Kate Willis's Blog, page 68
August 9, 2019
Do I Have That Book? Challenge
Happy National Booklovers Day, y’all! It’s our day to shine. 
August 7, 2019
Picture Book Review: Pies from Nowhere
“Georgia Gilmore was a cook at the National Lunch Company in Montgomery, Alabama. When the bus boycotts broke out in Montgomery after Rosa Parks was arrested, Georgia knew just what to do. She organized a group of women who cooked and baked to fund-raise for gas and cars to help sustain the boycott. Called the Club from Nowhere, Georgia was the only person who knew who baked and bought the food, and she said the money came from “nowhere” to anyone who asked. When Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for his role in the boycott, Georgia testified on his behalf, and her home became a meeting place for civil rights leaders. This picture book highlights a hidden figure of the civil rights movement who fueled the bus boycotts and demonstrated that one person can make a real change in her community and beyond.” (from Goodreads)
I just read this picture book at the library, and it brought tears to my eyes. THIS right here is how you change the world. I’m so glad to have discovered this historical figure. Great illustrations too. 
August 5, 2019
The Night Archers GIVEAWAY
Greetings from Lady Shelly Addison Middleton, a.k.a. me. I found this cool “author pseudonym generator meme”, and the name sounded rather royal and slightly medievalish, so yeah…
August 2, 2019
Plate Update: Superheros, Jabberwocky, and Christmas Cookies
Summer is just flying! Which is a good thing considering how warm it gets where I live.
July 31, 2019
Book Review: The Beast of Talesend
“Fairy tales aren’t real. Private detective Nick Beasley knows that. This is 1922 E.A. (Ever After), an age of big cities, automobiles, and airships. Nobody in the Afterlands believes in magic and monsters anymore. Especially not Nick, who’s made a name for himself in the city of Talesend by debunking fraudulent “magical” phenomena.
But when a misadventure with alleged enchantress Lady Cordelia Beaumont goes awry, leaving Nick with claws, a tail, and quite a lot of fur, he begins to rethink his stance on magic.
There’s only one way for Nick to regain his humanity. He and Cordelia will have to retrieve a powerful magical artifact from a ruthless crime lord—who happens to be Cordelia’s father. Otherwise, Nick won’t be the only monster roaming through Talesend.
The fate of the Afterlands lies in the hands of a renegade enchantress and an extremely hairy detective. What could possibly go wrong?” (from Goodreads)
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened this book. The C.S. Lewis quote was definitely a good sign. Follow that up with a fantastic blend of Sherlock Holmes and fairytales, Doctor Who-esque rash decisions (that somehow half worked out), and downright perfect humor, and it was a winner. (Please don’t let me comparing it to many other things fool you–this book is really unlike anything else.)
I loved the setting, and Nick’s general outlook/personality. He and Crispin were hilarious, and I laughed aloud at their brotherly arguments. (Also, I pictured him as a monster to be a lot like Kitty from Monsters, Inc. I knew he was supposed to be scarier than that, but still…) Cordelia was delightfully unpredictable as well, and the three of them made for a delightful adventure.
I didn’t prefer the scenes with the wraith or the techniques of the charmbloods, but I appreciated the portrayal of magical things being double-edged and dangerous.
Just a note, there was one used of “blasted” and some descriptions of blood.
Best quotes: I crossed my arms and gave him a disapproving look. “Remember the stern discussion you and I had yesterday?” He gave me a puzzled frown. “Which one? We have so many.” I pointed to his patent-leather shoes. “Feet. Desk. Off. Forever.”
“Thanks, but I’ve already been shot once today. It didn’t take.”
Altogether, I’d take another one of these in a heartbeat. So much fun. XD
Also, who else SCREAMED internally at the epilogue??
July 29, 2019
Strange Friends (An Essay)
My friends are some of the funniest people I know. They’re probably not technically my friends, but they’re the people I hang out with a lot, run in the same circles, with, etc., so I feel like that counts.
Anyways, they’re hilarious. They are constantly joking about things and add such ironic positivity to situations that would usually be quite the downer. Like when politics are raging, they notice when one candidate dances like a chicken or another looks like a cartoon character. It really helps me take a humorous view of events outside my control and laugh so I don’t cry.
And then there’s all the inside jokes we have about Doritos, shoelaces, and Luigi that hilarious but kinda unexplainable to outsiders. Completely hilarious and completely ours.
I love my friends, but there’s one specific thing they do that I wish they’d stop. They seem to think foul language makes the best adjectives/intensifiers, but honestly, I disagree. The real meanings of those words are concepts I’d like to stay away from, even if they’re just being used in good fun.
You’re probably thinking that if I’m so bothered I should just get myself some new friends, but the thing is that when I’m tired, lonely, or in need of some brand of positivity, they’re always there for me.
I’m not sure I want to give that up.
Not so sure I can.
*
My friends both in real life and via social media are some of the best people ever! This post was inspired by more collective sites like Pinterest and the way boredom can drastically lower our standards. Also, Proverbs 13:20.
July 24, 2019
Book Review: Tutor, Nanny, Spit-up, Spy
“He’s a tutor and she’s a nanny… but not really.
Emily Abbott, coffee barista and accidental spy, is asked to fill in for an injured ICS agent. Intelligence suggests a guerrilla group is plotting to assassinate the president of a small South American country while he and his family are visiting the U.S., and that the assassin may actually be one of his protection detail.
Undercover as nanny to the four young Gonzalez children, Emily will be perfectly positioned to keep an eye on things and report back to ICS, the spy organization Brent Peterson works for. Emily and Brent–who is undercover as the children’s tutor–must navigate long-division, spit-up, arguments over toys, and suspicious guards to discover a plot that’s far more complicated and time-sensitive than they realized.” (from Goodreads)
FTC DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of this book. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.
Confession time: this book was actually the first Emily Abbott book I read. I had been planning to wait until all the books were out before starting the series, but the reports of early readers broke me and I gave in. XD It stood alone pretty well, but I enjoyed it more the second time when I read it after the first three books.
To say this book was the cutest in the series so far would be a severe understatement.
July 22, 2019
Thank You, Wow
Last weekend, I spent my third year with Generation Rising at the AFHE homeschool convention. There were a ton of amazing, hilarious, goofy, and downright does-my-brain-even-exist-now-I’m-so-tired conversations. We met with friends, new customers, and fans. Some of my favorite moments were when readers stopped by to tell us how much our books have impacted them. My answer to those stories was, “Thank you, wow.” And then teared up silence.
And after this weekend, those words pretty much sum up how I’m feeling.
July 17, 2019
Convention Countdown (+Chapter Two)
Just for fun, here’s chapter two of The Night Archers. If you haven’t read chapter one yet, catch it here.
Chapter Two: Problems
Soft light filtered through the blankets that covered the sides of the dining table. Gavynn sat up, careful not to hit his head on the low ceiling of the blanket house and listened to the silence. The storm was over.
Rosie slept on one side of him, squeezing her doll under one arm, and Maire held tightly to his hand with her own chubby one. He smiled down at them and gently untangled himself from them. Standing up from under the table, he was struck by the contrast of the neighbor children sitting with their mother. They had fresh memories to spoil their dreams, and the thought filled him with a compassion that led him to prayer.
They stirred from sleep when he unbarred the door and let in a rectangle of brilliant, afternoon light. His stepmother followed him to the door, holding the baby close in her arms, and let out a gasp when she saw the street before them.
Water ran across the cobblestones in streams, carrying mud and debris with it. Clusters of townsfolk surveyed the damage and spoke in hushed whispers. A thick smell of rain and mud filled the air, and Gavynn wondered what condition the rest of the town was in. He stepped out into the street and looked up at the thatched roof of their cottage.
Here and there, material had been torn away and would need to be repaired before the next storm. Their barn had completely escaped damage, and he breathed a prayer of thanks when he thought of the dwindling provisions stored there.
The door of the cottage closed with a thud, and Anwen came toward him with a rag and the last of yesterday’s water. “You’d best wash off that mud before neighbors look at you any more curiously.”
He took the items with a laugh and set to work scrubbing his hands obediently.
Anwen looked up at the thatch, then glanced up the street toward the ruined cottage. “We fared better than some.”
“Yes.”
“We can’t send them away.”
Gavynn looked over at her. “I’m glad you think so.”
“But we can’t keep them either.” A crease formed between her brows, and she sighed heavily. “As it is, we have barely enough for the five of us, and the rainy season seems to be coming early.”
Gavynn dried his face on his sleeve and nodded in agreement, but his eyes fell on the stained rag in his hands and he remembered the neighbor boy’s desperation. “We’ll help them as long as we can.”
Anwen nodded, and they both turned to look as the cottage door opened. Caelan stood in the doorway, his light hair still littered with wet thatch but face clean enough to show the sunburn splashed across his nose. He eyed them both with an expression Gavynn couldn’t quite read.
Gavynn gestured toward the open town gates. “I’m going to check the fields. You coming?”
Surprise flitted across the lanky boy’s face, and his shoulders relaxed. “All right. And thank you for taking us in last night, ma’am,” he spoke to Anwen as he fell into step with Gavynn.
She only smiled and entered the cottage.
A dreadful hush had fallen over the town, heavier than the clouds that were finally beginning to disperse. Even the lowest of tones seemed harsh and loud. Townsfolk passed in and out of the church to whisper prayers and speak with the priest. Gavynn could feel their eyes on him as he passed them. Even the troubles of the past few hours couldn’t keep their gazes from following his tall frame across the square to the open gates.
He hurried his steps, and Caelan did the same, turning to look back at the group and shake his head. One step outside the walls of the town and Gavynn could see at a glance that their rich crop was mostly nothing more than waterlogged straw. A few unbroken stalks of salvageable grain stood like lonely soldiers, but the rest was dark with water and trampled to the ground by the stampede of hail.
Gavynn took a few steps forward and ran his fingers along a broken stalk. “We’ll have to let it dry out again before we can cut it and see what, if anything, can be used.”
Caelan nodded solemnly, then mumbled to himself. “And I’ll need to speak with Father Gregory about a place to stay.”
“My family and I aren’t sending yours away anytime soon,” Gavynn cut him off and looked the astonished boy full in the face. “We have space enough. Provide your own food, help where you’re needed, and we’ll try to make this work.” He offered his hand, and they shook on it.
They retraced their steps, and Gavynn looked again at the women and children working to put their town and their lives back together. A question filled his dark eyes. It was already too late to replant. How would there be enough food for everyone, especially when the soldiers returned home?
Each step turned into a thought and each thought into a prayer. Shame added itself to his burden as his mind slid into his secret wish to escape all the problems that plagued him.
They reached the cottage, and Caelan paused to look at the roofless cottage mere paces away. He looked over at Gavynn, then glanced away and pulled at his light hair. “I lost my head in there. When you came to pull me out. I’m sorry I called you a coward.”
Gavynn nodded. “It’s all right.” Then added to himself. “We all lose our heads sometimes.”
Copyright 2019 Kate Willis
July 16, 2019
Convention Countdown: Pretty Book Stock!!!
It’s just 62 hours until the homeschool convention, and the last of my book stock came!!
These are the very first copies I’ve seen of The Night Archers, and I love how they turned out. 
(Big hugs to my cover designer!)
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Just look at them!
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One book, two book, green book, blue book!
I’m still a little bit in shock that this is an actual series and I actually just held a copy of my new book in my hands. So sorry for all the jabbering.
