Kate Willis's Blog, page 112

Seeds of Story

The Christmas lights sparkle half on the tree and half off as the decorating begins this evening. Soon we will turn on Christmas carols and hang ornaments. We have a tradition where our parents give us a special ornament every year. I love reliving the memories of past years as I find a place on the crowded tree for each one of them.

I’ve never written a proper memoir (I’m much too young and ordinary to write one unless it were about kitchen mishaps); but as I look at my stories, I realize a part of my life has been used in each of them.

Every cute toddler, every insecure Christian girl who must grow in her faith, every picnic, every birthday, every church service… it’s all happened to me in some way or another and just needs a slight bit of re-imagining for the setting and characters I’m using at the moment.

I read an article the other day about finding inspiration from other works by building off elements of the story and making them our own. (Fairy-tale retellings are my favorite example of this.) How much more realistic and grounded our stories would be if we used our own lives as the basis!

Take your favorite memory of receiving a doll for your sixth birthday and turn yourself into a Dickens character who was orphaned the week before. The setting, the character, and even the doll will be completely unrecognizable from the original; but the joy over the gift is the same–probably even stronger.

Sometimes a story takes us so far from our own experiences that research is needed. (I’ve had to look up how to make flaming arrows and what fainting feels like.) But humans are the same, and the seeds of story are to be found in every life.

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Book Review: The Old Mansion’s Secret

[image error]“Taking a shortcut on a lonely country road, Daniel, Esther, and their cousin, Moni, stumble upon a mystery! A glimmering, sparkling, brightly lit Christmas tree is framed within the window of an old, long-abandoned, dilapidated mansion. The children are determined to solve the mystery and discover the old mansion’s secret–before Christmas.” (from Goodreads)

This book by Rebekah Morris is so sweet! I was immediately transported into the Christmas spirit and just as fascinated with the huge, sparkling tree as the main characters were. I especially loved how something just as simple as a Christmas tree blessed everyone so much! (Don’t tell anyone, but I cried over that scene.) The mystery was a lot of fun, and just when I thought I had it solved there was more to it than at first glance.

Christmas in My Soul

This past week, I’ve been busier than Jade chasing kittens. (Which she did get to do in the tiny bit of writing I accomplished, but more on that later…)

I’ve been busy with…CHRISTMAS! We decorated the outside of our house with a ton of icicle lights, three great wreaths, and a sign my artistic dad did in calligraphy years ago proclaiming “Glory to God in the Highest”.

We’ve also been to Hobby Lobby too many times to count as well as a few other less important stores for Christmas shopping.

A Cautionary Tale for Bloggers

I am not a photographer. Although I often blame my poor picture quality on the camera or the lighting, I don’t even have the photographer gene. It’s my fault. Just let me stick with words.

When I first started my blog in late June of this year, I knew I wanted pretty pictures. Gobs of pretty pictures. That beautiful featured image thingy? Count me in! Less pictures of me looking like a dork and more of beautiful stacks of books? Sounds really, really awesome.

Fortunately I did some research…

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Book Review: The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity

“Steve Brixton always wanted to be a detective…until he found out he already WAS one.

It all starts here: The thrilling story of Steve Brixton’s first case. Our hero has a national treasure to recover, a criminal mastermind to unmask, and a social studies report due Monday — all while on the run from cops, thugs, and secret-agent librarians.

Since when can librarians rappel from helicopters? Does Steve have any brothers or sisters? If not, then why is this series called The Brixton Brothers...

Plate Update: Dragons, Mexican Train, and 11k Words

Eek! It’s December already! Christmas is coming up very quickly and the New Year after that. Are you excited? I sure am!

Eyes Wide Open

I saw two happy people today. They were laughing over something together as they used the cross walk in front of us. Joy shone on their faces.

I saw a clump of trees that looked like a poodle or maybe some type of dinosaur.

I saw a cloud that looked like something else first and changed into a fish.

But the nephews I spent the day with saw even more than I did. They saw every blade of grass, every tree, every tractor, every cow, and every vehicle (with the correct classification). Even when w...

Book Review: Along Came a Dog

“The long, cold winter was over. The little red hen had changed and the other chickens picked on her now, or ignored her altogether. Then one day a big black dog came to the farm in search of a home. The dog was humble and lonesome. Then hen was cocky, and lonesome, too. A strange and wonderful friendship grew between them. The dog protected the little red hen, but who would protect the big black dog from being chased off the farm? Who would convince the man who owned the farm that the dog tr...

Faith Blum Interview

Who doesn’t like a birthday party? Faith certainly does. November 19th was the third birthday of her debut novel, A Mighty Fortress. To celebrate, she has all sorts of fun going on. First, she’s released a newly revised version of A Mighty Fortress. Second, she has most of her published books on sale. Third, she’s releasing the box set of all five of her novels for a special discounted price. And fourth, but not least, she now has the audiobook of her AMF available! Read on for more party fu...

Thankful (And a Bit of Book Collecting)

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration with your family and friends! I enjoying gathering around the table with this goofy, godly tribe, talking our heads off and playing some rollicking games of Taboo and Pit later on.