Esther Spurrill Jones's Blog, page 26

OctPoWriMo 5 - Fire and Blood

Today's prompt is about autumn, and I chose to go with a theme of death and rebirth. I wrote this in church this morning.

Fire and Blood

I lay in the grave, my life at an end,No one to save me, gone are my friends.Then You come—You rush in like a flood.You are the One: fire and blood.I rise again to live with You:No more pain; all is new.

OctPoWriMo 4 - All Are Human

Today's prompt asks us to write about something we believe in. I chose to tackle racism. Recently, I saw a post on Facebook complaining that in Canada, we press 1 for English when calling a customer service centre, and then someone commented that we will soon be "forced to learn Punjabi and Arabic" as if this would be the most terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing. Racism makes me very angry.

All Are Human

Speak English!Not some heathen tongue!How awful would it be if we all had to learn another language?Now, let’s be real:Studying makes you smarter,(Well, duh)And racism makes you dumb.We’re all the same inside:Male and female, any colour,All are human.

OctPoWriMo 3 - Sweetness

Today's prompt asks us to write about "what brings sweetness into your life." The suggested form is tri-fall, a syllabic poetry form with three stanzas of six lines. I had never tried this form, and I love forms, so I gave it a shot.

Sweetness

What things make me happy,Make me smile,Lift my soul and help me to soar?I try not to worry—Not worthwhile.I have so much worth fighting for.
First, and best, I am free,Not on trial.I am blessed that we’re not at war.Now, you may disagree—I love style:Clothes and shoes and baubles and more.
My favourite “candy”Is when I’llFind a new fandom to explore.I am very geeky;It makes me smileTo read and write fanfic and more.

OctPoWriMo 2 - To Two Too?

Today's prompt is 2, or two, or too, or to. I went with a two stanza poem where each stanza is two lines, and I think I've used every permutation of to, two, and too that I could. I thought about making each line be only two beats, but that would have been too short, so I went with four beats per line (which is two times two).

To Two Too?

Too many things to do today;I need two minutes to play and pray.
Too much on my plate for me to chew— God, can you add a few hours too?

OctPoWriMo 1 - My Wings

Today's prompt asks us to think about escape, about breaking free of a chrysalis and flying. I started to think about Once Upon a Dream from Sleeping Beauty and Let me be Your Wings from Thumbelina, and I played with the sonnet form and adapted it and twisted it around a bit.

This is the story of how I fell in love with my husband Mark.

My Wings

Once I thought I knew what I would be,
But life does not come with a guarantee.
I had a plan: I did not need a man;
Then I met you, and through my soul you flew.

Suddenly, I could clearly see
That you had always been the one for me.
I know that dreams aren’t always what they seem,
But I know you, and what we have is true.

Your kiss awoke me and you set me free;
We soar together over land and sea;
I wear your ring and you are my wings;
I love you; I know you love me too.

Together we can do it all;
You will never let me fall.

Review of Reborn by Cherie Reich

Reborn by Cherie Reich

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I just couldn't get into it. Unfortunately, my 'to read' pile is huge, and my life is busy, so books like this that I might have slogged through years ago just get abandoned now.

The plot looked interesting, but the execution was dry and difficult to read. I don't care enough about the characters to force myself through it. Sorry.



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Reborn Blog Tour - Guest Post by Cherie Reich

Today I have a very special guest. Cherie Reich is here as part of her blog tour promoting the release of her new novel, Reborn. Take it away, Cherie!

Books and Libraries
Books and libraries go hand in hand. It’ll be a very sad day if libraries no longer house books and transform into something more like a media center. But it can be difficult for authors to get into libraries. They have limited shelf space and often take what comes out from the bigger publishers.

Wait, read that last part of the sentence above again. Yes, that’s the secret to get your book into a library. A recommended book puts the book in the librarian’s mind. The library has a purchasing committee, and at certain times of the year, they pull out patrons’ requests and decide what to purchase from them. It’s true some books aren’t selected, but trying half the battle.

So if your favorite author has a print book out that you can’t afford to purchase, then ask your library to purchase a copy. The worst they can say is “No.”

Have you asked your library to request a book before?

An Excerpt from Prologue of Reborn
"I have to save her."

“Think of the consequences, my son.” She seized his robes.

He had. They both knew the gods would find a way to curse him and this innocent child, but the  price was worth saving the kingdom.

Ignoring his mother’s protests, Apenth leaned over the lifeless baby again. His lips pressed against her ashen forehead, so cold to the touch. Postera clawed at his arms, but he shoved away her hands. Nothing would stop him from completing Amora’s prophecy, protecting the kingdom.

“You are mine, little one.” His palm rested on the infant’s chest. Heat flowed from his glowing fingertips and nearly burned his flesh, but he kept his hand steady. The white light expanded and exploded within the room.

"Live," he commanded, pleaded.

“No!” Postera screamed. The child’s life-thread ripped from his mother’s hand and joined the pulsing jewel on her belt. The piece sizzled, reattaching to the gemstone, and transformed to blood red.

The life-giving luminosity collapsed into the child, her flesh glowing for a moment. A tiny strawberry-colored birthmark in the shape of a phoenix blossomed upon the flesh over her heart. The baby’s lungs filled with air, and a cry broke from her lips.

To save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate.

On the day of Yssa’s death and rebirth, the god Apenth chose her as the Phoenix Prophetess.

Sea serpents and gods endanger the young prophetess’s journey and sour the omens. Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. She spends her days reading dusty scrolls, which does nothing to help her forget Tym, the boy back home. But the annoying yet gorgeous ferryman’s son Liam proves to be a distraction she can’t predict, even though he rarely leaves her alone for two sand grains.

Her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom.

Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight to change Fate.

Available in eBook and Print!
To purchase: Amazon | Createspace | Google Play | Kobo | Nook | OmniLit | Smashwords | Other Retailers

The authors of Untethered Realms and I are giving away over $50 worth of books to one lucky winner. The giveaway is open internationally.
A Rafflecopter giveaway
A self-proclaimed bookworm, Cherie Reich is a speculative fiction writer and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her books include the horror collection Nightmare, a space fantasy novella collection titled Gravity, and the fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles and The Fate Challenges. Reborn is her debut novel. She is Vice President of Valley Writers and a member of the Virginia Writers Club and Untethered Realms. For more information, please visit her website.

Thank you for stopping by, Cherie, and good luck on the rest of your blog tour.

It's Just a Joke

Recently, a comic popped up in my Facebook news feed of Leia wearing her slave outfit chained to the wall inside the Millennium Falcon, begging Han to give her back her clothes since it was 3 days since they had rescued her from Jabba's palace. My first reaction was to roll my eyes, but then I noticed that she was chained to the wall . My hackles rose. Obviously, this is supposed to be funny, and obviously, many were finding it so—there were several likes and re-shares already. I don't often comment on stuff like this, usually feeling that it's not worth it, but this time I couldn't help myself.

I left a comment explaining in detail why this picture is offensive to me (I really think it should be offensive to anyone who really thinks about it—she was chained to the wall! ). Predictably, several people replied to me, defending the "joke," telling me to "chill out," and even swearing at me. I had expected that, so whatever. The thing that really horrified me, though, was that absolutely no one agreed with me. Not one.

I like a good joke as much as the next person, but I have a problem with a so-called joke that objectifies women, and I really have a problem with a joke that makes out that it's funny to chain women to the wall. This is 2014. We should be past this kind of crap.

For the record, I would also have been offended if the gender roles were reversed. But, as a woman, I am not only offended, I am actually terrified of what it says about all those people who told me to shut up (some of whom were women). What is wrong with us?

Review of Strength by Carrie Butler

Strength by Carrie Butler

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I really wanted to like this book, and there were parts that I really enjoyed. The beginning is engaging, with Rena meeting Wallace and finding out that he is nothing like her preconceived notions. The idea of a race of superpowered people has been done to death, but that's okay. I like fantasy, and just because something is cliché, that doesn't necessarily make it bad. Unfortunately, the promise at the beginning of Strength was empty. The last half or so of the book just fell apart.

My first peeve came early on, though. Can anyone tell me why Carrie Butler felt the need to invent a new word that means the same as another perfectly good word? The non-word in question: 'confliction.' What the hell? That's not a real word, and 'conflict' is already a noun so why on God's green earth would you add 'ion' to the end of it? It just sounds so incredibly stupid. And it's not just once, either. 'Confliction' shows up over and over and over in the text. I wanted to scream. The word you're looking for, Carrie, is 'conflict.' That's the word you want.

One of the things that is a deal-breaker for me when reading a story is when a character does something they would never ever do. Well, that didn't quite happen here, because the characters kept changing. I couldn't tell you about Rena's character, besides that she's stubborn (and stupid), because I have no idea who she is. She's all over the place. What's her motivation? And Wallace: he goes to church but he's not above killing someone, and the only reason he won't fornicate (which is kind of a no-no by church standards) is because he's afraid he'll hurt the girl. The only characters I really got a handle on are Aiden and Gabby, and they're a stereotypical geek/nerd and a stereotypical slut. Ugh.

At one point, Rena's wrist gets broken. I'm not going to say how, in case anyone cares about spoilers. Anyway, she continues on blithely in spite of the excruciating pain, even using her wrist to push herself up at one point, though to be fair, that does hurt... just not as much as it should.

Speaking of Rena: it is possible to write an unlikable main character and keep the reader engaged, but it's not easy, and it's a huge risk. I don't think that was the goal here, but it was a big fail whether I was supposed to dislike Rena and still want to keep reading or... was I supposed to like Rena? Because I didn't. She was so annoying. I wanted to reach into the page and slap her... hard.

The big showdown with the villains is one of the most boring I've ever read. Most of it is a bunch of exposition where the villains explain what they're up to and why they're doing it in an attempt to get the heroes to join them. I understand that they're trying to get their support, but my eyes glazed over. I really don't care about your stupid plans, villains! I want some action and internal conflict and emotional angst.

I gave the book 2 stars because of the potential promised in the first little bit. Unfortunately, I can't give it more than 2 stars, because the last bit didn't live up to that potential. I'm disappointed.



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Review of The Three Little Pigs Get an Extreme Home Makeover & other Modern Mash-ups by Caprice Hokstad

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♥♥♥

The Three Little Pigs Get an Extreme Home Makeover & other Modern Mash-ups by Caprice Hokstad

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Disclosure: I was given a free review copy of this book as the author is a friend of mine.

This book is actually a collection of short stories—modernized rewrites of classic fairy tales. They include “The Three Little Pigs Get an Extreme Home Makeover”(The Three Little Pigs), “The Plaid Pipers of Hamelin Elementary”(The Pied Piper), “The Flaxen-Haired Freeloader”(Goldilocks), “Don’t Eat the House!”(Hansel and Gretel), “Jack and the Genetically Modified Beanstalk”(Jack and the Beanstalk), and “Always a Bad Hair Day”(Rapunzel).

The little pigs on reality tv is clever and funny, and I really liked the “wee wee wee, all the way home” nod to the other famous little piggies. Also, the ending was very cute. This story was very well-done.

The lecture from the writer to the reader at the beginning of the Goldilocks story bored and annoyed me. I understand that it is aimed at children, but the best children’s books are also enjoyed by adults (eg: The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland, etc). However the “bear-germs” made me smile. I did have to wonder why Mama Bear and Papa Bear sleep in separate beds, and I’m sure there are some precocious children who would ask that question. And then, the teaser at the end for the next story annoyed me.

“Don’t Eat the House!” was a decent retelling of Hansel and Gretel with some important lessons for children. However, the witch being blind surprised me as it wasn’t mentioned before it was suddenly a major plot point.

Jack made me laugh. It was a very good retelling of the story, even though the giant was left out. The plot here had no need for silliness like giants and magic. Really. It didn’t.

The narrative commentary on Gothel’s stupidity in dealing with Rapunzel, and on Rapunzel’s annoyance with her hair is very clever. It made me smile several times. I used to have long, curly hair, and I completely agree that long hair is annoying. I can only imagine the difficulties Rapunzel would have with hair long enough to be a ladder.

The last story about the Pipers was way too short. Nothing really happened. I was left feeling cheated.

Over all, this was a good and clever retelling of the classic tales. I kind of wanted more, but I usually do.



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