SIXTH SHORT STORY PUBLISHED ON HAVOK // the voices

Hey, guys! Just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I have a Havok story up today. It's called The Voices and it's a fantasy mystery about a boy in a difficult home situation. It's also written in a bit of a unique format, so if you read it I hope you enjoy! Note: It's only free today, December 30, after which it'll go to the members-only archive.

~ READ IT HERE ~

Edit: Forgot to mention that it's inspired by a song! If you're a Havok Horde member and you're the first to guess it correctly in the comments on the Havok website, you'll be entered to win an Amazon gift card. Even if you're not a Havok member, though, I'm curious if you can figure it out. XD It can be from any time period, but I will say that you've probably heard it on the radio.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you go into this new year refreshed and ready for all God has in store for you in 2020. <3

The Lord's Truly,

See you next decade mwahaha

SAPPY NANO WRAP-UP + favorite books of 2019 + most anticipated reads of 2020

I feel like I'm still in post-NaNo recovery mode, but I promised a sappy wrap-up of my first NaNoWriMo experience, so here's a mini one. And THEN we will talk about BOOKS. Namely, my favorite reads from 2019, followed by the top books I'm looking forward to reading in 2020 (aka books I've wanted to read for a long time but haven't picked up yet, for some inexplicable reason... 2020 IS THE YEAR, PEOPLE).

November was... a whirlwind. I'm still wondering how I survived, to be quite honest. These days I'm the QUEEN of procrastination, and there were definitely days and times last month when I procrastinated on Flecks of Green. Somehow, though, I pushed through and WON. And honestly, when I think back on it, I can't take credit for that.

It was Jesus. 100% Jesus. I stepped into NaNo with the feeling that God was supporting this decision to attempt 50,000 words in 30 days, and here I am - with 50,000 words of a story that I'm excited to see where He takes next. He gave me all kinds of ideas for symbolic incorporations of my faith when I plotted the story in October, and I'm excited to see how He helps me develop those themes as the story progresses (when I finally pick it up again lol).

FAVORITE PIECES OF NANO 2019

- word wars. So many EPIC word wars! With this gal, this gal, and this gal in particular. Thanks, friends! Our battles were endlessly fun and resulted in much excellent progress. XD

- doing TWO 5k-in-a-day sprints. Not two days in a row, but... I've never written that much in one day before. Beating personal writing records was perhaps the most exhilarating aspect of my NaNoWriMo (and also fried my brain, but it was worth it).

- my characters spewing crazy nonsense and being crazy in general. I love them. Truly. But they're also crazy.

- meeting with a writer friend several times at the library to NaNo together. We did our best to keep our wits about us, but I'm not sure how well we succeeded. XD

- watching the NaNo progress bar slide up, then down, then steady itself, then repeat. Ahhhh, that progress bar. It caused all the stresses and excitements. You served me well, you stubborn, snake-like... tracker... thing.

- hitting that 50k on the final day of November. Okay, so maybe that was the most exhilarating aspect of my NaNoWriMo. All those days spewing and struggling for words culminated in one satisfying moment of victory.

It was worth it, okay? And it taught me that I CAN write a lot even as a busy student. With college next year, I don't predict I'll be able to do NaNo 2020 (considering how hugely challenging it was this year as a high school student), but you can bet I'll be doing it again some year in the future!

~ FAVORITE BOOKS 2019 ~

Reading has been hard to fit into my life lately, what with school and NaNo and... yeah, mainly those two. And mainly school, now that NaNo is over. (Yay for Christmas break!) Nevertheless, I've read 70 books (including a number of short stories XD) so far this year, and some of them were downright INCREDIBLE. Here are my favorites!! In no particular order, except that the first two listed are tied for my top favorite.

To Darkness Fled by Jill Williamson

The whole Blood of Kings trilogy is amazing, but I've gotta say that book 2 is my favorite installment. All the feels, my friends. ALL THE FEELS. This book includes my literal OTP, and everything from worldbuilding to plot to the whole cast is just AMAZING ADLKFJEGKLJD. I can't scream about it enough!

via Gifer

 The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson

This is another long fantasy that I positively devoured. There's not much to say about it (because this whole book is a spoiler for the others in the series, naturally), but two things: 1) Janner Igiby is the most amazing character ever, and 2) THAT ENDIIIIIING *sobs*

 Live Without You by Sarah Grace Grzy

My favorite Christian contemporary romance!! This sweet, inspiring, and even intense little book had me squealing, grinning, almost-crying, and generally freaking out. Piper and Ezra are characters to root for. <3

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 The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling

And THIS is my favorite memoir. I whipped through it soooo fast and loved every second of it. Lindsey's writing style is super distinct, and her sense of humor is priceless. This story of an electric-violinist and her challenges in both personal and career life entertained and inspired me to no end!

Moonblood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

My favorite Tales of Goldstone Wood book so far! That ending KILLED me, all right? My heart was so full of emotions that I'm pretty sure it burst.

via Giphy

One of my best friends really hyped it up for me, and it met every one of my high expectations! <3

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This whole "dystology" is a big highlight of my reading year, but book 1 in particular BLEW. ME. AWAY. Chilling, character-driven, and utterly brilliant, the Unwind series is probably my favorite dystopian of all tiiiiime. I'm also very excited to pick up more Neal Shusterman books soon. *rubs hands together*

~ MOST ANTICIPATED READS 2020 ~

There are some (read: many) books on my TBR that I've been desperate to read for a long time. 2020 is going to be the year I read the ones I'm MOST desperate to pick up. At least... I dearly, sincerely hope so. They're definitely my bookish priorities going into the new year!

The Friend Rec: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

My friend Lisa recommended this to me a looooong time ago, as in way back when I first read In 27 Days by Alison Gervais (which was June 2018, by the way). It seems like the type of contemporary I'd really enjoy, so I'm looking forward to finally picking it up!

The Fantasy-Lover Must-Read: Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

How am I supposed to call myself a fantasy fan when I haven't read anything by Brandon Sanderson yet?? If you didn't know, Sanderson is a fantasy (also sci fi) author renowned for his super complex and brilliant worlds/plots. I've been dying to read him for a long time, so I'm overdue to pick up one of his works. And I've heard Mistborn is a really good one to start with!

The One Literally EVERYONE Loves: Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger

My friends love it. My sister loves it. My friends' sisters love it. Everyone I see who has read it - Goodreads, BookTube, Instagram - loves it. Does anyone who has read Keeper of the Lost Cities not love Keeper of the Lost Cities? I don't think so.

I've heard nothing but good things about it, and the premise sounds right up my alley. I can't wait to finally read this Middle Grade fantasy!

The Actually Decent Romance Author: On the Fence by Kasie West

Usually I see covers like this and I run far away. YA contemporary romance isn't a genre I typically gravitate toward (quite the opposite actually). But Kasie West, man... EVERYONE LOVES KASIE WEST. They say her books are clean, with three-dimensional characters, solid themes that aren't just romance-related, and fantastic humor. It sounds too good to be true, but enough people say it that I believe it.

I asked my friend who is a Kasie West fan which of her books I should start with, and she recommended On the Fence and Love, Life, and the List. So I'm starting with this one, and Love, Life, and the List will be next. I'M SO EXCITED.

 The One Even I Don't Understand: Pacifica by Kristen Simmons

Nobody I know has read this, but ever since I saw it somewhere and read the blurb, I just knew I had to read it sometime. I don't know why. I don't know if it's any good. But it sounds epic and I have the strangest itch to pick it up, so here goes nothing.

via Giphy

The Classic: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

It's starting to get on my nerves that I haven't read this book yet. XD I told you guys AT LEAST a year ago, in a blog post, that I was going to read it, and then I never did. Why am I like this? Not sure, but I'm putting it on this list in hopes that I will fiiiiiinally pick it up. I've been told I would like it, and I'm sure I would, so what am I waiting for??

~~~

And that's a wrap! Phew, it's been a hot minute since I posted here. Hopefully I'll be writing for this blog a little more frequently, but we'll see. I also might be changing my posting style, although I'm not sure what I want to change it to yet, so what comes next for this little corner of the internet is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. ;)

In case I don't return until the new year... Merry Christmas, my friends!!! <3

The Lord's Truly,

P.S. Follow me on Instagram! :D

What's your favorite book read in 2019, and what's your most anticipated read for 2020? And finally, in the spirit of Christmas, here are some Elf gifs:

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THE SHARED WIP TAG - WEEK 5 // snippets from my nano novel!

Welcome to the final week of the Shared WIP Tag! As you can already tell by the title and banner of this post, this is the week of snippetsssssss.

BRIEF SNIPPETS.

BUT SNIPPETS NONETHELESS.

I'm sorry this post is a day late. NaNo + Thanksgiving + traveling = too busy for everything I need to do. Ya know? But better late than never!

~ OTHER TAG PARTICIPANTS ~

Sarah: http://sarahrodeckerwriter.blogspot.com/

Snapper: http://silverphoenixwriter.blogspot.com/ 

Lily Cat: https://lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com

Julian: juliandaventrymemories.blogspot.com

Ceci: https://ceci-creates.blogspot.com/

Nicki: https://nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com/

Let's jump into it, then.

Line you’re most likely to cut in revisions?

That couldn't happen when he was gone and I was here, and he was not here.

via Giphy

I wrote that a couple days ago, so... yeah. Last-week-of-NaNo material right there.

Line you’re most proud of?

I'm pretty proud of this one, from Robin's POV:

“I think at this point we qualify as friends!” I declared. “Let’s step outside and find out more about ourselves. Sound good to you?” I stepped forward and jerked the door open, then waited for Vixen to exit first. She glared at me, then slipped out as smoothly as if she levitated.

His and Vixen's banter is probably my favorite part of this book so far. XD

Line that made you cry while you were writing it?

This is, for the most part, a light-hearted book. I haven't had to write any sad scenes for NaNo because all the sad scenes come later, toward the end (mwahaha). However, I managed to find a rare line from Robin's POV in which he is sad. And therefore I am sad, because despite EVERYTHING (calm down, Robin, geez) I love my boy and I want him to be truly happy.

I had never deserved her, and I never would.

Piece of dialogue that made you laugh out loud, shiver or flail?

Robin's POV. I didn't laugh out loud, but I'm pretty sure I grinned. (NaNo has been a blur, and I recall none of the details, so I'm just doing my best with these snippet prompts here. Bear with me.)

I blinked, swallowing the rest of the grape and enjoying the sweet aftertaste it left. “Why are you so terrifying?”

“Not terrifying enough, apparently,” she retorted calmly.

She is Vixen, by the way. I can't get enough of these kids. XD

Robin @ Vixen when they first meet

via Gifer

He thinks it's a meet-cute.

It's really not.

Line that made you stop writing for a minute so you could process it

Marlina claimed she hated herself and it was completely unexpected. Definitely needed time to process that one. O_O

"I know," I burst out, before I could stop myself. "I know. It doesn't make any sense why I didn't beg you to come earlier. It makes no sense at all, and I'm sorry. But..." I took a deep, shaky breath, hating myself with it. "I didn't think you would let me, and I felt I had to come."

John blinked more rapidly this time, as if there were snowflakes in his lashes that he was trying to flick out. But there wasn't any snow falling at the moment. He was just trying to flick me out of the team.

That last sentence made me stop for a second too. Marlina knows...nothing. Lol.

Favorite snippet that describes a place or character?

Marlina's POV:

Tink’s wings were enormous, protruding out of her back stiff and motionless as if they had frozen. They were also paper-thin and covered in golden flecks of what I thought were probably fairy dust, but I could see the blurred outlines the forest through them. Through the left wing - the silhouette of a spring tree. Through the right wing - the silhouette of a winter tree.

Line you can hardly believe you wrote (whether that's positive or negative is up to you)

 “Why would she agree to take you, you rotten flirt?”

I glanced up toward Vixen, whose smooth stride didn’t falter, and motioned to Slightly to shush. “I was hoping it was because I’m a rotten flirt,” I whispered back, and shoved him.

Why is Robin like this? WHY.

via Gifer

A snippet where even you aren’t entirely sure what’s happening. 

Robin's POV:

This little man appeared to be of the… chunky variety. And yet, there was an almost ethereal quality to him.

Just... don't ask. I don't even know.

Weird thing you had to Google mid-writing-session.

I don't know if I Googled anything, to be honest. If I had occasion to look up something, I don't think I bothered. XD

Beginning sentence and ending sentence (if possible without spoilers).

I started NaNo with Robin's POV:

I wanted to give myself a birthday present.

I ended NaNo at the end of a scene in Marlina's POV:

“Goodnight,” he replied, and silence settled over us.

~~~

Whew.

So... I finally finished this post. And GUUUUYYYYSSSSS, I FINALLY WON NANO (sappy wrap-up coming soon!!). Hope you guys enjoyed these snippets, and I'll see you next week. I think. XD

The Lord's Truly,

How was your NaNo??? Tell me all about it down below!

THE SHARED WIP TAG - WEEK 4 // meet the side characters!

Ah yes, time to introduce the side characters of Flecks of Green. *rubs hands together* I haven't talked about these particular people AT ALL yet (except for Tink), so I'm incredibly excited for you to meet them!

This is Week 4 of the NaNo 2019 Shared WIP Tag hosted by Julian. Click to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!

First of all, here are some pictures (from Pinterest; all credit to original owners) that briefly introduce my top five side characters and help you visualize them for the answers to the questions:

~JAE~

ex-sorceress // guardian of the dragons // keeper of the labyrinth


~JOHN~



friend of Robin's // sorta-friend of Marlina's


~VIXEN~



sorceress // friend of Jae's (and yet not a friend... it's complicated)

~TINK~

fairy, of course // friend of Peter Pan's


~SLIGHTLY~

boy who is both young and old // Robin's friend // Peter's friend

If you had to go on a mission with any of your SCs, which one(s) would you pick?

Jae, probably. She's got this air of confidence about her that makes her a generally comfortable person to be around (unless you're aware of the full extent of her abilities, in which case you may be rather scared of her - and unless you're Robin, in which case you would hate her for her superiority over you). And I feel like her nonchalant attitude would help my anxiety in the midst of danger. ;P

Jae's a leader, and I'm a follower. It works out perfectly.

Which of your side characters attempts to steal attention from the MC the most? 

I haven't even started Marlina's POV yet - I've been digging deep into Robin's for most of the month - so I'm picking this character based off my outline, BUT Tink has a VERY interesting arc in this book and I suspect she'll be stealing the attention from Marlina a lot (because yes, she's mostly in Marlina's POV). I and future readers alike will be looking at the fairy like O_O while poor Marlina tries her best to keep her own story moving forward.

Which SC would annoy you the most and which one would you bond with the most?

Vixen would annoy me the most, and I'd definitely bond with Slightly the most.

Which SC would you be most attracted to, romantically or platonically?

John.

John all the way.

I love that boy. XD

Allow me to explain. He's tall and dark-haired and handsome, and he's got a quiet, mature personality with a light sprinkling of a sense of humor thrown in there - although he's generally a solemn guy. He's also very caring and considerate of other people.

He's just... kinda perfect? (except not - obviously I gave him flaws when I developed him. But... you know what I mean. XD)

Would you fit in with your SCs collectively, or would they not be your type of friend group?

Oh boy. I think the real question here is would my SCs fit in with each other? Because WOW what a bunch.

... Yeah, I think this friend group would fall apart fast. Jae and Tink would argue A LOT, John would never know what to say, Vixen would silently mock and judge everyone while keeping a straight face, and Slightly would be the only one willing to open up.

And me? I'd be sitting there next to John, not knowing what to say and feeling like the ultimate awkward potato.

If your SCs are not all friends, what would result if you were to thrust them together as a group and assign them an activity?

Tink and Jae would both try to take the lead and then it would get messyyyyy.

Which SC would fit into our world the most?

Definitely not Tink or Slightly. Or Jae, when I really think about it. So that leaves either John or Vixen. Vixen is very independent, so... Hmmm, yeah, I think Vixen would fit in the most.

Which SC makes you laugh the most?

Slightly! He's sweet and funny and a breath of fresh air in the midst of the utter madness that is this book. At the very least he makes me smile. <3

Which SC could probably get removed without affecting much of the story?

Slightly again. It makes me sad to say it, but it's the truth.

He's not going anywhere, though! He IS important, just... less indispensable than the other SCs.

Which SC could never get removed because of how important their role is?

ALL OF THEM. The absolute most important, though? Probably Jae, because without her there would be no plot whatsoever. She's the reason Robin has his adventure and the reason Marlina has hers. XD

Can't tell you why, obviously. Mwahaha.

~~~

~ OTHER TAG PARTICIPANTS ~

Sarah: http://sarahrodeckerwriter.blogspot.com/

Snapper: http://silverphoenixwriter.blogspot.com/ 

Lily Cat: https://lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com

Julian: juliandaventrymemories.blogspot.com

Ceci: https://ceci-creates.blogspot.com/

Nicki: https://nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com/

*insert nice outro that I have no time for here because I'm behind on NaNo and I need to go wriiiiiite*

The Lord's Truly,

Which of my side characters intrigues you the most? Comment below!

THE SHARED WIP TAG - WEEK 3 // meet the main characters and villain

Welcome to Week 3 of the NaNo 2019 Shared WIP Tag! Today we'll be talking about the main character and the villain. I have two main characters, so this oughtta be interesting. Even more interesting, though, is the fact that I actually don't know a whole lot about my villain?? I promise I'm a plotter, but... yeah, I didn't spend toooooo much time planning out everything there is to know about my villain. He's probably the only BIG character in the book that I didn't deeply develop.

Let the interesting blog post commence.

Would you be friends with your MC? Why or why not?

Marlina? Yes.

Robin? No.

Marlina is a lot like me - quiet, awkward, full of dreams, bursting with scenarios. I think she and I would really click. Robin, on the other hand, is exactly the type of person I would not be comfortable around. Other than being my polar opposite, he's very overbearing. And overbearing people make me withdraw into myself. I never know what to say around them, so I don't say anything, so we never become friends.

What would an ordinary day look like in the shoes of your MC?

What does ordinary even MEAN for my MCs? I suppose for Marlina, an ordinary day would look like getting up, making breakfast for her and her bedridden aunt, and then going to work at the bakery. That aligns more with Blue Like Sapphires, though. Ordinary simply doesn't exist in Flecks of Green. For anyone.

via Pinterest

You’re walking down the sidewalk when the villain approaches you and tells you he needs your help. What do you do?

*snort* Okay, so my villain wouldn't ask for my help. He wouldn't, in any case, need my help (or anyone's). But for the sake of this question, I'll do my best to imagine the scenario.

Truth be told, since he doesn't have a particularly scary appearance (unless he turns on Dark Magic Mode haha), I'd probably just give him a weird look and walk right by without saying anything. If he were even close to a decent guy, he'd leave me alone. If he didn't leave me alone (and he probably wouldn't because he's nowhere near a decent guy), that's when I'd start to be terrified and call the police + scream + run.

What would be your first impression of your MC upon meeting them?

Marlina: normal, sweet girl I'd immediately feel like I could approach and say hi to, start a friendship with, etc.

Robin: crazy, goofy guy whose extroverted nature is so different from my introverted nature that he might as well be living on a separate planet. I'd immediately be jealous of how openly cheerful and generally expressive he is and would blush if he so much as glanced my way - due to the sheer force of his extrovertedness.

via Pinterest

What would be your first impression of your villain upon meeting them?

His behavior exudes authority and power, so I'd immediately feel inferior to him. A person who has any kind of authority over me tends to make me feel like a peasant beside a king (small exaggeration), so I often withdraw into myself around them and try to avoid them as much as possible. Simply seeing my villain would prompt that reaction. It doesn't help that if I actually talked to him, he probably wouldn't be nice. At all.

And that would just make me miserable. :P

What would happen if you were stuck in an elevator with your villain for five (or worse, ten) minutes?

Honestly, I doubt anything WOULD happen? Unless, that is, the villain is in the elevator to try to abduct me specifically - in which case I'm a goner because he has dark, powerful magic at his disposal. I'd try to pretend like I was the only one in the elevator, and he would probably regard my presence as something akin to a piece of dirt stuck to the bottom of his shoe. He's not a nice guy, but he sticks to his purpose. I don't think he'd be one to stop random girls in elevators unless it's somehow part of his larger scheme.

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What makes your MC most like you and least like you?

Robin isn't like me at all.

...

Okay, fine, so if we dig REALLY deep, into the soul stuff, I suppose Robin could relate to some of my low self-esteem struggles. I'm not unique enough, not special enough, not interesting enough. << That kind of thing. Despite his openly happy-go-lucky behavior, he hides some very human struggles under the surface.

Marlina is similar to me in many, many ways. She's a dreamer, a fantasizer, a stresser. SO MUCH STRESS, YO. She's not much of a procrastinator, though, and I definitely am, so I'd say she's least like me in that respect. XD

What song or selection of words best describes your villain?

A beating heart of stone

You gotta be so cold

To make it in this world

Yeah, you're a natural

Living your life cutthroat

You gotta be so cold

~ Natural // Imagine Dragons

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If your MC was teleported to your front porch, what would be their reaction (and what would be yours)?

Robin: His reaction would be to try to break in and explore. NEW ADVENTURE WHOOP WHOOP. As for me? I'd call the police, even if/when I learned it was my own character. (That sounds cold, wow. I do like Robin, okay?? MOSTLY. HE'S JUST KINDA FREAKY.)

Marlina: She'd probably faint, to be honest. Being teleported would majorly freak her out. I'd find her unconscious on my porch the next morning and have to revive her and tend to her, poor thing.

If the antagonist had a dream come true, what would it be? (no spoilers!)

Ummmm, it would be to take over the world. We'd all become slaves. *gulp*

I have a fairly typical villain this time, looks like. Ah well. It'll be fun to write him anyway. :D

~ OTHER TAG PARTICIPANTS ~

Sarah: http://sarahrodeckerwriter.blogspot.com/

Snapper: http://silverphoenixwriter.blogspot.com/ 

Lily Cat: https://lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com

Julian: juliandaventrymemories.blogspot.com

Ceci: https://ceci-creates.blogspot.com/

Nicki: https://nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com/

Sooooo, you may be wondering how my first NaNo is going. Allow me to sum it up in three gifs:

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via Tenor

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Kinda dying, definitely going crazy, and mostly having fun. That about covers it.

The Lord's Truly,

Fellow NaNo-ers: Do you think dying, going crazy, or having fun best describes your NaNo experience so far? The going crazy one probably applies to me the most at this present moment, but s'all good. XD Comment below!