R.M. Archer's Blog, page 45

The Liebster Blog Award

Thank you to Grace and Katherine of The Maidens of Green Gables for the tag! I’ve actually done the Liebster Award before, but it’ll be fun to do it again. :)

What is the Leibster Blog Award?

In short, it’s an award for small blogs that’s passed between bloggers to explore growing blogs. Those who accept the nomination answer a list of questions given to them by whoever nominated them, write a bit about their favorite blogger, nominate 5-11 other blogs that have fewer than 200 followers (mine might not all fit that criteria because I can’t see the follower count of some of them), and provide 10-11 random facts about themselves. The official rules can be found here.

Nominees:

Hallie at Hallie Jenkins, Author
Jess at The Artful Author
Rebekah at Hunting for Truth
Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea
Kate at Kate Flournoy, Author
Sarah at Inkdragon
Sarah at The Sarcastic Elf
Justice at Justice and Writeousness
Anna at Conscious Dreamers
Aria at Aria E. Maher
Elyra at Two Roads Diverged

My Favorite Blogger

I follow quite a few blogs (as evidenced by how many people I’m able to tag at this point if nothing else, lol), but my favorite is Hannah Heath’s. I love her sense of humor, the constant nerdy references in her posts, and how genuine she is.

11 Random Facts About Me

My favorite ice cream flavor is probably chocolate chip.
I love the scent of cinnamon.
I can make myself taste Sour Skittles if I want to. Like, I can make my tongue feel that sour sensation just by thinking about it.
I’ve never had a true haircut, only trims to get rid of split ends.
My fingernails are often as long as half an inch from my fingertip. Yes, they’re natural.
My current long-term writing plan extends into 2020. (Which is actually kind of annoying, because the Dark War Trilogy won’t be published until at least 2020 on the current plan.)
Not counting those I’ve made online, I have four friends.
I think my favorite board game is Scrabble. #wordnerd
There are 59 stories on my complete list of stories I’ve started, not counting short stories or those I never plan on finishing. (With short stories and stories I never plan on finishing there are 97.)
I have two main series planned after the Dark War Trilogy, with another minor series on the side, multiple unrelated short stories/short story series, and possibly companion novellas for The Dark War Trilogy.
I can’t keep myself from reading at least two books at any given time. I try to focus on just one and then others insist on being read and then before I know it I’m reading half a dozen books at once and not really reading any of them at all. (I am working on it.)

Katherine and Grace’s Questions

1. What’s your favorite quote?

“Such is the nature of evil. In the vast ignorance it festers and spreads. A shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as dark as the oncoming wall of night. So it ever was. So it ever will be.” – Thranduil

2. Share your most-used recipe?

Dorito Casserole:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease 13×11 baking pan. Mix 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can diced tomatoes, and 1 can beanless chili in a bowl. Dump almost 1 bag of Doritos into greased pan. Pour mixture overtop. Top with cheese. Cook for 20 minutes.

(The only recipe I have memorized.)

3. Are you an author, and do you have any published works?

Yes and yes! (Wow that’s weird.) I published my Short Story Collection Vol. 1 in February, shortly followed by Lost Girl as a standalone. They haven’t gotten very many reviews, but what reviews they have gotten have been really positive. ^-^

4. What are some of your hobbies?

Aside from reading, I love singing (I’ve part of an amazing choir for nine years) and I do some drawing (primarily fashion design).

5. Are you a fan of musicals?

YES! Musicals are the best! The Greatest Showman is my favorite movie. ^-^

6. What fond family traditions would you like to continue when you get married and start a family? Or if this joyous series of events have already arrived, what have you implemented already?

My family has a specific way we decorate the Christmas tree to point to Christ in our decorating and really think about Christmas as we decorate, and I can’t imagine not continuing that with my own family. (I didn’t explain it well, but my mom wrote a book about it that has all the Bible verses and songs we use, so you can also do it if it seems cool to you.)

On a sillier note, my extended family also has a hat contest for 4th of July with multiple prizes (tackiest hat, most beautiful hat, tallest hat, etc.) that used to be an annual tradition and now I’m sad hasn’t been as big a thing lately. I’d like to continue that with my kids, too, if I have any. :)

7. What is one particular trait that you’d like to train your future children in?

Just one? Creativity is the first thing that really came to mind, but I feel like that’s a really unchristian answer, and I know that in the grand scheme of things it’s not that important a thing. I mean, there are things like honesty and patience and generosity that are more important. But I want to say all of them and the more generic ones are kind of assumed and I have to pick one, so I’m going to go with creativity anyway. :P

8. What’s a boy’s name that you like? What’s a girl’s name that you like?

I like both Daniel and David for boys. As for a girl’s name, I’ve had the same name picked out for years that I want to use for a daughter someday: Naomi Brea. According to BabyNames.com (character names) it means “gentle (Naomi) beauty beyond sight (Brea).” And I just think it’s a really pretty name. ^-^

9. Tell us a favorite joke?

I’m one of the unfunniest people ever, I think, and all the generic jokes I’ve ever heard just flew out of my brain, so allow me to tell you a cringeworthy pun that a friend told me a while back.

A couple of friends and I played a game of questions all the time, where we’d just ask each other random questions back and forth. So I asked them “Pens or pencils?”

Punny friend: “Pens. But I could make an argument for either.”

Me: “You’re in speech and debate. Of course you could make an argument for either.”

Punny friend: “Exactly. I’m in speech and debate. I can argue over pointless things all day.”

Punny friend: “Although…”

Punny friend: “In this case they both have a point.”

10. Recommend three books?

Only three? D: Okay…

Chasing Jupiter by Rachel Coker (link to review)

The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers (What, did you think I wasn’t going to count a series as one book?)

*goes into reader-panic-mode as she tries to decide on just one more* Noooooooo! D: D: D: I have three more I want to recommend!

I can’t pick. I have to list all three.

Colors of Fear (and the rest of the Terebinth Tree Chronicles) by Hannah Heath (link to review)

The Eleventh Hour by Michael Phillips

Echoes by Miranda Marie (link to review)

(I just recommended 16 books, because almost every book on that list has books following it in a series. Wow. I tried not to overwhelm you with book recommendations! I did exert some self-control, because that list could be a lot longer. I guess the most I can say at this point is… happy reading.)

11. What is a period drama you love?

…I don’t watch period dramas? The closest I come is Legends of Tomorrow, because time travel. XD (But I don’t love that show, so :P) Yeah, I just don’t have any good answer to this question.

11 Questions for my Nominees

Recommend three books in your favorite genre?
If you’re an author, do you have any published works? If not, can you give us a description of your current work-in-progress?
What’s your favorite self-published book?
How many started stories do you have?
What’s your favorite type of humor?
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
What hobby have you been working at the longest?
What’s your favorite board game?
If someone wanted to really understand you, what book should they read, song should they listen to, and movie should they watch?
What three books have been the most impactful to you?
What’s your favorite card game?

1 Year Blogiversary

Scribes & Archers has been around for a year! Technically longer (four years), but I consider it having really started on August 2nd when I started being really serious about it. Anyway, as such, there’s some fun stuff for this post! I asked y’all what I should do for my blogiversary post, and from the very beginning it was super close between the Get To Know Me Tag (Writers’ Edition) and an overview of my writing/blogging milestones, tied almost the entire time, so I decided to combine the two since the Get To Know Me Tag includes a lot of milestone things already. So this is the Get To Know Me Tag, but with a twist. And since I didn’t want to neglect those folks who’d asked questions, there’ll also be a short Q&A session at the end. Without further ado, the tag. (This is going to be a really, really long post.)

Rules

Link back to the person who started the tag
Thank the person who tagged you
Share the tag graphic
Tag eleven bloggers (I think I might actually be able to do this!)

The tag was started by Savannah at Inspiring Writes, so thanks to her. I wasn’t technically tagged for this (I’m really good at stealing tags…) but Rachel at R’s Loft tagged “anyone else who wants to join,” so thanks to her as well.

Vital Stats & Appearance

Name: Ariel Ramey

Nicknames: R.M. Archer, Autumn (most places online), Arya (on the NaNoWriMo site, though I’m also Autumn on there), and then all from one friend I have Cupcake, Ari, daughter (don’t ask), and several other things that neither of us can now remember. She loves nicknaming me. Oh, and then there’s the obvious Little Mermaid, which I can only tolerate from about three people. Anyone else using it just bugs me, because – fun fact – Ariel is my least favorite Disney princess. She’s kind of a rebellious brat. :P But there are a few people who can get away with using it as an endearing term.

Birthday: Yesterday!

Hair color and length: Medium brown, almost to my waist.

Eye color: Hazel, and I found out at camp that no one can really describe the colors in them. XD There’s a gold ring in the middle and a denim-y blue ring around the outside edge, but I have no idea what to call anything in between.

Braces/Piercings/Tattoos: I have Invisalign, both ears are pierced once, and I have no tattoos yet but I’d like to someday get a small anchor on my ankle that says “Anchor first” above and “Anchor deep” below. My best friend wants the same tattoo. (And she thought of it first, so she should get the credit. ;D)

Righty or lefty: Righty.

Ethnicity: Caucasian.

Firsts

First Story Written (2008): I don’t know for sure, but I think this was a mystery story. It had no original characters whatsoever, they were all stolen from my favorite mystery books (Nancy Drew and The Boxcar Children), for some reason the One Ring showed up for the first two or three paragraphs, and looking back it was actually really creepy because a guy was abducting all the girls to find a wife. Don’t ask how six-year-old me thought that was okay…

First Novel Written (2009): Technically my answer is going to be inaccurate because it was only 17k, which is too short to be considered a novel, but I always answer this with The Half-Elves. Somehow I remember that I was seven when I started writing it. When I was seven I really enjoyed the Wii game Link’s Crossbow Training, which is a target practice game set in the same world as the Legend of Zelda games. I tend to be fascinated with fantasy worlds, and I took a liking to Hyrule, so I started a story about four siblings (two girls and two boys, of course. Roughly the same age spacing as the Pevensies.) who stumble into Hyrule and meet Link and find out they’re his children that he sent away so they’d be safe from the evil King Julius of Jewel Kingdom, who of course they have to battle after their two weeks of training in which time they’ve become experts.

Looking back I can pick on all the tropes and cliches in that story, but when I wrote it it was my favorite, and I still look back on it with extreme fondness. I worked on that story for four years before I finished it, which at that point was a big deal. It was also a big deal that it was longer than a few pages and it wasn’t purely cheesy fairytale romance.

My first real novel, though, was Queen of Feanor, which you’ll hear more about later on.

First Novel Completed (2013): Again, I’m gonna say The Half-Elves. I was eleven when I finished, which was a big accomplishment for me. I’d fallen into a habit of starting a whole bunch of stories, working on all of them at once, and abandoning them after a few thousand words, so the fact that I’d finished that one displayed my dedication to the story.

That story birthed a whole sixteen-book series, six of which became completed first drafts. I still want to pursue that series (rewriting everything I’ve written) and I’m working on reconstructing the entire universe it takes place in, and I don’t think that desire will go away until I’m able to write and publish all sixteen books.

First Blog Post (March 27, 2014): My very first blog post was an itty-bitty review of Frozen. So small, in fact, that I can feature it here:

Yesterday, March 25th, I finally got to see Frozen. I liked that it had the right underlying message, true love is putting others’ needs before your own. I liked Anna because of her excitement and peppiness.

Elsa should have learned to control her powers rather than hide them.  She could have done wonderful things if she had learned to control instead of conceal.

Part of the movie almost made me cry, I mean, poor Anna, she was separated from her sister when they had been best buddies, and they didn’t even tell her why, so she thought that Elsa didn’t like her anymore.

This review was very shortly (same day) followed by this one (“The Anna and Elsa Challenge”):

This post is piggybacking off of the last one (Frozen).

Watching Frozen made me realize how bad my relationship with my sister is, I realized that I want to fix that, that I don’t want to shut her out like Elsa did Anna.

How good is your relationship with your sibling(s)? If you’re like me and it’s pretty bad, here’s a challenge that Sophia and I thought of. This thirty day challenge is for you and your sibling(s) to do together. Anytime that one of you starts to be mean to the other, the other will say something to do with Anna and Elsa. Sophia and I are going to pretend that we are Anna and Elsa, so she’ll say Elsa and I’ll say Anna.

First Novel Edited (2014): Say hello to… The Half-Elves again. I did not edit it well, but I did edit it. My Abuela and I edited it together over the phone, which was really cool. The story’s still not great, since I wrote it between the ages of seven and eleven, but the experience was good and it did point out some things I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed.

First NaNoWriMo (November 2014): I don’t actually have real vivid memories of this NaNoWriMo. I remember my mom mentioned it and I was interested, so I set myself a goal of 30k and set to work on book 4 of the Half-Elves series (I hadn’t written books 2 or 3 yet, which ended up being funny later on). I didn’t sign up for the official site or even the official Young Writers Program site, I just wrote 30,000 words, and I was super, super close to finishing on time. I don’t remember exactly how close, but I was only a few hundred words away, and I finished on December 1st.

The story wasn’t great, I don’t plan on reviving it when I rewrite the series, but it introduced me to NaNoWriMo and that was a big thing.

First NaNoWriMo Win (November 2015): In 2015 I did sign up on the official NaNoWriMo site and that’s when I met the wonderful Christenos (or Chritenos, depending on whether you’re asking me or asking anyone else on the thread) from the Christian Teens Together! thread. They’re amazing and I don’t know where I’d be without them, in my faith or my writing. They’ve quite possibly impacted my faith more than my writing.

That year I branched out from the Half-Elves series more and wrote Queen of Feanor, which took place in a world heavily influenced by Terry Brooks’ Landover books. I actually finished on the 23rd, with 51,045 words, which was a huge accomplishment for me. This was the first full-length novel I’d finished, since the others had been more novella-length (which I didn’t know at the time), and it was definitely the longest book I’d written.

Now I find it kind of amazing that 50k no longer feels that long to me. Now I’m writing books that are still going strong at 76k and anticipated to be as long as 150k or even 200k and that doesn’t seem all that daunting. It’s amazing what three years of growth can do.

First Professional Cover Bought (March 2017): Ah, House of Mages. This was actually supposed to be a trilogy, but then the plots all melded together into one book and thus the lovely titles House of Thorns and House of Elves and the series title Mage of Thorns were never used. *sighs* Anyway, I wrote this book between March and November 2016 and by the time I was finished I was certain I was going to publish the thing, so naturally I went out and bought a book cover. ‘Cause isn’t that what you do when you’re publishing? (Spoiler alert: No. No it is not.) I loved the cover, and I was so super proud of the fact that I was going to publish. And then editing progressed and I started hating the thing…

First Blog Schedule (August 2nd, 2017): The whole reason this post exists. August 2nd is when I started my bullet journal and when I finally got my act together when it comes to blogging, thus it’s when I consider my blog to have actually started. My blog schedule has fluctuated slightly from that original schedule, but that’s when I first developed something that worked and started working at posting regularly.

First Professional Edit (September 2017): But the I had already announced that I was publishing to everyone I knew, everyone was excited, and I didn’t want to let anyone down, so I raised money and I hired an editor. Only I hadn’t properly communicated with the editor, so I ended up with a copy-editor when I really needed a developmental editor. (Younger me didn’t realize that developmental edits aren’t just default.) I love the editor, I really appreciate her edits, but it wasn’t what I needed at that point. Although looking back I’m really glad I didn’t spend money on a developmental editor, ’cause that book was such a wreck that it would have just been embarrassing.

First Blog Redesign (February 2018): In February I totally overhauled the blog’s design, switching from the turquoise ocean theme I’d had for four years to this more professional brown typewriter theme I have now. This included redesigning the post images for every. single. blog post. so they’d be more pinnable, and I still haven’t completed that tedious task. XP

First Publication (February 7th, 2018): I was obviously going to publish House of Mages. I was going to publish it this year, in fact, on May 10th, the 1-year anniversary of when I concocted the idea. Thankfully, I came to my senses and cancelled that process because I knew I wouldn’t be proud of the results, and I didn’t want to put out some lousy work just because I’d foolishly publicized it far too early. So while I hated disappointing everyone (in multiple ways), I’m very glad that I didn’t publish House of Mages.

Instead, my first publication was Short Story Collection Vol. 1, on February 7th. While it wasn’t a novel and that was somewhat disappointing, I’m proud of the stories in it and I’m glad that it was my first publication. It was followed shortly after by a standalone ebook of Lost Girl (which is included in the collection), which got a 4-star, a 3-star, and a 5-star review in fairly short order. Which brings me to my next point…

First Review (June 6, 2018): A great big shout-out to Gray Marie for being my first reviewer. Thank you so, so much for your amazing review. It added so much to an already-great day when I saw it, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that feeling. ^-^ There was a lot of squealing, a lot of cheering, a lot of disbelief, a lot of rereading the review, a lot more squealing… Nothing quite compares to getting a good review on your book, and certainly nothing compares to the first good review on your book. ^-^

First “Favorite Author” Status (July 29, 2018): I found this absolute beauty this past Sunday on the profile of an author on the NaNoWriMo site:

More squealing, more disbelief, more rereading… And then I actually got to talk to her about which stories she’d read and basically fangirl over my own books and it was absolutely amazing. ^-^

First Award for Writing: None.

First Conference: None. I would LOVE to go to RealmMakers one day, I’ve heard it’s incredible and there are so many awesome authors there! (Gillian Bronte Adams, Wayne Thomas Batson, Nadine Brandes, etc., etc., etc.) Unfortunately, I don’t know when I’ll have the funds available to fly all the way to St. Louis and go to the conference. (For some reason there’s only, like, one conference anywhere near me? And I don’t know any of the authors there?)

First Query/Pitch: I haven’t queried or pitched. Self-pubbed and all that. I would like to traditionally publish one book at some point, but for now the closest thing I have to a query or pitch is the elevator pitch I wrote for a 4thewords contest to represent The Last Assassin:

When the royal assassin of Kaloris is sent to investigate a rumor about a neighboring king – and kill him if the rumor proves true – she does as instructed. But something tells her the neighboring king is innocent and there’s something much bigger going on. Her fears are realized when her actions inadvertently begin a world war.

Favorites

Novel (that you wrote): Ooh… Probably The Last Assassin, but The Half-Elves has so much sentimental value that it’s a close second.

Genre: Fantasy. With dystopian in second.

Author: So many! Um… Wayne Thomas Batson is always my default. But I also like Nadine Brandes (I haven’t actually read her books yet. I need to get to Fawkes, but I’m reading so many books at once that I haven’t gotten to it yet, despite my excitement. XP), Marissa Meyer, Miranda Marie, J.E. Purrazzi, Hannah Heath, Kyle Robert Shultz (all the Phoenix Fiction Writers are awesome), Melody Jackson, and a number of others.

Writing Music: It depends on what I’m writing/what part of the process I’m in. I’ve been editing to my Heart of the Baenor playlist (mostly instrumental and some slower music with lyrics), I write The Shadow Raven to my Dark War Trilogy playlist (a lot of pop and electric), and I’m currently blogging to Owl City.

Time to write: Either early in the morning before my siblings are up or late at night after they’re in bed. For some reason I can’t focus well on writing during the afternoon (but I can edit in the afternoon just fine once I get started).

Writing snack/drink: I don’t generally eat or drink while I’m writing, but I do drink water when I have my water bottle nearby or I drink sour cherry juice when we have it (which is rarely).

Movie: The Greatest Showman. Hands down.

Writing memory: Ooh… Probably first seeing Gray Marie’s review.

Childhood Book: Favorite as in which one I like now, or favorite as in my favorite when I was younger? I loved Blueberries for Sal when I was really little. Once I started reading on my own I loved The Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew, and I consider The Boxcar Children a staple of my childhood reading habits, so I guess The Boxcar Children.

Currently

Reading: Dragons’ Bane by Melody Jackson, The Clocks Have Stopped by J.L. Oakman, King’s Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt (all for review), Infraction by J.E. Purrazzi, The Sorcerer’s Daughter by Terry Brooks, Quest for Seven Castles by Ed Dunlop, and Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris.

Writing: The Shadow Raven… kind of. It’s not going well. But I’m editing The Heart of the Baenor and that’s going much better.

Listening to: At this moment, If My Heart Was a House by Owl City.

Watching: I’ve been watching Smallville every week with my dad and my aunt. During the normal TV season we watch the CW DC Comics shows (The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow), but during the summer when we don’t have those we watch Smallville, which I may prefer at this point.

Learning: How to edit my own work.

Future

Want to be published: Yes. I’ve wanted to be an author since I was twelve (possibly younger), and I’ll be publishing my first novel ideally in February. ^-^ Beyond that I don’t have a set plan, but there’s definitely more self-publishing and hopefully one traditionally published book just for the experience and so that I can say I did it.

Indie or Traditional: Oh, I answered this in the last question, lol. Oops.

Wildest Goal: To become a bestselling author, to go to RealmMakers, and to have at least one of my stories converted into a movie (or TV show, depending).

Nominees

Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea
Remi at Our Mind Palace
Kate at Kate Flournoy, Author
Jess at The Artful Author
Felicity at The Wondrous World Around Us
Ruby at The Sea Calls Us Home
S.M. at Tea With Tumnus
Hallie Jenkins at Hallie Jenkins, Author (When I selected her as one of my nominees she hadn’t done this yet, (#writingahead) but she just did it yesterday)
Elyra at Two Roads Diverged
Rebekah at Hunting for Truth
Anna at Conscious Dreamers

Y’all can adopt my extra things or not as you like. (Those in italics are the ones I added.) Enjoy!

Q&A

I have no idea who submitted any of these questions, FYI, I’m just answering them as I got them, lol. (Actually, I do know which of them is my sister’s, but that’s it.)

Q1a: What inspires you to write?

A1a: This was actually paired with the next question, but I’m going to answer them separately. Um… It’s just the love of story, I think, and the joy of seeing others enjoy what I’ve made. It’s so incredible to make people happy, and to know you’ve made them happy. ^-^

Q1b: What inspires you to blog?

I love supporting other writers. It’s one of my absolute favorite things. Most of the time on the blog that manifests itself as writing tips and sharing things I’ve learned through my years of writing, but I also love being able to review the works of fellow indie authors and promote them as they’re publishing. I actually created a whole Facebook group for people like me who want to help promote and support each other’s work. Supporting and promoting fellow authors is something I’m incredibly passionate about, so I love that I’m able to do it here on my blog. :)

Q2: Who was the first character you wrote and fell in love with? How about hated?

I actually had a slight crush on Elk, the main character of The Half-Elves, lol. Not at first, but once I got a little bit older I had a brief crush on him. As for hated… I don’t think I truly hated any of my characters until I started to get better at writing and developing characters, and villains in particular. Wait, no, there was Homare. Also in The Half-Elves. I hated that guy. He was so much better-developed than the “main” bad guy, King Julius, lol. Not that either of them was especially well-developed, but Homare was so much more despicable.

Q3: What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Hmm… There are a lot of things that are difficult, and yet it’s hard for me to pinpoint one. Plotting can be really difficult. So can editing, depending on the project. I’ve loved editing The Heart of the Baenor, but there have been other projects that I’d dread editing. There are also certain types of stories that can be really difficult to write. Writing The Shadow Raven has been really difficult, for instance, ever since Nissa went down a darker path and it’s been reflecting parts of my real life more, which are draining in real life and possibly more draining in writing since I tend to use it as an escape.

There are a lot of difficult parts of writing, and it really depends on what I’m doing at the moment what’s the most difficult part.

Q4: If there was one thing you could do with your best friend, what would it be?

Go on a trip around the country, visiting every state, seeing all the sights, just letting loose and having fun and exploring. I’d like to do this someday with my two best friends, my sister, and my aunt.

Q5: If you could visit one city in the world, what would it be?

Petra, Jordan. There are so many places I want to visit, but if it’s one city then Petra’s a pretty easy choice.

Q6: Which story world of yours would you like to live in?

This is a tough one. Kersir would be pretty fun, but it’s really hot. I could maybe live in Rasell, where it’s on the ocean and it’s a little cooler. But if I lived in one of the places in the Aleruus universe (with The Half-Elves) then I could meet those characters, and there are so many more characters I love there than in Kersir. So I don’t know. Probably Remera, in Aleruus.

Q7: Can you talk a little bit about how you balance life with all of your fantastic writing progress?

Aw, thank you, whoever sent this in. Um, the very simple answer is that I have no life. XD Pretty much all of my time is devoted to writing, so I’m able to make more progress than someone who goes to public school or has a job or hangs out with friends or whatever else. I’m a homeschool student with only two friends she didn’t meet online, who rarely leaves the house and whose only outside commitments are choir, youth group, and a once-a-year camp. So from 6 or 10am (depending on whether or not I’m listening to my alarms or ignoring them) and 10 or 11pm I’m writing. At least during the summer. During the school year I have a couple hours of schoolwork in the morning, and there are always too-long, unscheduled social media/email-checking sessions (*cough*procrastination sessions*cough*) throughout the day, but I can focus the vast majority of my attention on writing and writing-related activities.

My ideal schedule looks something like this (during the school year):

6am – get up, read a few chapters of the Bible and pray, and get started on writing

6:30am – work on schoolwork

8am – eat breakfast

8:30am – work on whatever editing project I’ve been hired to do for however long it takes me to finish the day’s alottment

Free time – write (This is usually procrastinating time lately…)

12pm – lunch

12:30pm – work on hired editing project again, or work on a second hired editing project, or if it’s Friday I work on the next week’s blog posts/newsletters

1:30pm – Work on editing some more

And then after that’s all done there’s time for writing or procrastinating or blogging or editing or whatever until about 5pm when I have to get ready for choir or youth group on Mondays and Wednesdays. And that’s all of my time.

Lately my schedule has been more all-day editing, a lot less writing, no hired editing due to technical difficulties (which we finally got sorted out in the past few days! Hooray!), and there’s been more reading because I have “assigned” reading for review. And it’ll fluctuate as I get more editing jobs (*cough*if*cough*) and my projects change and whatnot.

I’m really blessed to be able to do what I love full-time, even if I’m not making money from it yet. :)

I’d also like to thank you, my readers, for being here and for coming back to read my posts however frequently or infrequently you do and for commenting and being awesome. It means a lot that people enjoy and find value in what I write, and that I’m able to help people through my words. ^-^ So thanks for being around. I really appreciate y’all.

And you over there in the corner not commenting… First of all, I get you. I am you on most blogs, lol, reading a blog religiously but never commenting and realizing when I do go to leave a comment or something that I consider the blogger like a friend and they barely know me… So I get you. I understand not always knowing what to comment. :P But I’d love to hear from you, so if you want to leave a comment on here just to start a conversation, feel free to do so! I’d love to get to know you more. ^-^

If you have any more questions for me that you’d like me to answer or just want to chat, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you. I love chatting with my readers. :)

Anywho, I think that about wraps it up. Happy birthday to Scribes & Archers! *throws turquoise and gold confetti*

Character Interview: Keslie Bardell

Image by JSpiess (JSpiess – photography shot in Eastern PA) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Those of you who’ve been on the blog since last August (and maybe those of you who haven’t) have probably read Sea Glass & Pressed Flowers, which was my third short story on the blog. It’s not my most fabulous work, but I really enjoyed writing it. I’ve interviewed the secondary character Livi Brooklyn, but I have yet to interview any of the other characters, including the main character Keslie Bardell. Keslie is sweet, loves the ocean, loves music, is a great artist and a dancer, and loves coffee shops (specifically the one she works at) and warm cozy things. Enjoy her interview. :)

Keslie: *comes in and sits across from the interviewer*

Interviewer: Hello. *smiles* How are you today?

Keslie: I’m doing well. How are you? *smiles*

Interviewer: I’m doing well. Shall we get started?

Keslie: *nods*

Interviewer: What’s your name?

Keslie: Keslie Lynn Bardell.

Interviewer: How old are you?

Keslie: I’m sixteen.

Interviewer: Do you have any siblings?

Keslie: No. But I have my best friend Livi, and she’s basically my sister. *laughs*

Interviewer: Do you have a job?

Keslie: I play piano at the Piano Shoppe cafe.

Interviewer: Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Keslie: Introvert. But I have great friends that I love hanging out with.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite food?

Keslie: Mm… Can I pick a favorite drink instead?

Interviewer: Sure. *smiles*

Keslie: Rose tea with cream and sugar.

Interviewer: I can’t say I’ve tried that.

Keslie: It’s delicious. You should definitely try it sometime.

Interviewer: I’ll definitely do that. *glances at questionnaire* Do you have a favorite color?

Keslie: Blue.

Interviewer: Do you prefer movies or books?

Keslie: Books.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite?

Keslie: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Interviewer: That’s a good one. Do you have a favorite animal?

Keslie: I love both dogs and cats.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite dog breed?

Keslie: Sheepdogs. They’re so soft.

Interviewer: What are your hobbies?

Keslie: Reading, playing piano, drawing, writing music, and hanging out with Livi and Dominic.

Interviewer: You write music? Just for piano or for other instruments as well?

Keslie: I mostly write piano pieces, but I’ve written a few with lyrics.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite piece?

Keslie: Of my own? *pauses a moment* Probably Sunrise. I wrote it one morning when my dad and I were hanging out on the beach. The sunrise was gorgeous that day, and I remember struggling to convey it through the music. It really paid off, though, and I love the final piece. *smiles*

Interviewer: That’s really cool. Do you watch the sunrise often?

Keslie: *shrugs* It depends. I tend to have stretches where I’ll regularly get up early and watch and other stretches when I sleep in way to late. *chuckles*

Interviewer: I don’t get up that early unless I’m forced. *laughs* Um… *looks at question sheet* We’re coming to the end here. Which of these is most important to you: Kindness, intelligence, or bravery?

Keslie: Kindness.

Interviewer: And honesty or selflessness?

Keslie: Selflessness.

Interviewer: Is there something you can’t leave the house without?

Keslie: Generally some sheet music, my phone, generally a set of headphones, and I always wear the bracelets Livi and I made at the beach shortly after we met.

Interviewer: That was the last question. Thank you for your time. *smiles*

Keslie: Of course! *smiles before leaving*

Farewell to July

July’s Writing

I didn’t write nearly as much as I wanted to in July. My original Camp NaNo goal was 50k, but near the end I decided to lower it to 30k because I just wasn’t writing as much as I wanted to and I knew I wouldn’t make it to 50k. I did make it to 30k, though, so I did get a pretty good amount written.

My main focus in July was editing The Heart of the Baenor, and I did finish that, so that’s good. I’ve been enjoying editing a lot with this story, but I’m glad to be done with the third draft and glad to take a break from it for August. I’ve been editing for a really long time, it feels like, and so even though I’m enjoying seeing it get better I’m also getting a little burnt out on it and I think my taking a brief break is going to be good for me and for the story.

July’s Reading

This month I finished Secret of the Desert Stone by Frank Peretti, How I Had Fun Writing 10 Novels in 13 Months by Sarah Addison-Fox, Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, The Great War by Ed Dunlop, and Azalei’s Strategy by Miranda Marie. Aside from Rebel of the Sands all of them were really good.

I’ve also been working through Do Hard Things by Brett and Alex Harris, Infraction by J.E. Purrazzi, The Sorcerer’s Daughter by Terry Brooks, and most recently King’s Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt, Dragons’ Bane by Melody Jackson, and The Clocks Have Stopped by J.L. Oakman, all in exchange for reviews which I’m really looking forward to writing.

Other Fun Stuff

Camp was in July, and it was fabulous as always. It took me a lot longer than usual to adjust to being home, which was not so much fun, but I think I’ve finally adapted by now, lol.

We also had my baby sister’s birthday, my Abuela and her husband visited and took me out for a birthday dinner (because my birthday is today), and I got to ride in a camper for the first time, which reignited my dreams of going on a trip around the country with friends, lol.

August’s Plans

The Heart of the Baenor will be with betas for the month of August, so I can kick back and relax on that front. While that’s going on I’ll be turning my attention more toward:

raising money for professional editors and a cover designer through my Kickstarter campaign
working on my hired editing
reading more
blogging
being more present on social media
making at least a little more headway on The Shadow Raven again (I’d like to be up to 80k by the end of the month)
and working on my series of fairytale retelling short stories.

It sounds like a lot when it’s listed out like that, but it’s actually not a whole lot as far as time goes (one of the few perks of having no life). The most difficult thing, I think, will be the social media presence. I’m still floundering when it comes to knowing what to post that’ll be helpful and appealing to people. :P Second place will go to promoting my Kickstarter campaign without seeming pushy or demanding, and third place goes to tolerating The Shadow Raven and figuring out what to do with it between where it is now and where I hit my outline again.

So that’s basically my plan for August. I don’t have anything super interesting planned aside from my birthday party, which is going to be super cool because I’m doing a Lord of the Rings movie marathon (extended edition, of course) with a few friends, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a really long time.

How was your July? Do you have any big plans or any writing goals for August?

Worldbuilding Based on Ancient History

Ancient history is something I enjoy studying, but it wasn’t until this past school year when I was studying it again and also reading The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock that I considered the idea of building a world based on it, and I’ve realized since starting just how much I was missing out on. Ancient history is a treasure trove of cultures and details, and it can be a lot of fun to live vicariously through your worldbuilding research. Here are some of the benefits of basing a world on ancient history.

The food is pretty awesome

I don’t like food most of the time – I’m really uncreative when it comes to developing food and I don’t generally like cooking (I do love baking) – but I got into research for the cuisine of the various countries in Kersir and it has been so. much. fun. There are so many interesting foods out there that I wouldn’t have even thought about on my own, and I’d actually like to travel to Kersir just to try some of the food. There are six countries, each with their own unique cuisines based on existing/previously existing countries and on common foods from places like Israel and Egypt, and it was so cool to figure out what each country specializes in and generally eats.

There’s Veldan, which specializes in most breads and has cuisine based on Spain. There’s Rasell, with salads and shrimp and mint tea and Moroccan-based foods. There’s Osanar, with its dark chocolate and coffee and octopus and Ethiopian-inspired food. There’s Eilis with its various pastries and Italian focaccia. And then there’s Alger, with its rich foods and heavy breads and Roman-inspired foods.

Pinterest is a treasure trove of recipes; I just looked up “Spanish recipes” or “fig recipes” or “coffee recipes” and got loads of ideas that I never would have come up with on my own. It’s so much fun to explore various cuisines and find things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Can you say mythology?

The ancient world has so many different mythological religious systems, which is something that has fascinated me for a long time. I love comparing mythology with the Bible and seeing just how many myths were derived from the truth. But in a fantasy world… who says they have to be myth? Why not toss in griffins and phoenixes and harpies and cockatrices and manticores and djinn and who knows what else? Mythology can be a great thing to look to for inspiration.

Wardrobe and Architecture

Really every part of an ancient civilization’s culture can be awesome inspiration. Not only that, but looking into an ancient civilization’s wardrobe, architecture, and cuisine can help you make it more realistic because you see why they made things the way they did and how they utilized the resources around them. Which can also be great exercise for other worldbuilding endeavors, or even other parts of the ancient-inspired world that aren’t directly influenced by the ancient civilizations.

For instance, did you know that the purple dye that was so expensive and sought-after by royalty in Greece and Rome and pretty much everywhere way back when was created from part of a sea snail called a murex? I didn’t until this latest time studying the ancient world and learning that it was commonly produced in Tyre. (It also connects to Lydia, the “seller of purple” from Acts, who I’ve always found interesting for some reason.) Tyre was in Phoenicia, which was actually the same Greek word as Phoenix and “date palm,” which is why in Kersir the phoenixes are going to be a reddish-purple color. Because both dates and the purple shade that comes from a murex are a reddish-purple. (You can read more about my theories on the ties between the three in this post on Our Mind Palace, and I’ll stop fangirling now.)

It’s different

Technically you could apply the same reasoning on most of these to other time periods and areas of the world, but I personally find the ancient world most fascinating and I don’t see it a lot in fantasy (though I can say that since starting the worldbuilding for Kersir I’ve been more attentive to it and I’ve seen a lot more, lol.) so it has a particular pull to me. I’d love to see this done with more non-European cultures (or at least not Medieval England). There’s so much world out there, and so little of it influences fantasy, which I think is a huge missed opportunity.

What uncommonly-explored culture would you love to pull into your next fantasy world? Are there any places that you’d love to visit or that just particularly ignite your imagination?

I Want Your Opinion

Scribes & Archers’ 1-year anniversary is coming up, and I’d like your help in deciding on a post to celebrate. Would you please take a minute to answer the super short survey down below?

Thank you!

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Snippet Sunday: The Heart of the Baenor

This week’s Snippet Sunday is rather short, since I really wanted to share with you a piece of writing that I’ve cut from The Heart of the Baenor. I really like this piece, but pieces of the plot have changed too dramatically for it to work anymore as-is, and I was only able to piece a tiny bit of it back into the current draft. Enjoy. :)

“What would you know about losing a brother? You’ve never had a real family.”

Catessa’s step faltered and Cordain stopped.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was uncalled for.”

“No, you’re right. I haven’t had a ‘real’ family. Not one made by blood. But blood doesn’t necessarily dictate what’s a real family and what’s not. Sometimes loyalty does. And if your brother would leave without telling you, maybe he’s not real family.”

Cordain looked up at her, fire in his watery eyes. “Don’t insult my brother. If you can just say something like that about my brother, then obviously you have no idea what real family is.” He strode the end of the pier and snatched up his boots before heading back to the tavern without a glance at Catessa.

She didn’t try to catch up with him, nor did she try to leave him alone. She just followed him, unapologetic, and strode into the tavern after him, catching the door as he let it fall back on her.

 

Book Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Overall this book was okay. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible. As I was talking over it with my best friend in the car on the way home I figured out it’s because the bones are good but the main character isn’t really as fleshed out as she could be. So let’s start with characters, shall we?

All of the characters in this book were kind of one-dimensional. None of them were boring, per se, but none of them were particularly deep. They were all pretty “what you see is what you get,” and with quite a few of them “what you see” wasn’t much. The main character, Amani, was smart-mouthed, had a fiery temper, and hated the sexism in her culture, but that was pretty much all there was to her. There were no deep motivations, and even the motivations she had weren’t deeply developed. Thinking about it now it’s actually kind of difficult for me to pinpoint her motivations because they were so… shallow, as far as development goes.

Jin was a more interesting character to me as a whole, which is kind of odd since he was even less developed than Amani, I think. We really don’t know his motivations, he doesn’t have a whole lot of personality traits… He was more one of those characters that I wanted to see be interesting, but when I think about it he actually wasn’t.

The side characters weren’t explored any deeper, either. A couple of the main side characters were really boring, like Captain Naguib and Ahmed. They were supposed to be these important characters and they just… weren’t. Noorsham was a little more interesting, but I feel like he had a lot more potential than was explored. It would have been nice to see his internal struggle more than we did. And I get that, to some extent, since it’s in first person from Amani’s POV, but he just seemed underused. (As did all the characters.) The rebels all had the same problem, and the only one that I found less shallow was killed, so… (The curse of a reader, I suppose. The characters you like almost always die.)

Overall the characters were just really underwhelming, and that contributed to the mediocrity of the rest of the book.

The worldbuilding was really interesting, BUT it was hard to appreciate it as much as I would have liked because I wasn’t invested in the person telling about it and the character herself didn’t seem invested in the world. Amani hadn’t seen a lot of the world, which was a big wasted opportunity. Someone who’s unfamiliar with the world should be interested in the world and should notice things about it that people used to it could take for granted. I didn’t get any of this with Amani. What she talked about she summarized and she felt really disconnected from the world. We don’t get a lot of emotion and sensory detail from her (unless she’s kissing Jin). I think the world would have been a lot more impactful if she’d had any interest in it, but as it was I knew on an intellectual level that the world was interesting but didn’t connect with it on any sort of emotional level.

Amani was also really familiar with stories of the world around her, even if she wasn’t familiar with the world itself, and yet we don’t get to know what she believes about these stories or what impact they’ve had on her or how she learned them or anything like that. She just knows them, regurgitates them, and is done. Story seemed like something that was important to her, at least on some level, so it would have been nice to see that developed more.

The plot was okay. I didn’t really understand why Amani was part of it after a while, except that she was tied to Jin. About halfway through the book she becomes a pretty passive, static character, which was disappointing because she’s reckless. Reckless characters are generally active, not passive, but the only reason she was part of anything after a while was because of Jin, and there wasn’t even a lot of emotional connection between the two characters. I honestly might have preferred if she’d left him and done her own thing just because I’m so tired of female characters’ lives revolving around guys and he was the only reason she did what she did. I guess there might have been a little more emotional connection between them while they were in the desert, but that whole trek was so skimmed over that I have no idea. There was mention of things Jin taught her and things he said, but none of it was shown so none of it really made an impact. It would have been a lot more powerful if the author had spent the time to show at least some of it and give us a bit of a glimpse deeper into the characters and their relationship.

This was a pretty short book, and I feel like that was a mistake. I think it would have been a lot more impactful and enjoyable if the author had put some more time into deepening the characters and then showing their characters and their relationships. I don’t think it would have negatively affected the plot – in fact I think the plot would have benefited from a bit of slowing down – and I think it would have really helped the book as a whole for the main character to be more invested in everything, more deep and thus easier to connect to, that kind of thing. And honestly I don’t think I would have even cared quite as much if the book had been third person, but since the book was first person and generally first person is more personal to read, it was extra disappointing.

I didn’t dislike the book, but I think this book had a lot more potential than what came through on the page.

Character Interview: Rhees Lamral

Rhees is a character from The Heart of the Baenor, a good friend of Torin‘s from Kor-Baen. He’s hard-working, hospitable, determined to uphold justice, and loves his family. I hope you enjoy his interview. :)

Rhees: *steps into the interview room and presses a fist to his heart before sitting across from the interviewer* Hello.

Interviewer: Hello. How are you today?

Rhees: I’m doing well. How are you?

Interviewer: I’m good. Are you ready to get started?

Rhees: *nods*

Interviewer: What is your name?

Rhees: Rhees Demmi Lamral.

Interviewer: How old are you?

Rhees: Forty.

Interviewer: Do you have any siblings?

Rhees: *nods* An older brother, an older sister, twin younger brothers, and a younger sister.

Interviewer: What was it like growing up in a big family like that?

Rhees: My older brother is ten years older than me, so he was gone fairly early on. But overall I didn’t mind it. It could be difficult to find a quiet space in the house, and my younger brothers often tagged along on any adventures my friends and I tried to take, which was annoying at the time but now seems quite endearing. I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. *smiles* In fact, I rather wish my son could have the same experiences I did with my siblings, but it looks like he’ll be the only child we have.

Interviewer: What is your son’s name?

Rhees: Kolis.

Interviewer: Is there any specific thing you wish he could experience from having siblings?

Rhees: The whole thing, really, but particularly the constant companionship. I think it can be hard sometimes to not get lonely when you don’t have anyone living with you who’s the same age. He has good friends, of course, but they have other things to do sometimes and there’s always the possibility of them leaving. With siblings there’s always someone to talk to and adventure with and they’re not going to leave.

Interviewer: *nods* I agree. I have two sisters, myself.

Rhees: Really? What are their names?

Interviewer: Isabelle and Lila. *sees Rhees about to ask something* I’m David, by the way.

Rhees: Ah. Nice to meet you. *smiles and presses a fist to his heart*

David: *imitates the gesture* You too. *glances at his question list* Where do you work?

Rhees: The forges. I’m one of the smiths.

David: Do you enjoy that?

Rhees: *shrugs* It makes money.

David: Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Rhees: Extrovert, though I’m a combination of the two.

David: Do you have a favorite food?

Rhees: Coal pudding.

David: What is that?

Rhees: Dark chocolate pudding. But of course since we’re miners and blacksmiths we call it coal pudding. *chuckles slightly* My wife makes the best coal pudding.

David: Do you have a favorite color?

Rhees: Not especially.

David: Do you like to read?

Rhees: When I get the time.

David: Do you have a favorite book?

Rhees: The Hunter’s Daughter, I think. It’s an interesting look at ancient Rashan culture through storytelling.

David: Is it historical fiction?

Rhees: *nods* It’s the most common genre in Kor-Baen.

David: Why is that?

Rhees: I’m not sure.

David: Do you have a favorite animal?

Rhees: Shahr.

David: Those are panther-like, right?

Rhees: Um… They’re large, sleek cats.

David: Oh, sorry. I forgot you wouldn’t know what a panther is.

Rhees: It’s all right. Are they similar?

David: *nods* What colors to Shahr come in?

Rhees: Tan, black, midnight blue, and dark maroon.

David: Panthers only come in black, but they are similar. *glances at list* What are your hobbies, aside from reading?

Rhees: I don’t really have time for hobbies. I read occasionally, but most of my free time is spent with family.

David: Which of these is most important to you: Kindness, intelligence, or bravery?

Rhees: All of them, but probably intelligence.

David: And honesty or selflessness?

Rhees: Selflessness.

David: Last question: Is there anything you can’t leave home without?

Rhees: No.

David: Thank you for your time. I’ve enjoyed talking with you. *smiles*

Rhees: You too. *rises and presses a fist to his heart* Have a good day.

David: You too.

Rhees: *leaves*

#CoverLove Tag

I was busy this past weekend and now I’m at camp, so I had to schedule all of these posts on time so as not to leave y’all hanging, and I just so happened to be tagged this weekend as well so I had a nice easy post to whip together at 6:45 in the morning before I spent the day hanging out at a mall an hour and a half away and buying books. So without further ado, the #CoverLove tag.

Thanks to Kate at The Inky Notebook for tagging me!

The rules:

Thank the blogger that nominated you and link back to their blog.
Create seven new #CoverLove questions for your nominees (or just copy and paste mine).
Answer the seven #CoverLove questions your nominator gave you.
Nominate 7+ other bloggers and let them know they’ve been tagged.



1. A cover that was “meh” on first glance but got more interesting the more you looked at it

I borrowed this book from a friend (said friend and I exchange books all the time. A few have taken up semi-permanent residence on my shelf because I borrowed a jillion of them and then didn’t get around to reading quite all of them. Others were returned unread because I don’t schedule reading time enough.) and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t the best thing I read (how many times do we need to be reminded that these creatures are comparable to tennis balls?) but it was enjoyable.

2. A cover that looked really cool at first glance but got more “meh” as you looked at it

I haven’t actually read this one, and the cover isn’t particularly “meh,” but the overall effect is better than looking at it closely and examining the elements, and since I don’t want to comb through all 893 books on my Goodreads shelves, I’m sticking with this one.

3. A cover you feel didn’t fit the story at all

This is a gorgeous cover, and the book was okay, but I have no idea (or don’t remember, because the book wasn’t super memorable?) where the rose came from.

4. A cover that fits the story exceptionally well

That was way, way harder than I thought it would be. I combed through my bookshelves twice. I suppose this one. Or really any of the Cooper Kids covers.

5. A cover whose style you want for your own book

This one makes up for the one before it as far as difficulty level goes, lol. This watercolor style is almost exactly what I want for my Dark War Trilogy books. I LOVE this cover.

6. A children’s book cover that you really loved

I’d totally forgotten about this book until I went looking through our children’s books shelf for this. This was a super cool book to go through as a kid (I don’t know how fun it would be now, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be boring) and the front cover is part of the overarching puzzle, so it’s super cool. Plus, look at that artwork and the journal design. It’s just fun in its own right.

7. The most artistic cover you’ve seen, and why you think that

This cover is awesome. I love this cover. On top we have the Dream and the chaos and intrigue that is there, and the clock tower and gorgeousness, and then on the bottom we have Baltimore and the normal world and it’s less interesting but still cool-looking (and that little bit of fog and stars and stuff could be foreshadowing! Theoretically. Or I’m (probably) just reading too much into this. But yeah, this cover is super awesome. It’s one of my favorites and all the pieces work really, really well together.

Nominees

Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea

Felicity at The Wondrous World Around Us

Elyra at Two Roads Diverged

Ivie at Ivie Writes

Gray Marie at Writing Is Life

Hallie at Hallie Jenkins

S.M. Metzler at Tea With Tumnus

Questions

Cover that was better than the book
A to-be-published book with a gorgeous cover (you’re allowed to talk about yourself here. ;) )
A cover in your favorite color(s)
A cover whose style you want for your own book
Your two favorite book covers EVER
A series in which every cover was amazing
A book that deserved a better cover

I mostly replicated the questions Kate answered, because I liked those and I’m not creative with cover questions. XD Enjoy the tag!