Joy E. Rancatore's Blog, page 3
July 3, 2024
12 Months of Reading: July 2024
Welcome to 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2024, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad, and, chances are, whatever you’re reading may fit in them.
To celebrate the fun of my LAM Summer Reading Challenge, I encourage you to read a book by one of this year’s Authors of the Round Table. Keep reading for links to join the challenge and learn more about all the authors, but first … allow me to introduce these nine books and their lovely authors! Click the authors’ names to visit their online homes. Feel free to explore other titles by these authors—most of them are listed on our LAM Summer Reading hub page (link below).
The Beauty Thief: Magic is long dead in the Twelve Realms. At least this is what most believed until an innocent young woman becomes the obsession of a man who defies time by stealing the only thing that sustains his life: true beauty.
Rachael Ritchey: Rachael Ritchey is a mom and home educator by day and a creative jack-of-all-trades book designer and author by night. Rachael writes with an eye toward exemplifying positive attributes, finding hope through what feels hopeless, and being courageous. Her fiction reflects these qualities with daring adventure and sweet romance that almost anyone can enjoy. Rachael lives in the would-be southern jungles of north Florida with her husband and her four young adults (aka children who aren’t little anymore).
The Existence of Bea Pearl: Sixteen-year-old Bea Pearl knows her brother isn’t dead. Even if her parents don’t agree. Even if the entire town doesn’t believe her. She knows it’s true. When orders came to evacuate Lake George due to rising floodwaters, Bea Pearl saw Jim head toward the river. She followed him. Only she returned.
Candice Marley Conner: Candice Marley Conner grew up between swamps, a river, and the Gulf Coast, so her stories emerge from gnarled cypress knees, muddy water, and salty air. She is the kidlit haint at a haunted indie bookstore (but not haunted how you’re thinking), a Local Liaison for SCBWI, and an officer for her local writer’s guild. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two children (one of whom is possibly feral).
Tiger Kingdom and the Book of Destiny:
Wishes fly & dreams be bright,
In warmth of sun & chill of night.
Lost within one Kingdom lies a tome,
Of ancient tales & futures unknown.
Hidden there, a golden sword, a secret stone,
May fairies’ wings help guide you home.
Follow Suzie & Jack as they discover Tiger Kingdom, a world of magic, mystery & dreams. Will they be able to find The Book of Destiny and return home? What dark secrets are the Tigers hiding?
Stacie Eirich: Daughter, mother, author, singer—Stacie is a dreamer who began writing and performing at a young age. She has written and published poetry, short fiction and a children’s fantasy series: The Dream Chronicles. She lives on the Northshore of New Orleans, where she spends her days mothering, writing and singing.
Grief Like a River:
Even if the river dries to only
morning dew and dust,
the scar of it remains in the earth.
If the circumstances were prime,
it could fill again,
and that would be okay because
I know why it flows now.
Grief Like a River bares the iterative, complex process of grief through sincere, raw poetry. Smith’s tender honesty delicately guides the reader through the human experience of loss.
Mea Smith: Author Meagan (Mea) Smith believes love doesn’t deter hateful things from happening, but it always conquers them; so, she creates fictional content colored with hope and redemption. Her poetry is based on a true story. Always. Mea has studied the writing craft for over a decade and earned a Master’s in English along the way. You can find Mea tripping over a multitude of cats while she and her husband parent two rambunctious boys, or you can visit her online.
Mission Hollywood: A Hollywood bad boy. A pastor’s daughter. What could possibly go wrong?Mission Hollywood is an inspirational story about love, faith, and second chances.
Michelle Keener: Michelle is a wife, mom, homeschooler, writer, Bible scholar, and teacher. But before anything else, she is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. Michelle is an award-winning and bestselling author and accomplished speaker. Her latest book, Comfort in the Ashes, is scheduled for release in January 2025 with IVP Academic.
Errant: Superpowers transform one anxious outsider into New York’s most wanted girl in this soulful, spirited YA Contemporary Fantasy. Fans of Divergent and The Darkest Minds are sure to enjoy.
Montrez: Montrez began her publishing journey in 2020, creating Novel Creature Publications, an independent imprint to house and publish her works of fiction. Inspired by an eclectic mix of literature, superheroes, and anime, Montrez loves to write stories about underdogs, accidental heroes, and everyday people doing extraordinary things. A family woman and a hopeless romantic, Montrez also loves writing about love: stories that highlight family love, friendship, self love, and elements of sweet and slow-burn romance.
Remaining Aileen: Aileen was dead. At least she was supposed to be. If you could live forever, would you?
Autumn Lindsey: Autumn Lindsey lives with her husband and three kids in a deep, dark, magical forest in Northern California. Fluent in typo and fueled by caffeine, she writes Women’s Fiction with characters that bite. Her debut novel Remaining Aileen is available through online book retailers. She is also the co-founder of Writer Moms Inc., a community for moms who write.
Blue Sky Gone: Audrey Moretti always knew she wanted to be a police officer, but she never expected it would take her on the most harrowing venture of her life—the search for her sister on September 11, 2001 ….
J.S. Farmer: J.S. Farmer grew up in South Windsor, Connecticut. She became a police officer, spending seven years on the force, before moving on to work for a defense contractor. She now resides in northeast Florida with her husband, two daughters, and dog Jackson. Her favorite place in the world is the beach, where she enjoys searching for shark teeth and relaxing in the Florida sun.
Long Dance Home: Cece Camden has a plan—for work, for love, for life—and she believes she is right on track. But on her 29th birthday, her grand plan begins to unravel, and the disciplined, former ballerina’s life is turned upside down.
Julie Mayerson Brown: Julie Brown is a California girl, originally from the San Fernando Valley, eventually landing in Palos Verdes (near the port of Los Angeles) where she and her husband raised her two sons, rescued many dogs, hosted countless backyard BBQs, and chased away hundreds of wild peacocks. When not writing, she’s doing laundry, gardening, baking, rescuing dogs, and giving her grown-up sons advice.
For a chance to win swag from some of these authors, sit in on live chats with them and have a summer full of bookish fun, head to the LAM Summer Reading hub page to join. It’s as easy as 1-2-3! https://joyerancatore.com/summer-reading/
I’d love to hear which book (or books) you read! Drop a comment below to let me know what you’re reading. Mark your calendar for July 5 at 8:00 p.m. (CDT) and plan to join my virtual LAM Book Club to share your favorite bits with fellow readers. Plus, meet these authors at one of two Zoom chats: July 6 and July 28 at 7:00 p.m. (CDT).
What will you read? Comment below with your choice. Return once you’ve finished to share your review and thoughts. Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?
Tap the image above to download each month’s graphic. Share on your social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.
The post 12 Months of Reading: July 2024 first appeared on Joy E. Rancatore.
The post 12 Months of Reading: July 2024 appeared first on Joy E. Rancatore.
June 1, 2024
12 Months of Reading: June 2024
Welcome to 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2024, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad, and, chances are, whatever you’re reading may fit in them.
To celebrate the fun of my LAM Summer Reading Challenge, I encourage you to read a book by one of this year’s Featured Authors. Keep reading for links to join the challenge and learn more about all the authors, but first … allow me to introduce these five books and their lovely authors!
Muffalettas and Murder: Evangeline Delafose is finding Graisseville, Louisiana, just as she remembered—boring and uneventful. Until her brother Nate asks her to help solve a murder. Follow Ev as she navigates clues, dead bodies, and quirky small-town residents to solve a mystery. And of course, show her little brother that she’s still got it.
Jann Franklin: Muffalettas and Murder begins her collection of Small Town Girl Mysteries. A faith-based author, Jann has also produced the Small Town Girl Life Series. She sets her stories in fictional Graisseville, LA, but the characters and their adventures are true-to-life. Her books combine elements of small town values, hilarity and hope.
Regeneration: One foster kid. Two worlds. If she can’t catch a dangerous convict, she’s going to lose the only thing she cares about in either of them. Her foster parents.
Cassie Greutman: Regeneration, a 2022 regional Indie Author Project winner, kicks off her Penchant for Trouble series with a pop! Cassie marries realistic characters in the foster system with portals to fantastic realms and the fae. A lifelong writer and avid horse lover, Cassie never strays far from a computer, book or horse stall.
Abigail’s Song: Cast out from her home after her mother’s death, orphan Abigail Jones wanders around her English town on Christmas Eve of 1809. Desperately trying to suppress her cough—the same that killed her mother—Abigail begs for coins on the freezing cold streets. With the help of the medical student, Oli Higgins, she recovers and avoids being sent to the cruel orphanage. Oli then reveals his secret: he is hiding his Jewish identity and his birth name, David Fridman, to pursue his chosen profession. He brings her into his devout, loving Jewish home. Over time, she embraces her found family and discovers her talent for music.
Alina Rubin: Abigail’s Song, Alina’s latest release, begins a new series: Hearts and Harmony. Related, yet separate, this and her Hearts and Sails series combine to showcase two heroines, strong in different ways. An award-winning author of historical fiction, Alina lights up when she discusses her characters and the research behind them.
Harper and the Raptor Rescue: Harper wants to be at Critter Camp more than anything but she didn’t expect so many of the critters to be birds. Birds would be fine if she wasn’t terrified of them — especially the meat-eating ones. She’s determined to make friends and face her fears, until she comes face-to-face with one tiny owl. Who knew something so small could cause such big problems?
Kizzi Roberts: Harper and the Raptor Rescue introduces middle grade readers to a camp full of friends: human, furry, feathered and scaled. Young readers discover problem-solving strategies, learn about creatures and witness budding friendships in the Critter Camp Kids Series. An author and illustrator, Kizzi has also produced a collection of whimsical picture books.
One Good Thing: Through a series of unsent letters to the sweetheart he left behind, Jack Calhoun unpacks his rage and grief and wrestles with questions of the soul like, “Who am I?” Rachael Burns, the girl he left, uses her journal to make sense of his abandonment.
Joy E. Rancatore: One Good Thing completes her collection of Southern fiction with Christian roots. Told around multiple related characters, this collection explores faith, life, death and the demons within through four mediums—novel, novella, short stories and epistolary. An award-winning, multi-genre Indie Author, Joy believes extraordinary things await her characters and their tales.
For a chance to win autographed copies of each of these books, sit in on a live chat with each of the authors and have a summer full of bookish fun, head to the LAM Summer Reading hub page to join. It’s as easy as 1-2-3! https://joyerancatore.com/summer-reading/
I’d love to hear which book (or books) you read! Drop a comment below to let me know what you’re reading. Mark your calendar for June 6 and plan to join my virtual LAM Book Club to share your favorite bits with fellow readers.
What will you read? Comment below with your choice. Return once you’ve finished to share your review and thoughts. Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?
Tap the image above to download each month’s graphic. Share on your social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.
The post 12 Months of Reading: June 2024 first appeared on Joy E. Rancatore.
The post 12 Months of Reading: June 2024 appeared first on Joy E. Rancatore.
April 30, 2024
12 Months of Reading: May 2024
Welcome to 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2024, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad, and, chances are, whatever you’re reading may fit in them.
May’s book category is a short story, poetry or essay collection.
I love categories that range as widely as this one! My guess is these options cover something everyone will enjoy.
Which of these choices do you prefer: short stories, poetry or essays? I enjoy all three immensely and had fun coming up with four recommendations for you.
The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays gives us a deeper look at the academic mind of my favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien. We get to read lectures he gave at some of the great schools and to some of the greatest minds. Plus, we glimpse the opening considerations that led to his incredible literary works and witness his passion for the amazing literature that preceded his.
The Crux Anthology, edited and compiled by Rachael Ritchey, gathers sixteen phenomenal SciFi and Fantasy writers between two book covers. If you love adventure stories, incredible settings and the thrill of discovering new favorite authors, this book is for you. Plus, all proceeds benefit Compassion International! My short story “Ealiverel Awakened” will give you a taste of what’s to come in the fantasy series I’ve been worldbuilding since 2016. Get more details about the book and its authors here.
My dear friend and critique partner wrote Grief Like a River. This book addresses grief from the perspective of one who’s been through it more than once and offers a hand to others wading the same river. Told through lingering lyrical words and gripping visual representations drawn by the author, this collection of poems grips readers’ hearts. Visit Mea’s website for more about the book. You can also read my Goodreads review here.
Every Good Thing compiles twelve stories that take us deeper into the lives of characters in my four-part Carolina’s Legacy Collection. Every person leaves a legacy; so does every character.
Lonely outcasts. Found wanderers. Recovering addicts. War-weary heroes. Homeless families. Grieving loved ones. Good men—gone too soon.
Each one’s story stands alone, yet all unite along a common thread of dreams pursued and legacy left in this collection of short stories. One life flows into another as each character connects to the next.
Revisit beloved characters from Carolina’s Legacy Collection and descry their legacies of faith, heroism, healing, tenacity and sacrifice. These twelve realistic, hope-filled tales celebrate humans and the connections they share and gifts they leave.
Intrigued? Message me to order an autographed copy, request it at your local bookstore or library or order through bookshop.org.
Whether you read one of my recommendations or come up with your own, I’d love to hear about it! Drop a comment below to let me know what you’re reading. Mark your calendar for June 6 and plan to join my virtual LAM Book Club to share your favorite bits with fellow readers.
(If you use the link above to order from bookshop.org, I receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me and independent bookstores by using them for your online bookstore purchases!)
What will you read? Comment below with your choice. Return once you’ve finished to share your review and thoughts. Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?
Tap the image above to download each month’s graphic. Share on your social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.
The post 12 Months of Reading: May 2024 first appeared on Joy E. Rancatore.
The post 12 Months of Reading: May 2024 appeared first on Joy E. Rancatore.
April 2, 2024
12 Months of Reading: April 2024
Welcome to 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2024, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad, and, chances are, whatever you’re reading may fit in them.
April’s book category is an epistolary.
What’s that? you ask.
I’m glad you did! I reply.
An epistolary is a story told primarily through letters, journal entries or similar formats.
For this challenge, I would accept both fiction and nonfiction. (Sidenote: I’d love to know in the comments below if you prefer fiction or nonfiction. Also, have you ever read an epistolary?)
I will work my way right to left of the four recommendations I’m making for your reading.
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien was edited by Humphrey Carpenter—whose biography of the great author is the best one, by the way. He, of course, had assistance from the late Christopher Tolkien who was instrumental in the posthumous publication of much of his father’s work. Though I’ve had the book a few years, I started reading it on Tolkien Reading Day (March 25). I love the glimpse into Tolkien’s personal and professional life with letters to family, friends, publishers and others. You can buy your own copy from bookshop.org.
I still haven’t read Dracula by Bram Stoker! I intended to read it last summer but accidentally checked out an abridged juvenile version that—if memory serves—wasn’t even an epistolary. One day I’ll try again and hopefully get it right! Get your copy here.
One of my dearest friends from college recommended The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to me, and it immediately became one of my favorite books. Also, this is one of the few books that has a film adaptation that I loved as much as the book. Get your copy today and let me know what you think! You can read my Goodreads review here.
One Good Thing completes my four-part Carolina’s Legacy Collection. Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing, hope-filled coming-of-age dramas and post-9/11 fiction will enjoy this dual-POV epistolary novel, which embodies Southern fiction with Christian roots.
What’s the story? you ask.
I’m glad you did! I reply.
Through a series of unsent letters to the sweetheart he left behind, Jack Calhoun unpacks his rage and grief and wrestles with questions of the soul like, “Who am I?” Rachael Burns, the girl he left, uses her journal to make sense of his abandonment.
As their parallel journeys lead toward mountaintops miles apart, Jack and Rachael receive the gift of a truth powerful enough to change their lives forever. In a world where tomorrow isn’t promised and tragedies rend lives, who a person is at the core is the only thing that can be unchanging … if that identity rests in an absolute source.
Intrigued? Message me to order an autographed copy, request it at your local bookstore or library or order through bookshop.org.
(If you use one of the links above to order from bookshop.org, I receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me and independent bookstores by using them for your online bookstore purchases!)
What will you read? Comment below with your choice. Return once you’ve finished to share your review and thoughts. Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?
Tap the image above to download each month’s graphic. Share on your social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.
The post 12 Months of Reading: April 2024 first appeared on Joy E. Rancatore.
The post 12 Months of Reading: April 2024 appeared first on Joy E. Rancatore.
March 5, 2024
12 Months of Reading: March 2024
Welcome to 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2024, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad, and, chances are, whatever you’re reading may fit in them.
March’s theme is a book set in the Southern United States. I’m a big fan of this category since I have an entire collection of “Southern fiction with Christian roots.” Discover more about Carolina’s Legacy Collection on this page.
Any Good Thing follows Jack Calhoun as he battles alcoholism, depression, PTSD and himself. His journey carries him from his rural hometown to Iraq’s desert and on to the mountaintops of North Carolina. It’s a story of mind, heart and soul and the unlikely friends he encounters along the way.
My other recommendations for you come highly recommended as great reads by kind authors. Check out my reviews of each linked below:
Healing Skye by Mississippi author Janet W. Ferguson
Final 42 by Texas author Christy Decker
A Bed of Roses by Louisiana author Ann Marie Jameson
What will you read? Comment below with your choice. Return once you’ve finished to share your review and thoughts. Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?
Tap the image above to download each month’s graphic. Share on your social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.
The post 12 Months of Reading: March 2024 first appeared on Joy E. Rancatore.
The post 12 Months of Reading: March 2024 appeared first on Joy E. Rancatore.
January 31, 2024
12 Months of Reading: February 2024
Welcome to 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2024, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad, and, chances are, whatever you’re reading may fit in them.
February’s theme is a shorter book. Since this is the shortest month, this category made sense. Of course, we are in a leap year, so you’ve got plenty of time to count your novellas, novelettes or devotional books.
I LOVED I Am: Thirty Names God Has Given Himself and What They Mean! Check out my review here.
Hearts by the Sea and Feud: Arius’s Story are novellas by two of my 2023 LAM Summer Reading Challenge Featured Authors. Learn more about them here.
Of course, I’m a big fan of the characters in This Good Thing. Walk alongside Carolina, Ben and Rachael Burns as they learn to say see you later, not goodbye, in this book that readers have claimed can “change your life, if you let it.” Find more details, including links of where to buy here.
What will you read? Comment below with your choice. Return once you’ve finished to share your review and thoughts. Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?
Tap the image above to download each month’s graphic. Share on your social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.
The post 12 Months of Reading: February 2024 first appeared on Joy E. Rancatore.
The post 12 Months of Reading: February 2024 appeared first on Joy E. Rancatore.
January 8, 2024
12 Months of Reading: January 2024
Welcome to 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2024, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad, and, chances are, whatever you’re reading may fit in them.
January’s theme is a “peach” book—find a cover with the peach color or a picture of a peach or a title that includes the word “peach.”
I LOVED The Peach Keeper and have admitted that I’m a huge fan of magical realism … both as a reader and—one day, perhaps sooner than later—as a writer! Check out my review here.
If you prefer fantasy, Stone & Sky is a fantastic book (I’ve got a review for that one here), plus book two will be out next month and book three is scheduled to hit shelves in June!
What will you read? Comment below with your choice. Return once you’ve finished to share your review and thoughts. Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?
Tap the image above to download each month’s graphic. Share on your social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.
The post 12 Months of Reading: January 2024 first appeared on Joy E. Rancatore.
The post 12 Months of Reading: January 2024 appeared first on Joy E. Rancatore.
March 15, 2023
Secrets of the Scroll
No one knows who I am or what I do. No one knows where I go each night.
Even I have forgotten my name and who I once was.
That is … if I were someone before I palmed the Red Quill.
Before its power infused my fingertips and its whisper reached my soul. Before my heart beat in time to its words’ cadence.
Who am I?
I am the Shepherd of the Scrolls.
Aeons of memories, prophecies, oaths, callings and actions of the Faerie Shepherds and Shepherdesses live within my mind and reside on the scrolls I guard with my gifted might and magic.
No more a part of the world, I am the world. I contain its past, its present and—though I cannot see its future—I hold it in the proper balance each time I touch quill to parchment.
This is my calling; this is my life.
While the Scrolls hold only the history of the Faerie Shepherds and Shepherdesses; by default, they include the histories of all Peoples, Clans, Ages, Realms and Creatures.
Each line I’ve recorded gives another miniscule piece of the broader universal telling. As such, I suppose I’m something of a miscellanarian, gathering various and sundry details and scripting them from the Quill’s tip.
I have captured the essence of a Flower Faerie’s scent, the ferocity of a Minotaur, the terrors of the Age of the Damned and the medicinal qualities of the lowly thistle … all on one length of a scroll.
Now, I will record the integral role our prophesied Faerie Shepherdess must play to keep the Scrolls from unraveling. To keep past, present and future from soaring out into all the Realms. From becoming tangled, distorted and warped. Worse, from vanishing altogether … along with all the reality they contained.
This Undetermined Age will dictate whether any of us continue to exist … or, I suppose, whether any of us existed in the first place.
“Secrets of the Scroll” Copyright © 2023 by Joy E. Rancatore. All Rights Reserved.
What do you think about this world of mine that I’m building? If you enjoyed this story, please head over to my site to read the entire Tales of the Faerie Shepherds series .
This month’s story flowed from the inspiration of a delightful monthly online writing prompt, #BlogBattle. As you will read on their site, “Blog Battle is a monthly writing prompt meant to inspire writers and entertain readers.” To read several outstanding stories inspired by March’s prompt, “Miscellanarian,” head on over to the BlogBattlers site!
You may just find a new favorite author to follow!
For more detailed weekly updates on my writing process behind this short story as well as my other works, please subscribe to my newsletter!
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February 14, 2023
Montana’s Choice
Montana’s eyes swept the charred scars of her mountain. She shed tears liberally across its blackened expanse, urging each droplet to multiply and spread, farther and farther until they dripped beneath and around her, cascading from her favorite peak.
After waking earlier from a blaze-induced slumber, Montana had visited her deeply sleeping creatures, all tucked safely away as promised by the Fire Faeries’ Shepherd. At the remembrance of Mac Teàrlach, Montana narrowed her eyes and flared her nostrils. The man was infuriating and more volatile than the flames he rode.
Still …
She recalled the soothing warmth of his touch and the healing in his scarred skin as he extinguished the flame on her arm. She also revisited the intoxication with which his scent filled her.
Montana inhaled, sucking in the air around her as a breeze whipped her hair into a whirlwind. Her own redolence of earth, pine, cloud and sky merged with allspice, clove, pine and ash—the mingling so clear, he could’ve been …
“Mornin’, Lass.”
Mac Teàrlach’s greeting calmed the wind but ruffled Montana’s heart.
“You …” Her word, more spat than spoke, did nothing to unnerve the man and left the Shepherdess searching for more to add.
Mac Teàrlach’s scars shone, startling, beneath the sun’s radiance. The previous night’s fiery glow had made those same marks dull yet distinguished as it cast their bearer as stunning. Certainly not ugly, nor homely, nor forgettable, he remained nothing short of remarkable, even in the glare of day.
“Indeed. Tis me.”
The Shepherd’s eyes danced, reminding Montana of the flames he carried her through the night before. If he noticed the blush that painted her cheeks at the memory of how his sturdy arms carried her as if she weighed no more than a feather, Mac Teàrlach didn’t let on. Instead, he began a conversation as if they’d been in the midst of it all their lives.
“Lass, you’re clearly needin’ a guide. Lucky for you, I’m just the merchant you need. I’ve been a Shepherd long enough to be a wee specialist in the art of we leaders’ callings and purposes and such. Last night, you stood fearless and bold against me and my Fire Faeries. Unfortunately, you did so with nae pow’r. Dae ye ken why?”
Montana’s eyes widened at the accusation that she was without power. Impossible! She had been called and chosen. She accepted the charge. This mountain belonged to her.
Didn’t it?
More softly, he responded to her thoughts. “Nae, Lass. It’ll nae be yers til it contains yer heart.”
His hand resting above the frantically beating organ in her chest, Mac Teàrlach said, “As long as this beats here, ye’ve no command. Until it beats within here—” he crouched to rest his hand on the crown of the mountain “—it’s nae safe from those who wish it or this mount ill. Yer full pow’r against others can only come through union with the mountain.”
Montana gasped as her lungs demanded air. His touch had left her incapable of the involuntary motions of life, but it wasn’t fear that caused her lapse.
Mac Teàrlach rose to her height. Eye to eye, he cupped her chin and whispered. “Tis good for you—and it—I ne’er wished it ill.”
He brushed her lips with a calloused thumb before sliding away and surveying their surroundings.
What had—moments before—been black as soot, the mountaintop grew green again. The rapidly expanding grass looked cleaner, deeper and brighter than before the fire’s rejuvenating powers. Montana neither understood nor believed the growth occurring beneath her bare feet. She ambled toward the cliff’s edge, running her toes through the lengthening blades of grass with each step.
Looking down, she watched the emerald hue spread until she lost sight of its brilliance behind the flowering and greening leaves in the trees guarding her mountain’s edges.
“Yon’s some right bonny pow’r.” Mac Teàrlach turned to Montana, eyes shimmering with wonder as he assayed the Shepherdess and considered the powers she could wield. “Imagine how much greater you could dae.”
She tucked her chin before he could see the scarlet spread and pondered the wonders of the past twenty-four hours—his, hers, the unfolding before her eyes. As she sifted together the events with Mac Teàrlach’s words, she felt her eyebrows knit and raised to him with a question.
“How? What possible way on earth could make my heart leap from my chest and nestle inside this glorious mountain?” As she patted the fresh grass carpet with her foot, she revealed a grin that grew as she reflected on the absurdity of the notion of a union between woman and earth.
Mac Teàrlach remained somber, the twinkle in his eye replaced by a glint of … uncertainty, pity, concern.
“Each Shepherd and Shepherdess must sacrifice to embrace and unleash the pow’r within to wholly command and protect. Yer mountain’ll ask you when it’s time. Ye’ll know when it does, for you’ll have never felt fear like that afore.”
“What if I cannot do what it asks?”
Mac Teàrlach’s glint disappeared into the darkness of sorrow. “Ye’ll have a choice.”
“Choose my mountain,” Montana guided their conversation, slowly, uncertain she’d like the end. “Or choose …?”
With a connection stronger than a simple gaze, Mac Teàrlach explored her eyes and finished her sentence. “To lose yer heart … and yer soul.”
“Montana’s Choice” Copyright © 2023 by Joy E. Rancatore. All Rights Reserved.
What do you think about this world of mine that I’m building? If you enjoyed this story, please head over to my site to read the entire Tales of the Faerie Shepherds series .
This month’s story flowed from the inspiration of a delightful monthly online writing prompt, #BlogBattle. As you will read on their site, “Blog Battle is a monthly writing prompt meant to inspire writers and entertain readers.” To read several outstanding stories inspired by February’s prompt, “Merchant,” head on over to the BlogBattlers site!
You may just find a new favorite author to follow!
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January 17, 2023
Goal Setting & Rule Breaking
This blog post comes with a warning label. The process you’re about to read is not for beginners because I broke all the first-of-the-year rules. For Goal Setting 101, head to a post I wrote in 2018, “Resolving to Make Better Goals.”
Now that we have that settled, I am eager to share with you my 2023 goal-setting process—the steps, the changes and the epiphanies.
The Steps2023 is the seventh year I have set a Word of the Year. I didn’t make a blog post about it, but you can read some of the details on my choice of “Legacy” in this Instagram post. Once I set my word, I was ready to plan.
This year I took a 12-step approach to setting my goals and intentions for the year.
First, I pulled up a new document on my reMarkable tablet . (This is my favorite piece of technology I own, and I can’t imagine life without it anymore. No, I don’t get paid to say that.) I started listing out all the things I plan to accomplish this year. Some of them are huge and dream-size, but I stuck with only things I believe are attainable in the next twelve months. I analyzed each one and envisioned it fitting (or not fitting) into my responsibilities and day-to-day, as well as with the big events already on the calendar for my business, my family and my community.Second, I selected the goals that will be ongoing ones throughout the year. (e.g. Participate in Blog Battle again—a monthly short story activity. Check out my January submission here if you’re into short fantasy tales.)Third, I began to assign months to the other goals. I’ve been doing this thing for enough years now to know the temperature of each month. I know how insane August and May are with starting and ending school activities. I know how jam-packed every November is, despite my best efforts to avoid that. With this step, I acknowledged some goals and tasks are dependent upon the completion of others or I simply can’t know yet when I can work it in. This will be a shifting schedule as the year rolls.Fourth, I copied my January goals over to my January month-at-a-glance calendar and listed them in the bottom corner. I considered each week and assigned goals to the weeks I believed I could accomplish them. Notice: I did not work past January on this step. My life shifts drastically from day to day, so assigning out more than a month at a time would be disastrous.Fifth, I copied the week’s goals over to my week-at-a-glance planner. On Sundays, when I look ahead to my week and set my plans, I pull each item onto the day where I’ll be able to work on it. Depending on the goal, this could take one hour, one day, one week or parts of one month. [Side note: All the steps to this point have been handled on my tablet. Seriously, I adore this thing.]Sixth, I pulled up Dan Blank’s Clarity Cards tutorial . This is my second year using his approach, and I love it. What I love most about it is it pulls together all the priorities from business, family, creativity, community and personal. I also appreciate and respect Dan. He is a consultant for authors who is also a champion of all creatives. He generously gives his talents and wisdom through gifts like the Cards and workshops that provide live and interactive explanations of various aspects of the creative life. Also, to round it out and give you the full picture, he has recently published a book that has been the best book I’ve ever read on marketing with a unique approach that’s not gimmicky and is all about giving. If I have you intrigued, grab your copy of Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience .Seventh, I set myself a time limit to fill out my cards and set my pyramid. I had about an hour to devote to the process, and I stuck with it. This is where my starting warning comes most into play. I think this process is best utilized over an extended period of time when things can marinate and forgotten responsibilities can be added. However, I am not new to the cards or to goal setting, so I felt confident in my decision. Also, I had a rough second half of 2022 , and I was ready to dive into action for 2023. Planning had to be done quickly, intentionally and deliberately.Eighth, I wrote out my Clarity Cards. I did forget some things that I might have included had I given myself more time, but so far none of them have been top priorities.Ninth, I analyzed my cards like Dan recommends and whittled them down to the top twelve. This year’s wasn’t too difficult for me.Tenth, I put those twelve in their proper order and took some pictures.Eleventh, I hopped onto Dan’s free workshop about Clarity Cards and enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm from him and the other attendees. From there I decided to add sub-goals or details to the backs of each of my top cards.Twelfth, I pinned my Clarity Cards to the board behind my desk.The ChangesWhile the act of setting goals has been a constant in my life for many years, I don’t recall taking a brain-dump list approach to them before. In the past, I’ve examined categories first and then set goals in each. I’ve also tended to consider months before the goals (e.g. In January I want to clean out my closets and drawers and finish my second draft.) I’m not sure if one is better than the other, but this is the order I took this year and so far, so good!
Beginning with the goal dump and then divvying out to months and taking only the current month down further to weeks and then saving each week’s distribution for the Sunday before may not be entirely new, but it was an intentional approach.
Embracing the fact that all this will shift multiple times before we toast in another new year is definitely a first. For a schedule-lover, flexibility doesn’t come easy to me. I have learned how fluid life is, though; so, I knew I had to not only accept that fact but also embrace it. On that note, I have already shifted two huge things.
First, a day or two after pinning my Clarity Cards to my board, I switched the order of two of them. I moved “Health” to the second row, which bumped “Write More & Complete More” to the third row. For an author whose intention is to write and publish more this year, that seems like a counterproductive move. What I recognized, though, is how vital my health is to my ability to write. Without my health, no writing will get done.
Second, I intended in this first month of the year to complete the first draft of an impromptu and precious book I began in November. Less than a week removed from that decision, I realized completion of another book should take priority. From there, I have shifted that first draft completion behind another work’s next step or two. My newest book isn’t less important, and I haven’t lost my passion for or commitment to it. What has happened is I have been given a huge gift this year—a book award that will open more doors than I can even imagine. In order to best embrace those chances, I need to complete some other work first. My readers deserve it; my future readers deserve it; the audiences that I will have this year that I’ve never had before deserve it; and I deserve it. Completion can be the best gift a creative can give himself.
With Dan’s Clarity Cards, I’m using them with more intention this year. Specifically, I have my cards up on the board behind my desk, so I can reference them often.
Setting sub-goals and details about what each card’s goal encompasses is another first.
And, finally, the time limit on planning and goal setting was definitely new. At this point in the year, I’m feeling some warm tinglies toward that choice. It saved me time, got me to the action quicker and hasn’t backfired on me—yet!
The EpiphaniesOne epiphany stands above the rest for me: I accept that no year goes according to plan, and I expect this year will be no different.
Total honesty: I’m secretly hoping this year is different in the I-completed-my-entire-goal-list-and-then-some kind of way.
Real talk: I know that’s a dream, and it will stay firmly in its dream column while I mentally and emotionally prepare myself for the more likely reality of difficult plan derailments.
Over the past few months, I’ve had time to reflect on my author journey. Part of me has felt guilty for not being so much further along, but then I named all of the derailments that have happened since publishing Any Good Thing and Finder Keepers in late 2019 and This Good Thing in early 2020: a worldwide pandemic, an exponential increase in prep time for my children’s school as we advanced into high school, a major hurricane, an unexpected and incurable disease, battles with depression, a shift in focus to my health and, most recently, the loss of both parents and a dear friend in the space of three months.
When I consider all that’s happened in the past three years, I marvel that I’ve completed the work I have on future books. I also better understand the fluidity of life. More than that, I’ve accepted it as fact and chosen to march ahead anyway.
I have no idea what awaits me in 2023, but I am determined to continue moving forward, no matter how many times I must detour or advance around obstacles.
Do you set goals? Tell me about your process. Has your approach changed? How do you embrace derailments in your life?
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