Welcome to the… first episode of Writing Prompts? Essentially, I took a writing prompt and wrote a short story based on it! Let’s just hop right in!!
Prompt: (not my image)
“You have got to be kidding me.” Arianna Halsley crossed her arms and glared at her cousin, Finley. Though she was several inches shorter and much smaller than him, there almost seemed to be a note of fear in his eyes as he looked at her.
And not for no reason, Ari was well known in Crown Grinnings for her swift temper, lashing sarcasm, and amazing aim with both daggers and a bow.
“Say, what did Finley do now?” Another girl, who had surprisingly bright purple hair asked carelessly from where she was lying on the couch.
“He.. he got rid of our backup plan!”
“I did what?”
“You did what?” Finley and the girl on the couch, Cordelia, yelped at the same time.
Arianna stalked over to a piano in the corner of the room and grabbed some papers off of it. Returning to where Finley was still waiting, she slapped the papers down on a table, so that he could see them.
They were all filled with complicated swirls and runes and some had mathematical equations and figures jotted down as well. Finley threw up his hands, “We all know you and Tris are the geniuses here, Ari. I can’t make heads or tails of this.”
“Neither can I.” Ari admitted, “But, since our backup plan is gone now-” She was interrupted by Cordelia, “How exactly is it gone?”
Arianna took a deep breath, “Well, SOMEONE thought it would be a great idea to throw our backup plan off a bridge.” she said, her glare at Finley making it obvious exactly who this someone was.
“It was on fire, for Shival’s sake. What would you have me do, get burned?”
“I wouldn’t have cared as long as we still had the plans! Now, Tris is missing and I have no way of recreating it, so we better hope our first plan works or…” She trailed off, and the room was left in silence; everyone knew what would happen if their first plan didn’t work.
“Well, our first plan was much less complicated anyway! Just bash the guards and we’re done.” Finley declared, attempting to be cheerful.
“Yes, and if we get caught?”
“Then we’ll be dead. Yay.” Finley deadpanned.
Cordelia swung her legs over the edge of the couch and stood up, “You talk as if you want to be dead.”
“Doesn’t everybody?”
“Shut up and grow up, your sarcasm was cool yesterday.” Cordelia snapped at him before leaving.
Finley whistled as she left, “Shival, but she’s in a mood. Ari, what the xyn did you do?”
“I did nothing. You’re the one who destroyed all of Tris’s hard work.”
“Technically, that was the soldier who fired the fire arrow’s fault.”
“You shouldn’t have been on that bridge to begin with.”
“I was running away so of course I should’ve been. It was the fastest route.”
“Fastest isn’t best.” Ari was glaring at him again.
“It is when you’re trying to escape.”
“Well, no. The best route doesn’t get you caught.”
“I didn’t get caught.”
“You lost the plans.” Finley shrugged, forced to concede that Ari had a point. He had indeed… lost the plans, in a manner of speaking.
“Tris will have a copy.”
“We have no way of GETTING to Tris, not since you so brilliantly got caught.”
“Shival, you’re right.”
“Of course I am, I’m always right.”
“Just because you’re my cousin doesn’t mean you can insult me.” Finley sounded offended.
“I’m not insulting you, just stating a fact.”
“What about the time you did all that work and then Tris pointed out that you had an error in the beginning?”
“Shut up and go away.” Ari scowled at him.
“Sorry, no. You’re stuck with me. Family and all.”
“That doesn’t mean we have to hang out all the time.”
“No, but we need to go over the plan for later tonight.” Finley knew he had made a good point, and smirked. Ari groaned. Her cousin was unbearably insufferably arrogant, and she absolutely hated when he was actually right. At least it wasn’t too often.
“The plan is simple enough.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.”
“It can go wrong.”
“So? Every plan can go wrong.” Ari didn’t see how the fact that it could go wrong made it ‘not-simple’.
“Yes, but it can go wrong in many ways. A guard could kill Cord, or Lady Morganna could catch us, or Tris could fail to meet us, or Saraya’s powers don’t work, or-”
“Are you trying to make me nervous?” Arianna had never had anxiety in her life, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get nervous, and tonight’s mission was especially important. Everything could depend on it. They need supplies and arms, and if the castle was the only place they could get it, they had to do a raid. Otherwise, they wouldn’t survive- and none of them would even think of stooping so low as to steal from the villages. They had little enough.
And then again there was the risk that Arianna would be recognized. Someone like her, well known in Crown Grinnings, well… there was an inherent risk and she didn’t think her estranged best friend would take too kindly to being stolen from. Morganna was a ruler first and foremost, something which had caused her and Ari’s original estrangement, and Ari knew Morganna wouldn’t hesitate to capture them if they were seen and punish them for stealing.
She shook herself out of her thoughts. The raid tonight would go well, and if it didn’t… well, it would. She’d make sure it would.
But as she stood up to leave the room, she failed to notice the eyes that watched her, cloaked in shadow, from the corner of the room…
To be continued…
So what do you all think? Did you enjoy the story? (And I am considering continuing this ‘story’ and developing the characters through other different writing prompts, what do you guys think?)
Uh so… as the name says, this post will most likely be a bunch of randomness! Let’s get into it shall we?
First off, I want to apologize for missing last week… this is why blog schedules are just not my thing! I totally forgot until tuesday… and then well it’s been busy and stressful.
I’d meant to do a September wrapup post of sorts, but clearly we’re almost halfway through October, so maybe that’s a bit outdated… besides the fact that I don’t even remember what happened in September!
I did start school… lots of school! So that’s fun… not really… well some of the time it is! My English class is pretty cool, and I’m also enjoying Geography and Italian and sometimes Math. Other courses, not so much…
And I read quite a bit! There’s no way I can remember all of the titles I read, but here’s a random sample at least!!
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
A Sky Beyond The Storm, by Sabaa Tahir
The Young Elites, by Marie Lu
Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein
Independent Study, by Joelle Charbonneau
The Runaway King, by Jennifer Nielsen
Legacy, by Shannon Messenger (reread cuz this is such an awesome book!!)
And I’m currently in the middle of a couple of awesome stories, including:
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
Three Dark Crowns, by Kendare Blake
Graceling, by Kristin Cashore.
I can’t wait to finish these books and see where the plot goes!!
And… well if anyone has book recommendations, I’d love to hear them!!
*thinks*
What else happened in September?
Well my dance started back up, which was really fun! And I also started running every day again, which I sorta got lazy with in the last part of August. So that was good as well!
Okay now before I bore you too much more with the things about my life… which is by the way extremely boring (yes I have amazing vocabulary, don’t diss the vocab!)…
The second part of the blog post.
Or the second part of the title anyways…
I have a few ideas for this blog I just want to toss around!
I’m thinking of maybe doing a series of top tens? Like top ten books, movies, fantasy books, sci-fi TV shows, songs, really anything! If you have any particular ideas for top ten lists that sound interesting, please do comment, I’d love to do them!!
The other idea a friend of mine (E I SEE YOU THERE lurking) is taking writing prompts, from pinterest and other places, and writing short stories based on them! Again, if you have any random prompts you want to see turned into short stories just because they’re funny or you don’t feel like writing them yourself or already have but want to see another version, please do leave them in the comments as well!!
But yes, I would love to start a blog series using one of these two ideas. Merlin knows I need some inspiration… and new types of posts are always fun.
And well…
Happy Fall, a bit late? Or Autumn, whatever you want to call it!
Fall is one of my favourite seasons, and here where I am summer finally decided that, yes, it was okay to let go and let fall take over the management of the weather (yes i know im weird dont judge please) so we are finally getting the lovely fall weather I’ve been looking forward to for a few weeks.
How’s the weather where you are?
Yes i’m acting odd talking about the weather, i know.
Anyways… that’s all for this post I think! It’s definitely been a bunch of randomness, and if you’ve made it to here you deserve a cookie.
*hands out cookies*
I hope you have a lovely day/week/month/year/life (that got long fast) and I will see you all hopefully if i dont forget next week!!
Sorry, I’m still a bit insanely-excited about Imagine, even though it was released a week ago. I’ve sort of gotten into a reading mood, where I read a whole bunch of books on my TBR list! That mood is always fun, and I recently finished the third book in a series that’s one of my new favourites!
I’ve loved all three books in this series SO MUCH, and I decided to write a book review for the first book… An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir!
Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Genre: YA fantasy
Length: 480 pages
Synopsis (spoiler-free):
When Laia’s brother is taken to prison and her family killed by the Empire, she’s willing to do whatever needed to help save her brother, even if it means infiltrating the Empire’s military academy, Blackcliff. While there, she meets Elias, son of the Commandant, its golden child, but secretly planning to leave the Empire. But when Elias is chosen to be one of four students competing to be the next Emperor, he must decide where his loyalty truly lies, and where his mother’s strange slave figures in the intricate mess.
What I like about this book:
Writing. The prose is so so beautiful. It’s in present tense, which took me a few pages to ‘get into to’, because it’s a bit different than what I’m used to, but once I was familiarised, I was hooked.
Dual POV. Expert manipulation of this technique provides maximum suspense and character building because the chapters alternate between Elias and Laia.
Characters. I’m going to try not to spoil anything, but all the characters are just *chef’s kiss*. Laia, Elias, Helene, Izzy, Keria, Marcus, every single one is just so beautiful and real.
The plot. Gosh, it kept me guessing, and I never saw the plot twist(s) coming (mostly the one at the end, but there were several!).
The worldbuilding. It’s a brutal, cold world based on Ancient Rome, but there’s a spark of light to it, and it’s so intricately described and created that I can visualize it quite easily in my mind.
What I don’t like about this book:
Some of the things that are considered ‘okay’. However, since it’s set in a medieval but dystopian world, most of these bad things are presented as wrong. Some of them, however, are presented as ‘good’ and ‘brave’, such as killing.
A bit of moral ambiguity. In my opinion, this actually contributes to the excellence of this book, because no one is REALLY good or bad, they’re all various shades of grey (not 50, fortunately), and that resembles real life more. However, I don’t appreciate how often even the ‘good’ guys do the same things that they condemn the bad guys for. Fortunately, there are good guys who aren’t like that, and there are definitely ‘good’ guys among the ‘bad’ guys.
The Love Triangle. It’s predictable, a ‘staple’ of YA fiction and all. I find it frankly boring, but it plays a minor role in the story, which I appreciate. Nothing like Bella and her all encompassing choice between Jacob and Edward, this is more just *there* under the surface, talked about only occasionally, much like it’d be in real life.
Content Warnings (skip this section if you don’t like strong language, I’ll be censoring them, but at the same time if you know what they are your brain will most likely read them anyway despite the censoring)
Violence. Quite a lot of graphic descriptions of violence, including mentions of rape.
Kissing. A couple mentions of kissing, though nothing anywhere near explicit.
Language. Including ‘son of a wh***, d***, b****, bastard, burning hells, cretins, filthy…. Those last four aren’t strict swears, but more ‘rough’ language.
Overall:
This is one of my new favourite books! It drew me in, kept me hooked, and made me care about the characters. The world is so real, and there’s the added benefit of a bit of magic and mythological creatures that begin making their way in near the end (more in the sequels). I’d recommend to 14+ due to the language, violence, and references. 5/5
So, what do you guys think? Does this book sound interesting? Would you read it?
Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you all next Monday! 🤞
Well, the Imagine Blog tour has stopped here today, so HELLO!!! For some reason it almost reminds me of a train choo-chooing around and stopping at different places.
First of all I just want to give a HUGE thank you to the girls at TWN, because without all the time and work they put into it Imagine wouldn’t exist at all!!!
*round of applause*
And also a big thank you to all the other authors, whose awesome stories I CAN’T WAIT TO READ!!!!!! Yes this post is going to probably have way too many exclamation points oh well.
Her questions are in the boxes, and my answers… aren’t, I guess? If you’re reading this post in the reader and not on my website, the boxes may not show up for you.
#1. Was this the first time you’ve ever written a short story? If so, what was something you learned through the process?
This wasn’t the first time I’ve written a short story, but it’s the first one I’ve completed. But even though it wasn’t the first time, I still learned a lot, because developing characters and the plot and everything is both harder and easier when the story is so short!
#2. Where did you get the inspiration for your short story? Was it a particular song, book, or something else?
Back in June, I was new to the blogosphere, so I actually didn’t even stumble across TWN at all until I think four or five days before the end of the month, and the deadline for submitting the story… so Love, Lilly… well the inspiration was me laying in bed bored and thinking up depressing plots. And also almost… this may make no sense at all but sort of Romeo and Juliet? Except not Romeo and Juliet- more Rosaline? If Rosaline was in love with Romeo, that is. So I suppose you could say the inspiration for Love, Lilly was my exhausted, half-asleep brain jumbling and combining elements of many different stories all together into something that I hope is somewhat original.
*hopes that makes a little bit of sense*
*apologizes for rambling*
#3. What has been one thing you’ve learned after going through the process to be published in the Imagine Anthology?
I guess that it’s POSSIBLE. It’s possible to be published. And also that it’s a lot of work, both on the part of the publishers and editors and also on the author’s part. But that work is totally worth it at least in my opinion.
#4. Can you give us a fun fact of something that happened during the writing and/or editing process? Hilarious typo? Weird fact you had to search? Best edit you received?
I’m going to be careful with the spoilers here… *grins evilly because poor Lilly*, but I did have to search several weird facts. Some related to cancer and survival rates and car crashes….
Funny typo? I have a lot… because I type too fast sometimes, but my tired brain can’t remember any of them right now. So oh well.
*sorry*
#5. Do you have any words of inspiration for other young authors?
I am probably the worst person in the world to ask for words of inspiration, but I guess…there is light and dark in the world, and it’s important not to forget about the dark. Even if it’s hard to write about the dark, I think it’s important as well. And of course, you know, the normal you can do it (cuz you can), you have the talent (cuz you do), it’s just going to take a bit of work (cuz it will).
#6. What are you currently working on right now? Any plans for the future?
I’m currently working mainly on two of my stories. My main one (fantasy fiction) is sort of on hiatus right now, but it’s at 65k words and I’m hoping to be able to wrap it up in about ten or fifteen thousand more, and then it’s to the rewrite, and I’ve also begun another fantasy story with a slightly fairy-tale feel. In the future, I’d like of course to finish my main novel, rewrite it, continue writing… I’m interested into going into journalism as an adult, so if I can manage it I will never stop writing!
#7. When did you start writing? What do you think you’ve learned so far through your writing journey?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember… my first stories that I have records of are from when I was six. I’ve learned a LOT through my writing journey it would take far too long to say it all but I guess… one big lesson is perseverance is key, and you aren’t going to write a perfect story overnight.
#8. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing?
I enjoy doing a lot of things when I’m not writing; reading, dancing, singing, acting, working out, listening to music, playing piano, wanting to play guitar, biking, baking, doing school (just kidding), but really an awful lot of things!! Including blogging, of course.
#9. What’s the best advice about writing you’ve read/gotten?
‘You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.’ -Stephen King
‘Don’t tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass’ -Anton Chekhov.
‘The first draft of anything is crap’ (edited) -Ernest Hemingway
‘There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. -W. Somerset Maugham
#10. What author/books inspire you?
Many. Authors who inspire me… Tolkien, obviously, also (in no specific order) Shannon Messenger, Rick Riordan, Sabaa Tahir, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, H. P. Lovecraft, Suzanne Collins, George Orwell, John Flanagan and many many more, if I listed them all it’d take a long time.
Books that have really inspired me… The Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, An Ember In the Ashes, The Book Thief, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland… some of you may be wondering why KOTLC doesn’t have a place on this list and I do have my reasons.
Well… that’s a wrap for the author interview. I hope I didn’t bore you out of your mind TOO much.
And NOW… introducing Lilly…. Thanks again to Linyang for her AWESOME questions for my character!!
For this character interview, I’m trying sort of an interesting format! It’s called an RPG, but it’s basically just a story written in the third person from the POV of whichever character you choose! In this case, it’s Lilly, and I’m going to work in the questions into the story!
Grammar nazis beware I am writing this late at night.
After she’d finished writing her letter, Lilly had been planning on going to bed when a sheet of paper caught her eye. Written on the paper was a list of questions: five of them. Apparently, it was for an assignment due for some class Lilly had never heard of. Character interviewing, or something or other.
Lilly shrugged. The questions had made her curious, and at least that way it was one less assignment that would end up being ‘late’ if she didn’t… that… tonight- (she quickly cut off that train of thought).
So she settled down in her bed with a notebook on her lap and the questions next to her and got to work.
‘What is one thing you’ve always wanted as a child but never got?’ She frowned at the paper. That was a hella deep question, and she wasn’t in the mood to answer deep questions. Not with the letter she’d just written.
But she still wanted to know the answer. Something inside of her desperately wanted to know herself better, for now that she was well and truly alone, she realised, she’d have to rely on herself.
More love. She wrote with a shaking hand, before scribbling it out. That might be true, but it also revealed more of herself than she liked. So she thought back to what she’d been like in first, second grade, and remembered the bicycle she’d longed for.
It had been the prettiest pink, purple, and silver bicycle the shop had owned, and it had been unicorn-themed. Young Lilly had loved unicorns, and had craved that bike with all her heart, but her mother had ended up getting her a princess-themed one instead.
She sighed and wrote down unicorn bicycle. That would have to do.
Next question.
‘What kind of animal do you relate to most?’
She glanced at it again, but the words didn’t change. She wondered how she was supposed to answer that question. It was a difficult one for sure, so in the end she just wrote down something she felt would creep out her teacher, whoever they were (since she still wasn’t even sure what this class was).
A male black widow spider. She smirked, wondering what the reaction would be, and hoping she wouldn’t have to explain that… well, male black widows got eaten by their mates. She shuddered and continued on.
‘What is something you would never give up?’ Lilly chuckled, there were a lot of things she would never give up, and many things she had given up voluntarily, and those things, perhaps, were the most valuable. Looking around the room, her eyes caught on a light blue journal sitting on her nightstand and she had to admit, she’d never give that up. She had so many secrets, so many long hours of misery, and even those of happiness, confined in those pages.
My journal. That had been a fairly easy question, after all.
‘What hobbies do you have?’ Lilly thought about it for a moment. She had a lot of hobbies, after all, but most of them she didn’t stick to for very long. So she decided to only write down the ones she was currently invested in.
Stamp-collecting, journaling, playing the guitar. She didn’t add the other ones she thought of, such as avoiding bullies. Her teacher didn’t need to know that.
The last question, Lilly quickly realised, was going to be the hardest. ‘What song do you think would fit you best?’ Lilly had no clue where to start, but quickly cycled through memories of her favourite songs.
Many of them had had lyrics she’d felt, to her the most important thing in songs was that she could relate to the lyrics. She found it very hard to pick only one, however, and… well she knew that before all the events related in the letter she’d have picked different types of songs.
But she was tired, so tired.
She quickly cycled through her current favourite songs. ‘Somewhere I belong’, those lyrics would fit her. ‘And to those I love, thanks for sticking around’. She loved that song, but it also wasn’t quite right, not to mention far too dark. ‘Hurt’… that was such a poignant song, but again, sort of too depressing. ‘I love Me’… Lilly considered it. She did, or she had… she still did, honestly, even after she’d been hurt so badly.
‘Good Riddance… Time of Your Life’… it had been so long since she’d heard that song, but she loved it all the same. She shook her head. She had way too much Green Day on the list.
And she was getting really tired.
So she finally scribbled down the first several songs that came to mind, telling herself she’d narrow it down to one in the morning.
(A/N: Warning, several of the songs both in the list below and mentioned in the paragraphs above are not clean, but none of them take God’s name in vain in any way).
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day)
I Love Me (Demi Lovato)
Somewhere I Belong (Linkin Park)
Hurt (Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash)
So Am I (Ava Max)
She glanced at the list again, considering… she wasn’t about to put that one, other song on there, but now that she thought about it there was one more…
Fade to Black (Metallica)
And then she lay down and her vision faded to black as she fell asleep.
She did not see the silent figure that slipped in and removed the paper from her room. She was too far gone.
WELL, there you go. Lilly’s character interview. She was so nice, she actually stayed up late to give me those answers! Not that she knew it was me… and now at the risk of sounding absolutely insane I will stop that train of thought.
Train of thought.
Imagine Blog train.
*see how my brain works? It’s weird* i also still don’t know why i’m thinking about the imagine blog tour as a train
Well… that is THAT for my author and character interviews if y’all are still reading. I’m just going to leave you all with this AWESOME graphic that the AMAZING girls at TWN created for my story!
And also with the cover and blurb because why not.
It’s time to imagine…
Imagination.
Such a small word for such a huge impact it has. Every great story begins here—at that moment after the idea but before the story is completed. The spark. The vision. The idea that will expand into a story that clings to readers’ hearts for a lifetime. An author’s story is limited only by his imagination, and how far he is willing to go to breathe life into characters. To build the foundations of another world. To see the struggles and envision the victories. To search for the magic burning in the darkness.
Teen Writers’ Nook presents a collection of short stories and poems from talented young authors that will take you beyond the boundaries of your mind. From snarky protagonists to the tear-jerking sacrifice. From mystical fantasy worlds to indescribable sci-fi stories. Thrilling adventures, daring choices, inspiring messages, heartfelt romances, and everything beyond. Maybe—just maybe—these tales will have you journey past reality and to the depths of your imagination. Will you take the risk and embark through the pages of this book?
Featuring work from Alaine Darkwood, Alexa Peterson, Allie Jo Andersen, Chloe B. Christensen, Faith Elizabeth, Grace A. Johnson, Grey S. Park, Linyang Zhang, Lissa Johnson, Lorelei Angelino, Penelope Rugan, Selah Sigmon, Victoria Crooks, and V. L. Smith!
Guys… (especially y’all over at TWN) I just want to say how incredibly grateful I am, because this opportunity is one of the best things that’s happened to me this year!
AND…
Though I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times already
If you HAVEN’T gotten the Anthology yet, GO BUY IT!!! Imagine
I was recently a few months ago nominated for The Sunshine Blogger Award by Arein and Merlyn, thanks so much! Go check out their awesome blogs!! And be sure to stick around for an *announcement* at the end!
THE SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD
RULES:
Thank the blogger who nominated you and put their link in the post.
Answer the questions that the person who nominated you made.
Nominate 11 new bloggers and make 11 new questions.
List the rules and display The Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/ or your blog
Arein’s questions:
What’s your most memorable birthday and what was it like?
Dang, starting out hard are we? I guess I would have to say my tenth birthday… I had a party and had about fifteen girls over… it was quite fun… I don’t actually remember that much about it except the balloons, a journal and a necklace I got (I got so many things too… I should remember more but apparently I don’t), and that my brother got sick off eating too much cake. 😂
What are the top three things on your bucket list?
E, I SWEAR, your questions are hard… WHY. I’d like to visit Europe especially the British Isles, France, and Italy, I’d like to be a professional author, and I’d love to record my own album (probably a mixture of originals and covers). And I already have several more things, so it’s probably best to leave it at that.
Do you like coffee, tea, soda or juice best?
Depends on the type. Overall, I’d put it in order from best to worst: juice, tea, soda, coffee, but I prefer berry tea to apple juice, and depending on the type of soda I might choose it over tea. Coffee is always gonna be last, though… I don’t drink it and don’t plan on starting. (Yes, yes, yes, feel free to yell at me, feel free to promise that I *will* one day need the caffeine or something… I’ve heard it all).
If you could have lunch with one person, alive or dead, who would it be?
This is literally impossible. *thinks for about five million days* *still doesn’t know* *thinks again for about five million MORE days* Yea I can’t pick just one… so… yes, I’m going to cheat and pick the first seven (Seven is a good number right?) that come to mind and no, I’m not sorry. Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, J. R. R. Tolkien, Winston Churchill, St. Joan of Arc, Rosa Parks and Leonardo DaVinci. Yes, they’re all dead… I guess if I had to pick someone that was alive it’d probably be a famous author like maybe Shannon Messenger or Rick Riordan. Or Paul McCartney. Or Timothee Chalamet.
*yes I am already remembering lots more people… but if I continue to edit and change my answers I’ll never get through this list of questions so without further ado….:*
What is the kindest thing anyone has done for you?
There was one time, a couple years ago… I was on vacation, and I’d just found out something that made me really upset and I was crying outside away from where most of the people were and there was this girl there and she asked me what was wrong, but I couldn’t explain and she just hugged me and held me… and I didn’t even KNOW her, but she just let me cry… my family left the next morning and I couldn’t find her again but I wish I could’ve said thank you. *um that got a little bit sad… how about… HAPPY? Happy is good.*
What is the best bad decision you ever made?
Um
That one time I skipped class
Or maybe the time I went to a party that turned out to be awesome.
Probably the time I picked up An Ember in the Ashes instead of my schoolwork. Schoolwork ended up being submitted late, but Sabaa Tahir is an amazing author and I’m hooked on her books for life (seriously, check them out they’re awesome!).
What’s your favorite pizza topping combination?
Ahhh an easy one!! I love pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives. Yes, I’m weird.
What is your dream home like?
A castle with lots of big rooms and secret passages and Gothic architecture and like… think Dracula’s home maybe? But a little less dark and depressing and of course no vampires.
Who makes you laugh more than anyone else?
Life makes me laugh a lot. (Oh, someone said life wasn’t a person? I always thought they were…) LIFE IS A PERSON…. Honestly though, nobody in particular, lots of people make me laugh a little bit!
What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve heard anyone say?
Literally anything that Bella Swan has ever said.
I really don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of ridiculous things, and said my fair share of them as well.
There was that one time with Holyoke and bribing to dance and two of someone and a unicorn walking down an aisle. (Sorry, E, but that one was all you and I couldn’t resist).
Do you prefer sweaters or hoodies?
This really depends on the sweater/hoodie. I have a few cute sweaters, and I love cropped hoodies… so it depends on my mood and what I’m doing and the rest of my outfit!
Merlyn’s Questions:
What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?
I once went hiking… I think it was in the Shenandoah Valley area, out in Virginia, and we climbed to the top of this mountain, and it was so pretty looking down across into the green valley! I also think, though I’ve never been there, Ireland has some gorgeous views, and so does New Zealand. Which I know from Lord of the Rings.
If you could erase one event from history, what would you erase?
Though *one* specific thing immediately popped into mind, I don’t know, it feels really wrong to erase an event from history… and also rather impossible. Say you wanted to make it so World War I never happened, but erasing the assassination of the Archduke (the direct cause of the war) would only DELAY it because all the actual indirect causes, the various alliances and treaties, were still there. They’d just wait for another catalyst.
If you could interview a famous person, who would it be and why?
Um maybe Harry Styles
Most likely Shannon Messenger or Sabaa Tahir cuz they’re two authors that have really inspired me.
How would you want to be remembered?
I’d like to be remembered as good. As someone that had a positive impact on as many lives as possible. As a success. I’m well aware this is a very tough goal.
If you had four hours to live, what would you do till then?
Considering I believe in God and an afterlife, I’d… prepare for death, make sure I’d repented and all that… also probably write a will, and listen to my favourite songs one last time. Oh, and say goodbye to everybody.
What can you not live without?
I can’t live without air. Can anybody?
What’s the one thing you are worried about?
Probably life in general? Literally everything I have anxiety.
What’s your favourite pizza topping?
Pineapple.
As a single topping, probably pepperoni. Who doesn’t like pepperoni?
What’s the weirdest thought you have ever had?
I really honestly have no clue… and a few possibilities for that position of ‘weirdest thought’ might get me locked up in an insane asylum
What really gets on your nerves?
Nails on chalkboard, interrupting, chewing with mouth open, insisting you’re right when you’ve been proven to be wrong, etc. A lot of things.
What did you say as a kid when asked “What do you want to be when you grow up”?
Depends on the time I was asked, but I’ve basically always wanted to be a fiction author.
My questions
Do you like pineapple on pizza?
What memory instantly makes you smile?
What movie made you a better person?
What’s your biggest regret in life?
What is your dream job?
Which is more important: what you say, or how you say it?
Well… I have about five or so half-finished blog posts, and I’d planned to finish and polish one of those up, but, well, life got in the way, though I’m still trying to follow the schedule I made! (Currently it’s about 15 minutes before midnight as I type these last few words & post this, so still Monday). And anyway all of those posts currently take more mental effort than I’m able to exert… the last few days have been pretty hard mentally and emotionally. That being said, I’m aiming for a more “fun” post that I can enjoy doing and won’t stress me out at all! So without further ado, I present:
WOULD YOU RATHER?
(A/N: Let’s just hope none of these are TOO difficult for me, as I am notoriously indecisive):
I picked nine of these ten randomly, and the tenth one is a friend of mine’s favourite would you rather, so of course I had to include it!
#1- Would you rather get a new puppy or have your home clean for the rest of your life?
Starting out easy, I see. I’d definitely rather have my home clean for the rest of my life! I’m not really into animals. (Yes, I know, horrible! Sue me if you want, but I’ll probably never own a pet and I’m just fine with that).
#2- Would you rather never be able to take a hot shower, or never be able to eat fried food again?
Never be able to eat fried food again. I need hot showers for survival, and I rarely eat fried food anyway. Occasionally waffle fries from Chick-Fil-A, but I’m not one for fast food much, either.
#3- Would you rather only eat celery or oatmeal for the rest of your life?
Celery. I hate oatmeal. It’s one of my least favorite foods ever.
#4-Would you rather be physically stronger than most people, or be able to fly?
Well, as much as being physically stronger than most people might be cool, I totally, completely have to go with being able to fly. I mean, c’mon, who wouldn’t want to fly. Neverland, anyone?
#5- Would you rather have to write out everything you say by hand, or only be able to speak in rhymes?
Definitely only able to speak in rhymes. I have a feeling it’d be amusing, and hey, I might sound almost like a rapper! Which would be pretty cool.
#6- Would you rather be the center of attention or go unnoticed?
Well… I’m an ambivert, but I actually love being the center of attention. I enjoy singing, dancing, playing instruments, and acting in front of people. And I go unnoticed a lot anyways, so definitely the center of attention. I promise I’m not a selfish monster though.
#7- Would you rather lose the ability to cry, or cry for twenty minutes every day randomly?
Oh, gosh, this one’s hard. I’d have to go with losing the ability to cry though, because crying for twenty minutes every day randomly would be… embarrassing, to put it mildly, and it would be convenient never to cry… though I imagine I’d feel like a jerk sometimes. Oh well.
#8- Would you rather be trapped in a romantic comedy with your enemies, or in a horror movie with your friends?
Okay this one is the hardest so far. Seriously, how do I pick? I have a lotta enemies… or at least people that don’t like me very much, but I honestly don’t care one way or another about them… so a romantic comedy, where they’d be bothered and I’d be nonchalant, would be amusing. A horror movie… well, if I knew we’d all come out of it okay, I’d love it, but I don’t think most of my friends would, so I’d have to go with rom-com with my enemies.
#9- Would you rather die in a horrible accident, or live to 100 but not be able to move or talk again?
I’d rather die. I can think of very few things worse than living out an even lonelier existence for that long, unable to even move or interact with other living things. I’d go crazy in a day, and to think of YEARS of that? No thanks. I’d much, MUCH rather die.
#10- Would you rather fight ten duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?
Oh, ten duck-sized horses for sure. I can handle ten small things, while one large thing, one thing -bigger- than me… would probably be too much for me to handle.
Well… that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed the questions, and I’d love to know what your favorite is and the answer to your favorite question. And, do you have any would-you-rathers that you’d like me to answer possibly in another post at some later time?
Hopefully this next week, I’ll have a chance to finish up one of the other posts I’ve been working on. I hope you all have a wonderful week!!
I hope y’all are doing well… and I’ve never tried this type of post before so bear with me as I make a horrible mess of it. I mean, look at the title. I’m totally awful at naming posts.
First off HAPPY LABOR DAY. Is it just me, or is it… interesting… to have a holiday to celebrate working? Like it almost seems opposite of what you’d think it’d be. But then again, I’m weird.
Well… summer is over. Not ‘officially’ for about 15 more days, but yanno, the part of summer that feels like summer.
Which means school, dance, and writing again.
And the lists of goals that I make every year at the beginning of the School Year… I usually don’t complete these lists, but hey one of the items this year relates to my blog, so maybe I’ll try extra hard.
GOALS:
#1 (This doubles as the ‘announcement’)- Actually have some sort of blogging schedule
Now schedules are really not my thing. I’m lucky enough to be able to work at my own pace when it comes to many things, including school, and I’ve found that schedules tend to limit what I can do. That being said, I am going to *try* to adhere to some sort of schedule. My goal is one post every week, maybe on Monday. We’ll see how that goes.
#2- Write more
Over the summer, I wrote about 20K words on my main story and approximately 15K words combining from other original stories and fanfictions. So, about 35K overall. My goal is to exceed those numbers between now and December. However, I’m also sort of taking a hiatus on my main story… sorta… for a month or so, so we’ll see what happens. NaNoWriMo is in November, so I’m hoping I can actually make this goal. More than 35K words written between now and 2022. Finish up Crown. And write fanfiction and original short stories and lots of things. *deep breath*
#3- Finish up some projects
I have lots of random DIY projects around I’m going to try to finish up, a wooden airplane I need to put together and paint, maybe some art, and yes, I probably should look through those old sewing projects. *sighs* (Yea, I hate sewing.)
#4-Read 50 new books before 2022
We’ll see about this one, as it’s slightly dependent on going to the library. But I’m going to do my best.
#5-Work out every day and get way better at dance.
Now this fall is going to be my eighth year of dancing, which is a pretty long time, but I’m still pretty bad at it. So this fall I’m going to try to actually practice every day and also work out, because working out is good. But I do that almost every day anyway, so it’s more the dance.
And yes I do realize this feels like a New Year’s List. For some reason, I’ve never ever made a New Year’s List of Resolutions. It just isn’t my thing. I always seem to do it around September for some reason. It just feels more natural, and yes, I am aware that I am extremely odd.
Moving on (because who likes to talk about being odd for very long 😂 I can’t believe I’m already in my second year of high school.
Which means another full load of courses. Finishing up Algebra II/Trig and then Pre-Calc plus English, History, Chemistry, Religion, Philosophy, Latin, Italian, and Geography. Plus writing every day, if I can, my blog, working out, practicing dance and having dance class… I’m going to be busy. But that’s a good thing.
Am I the only one who actually enjoys being busy? As long as it’s not to the point of stressed out, that is. Which… well I do tend to get stressed out a lot, but working on subjects for a certain LENGTH each day instead of a certain amount definitely helps with that. But being busy without stressed is great, because otherwise you’re bored.
And I don’t know about you all, but being bored… I tend to do stupid stuff when I’m bored. Like the time I wrote a story that made no sense at all, or the time I cut a design in my shirt, only it was with scissors, so that shirt was sort of almost backless after that.
And now before you all are too bored by my post, I should probably bid you adieu.
Do you guys have any goals for the school year? Does anyone else enjoy being busy? And lastly, but perhaps most importantly (just kidding)… what’s the worst thing you’ve done when bored?
I feel like I’ve seen several people around the blogosphere that absolutely *love* this book, so I figured I should check it out! So I read it, and wrote a book review for it as well.
The False Prince Book Review
Title: The False Prince
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Genre: Middle-grade fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Synopsis (spoiler-free):
Sage, an orphan, along with two other boys, are recruited by a nobleman named Conner to learn manners and sword fighting and diplomacy in two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, Conner will pick whichever boy has learned best to pretend to be the long-lost Prince Jaron, in an effort to prevent civil war. Sage must do his best to learn all the skills better than the other two boys, while watching his back, if he wants any chance of making it out alive.
What I like about this book:
Characters. Tobias, Sage, Roden, Conner, Mott, Imogen… all the characters are so wonderfully developed, they actually seem like people. The character development is awesome.
The premise. The premise is intriguing and kept me wanting to read more.
High-stakes. From the sudden surprise Sage receives within the first few pages (sorry, no spoilers… read it to find out!), it’s clear that Conner’s not playing around, and it makes the book that much more interesting.
Clean. This book is entirely clean, and is also bereft of any serious romance, which I don’t particularly enjoy reading.
What I don’t like about this book:
The ‘big’ plot twist. It was boring, predictable, and made me feel cheated. Not only did I guess it within the first fifty pages, it was also something that given the first-person viewpoint the book was written from, would have naturally been revealed much earlier.
The pace. Occasionally, the pace of this book lagged and made me want to put it down, but I always pushed forward and soon got hooked into it again!
Content Warnings:
There’s a bit of violence, but nothing too extreme.
Overall:
I enjoyed reading this book, and I really liked the characters and how different they all are and how three-dimensional and well developed they are as well. However, I hated the plot twist and the pacing was a bit slow, which made me want to put it down several times. It is clean, though, and I’d recommend it to anyone ten or older who loves a good adventure fantasy! 3/5.
I’m currently in the middle of the Runaway King… so I’ll be able to see how well the sequel holds up in comparison to the original book quite soon. So far, I’ve found the Runaway King to be a step up, but that’s just my opinion.
So… what do you think? Would you read this book? And if you have already, do you agree or disagree with what I’ve said?
I’ve been offline pretty much for a week staying at a friend’s house, but while I was there I was able to get some books and read several I’ve never read before which was super fun!!
One of them was Etiquette and Espionage… which I wrote a book review for! 😀
Etiquette & Espionage Book Review
Title: Etiquette & Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Genre: Historical Steampunk
Length: 307 pages
Synopsis (spoiler free):
Sophronia, the despair of her mother, is finally sent away to a ‘finishing’ school after one too many pranks and experiments gone wrong. Only, it’s not exactly your typical finishing school. The girls might learn all the basics of etiquette, table manners, and fashion, how to hold a fork or curtsy properly, but they also learn how to kill, lie, divert attention, how to throw knives, and even how to poison. Sophronia must learn all this- and more- in time to solve the mysteries that come knocking on her door.
What I like about this book:
The characters. They’re all SO different and awesome, and they really do develop over the course of the book.
Use of the paranormal. Vampires and werewolves are featured in the book though not as main characters… I love reading about these types of creatures!
Super cool advanced technology. This book is set in the Victorian-era, but it’s a slightly futuristic steampunk novel. From automated butler and servants to floating castles, this book features SO many awesome devices and gadgets.
An awesome mystery. I’m not going to spoil it, but the mystery in this book left me guessing until the very end!
What I don’t like about this book:
The pace was a bit slow, and I almost lost interest several times, but I was always eventually pulled back in.
The ending wasn’t very satisfying comparison to everything that led up to it, it sort of fell flat.
Moral ambiguity. Sophronia’s taught to kill, and while she expresses her feelings that she will not be able to, there’s never truly a discussion on whether it’s right or wrong to even hurt others. Sophronia is also encouraged to lie a lot. But her own true character wins out most of the time and she doesn’t do very many actually bad things.
Content Warnings:
Minor language… ‘ar*e’ is used once… however, as far as I know, this isn’t a swear in most of the world and is only a very mild one in British English. (Ehhhh I still censored it out slightly just because….). There are also lots of insults but none that would be considered bad in this century.
Overall:
Despite a few parts where my attention waned, I did for the most part enjoy the book, though the ending left me feeling a bit empty, as it wasn’t nearly as fulfilling as I expected it to be. However, I absolutely LOVED the characters and the creativity of the different technologies, and I would recommend this book to anyone who loves strong female tomboy leads, an awesome supporting cast, or steampunk- steampunk isn’t really my genre of choice, so that most likely had something to do with how much I liked it overall. 2.5/5
So, what do you think? Does Etiquette & Espionage sound interesting?
So I was recently nominated for several tags… some with deeper questions than others! This one was probably the easiest, and also, well, extremely FUN to do.
Without further delay… THE COOKIE LOVER AWARD. Yes, this exists apparently AND IT’S SO COOL! I was nominated for this tag by my awesome friend Arein (go check out her amazing blog!). Thankieeeee so much, E!
Rules:
Thank the person/fellow cookie lover who nominated you!
Answer the cookie-related questions and add one of your own!
Share some pictures of cookies you adore! (can be pics you’ve taken or ones from Pixabay, Google, etc)
Nominate 5 or more bloggers who love cookies and leave an open nomination for every cookie lover around the world!
The Questions:
What are your top 3 favorite types of cookies?
This is tough… how am I supposed to be able to pick three? I guess I have to go with butterscotch snickerdoodles, gooey chocolate fudge cookies, and spice cookies (like with ginger and nutmeg and all that good stuff!)
What’s a cookie you haven’t tried yet but REALLY want to?
So I have two answers for this one…. And I do have a reason, because one of the answers I CAN’T try, no matter how much I want to! Those big white chocolate macadamia nut cookies look so good and I want to have ‘em whenever I see them, but I can’t because I’m allergic to tree nuts… and the other answer is strawberry cookie! I heard that this existed once and I might play around with a recipe… I don’t mean shortbread cookies with jelly inside, but actually the jam mixed into the cookie batter! It sounds like it would taste amazing.
What’s the last type of cookie you ate?
Ooof… dang… um…. Is it bad I really don’t know? It’s been a long time since I’ve had *any* even though I love them, so…. *thinks*. It was probably the chocolate toffee cookie my friend brought to a party about… two months ago? (Yes I am 100% aware that that is a long time not to have had cookies… don’t yell at me please! I still love cookies!)
If you were a cookie, what kind would you be and why?
I find it quite ironic that the tag I thought would be the easiest is still very hard! Or maybe I’m just bad at answering questions…. I dunno. I think I might be a lemon creme cookie, because I do tend to keep to myself and people think I’m quiet, but once people get to know me better they know I’m not really like that … lemon creme cookies, at least the ones I’ve had, look normal until you bite into them and then the filling is just so good… and yea! Because they aren’t what they seem at first sight, I guess.
Why do you love cookies?
Interesting question. I guess the variety of flavours in which they come is great! There’s a cookie for everyone no matter how picky they are.
What is one type of cookie that you don’t like?
Any cookies with tree nuts. With the exception of ONE tree nut cookie, I don’t like any, and I can’t eat them anyways so I guess that works out!
Do you like your cookies with or without frosting?
Depends on my mood. If I’m feeling good, I really do love frosting, but if I’m down, the frosting just gives me guilt and extra sweet that leaves me feeling sick. And there are also some types of frosting I don’t even like the taste of, either.
My extra question is….. Do you like nuts in cookies?
Cookie pictures: (from pinterest, copyright to owners)
Lair Of An Emerald Phoenix 