramble on about my own planning-while-writing techniques. ;)
Hello Zoë,
I just discovered your work, your blog - and your bears! I collect bears too, and I must admit, I fell in love with Bromley... I live in France, but thanks to the net, I can buy Charlie Bears too :-) Unfortunately, I can't find Bromley anywhere... Has he another, "official" name?
Cuddles to your bears... and your dog :-)
Stéphanie
P.S.: Your books are soon to be published in French, and as I'm a librarian and kids keep pestering me for new fantasy books, I guess I'm gonna get them - you'll soon have French fans :-)
Stephanie: He does have an official name - it's 'Bentley'. And he was designed for Charlie Bears by Isabelle Lee, if that helps :)
I actually had no idea that any of my books were about to be translated into French! If you do see them in a French language edition, could you please let me know, either by commenting or emailing me? I'd like to know the publisher!
Oh God I made a mistake... I went on Amaz**.fr and the only thing I saw was "soon to be published" - I was so hyped up I didn't realize it was about the new editions... in English... I'm sorry, I really must have killed your buzz...
But maybe you could persuade your publisher to do something about that :-) Anyway, I'll keep an eye open!
And thank you very much for Bromley's "real" name!
Stéphanie
Aha. I thought it might be that. My British publisher has been trying to sell foreign rights to all my books for years, but fantasy doesn't always translate well, and my books are long which can also be a problem, so it's a slow process :) Never mind!
Post a Comment