Kate Willis's Blog, page 97

Lydia Howe Interview

Join me in welcoming author Lydia Howe to Once Upon an Ordinary! 

Aww, thanks so much for interviewing me, Kate! This is quite the honor.

Book Review: Where Dandelions Grow

[image error] “Cousins are forever, or at least they’re supposed to be. 

What happens when your world falls apart and your dreams are mocked by those closest to you? 

Destiny’s idyllic childhood full of laughter and cousins abruptly ended when her mom uprooted the family to move them across the country with strict instructions to never talk about Swallow Ridge again. Eleven years later Destiny moves back to her hometown, determined to find her cousins… and answers. 

Plagued by generations of bitterness and manipulation, Destiny hides her life-long goal – unwilling to let anyone else trample her fragile dreams. But life in the cozy town full of dandelions teaches Destiny there’s more to life than what she’s been taught. 

Is it possible Swallow Ridge not only holds the answers Destiny so intensely searches for, but also the hope?” (from Goodreads)

What better time for this book Lydia Howe to be released than autumn? I mean, the entire book just feels like autumn even though the seasons change.

So This Is What a Newsletter Is For…

I’ve bombarded you all with extra posts this week, but I promise to never do it again. (Well, at least until the next blog party.) This post has a very good reason behind it–announcements!

Social Media: Time Management

(Welcome back to my series on social media. You can catch up on previous posts here. I’ll be collecting questions throughout the series for a final Q & A post. Please note that I will sometimes link out to helpful articles. I cannot vouch for everything on the site, so explore at your own risk.)

In preparation for this post, I read some statistics. They grossed me out. This blog post from by Evan Asano, founder and CEO of Mediakix says, “Astonishingly, the average person will spend nearly two hours (approximately 116 minutes) on social media everyday, which translates to a total of 5 years and 4 months spent over a lifetime.”

There. Now you can be grossed out too. *keels over in horror at my generation* Even worse, it gives a chart of all the other things you could do in that amount including running marathons. (*cowers* Did someone say marathons?)

As we discovered when choosing our goals, there are good reasons for being on social media. We just have to make sure we don’t spend too much time on it.

Family Camp!

Disclaimer: this is not Monday. But who doesn’t like an extra post?

Book Review: The Destiny of a Galaxy

[image error]“Time Has Passed…

In the three years since Maria Morris found the farmer-boy-prince, the Followers have multiplied. As Wyndemere’s empire cracks and unrest rises, the Legatee orchestrates the Rebellion.

Danger Has Not Disappeared…But Neither Has Hope

Though the overthrow of the tyrannical regime is imminent, Maria’s role as the “woman who started it all” is not widely known. So why the foreboding of danger?

Promise floats in the air. Many around her find happiness, even as the tension spirals toward a breaking point. But Maria flounders. What does Maria Morris want to do with her life? 

What is her destiny…now?

Rendered Powerless, Maria Must Make A Painful Choice…

One That Will Alter the Future of the Galaxy 

Forever

When James invites her to headquarters where Maria assumes a new role among The Followers, tragedy strikes. The enemies she had thought long gone are capable of far more than she imagined. Will she have the courage to stand for what she believes, no matter the cost? Will she have the strength to surrender her dreams when all seems lost and she can do nothing at all?” (from Goodreads)

What do you do when an author is having a free promotion of an entire series in ebook? Download them all, of course. It is slightly dangerous to have the next book readily available when you finish the previous one though. There is nothing to stop you from galloping through a great series by Sarah Holman. I speak from experience.

Social Media: Embrace Safeguards

(Welcome back to my series on social media. You can catch up with previous posts here. I’ll be collecting questions throughout the series for a final Q & A post. Please note that I will sometimes link out to helpful articles. I cannot vouch for everything on the site, so explore at your own risk.)

Picture the internet like a huge library. A library with no late fines, dress and speech standards, and no librarians to keep an eye on things. Anyone can walk in and do whatever they want to. The children’s and adults’ sections are hopelessly mixed up, and even just looking at the cover of a book could be disastrous. You never know what you will find, but you still need to be there. There are many interesting, useful, and even fun things to be found there.

So, today we get to think through safeguards to set for ourselves. This isn’t a list of rules (although I extra-highly-and-extremely-suggest #1 and #5) but instead a list of suggestions with a few examples of how I personally stay safe on the internet.

Embrace your family’s safeguards! This is HUGE. If your family already has internet rules or principles to follow, now is a good time to check your heart with God and see if you are honoring your parents wishes. (And if they don’t have any, I highly suggest you ask their opinions and see if they have any preferences.) God has placed these special people in your life to help guide and protect you. More often than not, they have good reasons for everything. It’s important and worth it to ask them.

Book Review: The Art Contest

[image error]“Two days ago, the Nazis rolled into Marie’s hometown. With her mother trapped in the countryside and her father ordered to perform piano concerts for the invaders, the 12-year-old’s life is turned upside down.

When she learns there is more to her pianist father than meets the eye, Marie must work with him to sneak important information past the watching Nazis.” (from Goodreads)

I enjoyed reading this story by Perry Kirkpatrick aloud to my younger sisters. I always love it when historical fiction is vague enough on details to be safe for children but does such a beautiful job of making me feel like I was there through the everyday events and emotions it focuses on. Father/daughter stories are always super sweet too, and I loved the little touch that Marie wanted to help her father like her mother always did. ❤ Another thing that made me extra happy was all the art! *grins* Marie liked to paint, and her father was an accomplished pianist. Marie’s painting sounds so pretty, and I loved it that SPOILER ALERT! she got it back later.

All the Happy Things

If you read this blog regularly, you may have noticed that I haven’t been sticking to my blog schedule perfectly the last few weeks. You also may have noticed that my posts are being published at weird hours.

So what has regrettably pushed blogging, writing, emailing, reviewing, breathing, and such aside?

Review, Rinse, Repeat

I love reviewing! It’s one of the major ways I enjoy a book by collecting my thoughts on it and sharing them with others. In fact, the other day I did a word count of a document I keep some of my reviews in, and it was over 14k words! I was a little surprised.