Sabrina Giles's Blog, page 13

Do Not Be Afraid

There comes a time, realistically there are many times, where you come to a point in your life where you must make a choice. Move forward, or stay where you are. I am proud to say I have said “Yes” to that question that pops up from time to time. I moved in with the man of my dreams, I married that man, I published my first novel, you get the idea. But there’s a few things about me you may not know.

I had the chance to go to college a few years ago, but I was afraid. I worried about student loans and that they would give me a hard time because I had been home-schooled through high school. I am scared of a lot of things, as I’m sure everyone is. I’m scared of making a mistake, doing something wrong, and possibly hurting someone in the process. I’m sorry to bring up the zodiac sign mythology but I’m a Libra and I weigh things to death. I spend so long thinking about which way to go that sometimes the opportunity passes me by or I just psych myself out so much that I freeze. I don’t decide. I stay where I am.

I’m scared of failure. If it hadn’t been for Hubs convincing me to put “Ensuing Darkness” on writing

From The Book: The Great White Wolf

Even before Connelly Peters and his family showed up and blew Kota‘s mind about the existence of the paranormal, she was already participating in an annual supernatural ritual.

Because in Maxville, and the surrounding towns, there was one being everyone knew of, and everyone protected from newcomers like Louis and the Peters. The Great White Wolf emerged long ago when the decimation of wolves in the area occurred. Their numbers dwindled quickly, but still people killed, killed, and killed some more. Some people actually went out and actively hunted them, either out of spite, for their furs, or for sport.

Then, when they were on the cusp on extinction, he came. The first sighting was on a particularly terrible winter’s night when a group of hunters were tracking one of the last small packs left. Both sides had already lost a few members from attacks on each other. Neither had had much sleep either.

One hunter in particular was more eager to finish them off than the rest, and didn’t want to wait until dawn to begin again. While his friends slept, he crept forward towards the resting wolves, and readied his gun for the attack on the alpha, wherever he was.

He spotted the alpha, a massive gray beast standing watch over the others. It only took a minute for his scanning eyes to land on the hunter, who set his jaw and cocked his gun. The alpha’s growls woke the others, but they stayed where they were and the alpha only stood. The hunter was confused, but only for a moment; he wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste.

Before he could squeeze the trigger, a deep growl from behind and a blinding light pushed him to the ground. The light was heavy, but after a minute it faded slightly and revealed a wolf so white it hurt to look at him, and he was twice the size of the gray alpha. A second later and the man’s throat was ripped out.

The White Wolf then came to where the rest of the hunters were sleeping and stalked around their campsite, letting them see him and his glowing fur. He ended up killing one more hunter before letting the rest of them run off when they saw their bullets had no effect on him. The rumors spread, and after a few more hunting parties left the forest with less than they’d entered with, and scared out of their minds, the hunts finally ceased.

The wolf population flourished once more and the mysterious spectral white wolf disappeared.

Over the next 30 years, sightings of “The Great White Wolf” were few and far between. He had first shown up to save the wolves, but after that, he began saving the occasional hunter. Only if he felt they deserved it. The rumors about the evil spirit wolf changed, and then the annual offerings began. When hunting season began, each hunter’s best cut went to The White Wolf, as a thanks for the hunters he’d saved. Wolves were still killed on a yearly basis, but not like they had been. Even when it seemed The White Wolf had disappeared altogether, they continued the offerings to try and get him back, but if he didn’t get their meat, his wolves would.

The Great White Wolf protects his wolves, but also tries to keep the balance right between things in his forest. He saves the hunters worthy enough, and also investigates newcomers around his forest, especially those whose presence seems threatening.

Other names are; The White Wolf; The Wolf King; and The Spirit Wolf; or The Maxville Wolf (on account of being Maxville’s mascot).

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Gray wolf, Great White Wolf, Hunting, Michigan, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wolf Hunt, Wolf King

Book Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: The Selection

Series: The Selection series (bk 1)

Author: Kiera Cass

Cover Designer: Gustavo Marx/ Mergeleft Reps, Inc.

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: April 24, 2012

Page Count: 327

 

~Goodreeds Summary~

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

 

 

~My Review~

First thing I want to say – I read this in a day – so I assume you know where this review is going. I’m not going to go through and tell you my version of the summary for this book, because personally I find it annoying since there is already a perfectly good summary up above. So, I’ll just get right to the point. The first thing that caught my eye was of course the cover. I absolutely love it. The dress is beautiful, the girl posed perfectly (and I love the hair!), I like the way the cover designer went with the mirrored effect, and I love the font too. So far a win for me.

There was a while there where I was incredibly sick of romance novels, be they general fiction or supernatural of any kind. It must have been the books I had the misfortune to be reading, because they were all the same it seemed. And that’s why I like this one. Just like America Singer, this romance novel stands out from the crowd around it. I guess I like complicated, complex, romances, and baby this is definitely complicated. First forbidden love and then -bleep-bleep-BLEEP ?! (Spoilers have been cut from this review for the safety of your enjoyment later.) Love it!

This story is set in the future, where there is no longer a United States, and there’s a scene where the history of how the U.S. came to be the kingdom of Illéa came to be. It’s so detailed and I think I enjoyed even just that one part as much as I did because in a way I could see it actually happening. Even the caste system is interesting to me, because I’ve always been fascinated by caste systems, and I love how this one competition is a way to not only give hope to people in the lower castes but also give America the chance to realize that not all things about the higher castes are bad. Not everyone is on the inside what they appear to be on the outside.

I give this book:

I very much enjoyed this story and can’t wait to get the next installment, the whole series! Thank you Kiera Cass for allowing us all a peek into your wonderful world of storytelling.

Until next time!

~ Sabrina Giles -_^

 

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: America Singer, Aspen, Caste, Kiera Cass, Prince Maxon, Reading (process), Selection, United States

Moved In!

Hello everyone, how are you all doing? I want to apologize for having been away for the past couple weeks. After Hubs got home I did little more than spend time with him, though I was active on Facebook and Twitter in that time. I gotta tell you guys, it’s been busy haha. From the time he got home until we moved we were either running around visiting family or getting things to be ready for the move date. Actually, instead of the two weeks he was supposed to get off, he really only got a week and a half. On moving day, we had a nice rain the entire time, and then again when we were unloading at our new home. Haha, of course.

Presently, I have almost completely set up this 2 bed/1 bath pad, while Hubs has hooked us up with Wi-fi and put all the entertainment in the living room in working order. I have to say I am over the moon elated to finally be in our own place.There’s just something about having my own kitchen filled with my own things that relaxes me. We made spaghetti the night before last and it was amazing. Feels so good to cook with him again, haha.

Also, I’m coming to you from my own office!!! *Squee!* It feels great to have a space that’s solely dedicated to my work both in writing and art. Speaking of art actually, Hubs finally installed my Photoshop CS6 on my computer! This is so exciting! I haven’t checked it out yet, but you can bet that’s next on my to-do list . As I told you recently, I’m wanting to equaling my focus on my art and writing, and lately I can definitely say art has been on my mind. Everything I’m wanting to do is art-oriented, but I can expound on that later.

About the new base. We aren’t living on base, but from what everyone is saying, I think this place is going to be good for us. Hubs says everyone is really nice, which is weird because of how people were at his Tech School. I’m not sure if the people are just nicer or if it’s because he’s in a different phase of his training. He’s no longer considered a student now, and is in transition to working on the floor and doing his actual job work. I think that’s what it is, because I understand keeping it strict while they’re still in school. Anyways, we’ll be here for 2 years and I’m happy that right now everything seems good. I just hope it stays that way.

Here are a few pics of the office! ^_^

P.S. The top picture was taken from my phone and these below were from my camera haha.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Adobe Photoshop, Facebook, Login, Online Communities, Photoshop CS6, Social Networking, Twitter, Wi-Fi

Hubs’ Painting

Filed under: Uncategorized

Heart with rings 1

This is what I drew before the wedding sketch (cross w/ wings). So this was basically a practice sketch, but I still figured you might like to peek at it. And yes, I do regret that odd shading in I did around it all. I’m not sure why I did that. Next up, will be a couple of Hubs’ pieces, since I have more of his art on my computer than my own haha.

This is the first picture I drew for Hubs while in BMT. I know it doesn’t look quite as good as my second one, and I hate that stupid shadowing I did around it -.-. I’ll have to fix it when I get it back from Hubs haha, but all in all I still like it.

Filed under: Uncategorized

The Artist and the Author: part 2

The Author.

I’m not like other authors. I wasn’t creating stories when I was little unless it was to get me out of trouble. Oh, and books? I hated them unless they were non-fiction and about animals. I wanted to be a Biologist back then, and was too busy learning valuable information to bother with fiction books. What use did I have of reading about things and places that weren’t real? I was too busy running around doing things to read something that didn’t give me information I could use in return (or so I thought at age 9).

I’m thankful now, but I felt doomed when my mother realized those fiction books were my perfect punishment. Regular punishments didn’t work on me, as I tended to entertain myself pretty easily or just go to sleep. Haha . I remembered that hour used to be the longest of my life, but after a while I grudgingly had to admit that I was beginning to like it. Those new and unreal worlds were interesting…. no, amazing! Paul Zindel, Christopher Paolini, Frank Peretti and so many others built the gateway to this book-loving life I live now.

And that’s where everything changed. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but I found myself coming up with my own stories to compensate when I felt what I was reading left something to be desired. Skip to the present; I’m the author of my first novel (and the start of a 4-5 book series), working on the sequel and a couple other projects, and I now own around 300 books. Fiction books.

I don’t ever hear about these kinds of authors, who started on the other side of books and writing, but now you have. Haha, but while feeling towards books has changed, most of me still remains the same. I still tell stories to get out of trouble (they don’t buy it anymore and say I was never good at lying anyway -_-), and I’m still having a hard time sitting down to read or write as much as I want/need to because I love having an active regular life. I’m still trying to find that balance between a healthy writing life and a healthy regular life, but that’s a whole different post for another time.

For now I’ll just leave you staring at that lovely espresso up there and trying to figure out what all is written on that notebook.

You nosy little readers you. ;p

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Author, Book, Christopher Paolini, Fiction, Frank E. Peretti, Non-fiction, Paul Zindel, Read

The Artist and the Author: part 1

 

I drew this before we got married and sent it to him before he’d graduated BMT.

The Artist.

I was born knowing I was an artist. Since I could hold a crayon I was creating something. My color was never outside the lines, I would give myself a crick in the neck on those dang paint-by-numbers, and I even made some coin selling my

sketches to others in elementary. Of course, now I wish I never would’ve sold those to anyone, or at least had taken a picture of my sketch before selling it haha.

In the past few years, I’m sad to say that I’ve fallen away from my artistic endeavors and immersed myself in my writing instead. Every free minute I had I wanted to spend writing, or reading, and my sketching time dwindled thus. Now I make up for lost time.

My first dream, when I realized my writing talent, was to publish a book by the time I was 18. Well, I ended up being 20, but close enough. Originally I had planned to have my own artwork for my covers, but my fault for not focusing on it as much as I did my writing. Haha, that’s probably why I changed Ensuing Darkness‘ face so much .

I want to start working on my art again, as well as indulge in a few other artsy venues that amuse me. I’m planning for my next book, whether it be The Dark Chronicles #2 or one of my other WIPs, to be wrapped in something of my own creation. I’m not sure at this point whether I want to use solely what I can create on paper or what I can make on the computer (Hubs is getting me Photoshop CS6 yay!). Hubs is amazing with art, because he didn’t ignore his talent, and so he may be making my covers until I can. I’ll be posting a few of the pieces I have loaded on my computer, of both mine and Hubs’.

1st piece above!

~ by me.

This is the first shot of the piece I made for our wedding, before our wedding, and sent it to Hubs before he graduated BMT.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Adobe Photoshop, Art, Author, Book Writing, Drawing, Paint, Photoshop, United States, Visual Arts, Writer, Writers Resources, writing

Nightmare Before Christmas!!!

Let me just start by saying that I absolutely love this movie and have since I was but a wee child. I’m also lucky enough to have married a man also in love with this movie. I have decided that our new tradition that will start next Halloween, will be to decorate our house in this theme. I actually never thought about this until now, when I found out just how much stuff they have from this movie. I love it! I’m actually thinking of having a little table made over to look like the town on top, so it would be my Halloween version of a Christmas village. :p

I haven’t started buying things yet, but I’m making up my list from what I find on ebay and this facebook page. AND I thought I’d show you a few items I’ve found on here. Enjoy!

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Christmas, Film, Halloween, Holidays, Jack Skellington, Nightmare Before Christmas, Opinions, Religious

Why Waitressing is good for Writers

I am a writer. I am a waitress.

Not only is it a good option when you’re broke, but it’s good for research too. I know that sentence probably confused you, so let me explain. When writing, you must describe what your characters are doing in detail; their expressions, mannerisms, silent communicative gestures, etc.

If you’re like me and a natural people watcher, then great, you probably do this 24/7. But if not, then serving would benefit you. You need to study people for your books anyway, so why not get paid for it too? I love to research and learn new things I’m interested in, and people are sometimes the most interesting to watch.

You can learn so much about a person without ever saying “hi”. Are they a nervous person? Do they constantly have to be moving some part of their body, whether it be a finger or a foot, to keep in time with their own internal rhythm? What does their demeanor look like when they’re stressed or angry? Because everyone’s is different.

In my writing, I try to show as much as I can instead of explaining everything. There are so many gestures and non-verbal ques that people use to describe their moods or thoughts even. I like the effect it has on my writing when I use this method.

Also, it depends on where you work to what range of personalities you get to study. Does your book have a slightly rougher crowd than the little country restaurant I work at? Try being a cocktail waitress in the city, maybe in a sports bar or club. I’m in no way telling you to put yourself in danger just to study for your characters. No need to get involved in a mob war just so you can accurately describe real-life mobsters in your stories. Haha, I’d definitely rather hit the books and online sources for that one, but that’s just me.

I know there are writers out there willing to take risks, sometimes extreme, in order to experience something they need for their books. I would actually love to do some crazy adventurous things in order to get some first-hand experience for my characters. How about you? Have you ever done something crazy just so you can write it out accurately? What was it? Even if it would be too dangerous to do in reality, what would you love to be able to do to get that first-hand experience for your characters?

For me, well I don’t think I can disclose what adventure I’d like to live just quite yet haha. That book is not done enough for me to show off, but soon!

 

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Arts, Author, Book, Cocktail waitress, Eye of the Tiger, FAQs Help and Tutorials, Mailing Lists, Relationships, Romance, Shopping, Waiting staff, Writers Resources, writing, Writing Exercises