When Things Don’t Go As Planned

Over the past few weeks I’ve come to realise that things so far haven’t gone how I planned. But I guess things never really do…

 

I’m a planner. I plan things and I make lists… I guess you could say i’m a ‘lister’ (only some of you are going to get this and that’s okay)

 

So when things didn’t/don’t or aren’t going as I hoped and planned I often feel lost and/or frustrated.

Why do I do this? Why do I make lists all the time if it frustrates me half the time?

Because it helps me feel like I have MORE control over my life than I actually do.

 

As much as I wish that my lists and planning just went how I wanted I know that’s not how life works. I can pout and be miserable about it but it doesn’t change that fact. So I’ve actually started moving away from planning every little thing in my life and just ‘going with the flow.’ Things like being with my friends and my boyfriend has made me realise the importance of just letting things happen and the relief and relaxation that comes with it.

Learning to just LIVE in the MOMENT. 

 

I’ve learned this all when it comes to my everyday life as well. (Not just more important or significant days or events in my life) ESPECIALLY during my move and the transition to moving and being in a new place. Only now as I’m slowly starting to feel like myself again after feeling not very much like myself (in this transition of moving and a new job.) as, once again, things didn’t go as I planned.

 

I still haven’t really made any friends and being more introverted is also part of my problem. But this is causing problems cause I’m getting bored and stressed out in my own tiny apartment. Adjustment is a lot harder than I EVER would have thought. It feels I’m climbing a mountain I don’t want to be or stuck in some hole going in circles over and over and over again.

 

But despite this all I’ve learned to just trust in God (I’m gonna share the lyrics to a song that’s been helping me a lot at the end of this post) and that my moving here is all part of some plan and as much as I wish I could just make a list to sort it out, I know I can’t and I have to be patient.

 

Lean on God and just let life be…

 

 

 

 

 

 

When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust
I will trust in You

Truth is You know what tomorrow brings
There’s not a day ahead You have not seen
So in all things be my life and breath
I want what You want Lord and nothing less

~Trust in You by Lauren Daigle

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Time To Fall Into Things

So.

Summer has come to an end and fall begins.

Its my first semester where I’m a graduated human being and so far things have been weird and uncomfortable. I feel I should be doing something but I don’t know what.

 

 

 

So in this post, I’m gonna address the elephant in the room. My blog has changed! The change might seem sudden and maybe I should have warned you all considering I knew about this for a while…but I didn’t. Honestly the reason I didn’t warn anyone was because I was on the fence about it all.

Do I change the blog? or do I leave it? I even entertained the idea of starting a new blog. But then I decided, I have some lovely and wonderful followers here so why leave them behind and hope they find my new blog? and who wants to go back and forth between two blogs? YUCK.

 

Please know that I still love books and writing and will continue to post about those things! But I also want to branch out. Personally I feel that God has put a lot on my heart lately with things going on in our world and I wanna speak up and talk about them. Part of the reason things keep getting worse and worse is because people don’t take action against that ever-growing thing. Talking about an issue won’t fix it…but it can start a movement.

So thats kind of where I’m at with the new blog at this moment but know that all my bookish love and craziness will still continue. There will just be more posts like THIS and THIS.

 

Also if you have something on your heart you want to blog about, let me know! I don’t care if you are a writer or not or have a blog. You can guest post on my blog, no problem. If you’ve got something you want to say then say it. Let me help you get your words out there 🙂

 

Comment below or fill out the contact form on my contact page if you wish. And if you don’t wanna guest post and just read stuff, then by all means go ahead!

 

See you around the blog!

 

 

 

About The Blogger – A New Post Series!

Hello Readers!

As promised, here is the post I mentioned in my previous post about Writing Groups. Lots of craziness has been going on in my life (not all bad craziness! Just…Craziness) and a lot of it is linking to upcoming events and all that so I figured I might as well start posting about all this stuff cause I just want to share with everyone. I’ve been wanting to do some more personal about me type posts and all that but just never got to it but I figured, I eventually am gonna run out of things to say about writing that isn’t so repetitive AND I don’t want you all to be bored! Cause that just won’t do.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

SO here I am! Doing some posts about the goings on in my life. These probably won’t be an all the time thing but I thought it would still be fun to do every once in a while none-the-less.

Today’s post is gonna kinda be filling you in (and apologizing greatly) on the reasons for my absence on the blog lately. I’m excited to get going on this so get going on this, I shall!

(Note: All the fun and exciting stuff is near the bottom… like if you want to see my grad dress then stick around 😉 )

 

SOCIAL MEDIA STUFFS:

*unashamed self promo here*

Instagram!

SO. For those of you who don’t know. I have a bookish Instagram account (a.k.a Bookstagram) and it just recently reached 530+ followers! It’s pretty darn exciting and I’m hoping to be able to do some giveaways and such very soon. But yeah. Thats pretty exciting. You can find the link to my account on the sidebar or just search my username if you wanna see what kind of cool (ish) pictures I take.  (@TheLibrarianFiles)

I’ve taken a few recently that I absolutely adore so yeah.

Youtube!! 

So recently I began posting videos on youtube and what not all relating to books and writing and I’m enjoying it tremendously! I so far am not doing weekly videos and they are more popping up when I have the chance to film a video (and not sit there for 20 minutes talking to the camera when it stopped recording…cause yeah that happened and I had to re-film the last half of the video) BUT I’m gonna be switching it up and hopefully getting some vlogs of some upcoming events I’m going to! Which events? Well keep reading and you will find out.

But YES. I’m LOVING it and if you wanna check out my Youtube you totally should…and then give me video suggestions…cause I need help XD

The Librarian Files on Youtube

 

WRITING STUFFS:

Ok! So basically all my self promo thing is done. Well kinda sorta. If there is any of that in this section I promise this will be IT ok?

The Hope Movement Book – Some of you may or may not know about the Hope Movement. Its a website run by my friend Natalie and I and we use this blog to encourage those going through hard times and give them a sense of hope and we have decided to bump it up a bit and are writing a Non-Fiction book! That’s the only real details I have right now but we hope to have it complete by June or July and get it out into the world. But that is the writing I’ve been doing as of late as I’m working on school until Graduation in June!

The Fandom Studio is a blog I started with a few friends and basically its all things books/movies/TV and Fandoms. Nuff’ said.

 

 

READING STUFFS:

So as for reading, I’ve been doing a decent amount of work on it and my TBR pile grew over Easter Weekend cause I bought about 5-7 new books then. I can’t wait to get reading as I’ve got lots of exciting new books but before I move on to the shiny books, my friend gave me a huge stack of books to borrow almost a year ago after a weekend conference and I haven’t even started on it yet! O.O and he claims he is giving me more when I see him next. So I’ve suddenly dived into a panic because if he gives me anymore books I’m going to drown in the huge pile.

Think I’m being dramatic?

Yeah well, I’m not. (Both the Purple and Blue books in the middle of the stack were given to me by my Gram btw. But the others are from my friend)

On the plus side, this should help me blow thorough my Goodreads Challenge this year!

So far out of said challenge, I’ve read 6 out of 50 books…So I got a lot left to go but I’m getting there!

 

LIFE STUFFS:

Swing Dance 

I can’t recall if I’ve really mentioned much of my newest obsession on here or not. I did do a post about it on The Fandom Studio blog but I believe thats it. But anyways! I discovered a local Swing Dance group in November and went to one of their big dances they do once a month. I showed up not knowing what to do at all but then I was taught the basics by some people there and I was soon on my way. In January I joined their Monday night classes and have basically gone every Monday since. Its an absolute blast and the second weekend in March I spent a WHOLE weekend at a workshop learning Lindy Hop and it was beautiful. One of my favourite things I’ve done this year. (My Grad retreat was also a blast! If y’all wanna hear about that, let me know and I’ll write a post on that one) I’ve so far brought a bunch of my friends and my one sister with me to the classes and I’ve pulled a few people into this obsession with me…and I intend to make all my friends come dancing with me at LEAST once. Really thats all it should take to make them love it as well.

Upcoming Craziness of June 2016

Okay! So June is going to be a crazy busy month and I’m BEYOND excited for it. What craziness is going down, you might ask?

Well to start, the last weekend of May (I know that isn’t June but it all ties in so just go with it) I’m going to YC Alberta for the 4th time in a row. That is a conference I never tire of and I can’t wait because not only do I get to spend the entire weekend learning more about and praising God, but its also a time to get to spend with my friends. It’s an amazing and fun filled weekend that is the BEST way to kick off summer! (Or almost summer because Finals and stuff is still afterwards) THIS is one of the things myself and also my friend Morgan will be Vlogging for our youtube channels but yeah. Its going to be GREAT. So to kick off everything there is that.

THEN…

June 2nd I’m gonna be running around like a crazy lady because I’ll be picking my best friend from the airport in Calgary (an hour and a half from where I live) because my best friend is also my Grad Date/Escort (whatever you wanna call it haha) so I kinda need him 😛 and from there I will take my grad dress to the store I purchased it from and get it steamed so my skirt doesn’t turn into some weird, stiff, cupcake floof thing… THEN I will also need to be doing a final check to make sure I have EVERYTHING for Grad all ready to go for the next morning….cause if I forgot my dress at home I would laugh and then start to weep. You think that wouldn’t be possible but knowing me and my brain I wouldn’t put it past myself to forget something vital. Maybe not my dress but… you get the point.

Which reminds me.  *pauses the post*

LETS TAKE A BREAK SO I CAN SHOW YOU MY DRESS AND SHOES AND HAIR STYLE I HAVE ALL PICKED OUT AND ALL THAT.

MINE CHOSEN HAIRSTYLE

I have a backup hairstyle in case my hair isn’t long enough. because I’m prepared.

MINE SHOES

AND FINALLY!!! MINE DRESS

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

OKAY SO NOW THAT IM DONE BEING EXCITED AND SQUEALING BACK TO THE CRAZINESS OF JUNE THING.

So fast forward to the early morning of June 3rd. Not only do I turn 19 that wonderful day but I have to drag myself and my friend (he’s a little bitter about it) out of bed and we are on the road to the Calgary area for my Grad…but we have to leave at 5am so I can go get my hair done for when the salon opens. Then the whole day will proceed and by the end of the day I will be a graduated person. (Who has yet to finish some of her exams.) and I’m beyond excited! That is going to be a wonderful day! Though I am slightly terrified because my friend Morgan (who is an absolute doll by the way! I love her to bits! ❤ )found out my 19th birthday is on Graduation Day and I’m afraid she’s gonna do something or whatever cause she is known as the Queen of Birthdays… I’m trying to decide if she is just scaring me or not. I’m not really sure….

BUT WIAT! WE’RE NOT DONE!

After graduation I will still have some studying to do and my friend will be here till the middle of that following week…. Then my friend goes home then two days later I’m going to stay at my friends place for a few days for HIS grad!! I’m super excited for that as well. Its gonna be great.

Then, even though I’ll be graduated by then….I will still have yet to complete my Diploma Exams which are like the middle of the month. The whole thing is like ‘Let Celebrate being done school!! — Oh wait! Jokes on you suckers! Cause if you fail your diplomas I’ll see you again next semester…”

Riiiiiiiight… Funny how that works…

But OH WELL I GUESS. What ya gonna do, right?

 

What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately

Alrighty. Lets see if I can get this write without being too vague or sounding like I’m complaining about all my problems cause that really isn’t my goal here.

Okay. So basically God has been teaching me a LOT of things lately so I’ll kinda just list off what they are and why (if there is even a clear ‘Why’ to it)

The Power of Prayer and just how IMPORTANT prayer is.

Patience

Peace

To Trust Him – This is a big one for me that kinda links all the things I listed together. I stress a LOT and am one of those people that will often talk out my problems to others and get their council and thinking out loud helps me sort out things. So lately this quote has been jumping in my head that says. “Have you prayed about it as much as you’ve talked about it?” and sometimes I just get this prompting from God like ‘Adriana, you gave your problems over to me so stop taking them back. Let me deal with this. I’ve got this. Trust Me.“

Does that mean I can’t talk about my problems? Absolutely NOT. But God is just showing me that I just need to stop and pray about it more and trust that He has got it. With that God is also showing me Peace and Patience in that I need to have Peace and try not to stress. and also Patience because I’m the kind of person who just wants things fixed right here, right now…and thats not always what God has in mind.

My Favourite Music Right Now AND My Song of the Year

So this year, I kind of have a song for the year and that song is called ‘Verge’ by Owl City (feat. Aloe Blacc).

Not only is the music video amazing but I LOVE the lyrics!

I ain’t too sure what I believe in
But I believe in what I see
and when I close my eyes
I see my whole life ahead of me
These are our hours (These are our hours)
This is our time (This is our time)
This is our time
These are our hours (These are our hours)
Out on the verge (Out on the verge)
Out on the verge of the rest of our lives (The rest of our lives)

Out on the verge of the rest of our lives tonight
Top of the world and we’re dressed to the nines tonight
Edge of the earth and we’re touching the sky tonight
Out on the verge of the rest of our lives

From now on
There’s no looking back
Full steam ahead
On this one way track
From this day forward
I will make promise
To be true to myself
And always be honest
For the rest of my life
I will do what’s right
I will do what’s right
When I step out on the

Out on the verge of the rest of our lives tonight
Top of the world and we’re dressed to the nines tonight
Edge of the earth and we’re touching the sky tonight
Out on the verge of the rest of our lives (The rest of our lives)

The rest of our lives
Edge of the earth and we’re touching the sky tonight
Out on the verge of the rest of our lives

Its one of my favourite songs right now. Why I’m not sure but its kinda like an empowering ‘YEAH YOU CAN DO THIS’ kind of song and I LOVE it to pieces. Also, I mean how can you NOT love Owl City? I mean really.

Aside from that song. I have a LOT of worship songs I’m in love with right now but I will have to say my top favourites right now are:

Holy Spirit by Francesca Battistelli

Good Good Father by Chris Tomlin

Beautiful Things by Gungor

Jesus, Healer by Bluetree

I mean there are a LOT more but right now, those are my favourites. I just love the words. So powerful and filled with meaning and they just speak to me and I love them!

If you want a HUGE playlist of Worship Music to listen to, I got your back! So feel free to go listen to it HERE or leave it be. Whatever you wanna do. But its there if you want. The songs I just listed are also there if you have never heard them and wanna listen to them or whatever.

SO. Thats my post. Usually these kinds of posts won’t be freakishly long or they will be done sporadically in different parts as things unfold but I have so much to look forward to so I wanted to talk about it all here and now!

Thanks for popping by! Until Next Time

Adriana G.

Series Review || Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Hello Readers!

So, instead of doing a bunch of separate reviews for each book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, I thought doing mini reviews of each book on one post would A.) Be a lot more fun and B.) Help me get to the other book reviews faster.

So here goes nothing!

**WARNING: THIS IS A FANGIRL FILLED ZONE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION **

 

The Lightning Thief     Rating: 5 Stars

I really really loved The Lightning Thief, okay? Okay.

It was absolutely amazing and I really enjoyed reading it. It was an easy read (obviously) but still amazing none-the-less.

The reason I haven’t read the series until now was because, like the Harry Potter Books, I wasn’t allowed to read them for the longest time. (Sad moment cause both are amazing series that I’m only now just getting to at 18 years old.)

Anywho. This book (despite it being middle grade) is right up my alley. Greek Mythology based stuff is totally my favourite.

I LOVE Percy so much, okay? All the sass and sarcasm is just so dang amazing. And oh my goodness the puns.

 

 

Sea of Monsters    Rating: 4.5 Stars

I really loved this book, but not as much as the first one I must say. I’m loving having Clarisse in this story a little more but the story seems to be going by at a really really fast pace. I mean I like that in a story…but this is too fast…if that makes sense. Basically with Sea of Monsters I read through it as fast as I could because it was really unenjoyable to me. I mean I still loved all the characters and the idea of the story but it was all too fast for my liking.

 

 

The Titans Curse    Rating: 5 Stars

I really enjoyed Zoe in this story…I’m just sayin. I was sad that Annabeth wasnt really in that one… I mean it progressed the plot but I was sad she was absent haha.

By this point I still can’t get over Percy. The narration is on point! Percy is just the best character to have as a narrator of the story and many times I was chuckling to myself about is sassy or sarcastic comments.

One thing I loved about this was that more of my favourite gods made appearances in this book (I LOVE Greek mythology stuff…have loved it ever since I was about 10… Which I find quite strange considering I was allowed to check Greek mythology books out from my library but for the same reason I wasn’t allowed to read the Percy Jackson books sooner… What???)

Anyways. I also really enjoyed Thalia’s character every new character that pops in for one of the novels never disappoints. Not one of them even seems the slightest bit same and that, my friends, is skill.

 

 

The Battle of the Labyrinth    Rating: 3 Stars

I enjoyed this book but definitely not as much as the others so far. It felt a lot slower to me. (The exact opposite of The Sea of Monsters) Despite that I still really enjoyed it! It was just a lot slower than I would have expected (pacing/action wise) considering the pacing of the other books in the series so far.

The reason the slower pacing surprised me was simply due to the mission the characters were on. I guess it was just interesting to see them going on such an important mission and there not being much action…though I guess other elements of the story made up for it though 🙂

As usual I LOVE LOVE LOVE the character okay? ❤ They are all just so amazing :3

 

 

The Last Olympian    Rating: 5 Stars (Or, you know…just ALL the stars)

Okay… Before I start this review, CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE THING THAT IS PERCABETH??? *FLAILS* I LOVE THEM SOOOOOO MUCH!! :3 :3

I ADORED THIS BOOK! A wonderful conclusion to the first series by Rick Riordan! *takes a moment to flail about the last chapter of this book*

I really have no words for this book except for incoherent fangirl gibberish and the fact that all I can say (that other people understand) is THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! I LOVE IT SO FREAKING MUCH ❤

 

 

SO. Thats my review! Have you read the Percy Jackson books? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you lovely people.

 

Until Next Time

Adriana G.

Standing Out in Your Writing {And What Not to Include}

 

 

Hujambo! (That’s Swahili for hello!)

Thanks to Adriana Gabrielle for allowing me to post on her blog! I feel blessed for this opportunity!

So I went back and forth a few times while debating what to write about. I mean, there’s so many options. But I had to settle on something close to my heart—it’s one of my passions. Something important. Something that needs to be thought about.

But first, so you know where I’m coming from, let’s play a get-to-know-Rachel-game!

I’m going to list five things about me below:

1. I am in love with Jesus Christ, my Redeemer and Creator.

2. I am called by God to make a difference through the written word. A favorite term I’ve heard is Warrior of the Pen.

3. I’m an army brat. I’ve moved about ten times and they’re still racking up. I’ve been to nine schools (and homeschooled for a few years). I’m about to head to my tenth this fall (and hopefully the last…)

4. Jazz is my jam.

5. I could eat rice and beans three times a day…every day. But I don’t.

So today’s post is about standing out in our writing and being different. And, if we want to stand out and be different and make a difference…what we should leave out of our writing.

There’s a lot of popular fiction out there, aye? We’ve got contemporary YA, dystopian, steampunk, apocalyptic, sci-fi, fantasy…the genres go on and on.

And I have a problem.

A lot of popular fiction that people rage about (in a good way) is filled with worldly ways. Chock full of swearing, drugs/drinking, and inappropriate relationships…and these things are viewed in a good light.

I don’t know about you, but this stuff bothers me. Last year I tried to pick up a popular YA book that I really wanted to read. I wanted to see what everybody was going on about.

Let me tell you. I read about five pages and I had to put it down. There had been at least ten swear words (hint: not darn) and a few times where God’s name was taken in vain.

And I found out later that there was definitely some pre-marital inappropriateness going on in the book. I’m relieved I didn’t read it.

But there was a catch in my spirit, y’all. I wondered how my God-loving friends could be reading this and celebrating it. I wondered why they weren’t bothered by this blatant immorality.

As a Christian I’m supposed to be different than the rest of the world. My life is an example. What I read, listen to, watch, and write…should be monitored so that I’m not filling my head with the junk that’s already so prevalent in the world.

Words are influential. They impact people. They can save lives. They can also destroy them. It’s our duty to ensure that our words are full of worth. That our words are full of truth. They should encourage and speak life and love. They should stand out like a lamp on a hill.

Under no circumstance should they blend right in with the rest of society’s words.

That’s a red flag.

We have a responsibility to the people reading our stuff. We have a responsibility to tell them about our Heavenly King. We can’t let them down. We can’t let the lost continue in their brokenness just because we want to fit in and not cause a stir.

Jesus went into the temple with a whip, y’all. He wasn’t afraid of making a stir.

We can save lives.

If our writing glorifies anything on this list…we’re doing something wrong:

 

1. Swearing. Okay, people are already surrounded by this continually throughout their days. Do we really want to give them more? Are we going to look like the rest of the world? God’s Word says to keep our tongues from filthy talk, and to keep our minds on things pure. {2 Timothy 1:16; James 5:12}

2. Sex. Really? Really? Do you need to have inappropriate scenes in your books? Is that going to make anybody feel better? Are you going to stand out and make a difference? No. You’ll be just like everybody else. And trust me, that isn’t a good thing. The Bible has all the answers you need about this one. From staying pure before marriage to steering clear of sexual immorality. It’s chock full of warnings and cautions.

3. Drunkenness. The Bible doesn’t say it’s bad to drink. Jesus drank wine. But it does say we shouldn’t get drunk. Don’t support this in your writing. {Ephesians 5:18}

4. Drugs. Why? Just why? Drugs don’t bring good. Solomon talks about trying all the stuff under the sun and how it came to nothing. I’d say drugs definitely can fall in that list.

 

If your writing portrays any of things, be sure the characters receive consequences from their actions. Be sure the things portrayed are known to be bad. Make sure readers don’t perceive that you are pro these things.

I have characters who partake in lifestyles I am against. But I don’t glorify that. It is known that these things are wrong. There are definitely consequences.

Being a writer means we get to dabble in things we’d never be able to do in real life. But that isn’t an excuse to dabble in things that go against God.

There are ways to express real life without gory details. There are ways to express real life while still retaining the innocence of yourself and your readers.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

Basically, if there’s something in your writing that goes against what God’s Word says, there’s a problem. If you’re glorifying something that’s wrong, you aren’t making a difference. You’re just adding to the noise. And I’m pretty sure most of us want our writing to stand out.

If you’re not sure, check your Bible.

God Bless! I hope to hear what you think!

 

Rachel Lester is a daughter of the King. Soon she’ll be off to college to follow God’s call on her life to be a writer and missionary. Rachel has been writing since she was a wee thing, but only during the past few years has she really delved deeper into the realm. She’s fought battles, especially with fear, but Christus Victor! She enjoys reading, almost anything outdoorsy, rockin’ out to jazz, and eating rice and beans. She has a passion to reach those who are broken and tell them the Truth. Rachel loves Jesus Christ, her Author and Redeemer.

{2 Timothy 1:7}

You can find her writing blog here: http://waterandpen.blogspot.com/

And you can find her young women’s Christian blog here: http://nolongerstone.blogspot.com/

Find her on Pinterest at: https://www.pinterest.com/waterandpen/

 

Indie Author Looking For Friends || Guest Post by Author Mariella Hunt

 

Fifteen-year-old Allie Grant lives crippled by her illness. Though kept in isolation, she’s never alone: A spirit named Song lurks in the silence of her bedroom.

When Song reveals its dark nature on the night of her recital, the show ends in tragedy. Verging on death, Allie’s taken in by an uncle she’s never met. Julian claims to be a Muse with power over music and answers that’ll heal her.

It isn’t long before Allie suspects her uncle has a secret that’ll change her very identity. But with days left to live, she might fade without learning the truth…like the finishing chord of a song.

The meaning of the word dissonance is inharmonious or harsh sound. Ever since publishing my book on June 1, I’ve been in a state of disharmony trying to get a marketing plan together.

It’s not that I’m panicking. I’m excited–because my book is out there.

It took a long time to shape it up enough that I could share it with my friends. I reached a point where readers connect with characters, or a single line is recorded in their memory. Even if they don’t like the book as a whole, I’ll feel I achieved something if there’s one memorable detail about it–because I’ve invested so much of myself into this story.

Dissonance is available on nook and Kindle right now. Soon it’ll be out in paperback. If you want to help me make some coffee money, the $2.99 really does help.

But if you can’t buy it right now, or you just don’t think it’s the kind of book you’d enjoy, I’d still love to be friends! Say hi on Twitter or follow me on Facebook. The more the merrier! I want to know your stories just as much as I’d like you to enjoy mine!

I hope you’ve had a good summer so far, and that it only gets better. Thanks for listening!

Links:

Twitter- https://twitter.com/mariellahunt
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/mariellahuntauthor
Kindle- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YITZO8W?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
nook- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dissonance-mariella-hunt/1122054810?ean=2940151652896
personal website- http://mariellahunt.com/
Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25618865-dissonance

 

Author Interview || Heather Manning

Hello Readers!

I’m so excited to have author Heather Manning join me on my blog today for an interview! Heather is an amazing person and her novels are outstanding! So lets do this thing!

Hello Heather, and Welcome! Could you tell us a bit about your books? 

Hi! Thanks for having me! Here’s a little about my first novel, Swept to Sea:Lady Eden Trenton never wanted to leave her privileged existence in London—until her father invites a dangerous suitor into her life. Left with few options, Eden devises the best reprieve she can: escape. Chasing freedom, she stows away aboard a pirate ship, praying she will gain her independence in the colonies before she is discovered by the nefarious crew.

Captain Caspian Archer has spent the last five years hardening his heart and searching to exact revenge for the event that tore his life to shreds. When he catches word that his enemy is residing in Jamaica, Caspian steers his ship toward the colonies in all haste. His plans soon change, however, when he discovers the young beauty hiding in his ship’s hold.

Cut from the only lives they have known, Caspian and Eden are pulled together as each pursues a fresh hope upon the sea.

 

Now, my second novel, (sequel to Swept to Sea) Carried Home:
The Caribbean is no place for a society lady of London, yet after a daring quest to save a friend, Lady Ivy Shaw finds herself trapped far from home. Now, driven with worry for her young brother, she is determined to return to England in all haste. So, when a new acquaintance offers to sail her to her brother’s side, she jumps at the offer, scarcely caring that the man is a privateer.

Captain Gage Thompson is just learning how to be a captain. He sailed for years under the command of his longtime friend, Caspian Archer, but serving a captain and being a captain are, as he soon discovers, two very different roles. While struggling to gain the respect of his newfound crew, he now faces the distraction of beautiful Lady Shaw. He finds himself entranced by her and promises to give her passage home.
After a brief stop in Port Royal, Ivy and Gage discover an abandoned child. They both decide to bring her with them on their voyage to England. But problems soon arise in the form of hurricanes and enemy pirates, and Ivy and Gage find themselves scrambling to not only care for a lonely child, but also gain command of a motley crew.
Will love bud between Ivy and Gage as they journey home?

 

 
What inspired you to write both Swept to Sea and Carried Home? 

I wanted to write a trilogy about three best friends, and I wanted to throw some pirates in. Really, my idea came about kind of randomly. I enjoy writing about a variety of characters, so I was pleased to write my sequel, Carried Home, which stars two minor characters from Swept to Sea, Ivy and Gage.

 
So, since I’m more of a plotter I have to ask, did you write an outline before writing the novels? Or are you a pantser?

I write a very loose outline before writing my novels. Actually, with Swept to Sea, I don’t think I really had much of an outline, but with Carried Home I had a limited outline. So I guess I am somewhat in between.

 
Awesome. In between is always cool too 😛 Now, tell me what was the hardest part of writing your novels?

For Carried Home, my biggest obstacle was being an already published author. It felt a little weird first, because I was “done” and then kept writing another book. Knowing that people I know and people I’ve never met had read my book and formed opinions about it really made me feel stuck.
But I powered through that strange feeling, got my second book published, and I am glad to say that that feeling is gone as I’m writing book number three!

 
Is it bad I already can’t wait for book three? and I havent even read the second book yet haha 😛 How long did it take you (from first draft to final draft) to finish Carried Home?

I think it took me a little over a year to write Carried Home. (I’m not counting outlining and planning.)

 
Okay, so since I’ve read the first book, I’ve been dying to know, what is one way you relate to your main characters?

Hmmm. I relate to Eden from Swept to Sea in a few ways, I guess. Most of it was subconsciously. Eden looks a lot like me, and she has very brave qualities, yet tends to be a little timid. And I think that’s a lot like me.

 
I always find it kind of cool when a character subconciously becomes somewhat like the author. What was one of your favourite scenes to write in either of the books?

Oh! Such a tough question. One of my favorites in Carried Home is towards the beginning, when Ivy and Gage encounter a child being abandoned by her mother. They both want to take her in, but really have no idea what to do with her. I think this scene was one of the first to show us exactly who Gage and Ivy are.

 

 

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Carried Home’s theme seems to deal with matters of worry, control, and poor self-opinion. Ivy tends to worry about things she cannot control and forgets to put her trust in God. Gage seems to doubt his abilities to be a capable, successful captain and I think all of these issues can somewhat be applied to normal people’s lives. There are days when people have trouble with worry or they don’t think they are good enough.

 
Did you learn anything from writing either Swept To Sea or Carried Home and what was it?

While writing Carried Home, I learned once again how difficult it is to write a novel. When you haven’t written a bare first draft in a while, you tend to forget just how difficult and just how amazingly fun it is.

 

 

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Oh, goodness, I don’t know! Truly, there are so many amazing authors out there and I would adore having almost any of them as a mentor.

 

 

What is one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members?

Friends! I am a member of a great young writer’s community, Go Teen Writers, and I was supported by many new and now close writer friends there. They made me always feel like I can keep on writing!

 
Go Teen Writers is quite fantastic! I have to agree with you there 🙂 So, last but not least, do you have any advice for other writers out there who are looking into publishing or just writing a story in general?

I advice other writers to always write and always read! Those are the only ways you can improve what you do. Also, if you are serious about getting published, I recommend attending a writer’s conference. At a writer’s conference, you are able to meet lots of professionals, attend workshops to improve your craft, and even pitch your work to industry professionals. This is how I met my publisher and got my work published.

 
Oh. And, if you don’t mind. Where can we, as readers, stalk-uh I mean ‘find’ you online?

Blog: http://heathermauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathermauthor
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/heatherm-author
Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherm_author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherM_Author
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HeatherMAuthor/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Heather-Manning/e/B00GXOWFMS/

 

 

Bestselling author Heather Manning is a young lady who loves to read–and write. After she won several writing competitions, her first book was professionally published and quickly became an Amazon Bestseller. She is an active member of her local ACFW chapter and lives in Kansas City, Missouri where she attends high school, sees plays, devours donuts, and acts in community theatre. You can find Heather on her blog: heathermauthor.blogspot.com.

Interview- K.M Weiland

Hello Readers! Today I am honoured to be joined by author K.M Weiland for an interview! The fact that I have this opportunity is very exciting!

Now, let’s get started 🙂

What inspired you to start writing?
One of my earliest memories is a story I came up with when three or four. I don’t remember a whole lot about it except that I was the hero in a tree house, and I saved my entire extended family (we were at a family reunion) from some unknown evil.

So, really, story-telling chose me. I’ve always been dreaming stories; writing them down was just the next step in a natural progression.

Wow. That’s awesome. I really love how your childhood imagination never really leaves you when it comes to writing sometimes 🙂 or when it’s the thing that started it all.

Do you write an outline before writing your novels?
Always. In a nutshell, my process goes something like this:

1. Craft a premise sentence.
2. Brainstorm ideas.
3. Explore character backstory.
4. Interview characters.
5. Identify settings and/or world build.
6. Write an extended outline (in which I flesh out and structure each scene).
7. Condense that outline into the most pertinent notes and type them up in Scrivener.

What do you find, is the hardest part of the writing process?
Every book is its own adventure. Something that’s easy in one book can end up being surprisingly difficult in another. Major rewrites, when they’re necessary, are probably my least favorite part—but they offer their own rewards too. Honestly, I enjoy aspects of every part of the process.

Rewrites and I are never on agreeing terms. So, what is one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members?
My critique partners have been great, especially my longtime critter Linda Yezak. We’ve been critiquing and supporting each other since before my second book came out. It’s awesome to know another writer has your back and is able to both help you grow in your own writing and also commiserate about issues non-writers wouldn’t necessarily understand.

That’s awesome. Critique partners are amazing. Do you have any advice for other writers out there who are looking into publishing or just writing a story in general?
First, write the best story you have in you. Second, don’t expect to find success with your first novel. It can happen, but it’s not likely. Keep writing until you’re personally confident in the book and are no longer hearing about any major problems from your critique partners. There’s no reason to self-publishing or querying agents until you’ve reached that point.

 

K.M. Weiland lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso. She is the IPPY and NIEA Award-winning and internationally published author of the Amazon bestsellers Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel, as well as Jane Eyre: The Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic. She writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in western Nebraska and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors.

 

Thank you K.M Weiland for doing this interview and thank you, my wonderful readers for stopping by to read this interview! (More coming soon 🙂 )

 

Until Next Time!

Adriana Gabrielle