A Few Changes

Once again, I apologize for not being very regular with my posts. But the reason I am posting today is that a few changes are going to take place with the blog pretty soon. Don't panic; they're good changes!

The first is that I will be gone for two months, from August through September, so I will be taking a break from the blog. I plan to continue the blog in January or February of next year, as I need to finish high school by the end of 2017.

The second change is that I'm also considering moving my blog from Blogger over to Wordpress, as I've heard that Wordpress's format is more reliable and there's less hassle involving posting. 

So that's about it! I do plan to keep blogging at some point, but we'll just see how that goes for now.

Thanks for following this blog, and I'll be posting again sometime in the near future :)

Here's a gif of Spiderman to make you feel better!

Historical Fiction Book Recommendations

Okay, guys, let's play a game. It's called... How many books am I currently reading/ how many books are on my desk right now?

Here's the answer.

Yeah. I may have gotten myself into more than I can handle. But who doesn't love being in two worlds at the same time?

I thought I'd try something different today and give some book recommendations. These are some of my favorite historical fiction books, and they've given me lots of inspiration for my next writing project.

1. The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom (Autobiography). This one doesn't really count as fiction, but it's such an inspiring story that I just HAD to include it. The book has a God-centered focus, and plenty of intrigue and danger coming from Corrie's real-life experiences in World War II and German-occupied Holland.

2. Under a War-Torn Sky, L.M. Elliott (Fiction). I've read this one once before, and it was such an awesome book that I'm re-reading it now. The way the author writes is a style like no other, and the plot kept you on your toes. It's also a WWII era book, as a lot of these next ones will be. (Sorry, not sorry.)

3. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (Biography). I haven't technically read this one, but it's a truly amazing story about a young man in the midst of crisis. The book details the journey of Louis Zamperini as he rises to fame as an Olympic runner and then finds himself in the midst of WWII in the Pacific, stranded on a raft after his plane crashes in the ocean. I've been told that the book is best suited for 13 years old and up, due to some graphic descriptions of torture and human peril.

4. The Twilight of Courage, Bodie and Brock Thoene (Fiction). Also a WWII era book, this is hands-down one of the best books I've ever read. Complex characters, real-world struggles, and engaging plot. It is 600 pages long, so be prepared for a time commitment before reading this one. But trust me, it's worth it.

5. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare (Fiction). Deviating from my WWII streak, this book is set around the time the Salem Witch Trials are taking place in the colonies, and it follows a girl from the Barbados Islands who comes to live with her strict Puritan relatives. This is a book written in an artful, engaging way, and reveals a bit about life in those tumultuous times.

6. The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth George Speare (Fiction). Set in the time of Jesus' life on earth, the story follows a Jewish boy who hates the Romans for killing his father and vows to get revenge on them. I haven't read this book in a long time, but I figured I'd throw some variety in...

7. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (Fiction). If you're in need of a good romance story (preferably sarcastic and frustrating romance) then look no further! Pride and Prejudice has all of the famous British wit and drama you'll need. I first read this when I was 15, and found it boring, but that was most likely because I was more interested in adventure stories and too young to appreciate a good classic. Plus, I hadn't yet mastered the art of sarcasm.

8. The Story Girl, L.M. Montgomery (Fiction). Written by the author of the acclaimed Anne of Green Gables series, the Story Girl is a fun, lighthearted book in which some of the other folks of Avonlea get into various scrapes and incidents. Apparently, Canadians also have great skill with wittiness and words. I actually laughed at loud at this book, which doesn't happen very often.

9. Give Me Liberty, L.M. Elliott (Fiction).  And lastly, this book follows the life of a young boy named Nathaniel after he is bought from a plantation in the early stages of the Revolutionary War. It's also one of my favorite books; it's poetic and intriguing, but easy to read and offers insight into the late 1700's when the colonies were rebelling against England.

Well, there you have it! I hope these books carry you through time and leave a mark on your outlook, as they did to me. Happy Reading!

(And never apologize for being a bookworm. I get so ticked when people can be buried in their phones all day, and when I pull out a book, I'm antisocial. Get real. I'm a freaking Time-Lord.) Nerds and geeks unite!

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Beginning of an Adventure...

I could start this blog out with saying that I don't think I'm a good writer, or that I don't expect any of my work to get published, or something else degrading about my writing skills. And I'm sure every writer or aspiring author has, at some point, I don't care who you are, wanted to chuck everything into the trash bin or burn it because it's so bad. But that's just the process of trial and error, right? Finding out what works in your story and what sounds really, really awful.

So, despite the fact that I think my writing is mediocre and no one would want to read it, I'm driven on by the fact that I'm not writing simply to please other people. I'm writing for myself, to find out how far I can push the standard, to see how well I can express myself in words, to be inspired by my own characters and to urge myself to be better.

I guess the real question would be... why do I write?

I write to create my own worlds from imagination. I write to stir emotion in whoever reads it. I write to go deeper than the surface and delve into the hard things. I write to expose myself and all my flaws. I write to challenge myself. I write to ask difficult questions. I write to make myself laugh. I write the kind of stories I want to read. I write because I believe every story should have a deeper meaning than just surface level.

But most importantly, I write because God gave me the talent and ability to do so, and that means that I should be trying my utmost to glorify Him and point others to His love.

And if I'm glorifying God while doing what I love... well, that means that I shouldn't put myself down or compare my writing to others, because God made me exactly the way He wanted me.

Even if that means I speak fluent whale and Disney song lyrics.

If I wanted you to take away one thing from this post, here it is: You should not stop writing because you think you're terrible at it, or because other people write better, or because crying over Bucky Barnes is preventing you from getting on with your life. (Trust me, it's a real thing for Marvel fangirls.) You just keep on writing because YOU want to, and because you're putting to use the amazing and wonderful mind that God gave you.

The majority of this blog will be a mishmash of writing tips and tricks (though I probably don't know enough to write a blog about it), maybe a few book reviews, and for those who are interested, maybe even some hints about the book I am currently writing/editing. I will be *attempting* to post every couple of weeks, or whenever I get the motivation, or sometime really sporadic. Thankfully, I graduate next spring, so hopefully I will have the time and the effort to put into publishing my book in process.

If you asked me to describe myself in one sentence, it would be this: A chocolate-loving, book-crazed, movie-quoting, God-fearing tomboy/nerd/fangirl/country bumpkin who has an obsession with the Chronicles of Narnia and Star Wars and who doesn't think there's enough rain in one year to possibly get enough inspiration.

So there you have it!

Oh, and I forgot the sarcasm part. I'm very sarcastic, too. And OCD. And I love organizing.
Who knows, maybe that's what makes me a pretty good writer.