Kate Willis's Blog, page 104

Book Review: Choices for Max

[image error]“Max loves baseball. He always has. And the last gift from his dad before his parents died was a baseball of his own. Now, living in the city with his aunt and sister, his greatest wish is to see the man he was named after, a professional baseball player. But which choice will make his wish come true?

Help Max in his choices and decide on your favorite ending.” (from Goodreads)

This was such a fun, summer-y story by Rebekah Morris! I loved the close relationship between Max and his sister, and I liked all of their relatives even Aunt Kate. (I have a feeling she has something of a sad backstory.)

Camp NaNoWriMo Update #2

The Twins Arrows didn’t get much attention last week, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on my goal. I’m only a thousand words behind, and that’s nothing a long writing session and a little chocolate can’t fix, right?

Isn’t It Love

We are so small.

God is so big. And yet He gave His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for our sins.

Isn’t it love!

I hope you all had a great Good Friday and your Resurrection Sunday celebration is very blessed!

Book Review: Princess Academy

[image error]“Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king’s priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year’s time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king’s ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.

Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.” (from Goodreads)

Confession: I waited too long to read this book by Shannon Hale. The little snatches of writing style I had seen didn’t look that good, and the description gave me the suspicion that it would be The Same Old Story. I was happily wrong and discovered one of the best fantasies I’ve ever read.

Camp NaNoWriMo Update #1

I had plans to focus on editing “The Twin Arrows” this month anyway; so when the option of Camp NaNoWriMo presented itself, it didn’t take too much arm-twisting-author-peer-pressure to get me to join.

Book Review: Shadows of the Hersweald

[image error]“They would have to come that afternoon. Haydn glared at the rutted road twisted away from the gate beneath him, slithering into the shadows of the Hersweald. And what was the flaming idea behind leaving him in charge? Nerthach in the hands of a criminal… that would put them all in the good graces of the province governor, no questions asked. A battered soldier from a defeated army, Haydn knows there is only one end to the arrival of the Prince’s governor. Except he hasn’t counted on the Prince himself. Or the pardon which his recent foe has declared to acquit all those who fought against him. A pardon Haydn detests. A pardon that refuses to punish the rebels now threatening his own village. And his sister. Guilt-ridden from his own actions during the war, Haydn knows there are others who have no conscience at all. Others who are using the freedom of the pardon to forward their own desperate schemes.

With enemies closing in on all sides, a pardon that refuses punishment, and nightmares of murder and fire haunting his every thought, will Haydn recognize the truth or will his fear condemn everything he loves to destruction?” (from Goodreads)

I was more than excited to revisit the world of Aslaria in what has become one of my all time favorite series. This book is gorgeous inside and out! Best. poetic. prose. ever. Haydn’s struggles were a perfect example of how things go when we try to gain peace on our own. Even though he was a confident veteran with a deadly reputation, good intentions, and a fierce loyalty to family and village, the medallion was proof that he couldn’t conquer everything. Gorawen and Traveon were neat side characters, and I alternated between hating Mathias’ guts and wondering if I misunderstood him. SPOILER ALERT! I misunderstood him. One thing (besides the world’s best prose) I always appreciate about this allegorical series is the respectful portrayal of God, and I was very blessed by the featuring of a Holy Spirit character in this one. There were also some pretty great plot twists (though that last one was horrible in its ramifications!), and all the sneaking around was awesome. SPOILER ALERT! Just make sure you have those moonstones! END OF SPOILER! Just a note that this book is slightly darker than the first two, and one character frequently uses fake curse words. There are also violent memories of war, mention of SPOILER ALERT! murder in the past END OF SPOILER, and theoretical danger SPOILER ALERT! to a woman from a very evil man END OF SPOILER.

Best quote: “I tore it up, but not because I rejected the Prince. I tore it up because men such as you and I ought not to walk free.”

Altogether, I’m pretty happy with this book. I need another.

Plate Update: Princess Lessons, the FBI, and Celebrations

March was a fantastic start to this spring! (Although if you’re in a southern state like I am, it pretty much just launched in summer temperatures.)

I Guest Posted (Twice)

Guess what? I got to guest post twice this week!

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The first one is on Noble Novels, a place for people to publish short stories and get feedback from fellow authors. I’ve posted a few of my own stories on there, but this posting date I decided to share “Four Key Tips to Becoming a Better Writer/Author”. Just a few things I’ve picked up along the way.

Book Review: Kingdom Come

[image error]“Central North Carolina hasn’t seen much change in over 50 years…but suddenly people who have been there for generations are leaving the small farming settlements-lock, stock, and barrel. When massive warehouses surrounded by metal fencing seem to go up overnight, local businesses are bought out, and more than 6,000 families establish residence in a community named Kingdom Come, the FBI begins to suspect cult activity. Agent Ben Atkins is sent to investigate, and though he does sense something major happening, he is not convinced it is sinister. In fact, as he moves in for a closer look, he begins to wonder if those on the inside of Kingdom Come are working to keep evil out. But time is running short for him to discover the truth, as unexpected enemies-law enforcement agencies, media groups, and even the church hierarchy-threaten the community’s existence.” (from Goodreads)

Build a town in the middle of nowhere with a high population of Christians and prison regulation fencing around the perimeter, and sorry, but that just looks bad. The government thinks it a cult, the media thinks it a story, and the Christian leaders are suspicious. Since I didn’t remember the story  by Larry Burkett and T. Davis Bunn that well, I was interested to discover just what it all meant.

The authors did an amazing job of showing me just how complicated people are! The plot was built off conflicting desires, prejudices, and beliefs. Many characters were either trying to do what was right or climb the ladder. (Sometimes both.) Everyone wanted something, and those wants rubbed against each other in a such a human, realistic way. Even the respected leader of the community wasn’t shown as sinless and unable to err. Something I noticed (after my mom pointed it out) was that that “choppy writing style” I had disliked was actually a very subtle form of characterization. Whenever the main character, who happens to be an FBI agent, sizes someone up it gives approximate age, height, and even some minute details just like he would gather in his mind. (It was also fun to note that when it was from the journalist’s point of view, the descriptions were more general and poetic.) The main characters were neat, but my favorites actually ended up being some side pastors who were very fun and vibrant for the Lord.

A Storybook Birthday

I got older last week. I didn’t mean to; it just happened. There’s no controlling birthdays. They come suddenly with fire on candles and ice on cream. Dreadfully frightening.

My birthday this year was pretty storybook in that it was charming and sweet and fun and also that it will enable me to write more storybooks. Because, it was pretty much an extremely author-ly birthday.