Yearly Archives: 2011

The Holiday Gift Guide!

Hello Snarklings! Yes, here it is, the enormous Gothic Charm School holiday gift guide! Full of clicky-links to gothy artisans and small businesses that have simply oodles and oodles of interesting things for sale. The Lady of the Manners is very aware that just about everyone is dealing with tightened budgets right now, but wants to encourage all of you who are doing holiday gift shopping to show your support for independent sellers and stores. Continue reading

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Of Defining Yourself By Other People

Hello Snarklings! The Lady of the Manners is finally rousing herself from some much-needed napping, only to realize that the holiday season is upon us! With that in mind, the Lady of the Manners is working on a simply enormous holiday gift guide type of post, full of suggestions and clicky-links to Goth and Goth-friendly artists and retailers. However, that doesn’t mean that the Lady of the Manners is not going to look at reader questions, and this installment of Gothic Charm School looks at two different sides of the issue: allowing other people to define who you are.
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Of Gothy Age Limits (There Aren’t Any), And Of A Bad Idea In The Name Of “Fashion”

Hello Snarklings! Guess what? This installment of Gothic Charm School is going to, ::gasp:: answer some letters from readers! A flock of them, some of which are from the younger readers. (The Lady of the Manners loves getting mail from readers, but letters from the younger babybats do make her go “Awww!” in fond affection.)
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Nocturnal House: Vampire Kisses

Happy Halloween, Snarklings! For this visit to the Nocturnal House, I’ve decided to take a break from the usual sort of gruesome and terrifying vampires I prefer to read about, and instead, in the spirit of trick-or-treating, indulge in a sweet and spooky treat.

Now, I read a lot of YA vampire books. (I read a lot of vampire books, period.) But the various YA takes on vampire fiction fascinate me, in part because the YA books often have a bit more plot going on than some of the “grown-up” market vampire novels. Probably because YA authors don’t have the easy narrative drive of vampire sex scenes.

(An aside: hey, I’m all for well-written vampire smut! WELL-WRITTEN being the key words there. There are certain authors who rely a bit too heavily on sex scenes, with the end result being kind of boring, and there is nothing sadder in a vampire novel than tedious, yawn-inducing smut.)

Anyway! YA vampire books! There are a couple of series I read which cause me to eagerly wait for the newest volume to be released. My very favorite series has earned a place on my comfort reading shelf, and the first book of the series is one I indulge in when I need cheering up. Continue reading

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Waiting For The Great Pumpkin: Halloween Ideas

Hello Snarklings! Gracious, how did it become mid-October all ready? The Lady of the Manners feels it is a trifle unfair for October to be subject to the same sort of passage of time that the rest of the year is, because October is the most wonderful time of the year! Halloween season, Snarklings! The time of year when a clever Goth can find all sorts of goodies to use year-round! As some of you may have now guessed, this installment of Gothic Charm School is devoted to Halloween: interesting blogs, wonderful goodies, and helpful hints about the Lady of the Manners’ favorite holiday. Continue reading

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Kickstarter: My Summer As A Goth. Help Make A Movie!

Hello Snarklings! Remember in the previous post, wherein the Lady of the Manners linked to a Kickstarter page for a movie project? As those of you who follow the Lady of the Manners on various social networking sites know, the Lady of the Manners is involved with getting a movie made!

My Summer As A Goth Continue reading

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An Assortment Of Questions, Including Babybats And Working With Children

Hello Snarklings! The Lady of the Manners has taken a break from being furniture for the new kittens of the Gothic Charm School household so she can answer some reader letters. This installment is going to be filled with letters from the younger readers of Gothic Charm School; as you may have guessed, many of the letters from younger readers ask to talk to their parents about being Goth. Now, the Lady of the Manners has talked about this before: Continue reading

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Nocturnal House: ‘Salem’s Lot

Welcome back to The Nocturnal House, Snarklings! Before I start talking about the book I’ve chosen for this post, let me go check the windows, find one of my antique rosaries, and perhaps turn on a few more lamps. Why? Because this visit to The Nocturnal House is about a vampire book that honestly does scare me. Even though I’ve been re-reading it for years, it scares me enough that I won’t read it after dark. (Well, I shouldn’t read it after dark, but sometimes my desire to be involved in the story overrides my common sense, and then The Husband has to gently remind me to stop freaking myself out and go read something else. Continue reading

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Of New School Worries

Hello Snarklings! August is, as many of you know, Back To School time. (The Lady of the Manners apologizes to her readers in the Eastern Hemisphere for her Western Hemisphere bias. It’s just one of those things.) This time of year fills the Lady of the Manners with a nostalgic urge to shop for school supplies; yes, she really does want a new big box of crayons. Oooh, and new blank journals, and fountain pens, and ink …

But Back To School time also means the mailbox at Gothic Charm School sees swarms of letters asking about school related topics. What to do about dress codes, of course, which the Lady of the Manners has talked about before:

Of Dealing With Vague And Repressive Dress Codes

Of Parental Nicknames, Of Wrongly Being Called Emo, And Of Dress Codes

Of Goths and School Dress Codes – Gothic Charm School

There are the questions from Snarklings worried about bullies, which is perfectly understandable! The Lady of the Manners has talked about that topic, too, and hopes that all of you will read (and re-read) that post:

Of Dealing With Bullies

But amongst all of those Back To School -related questions, one from a gothling named Carley caught the Lady of the Manners’ eye: Continue reading

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Nocturnal House: Lost Souls

Guess what, Snarklings? It’s time for another visit to The Nocturnal House! Here, let me light a few candles and pour a glass of absinthe ”¦ though a glass of Chartreuse would be more thematically appropriate, considering the book I’m going to talk about this time. Continue reading

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