Miranda Atchley's Blog, page 26

Lately 1.7.2017

Good day, readers and friends! I’m checking in with my very first “Lately” post of 2017. I’m still shocked that it’s 2017. We’re only a few years away from being in the 2020s. I wish we could make the next set of ‘20s like the last one; with shingled haircuts, (even though I attempted that once and it did not work on my naturally frizzy, thick hair.) fringe dresses, and jazz music. It would be so fun!
Anyway, it’s been awfully cold here. We got snow! We hadn’t had a real snow in two years where I live, so it was very exciting. It’s so fun to go outside and look at the snow and then come inside and read or write. Speaking of which, here is what I’ve been reading and writing lately.
Snow in our backyard!

Reading
I’m making progress on my goal of reading 60 books this year. I read books 2 and 3 in the Dear Daphne series by Melody Carlson at the beginning of the month and finished Grave Consequences by Lisa T. Bergren this morning. If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Goodreads, then you already know that I finally read Daddy-Long-Legsand I loved it. Why did I wait so long to read this book? I know that it’s only January, but I’m just going to go ahead and say that it is in top ten reads of the year. I’m going to start on my non-fiction read for the month; I just can’t decide if I want to read a Susan B. Anthony biography I have on my Kindle, or Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Maybe I could start one this weekend, and another one toward the end of the month.
Writing
At the end of December, I reached 50K on my latest novel. This month I have really started to edit it (I had been editing certain parts, but now the whole book is getting edited). I’ve finally come up with a title, but I want to keep it a secret for now. Sorry! But I’m planning to do a cover reveal soon, so you’ll all know it then. My beta readers are going over it, so it is all coming together! It’s very exciting. At times this book has been difficult to write because there are a lot of important historical events that take place and I want to keep them as straight as I can. The fact that I started this book only five months ago hasn’t been a huge help, either. But sometimes things just take more time and effort; in the end, it’s all worth it, though.
I hope 2017 is going well for you all so far. Thank you for stopping by, and come back soon for more tales from this writer’s life.
-Miranda Atchley

Review: Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren

Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren
After another year at Normal School in 1913, Cora Diehl is simply looking forward to a summer at home with her mother and father, helping them on their Montana farm. Yet on the day she arrives home, her papa suffers a stroke and the doctor doesn’t expect him to make it. When her papa awakens the next morning, Cora feels triumphant, having expected he would all along. Yet it isn’t long until he suffers another stroke. Cora wants to help send him to a better hospital, and so she retrieves the diamond necklace she received as a birthday gift from an anonymous person. Before she’s able to do so, a beautiful and expensive carriage pulls onto the farm and from it climbs the wealthiest man in Montana, copper king Wallace Kensington, claiming that he is Cora’s biological father, as well as the one who has sent her extravagant gifts for each birthday. Cora’s mother confirms this, much to her dismay. Having heard of Mr. Diehl’s poor health, Mr. Kensington has come to offer Cora a spot on The Grand Tour with his other children, as well as to pay for her papa to go to the hospital in Minneapolis. Upon her mother’s insistence, Cora agrees, not knowing what to expect. It won’t be easy trying to fit in with her new found family among the pampered youth on The Grand Tour of Europe, but Cora will learn and experience things she never thought possible.
This was a good book. From the beginning I found myself interested in it with its unique plot from the beginning. Questions as to how Cora would come to go on the Grand Tour (since I knew she would, given the summary) and who the person was that had been sending gifts to her intrigued me until they were answered. Seeing the new world Cora was thrust into upon discovering her new family was interesting and kept me guessing. I felt for Cora with all that had been going on; from her father being ill, to leaving her home and having to become acquainted with new siblings and family friends that have been raised to think they’re a cut above. I also felt sorry for Will seeing as how much he wanted to return to school, but had to put his education on hold in order to earn money while watching all of these wealthy young people, one even being his former classmate, live as they pleased.
Another thing I love about this book; the cover. It’s so pretty! I love the pink and gold sky behind the Eiffel tower, and Cora’s dress.
All in all, I liked Glamorous Illusions and would recommend it to any fan of historical fiction.
I give this book a 4 out of 5.

Reading and Blogging Goals For 2017

Hey readers and friends. We’re in a brand new year. Can you believe it’s 2017 already? It’s strange to think about it. Time really does go so much faster the older you get. Since it’s a new year and we’re all making resolutions/goals, I thought I’d post some of the reading and blogging goals I’m setting out for myself in 2017.
Read 60 Books
Last year, I really didn’t set out any reading goals for myself. I knew I wanted to read more classics, and since many of those are lengthy with bulky language, I didn’t want to set a number goal in stone. Yet toward the end of the year, I got awfully close to having read 60 books in 2016, so I decided to make that a goal in December. This year, I’d like to read 60 more books. I’m still making my way through some of the classics, because they are my favorites, but I’m also hoping to find some new books to love in other genres.
Read Books on My Shelf That Haven’t Been Read
I have a lot of books on my shelves that I’ve purchased from yard sales, thrift stores, and library book sales that have gone unread for far too long. I really want to at least try reading most, if not all of them, over the course of this year. I suppose I ought apply this rule to the many free books I’ve downloaded on my Kindle, as well.
Read More Non-Fiction
I also want to read more non-fiction. Fiction is my favorite, but I enjoy non-fiction from time to time and I think it would good for me to read at least one non-fiction book per month. Mere Christianity has sat on my shelf unread for an embarrassingly long time, so I already know of one I can (attempt to) read.
Write Book Reviews Differently
For the past two years, I’ve been writing book reviews and posting them as Book of the Week. I want to start doing something different. I want to just write regular reviews and discontinue Book of the Week. This way, I can write multiple reviews each week if I want, or skip a week without feeling guilty.
So those are my plans in my reading and blogging life for 2017. Have any of you made goals for this year? If you have, tell me about them in the comments!
-Miranda Atchley

2016 in Review

This year I….
Published A Castle in the Sky ! I loved this book so much and I was so happy to get it published.
BOOKS READ IN 2016
Found out that A Castle in the Sky made the #45 spot on Read Free.ly’s Top 50 Indie Books of 2016.
TOP TEN BLOG POSTS OF 2016
Made new friends within the book blog community.
Wrote more, read more.
Found new books to love.
This year has had some great moments. Thank you all for reading my blog as they took place. I look forward to more years of blogging and chatting about books and writing. I hope you all have a great New Year’s Eve and a marvelous 2017!
-Miranda Atchley

December in Review

Can you believe that December is over? It certainly flew by. Now we’re on the eve of a new year. Good things happened this month; A Castle in the Sky made it to Read Free.ly’s The 50 Best Indie Books of 2016 list, we celebrated Christmas, I made progress on my novel, and read lots of good books!
Books Read in December Unblemished One Enchanted Christmas The Sound of Emeralds GlamorousIllusions Wrapped in Red Emily’s Quest Austenland America’s First World War
At the last minute, I decided I wanted to meet a goal of reading 60 books in 2016 since I was pretty close to that number. There were a couple times when I wasn’t sure I’d reach that goal, but I did. Unblemished, The Sound of Emeralds, Glamorous Illusions, and Wrapped in Redwere my favorites from this month. Emily’s Quest was a re-read; I liked it, but it isn’t one of my favorites from L.M. Montgomery, or even this series. I don’t like the way Ilse was portrayed in this one. I did not care for Austenland. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. America’s First World War was an okay read; I got some of the information I was looking for by reading it, though not all of it.
Favorite Posts From DecemberOh, What Marvelous Things (Good News!)Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Books of 2016Book of the Week #70 “The Sound of Emeralds”Books Read in 2016
I reached my goal of 200 blog posts this month! I’m glad I reached this goal that I had set out for myself at the beginning of the year, but I doubt I will ever make that goal again. Haha.
Thank you so much for reading A Real Writer’s Life this month. I hope you all had a great holiday season and that you’ll have a happy new year. I’ll be back soon in a new month, a new year, with more tales from a real writer’s life.

-Miranda Atchley

Books Read in 2016

Hello, readers and friends! I cannot believe that 2016 is almost over. In some ways, it sort of dragged, but in others it really passed quickly. And I definitely read a lot of great books this year (along with a few I didn’t care for). Today, I’d thought I share my list with you all.
Throughout the year, I added each book I read to this list. Each book has a number beside it; that’s my personal rating each one. The rating system goes something like this;1= Didn’t like it2= It was okay3= Liked it4= I really liked it5= I loved it
January1: Celebrate! Tis The Season by Amber Florenza -42: The Heir by Kiera Cass -43: A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery -44: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery -5February5: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott -5March6: Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay -47: Mrs. Sinclair's Suitcase by Louise Walters -28: Cinder by Marissa Meyer -49: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen -4April10: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer -411: Cress by Marissa Meyer -512: A Singular and Whimsical Problem by Rachel McMillan -513: Bellflower by Amber Stokes -414: A Castle in the Sky by Miranda Atchley *15: Fairest by Marissa Meyer -1May16: The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan -517: Ain't We Got Fun by Emily Chapman and Emily Ann Putzke -4June18: Of Dubious and Questionable Memory by Rachel McMillan -519: Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay -320: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery -521: Love and Friendship by Jane Austen -4July22: The Lost Heiress by Roseanne M. White -323:  The  Ghost of Briardale by Grace Mullins -5
24: Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee -525: To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han -3.526: The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy Cambron -527: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel PieSociety by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows -528: Famous British Women Novelists by Nora Smaridge -4August29: The Sound of Diamonds by Rachelle Rea Cobb -430: For Elise by Hayden Wand -431: The Crown by Kiera Cass -432: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling -333: The Selection by Kiera Cass -434: The Elite by Kiera Cass -335: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen -536: The One by Kiera Cass -337: The Selection Stories by Kiera Cass -3September38: A Lesson in Love and Murder by Rachel McMillan -539: On The Loose by Jenny B. Jones -440: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald -441: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen -242: Forget Me Not by Amber Stokes -443: Spirits in Bondage by C.S. Lewis -4October44: Bleeding Heart by Amber Stokes -445: Close To You by Kara Isaac -446: Women's Suffrage: A Short History of a GreatMovement by Millicent Fawcett -447: Emma by Jane Austen -448: How Women Got the Vote: The Story of Women'sSuffrage in America by Ida Husted Harper -4November49: God's Will by Meghan M. Gorecki -450: The Sound of Silver by Rachelle Rea Cobb -451: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë -552: Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel by Melody Carlson -3December53: Unblemished by Sara Ella -554: One Enchanted Christmas by Melissa Tagg -355: The Sound of Emeralds by Rachelle Rea Cobb -456: Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren -457: Wrapped in Red by Meghan M. Gorecki -4
58: Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery -4
59: Austenland by Shannon Hale -1
60: America's First World War by Henry Castor -3
*I didn’t give this book a rating since I wrote it, but I did include it, because, seriously; I read it like, five times during the whole process. ;-)
Top Ten Books of 2016
I re-read some old favorites this year for online read-alongs. In this list, I decided not to include them since I had previously read them and already considered them favorites. Instead, I only included books I had read for the first time in 2016 and fell in love with.
1: The Blue Castle2: Sense and Sensibility 3: Jane Eyre 4: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society5: The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder 6: The Ringmaster's Wife 7: Bleeding Heart8: A Tangled Web9: The Great Gatsby10: Cress

Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Books of 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.               With only four days left of 2016, a lot of us bookworms are looking back on what we read this year. I read a decent amount of classics, quite a few historical novels, with some contemporary and sci-fi sprinkled in for good measure. I also re-read a few of my old favorites for read-alongs, but I didn’t include them in this list since I’d previously read them. Today my list is clearly dominated by classics and historical fiction, because those are my two favorite genres. There is only one book on this list that takes place post mid-20thcentury.


10: Cress by Marissa MeyerI read the majority of The Lunar Chronicles for the first time this year, and Cress was my favorite.


9: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldThis was definitely a different sort of classic.


8: A Tangled Web by L.M. MontgomeryThis wasn’t my all-time favorite book by L.M. Montgomery, but I still really liked it. It’s a prime example of how great she was at writing about different types of people. Her books are magical.


7: Bleeding Heart by Amber Stokes I love all of Amber’s novels, and this is one of my favorites from her. Her historical novels have shown me another side of Westerns that didn’t I realize existed. It isn’t all about cowboys and saloon girls; there are people from other countries and people doing all sorts of things. And I liked Sally, even though she had dubious past. She realized that she needed to change, and she did.


6: The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy CambronThis was such a good book! You really don’t see a ton of books that center around circuses, and that just adds to the charm of this book. I just love it.


5: The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan I really loved this book. It’s so nice to see strong women in Christian fiction, and I love Jem and Merinda. They’re such good friends and balance each other out.


4: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel PieSociety by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie BarrowsThis book was so good. Of course it had some really sad stories, as all novels set during WWII do, but looking at the larger picture; it’s really good.


3: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë This year, I finally got around to reading Jane Eyre. It was definitely worth the wait; a new favorite of mine.


2: Sense and Sensibility by Jane AustenI haven’t read all of Jane Austen’s novels yet, but this one has been my favorite so far. I really like seeing the relationship between Elinor and Marianne; how they’re different, and quarrel sometimes, but they still love each other and are there for one another.


1: The Blue Castle by L.M. MontgomeryYou know how you sometimes read a book that you love so much, and it reminds you of why you love to read in the first place? L.M. Montgomery’s books tend to have that effect on me. She’s simply my favorite. I love her quirky characters and how real they seem. Valancy is quite different from Montgomery’s other heroines. She starts out as a very meek woman, only existing to do what her family tells her to do. But after some life altering news, she finds herself and really starts living life.

Top Ten Tuesday: A Christmas Wish List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish .
To some, my wish lists would probably seem pretty boring. When my birthday or Christmas rolls around, I usually just write out a list of books. Sometimes there might be an article of clothing or a movie tacked to the bottom, but the list is primarily comprised of book titles. Like I said, to some, it may seem pretty boring, but to me, it's very exciting. And with Christmas right around the corner, those sorts of things are on all of our minds. That’s why today’s post is extra fun. At the request of the ladies at The Broke and The Bookish, I bring you ten books I would love for Jolly Old St. Nick to bring to my house this Christmas.


10: The Red Door Inn by Liz JohnsonI’ve read a sample of this book on my Kindle and liked it so far. I mean, it is set in Prince Edward Island, after all.


9: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollI love these Puffin "In Bloom" books. I'd like to own them all, but Alice in Wonderland is at the top of my list right now.


8: The Butterfly and The Violin by Kristy CambronOne of my favorite books from 2016 was The Ringmaster's Wife. It has wonderful writing and the setting is marvelous. I'd really like to read the rest of Kristy Cambron's books, and The Butterfly and The Violin sounds interesting.


7: Can’t Help Falling by Kara Isaac I don’t read much contemporary romance, but I did enjoy Close To You. Can’t Help Falling sounds even more interesting with its C.S. Lewis theme and English winter setting.


6: Lady Catherine, The Earl, and The RealDownton Abbey by The Countess of CarnarvonNeed I explain?


5: Snobs by Julian Fellowes I’m a huge Downton Abbey fan, and would love to read this book by its creator.


4: A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery Eventually, I'd like to own paperbacks of all of L.M. Montgomery's books, because she’s my favorite. A Tangled Web wasn't my all-time favorite book by her, but I still really enjoyed it and would love to have a copy of the Sourcebooks edition.


3: Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery


2: Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery These are the only two books I need to complete my set of Anne of Green Gables in the Sourcebooks editions.


1: Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham This beauty needs (needs!) to be on my shelf.
What books are filling your Christmas lists? Anything besides books that your heart desires this year?
Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful day.
-Miranda Atchley

Book of the Week #71 "Wrapped in Red"

Wrapped in Red by Meghan M. Gorecki
Merry Grainger has a tough time dealing with the holidays. Five years ago, her grandfather passed away at Christmastime, just a week after her boyfriend dumped her on the eve of her birthday. Sam Shepard doesn’t much enjoy the holidays, either, his mother having passed several Decembers ago, causing him to become estranged from his family. When Merry gets caught in a snowstorm on the way home for Thanksgiving and a smug snowman comes to her rescue, the two think it will be the last time they ever see each other. Yet with the church’s Christmas play right around the corner, Merry’s meddlesome family has different ideas.
This was a sweet novella. I’m not a huge fan of contemporary romance, but I’m okay with it from time to time. I like that this wasn’t strictly about romance. It had lots of family elements, but also dealt with how hard the holidays can be. Sometimes I don’t think that’s portrayed enough in fiction; Christmas novels tend to be all about romance or all about the joyous side of Christmas. But for so many people, Christmas can be depressing, reminding us of loved ones we’ve lost, or painful memories that took place during the holidays, and this book deals with that. But it reminds us that there is always hope, because of Jesus, the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place.
Even though Wrapped in Red dealt with the harder side of the holidays, it still gave us a nice look at the happier side, too. From spending time with loved ones, to being outside in the snow, all the decorations and movies, and the food (!!); we still get those cozy touches of the holidays.
All in all, Wrapped in Red was a nice novella that fans of cozy Christmas stories will enjoy.
I give this book a 4 out of 5. 

Oh, What Marvelous Things (Good News!)

I got some great news last night….
A Castle in the Sky made the #45 spot on Read Free.ly’s Top 50 Indie Books of 2016 list!
I’m so thrilled with this. It feels so good to have made this list, especially after almost three of being a published author. Thank you so much, a hundred times over, to everyone who voted for A Castle in the Sky. It means the world to me and I am very grateful for your support. Here’s to many more years of writing and reading!
-Miranda Atchley