Thus Far

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, ...

  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...