Thus Far

Will all of these get watched? Mmm, probably not. But I’ll have to do at least a few of them because I said I would, lol. In truth, I love Holiday movies—when I can force myself to sit down and watch them; it’s the pausing to take a rest in the middle of a busy season and regular busy life that is the difficult part. So, here is my declaration to hopefully rope myself into watching a couple of these, along with a little reminder to you, dear reader, to make a tea or a cocoa, put on a favorite holiday film, and take a break if you need it. 😉 A Hallmark Christmas Movie    I’ve been watching one or two of these every Christmas season for the past few years ( Holly and Ivy was last year's choice), and I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve seen so far! They have such a perfect, cozy, heartwarming vibe that helps get me in the mood for the season if I’m struggling to really feel it (hello, living in the south and never having snow for Christmas time. :p) I’ve already watched The Noel Diary

 A bit different than my normal posts I know, but I was talking to my sisters the other day about the people who give the best holiday gifts. Those who seemed to look right into our minds and see things we didn’t even know we needed but were the perfect gifts for that year. Then I thought about the times I’ve been able to give gifts that were well-appreciated and came up with a few tips from my giving strategy for the Christmas season. Hope you enjoy! Tip Number 1: Listen Throughout the Year Sounds a little late, haha, but you can still start this today! Pay attention in conversations: what are others’ frustrations? What would make life easier for them? What’s a wistful thing they wished they could have or do (experiences make great gifts!) but either aren’t able to or feel they can’t justify the money for? As an example, my dad started working from home after COVID-19, but since then, because of his desk setup, he’s had some neck pain from looking down all day. Last Christmas, I

As of today, this blog has been live for a whole year! A nd I have not posted nearly as much as I intended, haha . Honestly, it feels like I just started blogging again, and I can't believe we're creeping up to the end of 2022. This year has flown by. But on the bright side, it is  Fall again, my favorite season, and that does lift the spirits. Praise God for Autumn days <3 Source:  https://contemplatingoutlander.tumblr.com/post/188069902172/welcome-october-from-anne-of-green-gables Since my last post, I’ve been doing a lot of writing. I hit some snags in my WIP, a Cinderella reimagining called The Second Prince , which have taken all my focus and brainpower to work out. In truth, they’re not totally resolved, but I’m trying to take some steps back, get the fresh opinions of fellow writers, and then see what I might be able to work out. If you’re interested, here’s the concept for the book: Prince Sirion knows that his actions in the Island War have disqualified him from

I’ve been working on something new this month (well, last month technically). I randomly came across this contest called “ Objects in Motion ,” the object being to write a short story where the characters are in motion for the entire time. I didn’t have any old ideas that would fit, so I just sat down with the prompt one afternoon -- and about 1,000 words poured out of me. A whole new story with bright shiny characters and vibrant conflict, fully ready to welcome me into their emotional lives. I’m not sure what will become of this venture, but the beginning of the story is in the hands of contest judges and the rest of it lives rent-free in my head. I’ve mentally plotted out a novel-length story, with a fair idea of where it could go and a few different versions of how it might end. I don’t know when I’ll be able to tackle this one; it’s a much different genre than my normal YA fare and I’ve already got two novels and a novella clamoring for my upcoming attention. Maybe it can take

 Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of Abbie Emmons' videos , and one of the main things I’ve heard her talk about is why people engage with stories and what makes them matter. One of her claims (and this was likely hyperbole, so I’m not taking it fully literally) is that people don’t really care about the storyworld or gorgeous writing or anything extra like that, rather they come to a story to experience the characters and their internal conflict . To a certain extent, I think this is true. I mean, I definitely come to stories for the characters. Everything else can be chef’s-kiss wonderful, but if I don’t care about the protagonist, I’m going to knock off at least one star from the review. Vice versa, there can be any number of iffy sections with the writing and I might not even know what the what was the plot, but if I fell head over heels for the characters’ journeys, they’ll go on my favorites list till the end of time. So, while this statement is certainly true for me, I’m

I wrote last fall about how I was starting over from the beginning, to learn to write again . I’d been writing seriously for almost 10 years, but my career didn’t reflect that. A lot of things had happened during that decade, from the personal to the global and back again, that had set me back and hindered my idea of success; I remember feeling that the only way I could move consistently forward was to start over and learn to write again from the very beginning. I thought it would be poetic, less actual learning , more just putting in daily practice, letting the words flow and the manuscripts form in a less-stress way. Perhaps, after a few months, I might even emerge with a masterpiece. But as I went back to study writing blogs and videos like I used to, I found that, despite the many things I do know about writing good characters, recognizing a strong plot, and the nuts and bolts of writing well, there is still so much I don’t know . Still so much I’ve been doing badly even, that

I actually didn't read these books back-to-back on purpose. The similarity in the titles just kind of happened.  Another gorgeous cover! Summary : Despite the painful monotony of living on a poor planet, Vika's life has always held a spice of mystery: an unknown benefactor periodically popping up, offering gifts from ice cream in first-grade to a first-class education. But lately those gifts have stopped coming, and Vika has almost resigned herself to a dreamless life. Until the benefactor suddenly returns--dead. But his will holds a proposition that could change her life forever: if she agrees to marry his son, she will receive a fortune and could finally live the life of her dreams. The catch: others in the billionaire's will are being targeted, and if Vika can't discover the culprit, she may not escape her old life alive. What I Loved: My favorite parts of this book were the mystery and the romance. I’ve read one other one by this author and the suspenseful parts of

  That... cover... though *squealing* What I Loved: My favorite thing about this one was just the overall feel of the book. The writing, the themes, the characters, it just produces this pure, comforting feeling without being too sappy or cheesy. There’s a good balance of honestly showing the emotions of that age and that kind of change, while keeping the reader grounded in the real life so you don’t get swept away in something that feels too dramatic. Norvia’s problems begin, for the most part, outside of her control (which is extremely relatable at any age or time); but it’s her processing of these changes and her reactions to them that the story really focuses on. Even though, I could kinda see where most of it was going, there was still something very sweet about walking with Norvia through those changes. It made sense, how she felt and how she acted, and I rooted for her to find happiness again and peace in herself before the end.   What I Learned: Like I said, Norvia’s

  I’m trying something new with my latest project, The Second Prince. Having never been a plotter and having never rewritten a whole draft from scratch… I’m going to do both with this manuscript.   via GIPHY Thanks, Obi One of the new-to-me pieces in the plot template I’m using is to get to know the character before you even begin to write. This may seem obvious to other writers, but for me, I always just got a one- or two-sentence idea for a person and just ran with it. With this method, however, I’m taking a lot more time with the characters before I dive into (re)writing their story. I have to research them in my mind, so to speak, brainstorming their past, their fears, their lies, their desires, all the deepest nuances that shape them as people and will shape their actions throughout the story. It’s been fun, in a way, because characters are always my favorite part of the writing process. But figuring it out before the writing is also very difficult for me. Now that I know all

I’ve seen much conflict over such seemingly simple writing advice: that you should write what you know. As a fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian girl (when I started writing), I worked mostly on things that I had made up entirely in my head, so it didn’t seem to apply to me one way or the other. However, as I’ve gotten older and I desire to do more than simply write a story , but also to use such stories to explore larger topics and themes, I’ve seen life throw me situations that make me wonder about this advice. In my first WIP, Low Expectations, a major theme in the tipping point is faith through impossible circumstances. These past few years, I (and the rest of the world) have had to walk through a million different hurdles and hurts that have strained my spirit and stretched my beliefs. The WIP I’m outlining, The Second Prince , is going to be thick with grief. Before starting this story, I hadn’t experienced much loss in my life; yet, suddenly, I find myself grieving many things: long-he

Hey, all! Welcome to my first blog tour of 2022! Like I mentioned in my TBR post , one of my first reads for the year was Beyond Her Calling by Kellyn Roth. I've seen this series ( The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy ) around for literally years  and so was super excited to get my hands on a copy of the latest book! Proudly displayed ;)  There are so many wonderful posts on this tour, like, " Why Christian Fiction is an Important Genre "; interviews with the author ; and a more in-depth look into the lovely land in which this book takes place . For a complete look at the schedule and a little more information, you can check Kellyn's kickoff post on her website or scroll to the bottom of this post to see where you are in the tour. :) Back? Fantastic! On to the book itself... Series: The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, Book 4 Genre: Christian Historical Romance / Victorian Romance Setting: Scotland, late 1881 Amazon Link Link to author's website Blurb: Ivy Knight feels