JUNE 2019

Happy summer, guys!

I can't believe it's almost the end of June... and it's summer... and the Fourth of July is almost here. (only two more months til fall!) Hopefully those of you who are still in school are enjoying your vacation, and those of you who aren't are having a good time doing whatever it is you do in the summer. xD

Now for my monthly highlights post! *ignores that ridiculously awkward transition*

READING

Reading was... pretty rough this month.

It's not that I read any bad books. Actually, I finished reading a fantastic book (A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes) and read another great one, A Thousand Perfect Notes by CG Drews, aka Paper Fury. Unfortunately it did have some language, but I enjoyed the story.

The other book this month is Falcon In the Glass by Susan Fletcher. It's literally taking me weeks to read this thing. And the frustrating thing is that it's not because I'm not enjoying it. The book is actually shaping up to be pretty cool. But I'm just going through a dry spell, I guess, for reading.

I will finish this book by the end of the month, and I think I'm going to like it. I'm just not overly motivated right now. *shrugs*

WRITING

I haven't done a whole lot of writing this month. My dry reading spell dragged with it a dry writing spell.

Buut I AM doing Camp NaNo next month! In hopes to get back into the groove and get some ACTUAL work done on Fall Into Time.

Also, on the subject of Camp NaNo... in case you guys didn't see my Instagram story earlier this week, I really want to be a part of a better cabin this Camp. Last Camp I decided to be randomly assigned to a cabin and it was... pretty unenjoyable. First, I'm not big on throwing myself into situations with a bunch of people I don't know at all, plus some of the content these people were talking about being in their books... I just couldn't get into it. SO if anybody's starting a personal cabin and wouldn't mind me invading on that, let me know. xD

ALSO I just want to say that the day I started Camp NaNo planning for Fall Into Time was June 23rd. WHICH IS THE DAYYYY THAT "THE THING" HAPPENS IN THE STORY. TOTAL coincidence. Blew my mind.

DRAWING

This is a new addition to the monthly highlights posts, and hopefully I'll be able to feature something here every month! I used to draw a lot but haven't done it that seriously in a few years, so I've been enjoying getting back into it. This month I drew two pictures:

Taylor Swift

Asher, from my story Fall Into Time.

Neither one of these is perfect, and I still have some more work to do on Asher. But I'm pretty happy with how they turned out considering how out of practice I am.

LIFE

This month I went to the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois.

Noel Neill statue

Batmobile some guy made when he was 17!!

I've been to the Celebration three times before. It's always so fun, especially for a superhero lover like me. ;D This year I got to see Helen Slater, who played Supergirl in the 1984 movie; and I met Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane on the show Smallville.

Erica Durance

Helen Slater

Me and Erica Durance

Me and my mom went to a local festival celebrating the man who founded our town, and there was this epic pirate ship/play thing for the kids.

Also I had this pineapple lemonade and it was delicious.

I applied to college.

So if all goes according to plan, I'll be starting this fall. *deep breath*

I finished my bullet journal and started a new one!

It's so satisfying looking at it and knowing that I've filled all those pages! Every single day I've lived
since September 1 is recorded somehow within those pages.

Also, unfortunately I don't have any pictures but some guy keeps bringing his pet monkey through the drive-thru where I work and the monkey snuggled me so that's definitely a highlight. xD

Oh, and dog.

BLOGGING

And that's about it! Seems like I had a pretty full month. o.o I hope your June was great! See you in July!

What did you do in June? Are you a summer person or do you prefer to sit in the shade and wait for fall? ;) And of course the important question, who's doing Camp NaNo?

Language of Worlds: SOPHIE

Hey guys! Today I'm  excited and a little intimidated to present another Language of Worlds post!

Why am I intimidated? Well, these things always challenge me to really dig deep into my characters and ask questions I never would have thought to ask. It's great, though, and today I'm answering these questions for Sophie, the protagonist of my book Fall Into Time. 

So before I get started, in case you didn't know: The Language of Worlds is a really cool linkup created by Liv K. Fisher. You can answer the questions on your blog and add your link with all the others! The original post for this month with all the questions and more details is HERE.

And you can read a little bit more about Sophie and Fall Into Time HERE.

1. Your character goes on a leisurely stroll. Where to?

Sophie's house is surrounded by woods and has a long road leading up to it with trees on either
side. So she would either stroll down that road or maybe through the woods around her house.

2. What's their favorite food? Why? What does it taste like?

I'm not certain about the specifics, but it would be something her mom makes. And it would be some kind of comfort food that she's been eating since she was a kid.

3. Describe their typical day.

She would wake up early and go to work at the Dragon's Cave, a cafe in her hometown. After a full shift waiting tables, she'll go home, catch up on any leftover homework, have dinner, then it's off to night classes. Then when she comes home it's probably a snack and late-night game or talk with her brother before going to bed.

4. When are they most productive? Morning, evening, or sometime in-between?

Probably in the morning. She's definitely a wake-up-early-and-get-stuff-done kind of person.

5. Who are they closest to?

It's a toss-up between her brother Parker and her best friend Lily.

image from pinterest

6. Have they ever lost someone close to them?

Ooooh... this is a really tricky question because of mild spoilers. Yes and no. xD I mean, at the beginning of the book her uncle dies. She's not super close to him, but his death triggers some emotional trauma for her, so it counts.

7. Describe their education.

At the time the story takes place Sophie's in college. Or the Alanderian version of college. I'm still working on some of the details about this. But I think it'll be pretty similar to universities in our world... only with classes about unicorns and earth-powered technology, and gryphons casually parked outside where cars would normally be.

As far as her childhood education, it would be pretty similar. Like I said, schooling is fairly close to how we know it.

8. What is their talent?

She's really good in school and has a way of connecting with people. So she would probably be a really great teacher.

9. When do they doubt themself? What makes them do so?

When she has so much to do and not enough time to do it. She feels like she can't handle everything and just wants to have complete control over her responsibilities.

10. When do they feel most comfortable/cozy?

When she's at home with her family with nothing to do.

A drawing of Sophie I did a year or two back.

And that's Sophie! I hope you liked her and I look forward to sharing more about her and her story in the future. She's really special to me and her story is something that's really important for me to write.

Also, wish me luck because I'm going to TRY to do Camp NaNo again in July! I did it in April to finish Roots to Claim and while I didn't quite finish, I made it to my goal of 15k and brought myself close enough to the end to finish a few weeks later. I'm having a bit of trouble getting back into Fall Into Time after being away from it for months, so I'm hoping Camp NaNo will be the boost I need to get back in full swing. First, though, I've got to actually do some planning to figure out where the heck I need to be going with this story. xD

What did you think of Sophie? Can you relate to any of the things she's dealing with? Have you participated in Language of Worlds? Oh, and would you rather go to a university in Alander than one in our world? xD

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (Aladdin flash fiction!)

It's that time again-- time for another piece of fairytale-inspired flash fiction thanks to the ladies at Fairytale Central!

In case you forgot, Fairytale Central features a new fairytale every month, and Arielle posts a writing prompt inspired by that fairytale on her writing blog for us to work with! Last month was the super-fun Rapunzel prompt, and this month the fairytale is Aladdin!

Here's the prompt:

In the piece of flash fiction I wrote for last month's prompt, I introduced you all to Trentley and Jynnia: the MC's I will be using for all of these prompts that I participate in, and also the inspiration for a new book series that I will hopefully begin writing later this year. (But shh, don't let me start thinking about that yet!) I couldn't wait to force write these guys into different sticky situations inspired by different fairytales. I hope you guys enjoy my Aladdin story!

(note: Remember that while connected, these stories have no real bearing on each other. I'm just writing them for fun and while I'm using them as inspiration for the series I want to write later, there are plenty of plot holes and untold background information because I repeat: these are just for fun.)

      ***

 "Jynnia, it's a lamp!"
 Jynnia huffed and puffed, shifting her yards of thick brown hair to the other arm. She glared at Trentley as he sprinted back toward her, carrying a shiny object he had just retrieved from the creek they walked beside.
 "What are we supposed to do with that?" Jynnia said, eyeing the lamp.
 "You don't sound as enthusiastic as I'd hoped," Trentley said.
 Jynnia groaned and plopped down on the ground right where she stood, dropping her hair and sighing as she stretched her arms. "Sorry," she said. "Carrying around fifty pounds of hair does that to a person."
 Trentley sat down beside her on the ground, holding the lamp in front of her excitedly. "Jynnia, don't you understand? We can use this to get rid of your hair!"
 "You really think that thing will work?" Jynnia playfully pushed the lamp away and stared off in the other direction.
 "Jynnia." Trentley reached to take her chin between his fingers and gently turned her to look at him. When her eyes met his, he tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
 She smiled and relaxed a bit, giving a short laugh. "Yeah, I guess if having Rapunzel hair for the past week has taught me anything, it's that strange things can happen."
 Trentley winked at her. "Now you're getting it. I'm rubbing this thing."
 Jynnia shifted in the grass to face Trentley. Something really awful could happen when he rubbed the lamp. Or, something really cool. Either way, she had a front-row seat.
 Trentley placed the lamp between them. They both stared at the object for a few seconds. Trentley inched his hand forward, then jumped back. Then he jumped forward, nearly bumping Jynnia's head with his in his hurry to rub the lamp before he could change his mind again.
 A great wind rose up from the mouth of the lamp, knocking Jynnia and Trentley onto their backs.
 "Trentley!" Jynnia cried in alarm.
 Trentley sat up. He did not have to look around to see what stood-- floated?-- directly in front of him.
 "So you've summoned me."
 The smoky, bluish-tinted figure wavered before them, thick arms crossed over a bare chest. The strange man's face sported a mustache and a sour expression.
 "Y-yes." Trentley scooted closer to Jynnia, not taking his eyes off him. "Are you a... genie?"
 "Of course I am. You rubbed the lamp, didn't you?" The genie held his hands up, an impatient look on his face. "So what is it you want?"
 Trentley and Jynnia shared a look of awe. "You mean we have three wishes?" Jynnia said.
 "I'm willing to take some away," the genie said in a warning tone.
 "O-okay," Trentley said. He glanced over at Jynnia and then back at the genie, swallowing and standing up. Jynnia stood beside him. "We wish to--"
 "Don't say take away my hair!" Jynnia hissed.
 "--We wish that Jynnia's hair would go back to its normal length."
 The genie lifted a sharp eyebrow and looked at Jynnia's hair as if noticing it for the first time. But he closed his eyes and clapped once. Something like a crash of thunder cracked the very air around them, making Trentley and Jynnia double over and cover their ears. But when it was silent again, they opened their eyes to see that the mass of hair was gone.
 Jynnia ran her hands through her short, messy, but natural locks. "Yes!" she cried. "Thank you!"
 Trentley breathed a sigh of relief. "All right, genie," he said. "Now for my second wish."
 The genie gave a slight bow as he awaited Trentley's request. Jynnia looked at him in surprise. They had barely had time to adjust to this one.
 Trentley glanced at her. "I want to know what happened back in that tower."
 "You have to say it in wish form," the genie said. "But I must warn you, you're dabbling in very sensitive magic. You were changed by this tower, yes? The wrong move could damage a lot more than just your pretty girl's hair."
 "We have to know," Jynnia said, taking Trentley's hand. They both ignored the fact that the genie seemed to know exactly what they were talking about. "There's something up with that tower and now there's a lamp with a genie in it."
 "Now that I know Jynnia's back to normal, I won't let this go," Trentley said. "Now, I wish to know what happened in the tower."
 The genie bowed and clapped again, and another great boom split the air. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an object fell to the ground between Trentley and Jynnia and the genie.
 Trentley hurried toward it.
 "Be careful, Trentley," Jynnia said.
 The genie watched him, his lips pressed into a thin line. "My dear boy, don't you know the old saying: If you are saved from the lion don't be greedy and hunt it?"
 Trentley stopped before bending to pick the thing up, and looked the genie straight in the eye. "But, dear genie, don't you know the saying: If a wind blows, ride it?"
 He grabbed the object, and was immediately thrown backward by the second rushing wind of the day.

  ***  

Whew! What have Trentley and Jynnia gotten themselves into now? Guess you'll have to wait until
next month to find out. ;D In the meantime, go write your own flash fiction based on the Aladdin prompt! Remember, you can find the prompt here.

What do you think the object is that fell from the sky? Is it going to help Trentley and Jynnia or get them into even deeper trouble? How would you cope having sixty-foot hair for a week? xD And has anybody seen the new Aladdin movie yet?? Because I'm so excited to watch it!!

A Review of the Out of Time Trilogy by Nadine Brandes

Hi guys.

BOY DO I HAVE A REVIEW FOR YOU TODAY.

Which is of course not in reference to the actual review, but rather the books that I'm reviewing.

Because this past month, I read the OUT OF TIME TRILOGY BY NADINE BRANDES.

I had heard sooo much praise for this trilogy from other people in the blogosphere. I was dyyyying to read these and if you remember, they were on my list of books to read in 2019. So you can imagine my excitement when I finally got them!

This trilogy blew me away, guys. It really did. And I couldn't figure out a way to make this review neat and coherent, so I really don't know what you're about to read other than a disorganized list of my thoughts on the whole thing. xD

(I was so excited to start the first book that I read ALL day just to finish the book I was reading-- I'm talking like 200-300 pages-- so I could start A Time To Die that night. xD)

(Also, spoilers will be announced and you'll have to highlight them to see them.)

THE PLOT

This trilogy is about Parvin, a girl who lives in a dystopian world where everybody has a Clock that tells them how much time they have left to live. There are also Radicals, who choose not to use their Clocks or perhaps lose them and are unable to get another one. Radicals are often sent across the Wall, which separates the civilized world from that which was destroyed many years ago. Nobody really knows what's on the other side, but they know people go there to die.

Parvin believes the sentencing of the Radicals is wrong, as a sort-of Radical herself who shares her Clock with her twin brother. Eventually she is sent across the Wall herself, and there God teaches her so much about His love and faithfulness, and plants a desire in her heart to free her people from the oppression of Clocks and the Wall.

THE CHARACTERS
PARVIN
Parvin. Was. Amazing.

SO much love for this girl. At the start of book 1, Parvin is so hopeless and has so little value for herself and her life. She hopes her and Reid's shared clock belongs to her so that she can die in a year and he can live. She feels she's wasted her life and the only thing she can think to do is write an autobiography so that she's remembered.

But then her faith in God begins to grow. She goes through trials. She goes through some pretty awful stuff. (Y'all who have read the books know that one thing we're both thinking of.) Yet in the middle of all of this, she grows stronger. She fights on and questions God and doubts herself and her faith, but every time she still comes out stronger.

Watching her grow and change and slip into the role of a leader is absolutely amazing. She's such a believable hero. That role doesn't just fall in her lap, or get handed to her; it finds her and she finds it and claims responsibility and it's fantastic.

JUDE

Okay. So Jude and I were not friends when we first met.

I mean, his entrance? Great. even though he could have shown up just a LITTLE bit sooner But I just didn't care for him for the majority of this book. I didn't hate him; it was just hard for me to really click with him and ship him with Parvin when he was so moody and hateful to her sometimes.

By the end of the series, though, my appreciation grew for him a whole lot. I still think he needs to chill out and have an attitude check, but really, where would we be without him?

WILLOW
Oh, Willow.

This girl just needs a good ol' bear hug.

She's the spunkiest, sweetest little sidekick. She and Parvin grow to care about each other a whole lot and I didn't really think I would love her so much but here we are.

And then stuff happens and in the last half or so of the trilogy... JUST SOMEBODY BRING THIS CHILD TO ME SO I CAN HUG HER AND GIVE HER COOKIES.

SOLOMON

SOLOMOOOON.

So in the first book I didn't really have any attachment to this guy because he just wasn't in it a whole lot. He had a part, but he was just so far away I didn't really feel like I knew him.

But yeah, he's definitely one of my favorite parts of the story now. (spoiler ahead) And his and Parvin's relationship? YES. YES. ONE OF MY FAVORITES. Jude who? (spoiler over)

SKELLEY CHASE

Oh boy.

I don't want to say much, but prepare yourself to hate the smell of lemons.

MRS. BLACKWATER

I can't actually remember if we were given her first name? But I love Parvin's mom. In the beginning she's the kind of person you're not sure how to feel about, so hard and seemingly uncaring. But then as time goes on you start to understand her a little more; she's just a reserved, no-nonsense kind of person. She does care about Parvin, more than Parvin realizes at first. And I love her.

THE BOOKS

A TIME TO DIE
5/5

I had really high expectations for this one, because of all the good things I'd heard about it. And it did NOT disappoint. It was a fantastic beginning and set the bar really high for the rest of the trilogy.

A TIME TO SPEAK

6/5 (I do what I want)

This booook. I think I've said it multiple times already, but I have to say it again because it's just so ironic: A TIME TO SPEAK LEFT ME SPEECHLESS.

Seriously. I can't remember the last time I was so totally blown away by a book when I finished it. Parvin's leadership in this one is just amazing. And this book in particular has my favorite God-moments, when Parvin hears Him speaking to her. My very favorite one of these is:

"I AM HERE.

But Willow! Father! Tawny!

I AM THERE."

It gave me chills.

I just can't even tell you how much I loved this one. Definitely my favorite of the trilogy.

AND THEN THAT ENDIIIING. Talk about having me almost crying on the edge of my seat!!

A TIME TO RISE

4.5/5

AND THEN THAT BEGINNIIIIING.

The beginning of this book had alll the stuff of an amazing finale. You know, that opening scene that has you pumping your fists going "YEAH MAN YOU GOT THIS! YOU'RE THE STUFF!" and also feeling the feels because you know it's almost over.

The only reason I don't rate this one a full 5/5 is that I'm really picky about finales. And after that second book, to meet my standard of finale satisfaction, it would have had to be absolutely incredible and blow book #2 out of the water. Maybe it did for some people? Just not for me.

But it was still amazing, guys!! Don't get me wrong. 10/10 recommend for the sled dogs These characters' determination to fight through and trust God and free their people is just extraordinary.

The ending satisfied me. It was a little different from what I expected, but it was victorious and full of hope. It was beautiful.

(spoiler ahead) I just want to take a minute to talk about Parvin's relationships with Jude and Solomon. When she met Solomon, of course I thought he would be her love interest. But then she met Jude, and I thought, oh, now she's either going to be with him instead of the first guy she met or not fall in love with him and be with Solomon. Either way, it's a different twist. But then Jude died, and I thought, great, now she's going to just go from loving Jude to loving Solomon because Jude's out of the picture.
But I actually really love how this was handled. I mentioned earlier I didn't support her relationship with Jude because he wasn't that great of a person to her sometimes. But when she starts to fall in love with Solomon, she realizes that the love she has for him is different from her love for Jude. She even refers to her love for Jude as a "discovery love". And this makes total sense because think about it, she's never had a close relationship with a guy before (other than her brother), and Jude shows up to save her and they travel together through thick and thin so of course she's going to care about him. But there's no question that Solomon is the one for her. This was a really long, rambly way of saying it, but I just liked how the whole romance thing was handled. (spoiler over)

Overall, this is for sure one of my new favorite trilogies. (Maybe my favorite. Who knows.) It's one of those stories that I'll be thinking about for a long time. The ones that actually get deep inside your soul and work on you. I can't say I've read very many books that legitimately inspired me, but these did. I love these books sooo much.

These are also some of the first books that have given me a book hangover. I miss Parvin already. Oh, and a day or two after  I finished, I was working on my own book and I have this one character who's in law enforcement, and in my head I called him an Enforcer. xD

So I hope you guys enjoyed my (very unstructured and random) review of this amazing trilogy. Also a quick shoutout to the author! I only discovered her and her books pretty recently, but I just adore her. Watch her YouTube channel; follow her Instagram. She is just the bubbliest, happiest, most adorable person and it's not surprising that she writes such inspiring books. You just can't help but smile when you watch her videos. I can't wait to read her other two books, Fawkes and Romanov!

So have you read the Out of Time series? (You should.) Who was your favorite character? Favorite book? Do you have any other trilogies to recommend? (I love trilogies!)