Andrea Renee Cox's Blog, page 13

Movie Wrap-Up November 2022

These are just a few of the movies I’ve enjoyed lately.

Ticket to Paradise
starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts

This movie featured a divorced couple attempting to prevent their daughter from making the biggest mistake of her life while dealing with the results of their own.

While this movie was not completely clean, I found the plot to be charming and sweet as well as romantic and humorous. It was a fun romp, though there were moments that felt silly and inappropriate. I especi...

The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

This was the most atmospheric, immersive book I’ve read all year. It held a Gothic overtone throughout, which lent a creepy harmony to compliment the Victorian melody of the tale set in Hurstwell Pauper Lunatic Asylum. The musical aspects of the story played well against the madness within. It was a beautifully intricate tale that was exquisitely discordant in all the right places. I was mesmerized from t...

The Letter from Briarton Park by Sarah E. Ladd

This book would easily be a favorite if it weren’t for two profanities and one expletive used. Those bad-language words were completely unnecessary and ruined an otherwise immersive reading experience for me.

Other than those three words, this story was completely charming, utterly delightful, and deliciously mysterious. I love stories like this one that pull me in and hardly ever let me catch my breath for how page-turning good they are. I especially enjoyed how the mystery was made bett...

Be My Guest: Therese Heckenkamp

This article is LONG overdue. I’m talking it should have been presented to you back in March.

Yep, I completely forgot it due to the short-term memory loss that has flared up off and on since the March before that one (2021). (Thanks heaps, Long-C!)

So to Therese Heckenkamp and my readers, I sincerely apologize for not remembering to get this article set up on time.

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Back in January, Mrs. Heckenkamp published a book I am still looking forward to reading. I can hardly believe I nev...

Writing Update October 2022

September’s writing update got skipped, because I had very little energy for anything other than work last month. I did manage to do some writing during September, but I wasn’t up for much blogging. My goal this month is to get ahead a little bit now that I have more energy.

September’s Word Count

The first half of September was mediocre for me on the writing front, but a fresh idea hit me midway through. That helped significantly. While I fell short of the 15k goal I set heading into t...

WIF Camp Registration

Hi, friends. Believe it or not, it’s already time for another Write In Faith Camp.

If you (or someone you know) are a Christian writer looking for a safe place to hang out while chasing writing dreams, consider this your official invitation to Write In Faith Camp (WIF Camp). Registration is open October 10-21, 2022, and camp will be November 1-30, 2022, on Slack.

All the information about camp and the registration form are on this page.

My experience in WIF Camp has been encouragi...

Saying Farewell to an Icon + Crossfire by Lynette Eason

Hello on this delightful Saturday, my friends.

Before we get to today’s book review, I want to take a minute to speak about a current event that happened this week. You know I don’t usually address politics around here, but I feel like the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the only monarch England has had in my entire lifetime (plus!) calls for a moment of recognition.

On Thursday, September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II, England’s longest-reigning monarch, died at age 96.

My mind is having ...

Writing Update August 2022

Another Write In Faith Camp (WIF) has ended, just yesterday in fact, so it’s time for another writing update while the news is fresh.

Last month was the third month-long WIF Camp. My goal this time around was to reach 15,000 words across a few works-in-progress (WIPs). During the first couple of days, I did great and landed some normal-for-me word counts in the multiple thousands. Then things slowed to a slug-like crawl where I was chipping away and barely scraping by with the bare minimum...

Be My Guest: Kellyn Roth

Friends, today we have a guest talking about a topic that’s pretty familiar to me: red hair. Please welcome author Kellyn Roth!

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Dear fellow writers,

I AM TIRED OF BEING MISREPRESENTED.

As a redhead, I read about so many redheads, and let me tell you that, first of all, YOU HAVE TOO MANY OF THEM.

Only 2-6% of the U.S. population is readheads, and worldwide, it’s just 1-2%. Furthermore, a really rich, deep, true red is even rarer.

But if you must insist upon writing about ...

Be My Guest: Mary P.

Friends, today we have a guest who made her publishing debut in the same book I did: Anything. Please welcome Mary P.!

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Hi, readers! It’s a pleasure to join you here to share about my Anything story, including a deleted snippet from an early draft.

I determined from the beginning that I wanted this short to be about the type of love that will give up anything, even one’s own freedom, for family — biological or not. When I first hit upon a solid idea for Anything, it had to do with...