Do you ever feel like a Squib of a writer?

Do you ever feel like a Squib of a writer? 

Okay, let me make it clear, I am not referring to the Chinese explosive or referencing Star Wars. 

I'm actually talking about Harry Potter; Specifically, Mr. Filch.  

For the avid Harry Potter fans, you may skip to the next bold sentence.  For this of you who have NO IDEA what I am referring to, continue reading.  

Mr. Filch is the grumpy caretaker in Harry Potter.  The only thing he loves is his cat Mrs. Norris and for those who don't know anything about him, he can seem like a cranky old man.  Okay, he is a cranky old man.  BUT there is a reason for his mood.  He. Is. A. Squib.  

Squib: Squib is the term applied to a child who is born of magical parents, but who develops no magical abilities. They are considered to be the opposite of Muggle-born wizards/witches.^[13] Squib births are rare: the only squibs noted as such in the books are Argus Filch, Arabella Figg, and Molly Weasley's second cousin who was an accountant. The Ministry does not require them to be registered as part of the Community.^[13] Squibs share some things with wizards and they are aware of and comprehend the wizarding world. They also can see Hogwarts, which ordinary Muggles cannot. However, according to Ron's Aunt Muriel, the custom with squibs has been to send them to Muggle schools and encourage them to integrate into the Muggle world, which is "much kinder" than keeping them in the wizarding world where they will always be "second-class". In contrast to most of the wizarding world's acceptance and even respect for Muggles and Muggle-born wizards and witches, it is often considered embarrassing to have a squib in the family. Rowling has stated that Muggle-born witches and wizards are descended from squibs who married Muggles; the magical gene may resurface after many generations unexpectedly. (Taken from Wikipedia.) 

So, Argus Filch is not JUST a cranky old man.  He is angry, annoyed and hurt that he has to work for those who have the magic, the magic he should have but can't. 

Here is the bold sentence for those who did not need to read the definition of a Squib.  

So, do you ever feel like that?  Like you're supposed to be a writer but you don't have the "magic" of it.  And so you help other authors.  Like posting reviews and going to book signings and attending writers conferences even though you just can't finish your own book?  

Yeah, that's how I feel right about now.  I know I am supposed to have "the magic" but I just can't seem to find it, use it or control it.  So instead of focusing on my work, I read books for review and help spread the word about new releases and I do giveaways and constantly talk about all the books I've read and the authors I know.  I wear t-shirts for various books and I even have pens and bookmarks custom made for other authors.  And though I LOVE what I do (don't get me wrong, I LOVE it).  Sometimes, I feel like a squib.  

It makes me wonder though.  Was I supposed to be a Writer, or just a helper for other writers?  

Like. . . Mr. Filch. (No worries though, I'm not gonna become a grumpy old man and be cold hearted about it, I honestly truly LOVE helping other authors.) 

Have you ever felt this way?  What do you do about it? Does it go away?  Have you given up writing and just become a book reviewer/blogger because of it? 

Defenders of the Covenant ~ Review

Defenders of the Covenant by Angie Lofthouse

Book given to me by author for review.  This does not change my review in any way. 

   

Can Earth be Saved?

Hannah and her friends have been warned about the danger lurking outside of their secret refuge from the alien invaders who devastated Earth years before. The teenagers’ leaders

have raised them in the Latter-day Saint faith, teaching them to trust God, but when McKenzie and her rebellious boyfriend Jeremy decide to run away, Hannah and Derek follow, determined to bring their friends home.

Once outside, the four teens soon realize they cannot return to the refuge without endangering everyone there. Captured, enslaved, and separated, Hannah, Derek, and McKenzie

each learn the unique role they must play in liberating the earth. The friends must battle with android soldiers and attack vessels, and face their own inner struggles to overcome the invaders. After all, not even an alien invasion can stop the work of God

My review: 

Can I just start with saying, I don't like aliens, I don't like sci-fi and honestly, I didn't honestly think I would enjoy this book knowing that it involves both of those things.  

So know that when I say I LOVE THIS BOOK, I really mean it! 

I was hooked immediately,  when I picked the book up, there was no putting it down until I finished.   

From the very first page it was action packed, heart pumping, tear jerking adventure.   

I would specifically point out some of my favorite characters but honestly, I can't choose.  ALL of the characters were believable, and felt like real people.  

Everyone had their own issues and things they had to work through throughout the book.  

Each character was their own person.  

For the amazing Characters, Writing, Story and Spirit of the entire book

Change is coming

I love looking at the comments on my blog and finding that so many of you wonderful followers LOVE my background.  

But for many weeks now I have felt that this blog no longer shows what I want it to show.  This blog began as a small side project next to my writing.  

Well, my blog has become bigger than my writing, I work on it more and it is taking up to much of my time.   I am not getting enough actual NOVEL WRITING done so,  for the next few weeks I will be working on changing the blog.  

I'm not getting rid of it, don't worry.  I couldn't ever do that.  But this blog will have some page changes, the template is going to change and the background is going to better reflect what I love most!  

As a side note, the background has already changed. Please let me know, do you like this current background better than the last one?  What are you thoughts?  (This new one isn't permanent either, just a temporary change) .

Also, I feel that I talk about WAAY too many subjects on here.  Movies, music, my hobbies aside from writing. . . etc SO, I am going to start another blog (possibly two or three) soon.  

I will try to stick with my regular posting schedule but if I do not post on the days my blog says I am suppose to, please forgive me and keep checking back! 

A HUGE Thank you to all of you wonderful Supporters and Fans!  

Applause to those who inspire, encourage and help you!

I am so grateful for all of my followers, friends and supporters.  I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read and comment on my blogs and I make sure to reply to every comment.  My goal is to help every author who comes my way in any way that I can.  I LOVE being able to introduce readers to new books and bringing new fans to authors.

But I think sometimes authors don't get the credit they deserve.  Like, how many people they have helped, inspired and brought into the writing world all together.

So today there are a few people I am going to take the time to tell you about.  And I am going to tell you some pretty amazing things about them.  And hopefully when I have finished, you will have found some more authors you'll end up loving just as much! 

The first person I am going to tell you about, is the one who started a chain of events that has brought me to where I am at today.  

Laurel is a friend whom I spent a lot of time hanging out with.  We met when I was 12 and meeting her was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  A few short months after I turned 13 I decided I wanted to try writing a book.  (Yeah, no one will ever see my first piece of work.) And so I told my great friend Laurel.   And months after that she told me about a group her mother along with eight other women were doing to help young writers get started.  It was exciting but I told her I probably couldn't come due to the fact that I was home-schooled and worked for my parents at their store.  

This brings us to the second wonderful woman.

Karen Hoover:

After I told Laurel I couldn't come to the writing group, I let it go and moved on.  Laurel didn't.  She e-mailed Karen, told her about my situation and what did Karen do?  Took matters into her own hands.  She called my mom, arranged everything and sent me an e-mail with instructions.  (Where the writers group was meeting, what to bring. . . etc).  

If not for Karen Hoover, I would have never gone to that writers group.  If not  for that writing group, I wouldn't be writing this post right now. 

I already knew C. Michelle Jeffries.  But let me tell you, she is incredible and was also very helpful!   

Karen and Michelle got me started, kept me coming and then I met Shanna.  

Shanna helped me with EVERYTHING! I called, e-mailed and talked to her in any form possible at least once a day.  I ALWAYS had questions for her.  I looked up to her, and just LOVED her advice and help.  She never once told me she couldn't help me at the moment or she was "busy" or "go away",  or "you're annoying. I don't want to talk to you" (I'm pretty sure I was really annoying at the time).  

Between these four women, I started going to writers conferences, doing my work and really getting into writing.  During my first time to LTUE, I met Elizabeth Mueller. 

We met, said "Hi", added each other on Facebook and left it at that.  Until I had a really rough time.  I couldn't write, I hadn't written in months!  And it felt horrible.  I was on a schedule and I was really trying to complete my manuscript.  I just wanted to cry! 

Instead I logged onto Facebook.  And there her name was in my chat box.  No one else was online.  So I clicked on her name, opened a conversation and began asking her writing questions!  

After that night, I wrote like crazy and finished my manuscript ahead of time.  

Now, after almost 7 years since it all began, I am so happy to say that 3 out of five of these beautiful women are published.  

Karen got published after trying for 14 years! 

Author of The Wolfchild Saga: 

The Sapphire Flute, 

The Armor of Light

The Emerald Wolf (coming November 2012) 

And 

The Misadventures of a teenage wizard: Two Souls are better than one

Elizabeth got published and I got to be one of her minions! 

Author of Darkspell

And coming next month is C. Michelle Jeffries first published book! 

Author of Emergence (September 2012)

When The Emerald  Wolf is released I will be throwing a HUGE celebration here.  It is gonna be a giveaway party you do not want to miss out on. 

I will also be throwing a blog party in celebration of the release of Emergence.  

More information to come as these events get closer.  

So please, give these wonderful women a hand! Without them, I wouldn't be here.  I can't even imagine how many others they have inspired! 

And I encourage everyone to blog about the people who helped, encouraged and got you writing!  (And come leave the link in the comments so I can check it out). 

Last days of Freedom Giveaway Hop WINNER!

Congratulations to Vonnie Rivera! 

(View original post HERE)
e-mail will be sent shortly.  If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen. 

Vonnie gets to choose two of the following books! 

(Click on the titles to read the description for each book on Goodreads!) 

Tigers Curse & The Hourglass Door

Once upon a Marigold & Magyk

Dragon Slippers & Dealing With Dragons

Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop! August 17th-22nd

A HUGE Thank you to I am a Reader, Not a Writer and The Elliot Review! 

So. . . what are you doing with your last days of freedom? Well, read a book of course!  (Well. . . that's what I'm doing anyway).  And so, for this giveaway I would like to give you a few of my FAVORITE books ever!  

What you can win:

(Click on the titles to read the description for each book on Goodreads!) 

Tigers Curse & The Hourglass Door

Once upon a Marigold & Magyk

Dragon Slippers & Dealing With Dragons

If you are the winner, you will get to choose two of these AMAZING books!  

This Hop runs August 17th - August 22nd.  

Winner will be chosen at random courtesy of random.org.  US Only-Sorry! (Giveaway ends on the 22nd at midnight.  Winner will be e-mailed and announced shortly after). 

Winner will have 48 hours to respond.  If that time has passed and winner has not replied to my e-mail, another winner will be chosen. (Also by random.)

 To enter: Follow my blog via GFC or E-mail or either one of my Facebook Pages!

CLICK HERE for the Author Facebook Page

&

CLICK HERE for the Blog Facebook Page

 To enter, leave the following information in the comments:

Name:
E-mail:

How you follow:

&

The/A title(s) of your favorite book(s)!

And now, hop along to the other blogs participating!

Project ELE~ A book review

Project ELE by Courtney Nuckels & Rebecca Gober

(This book was given to me by the authors for review.  This does not affect my opinion in anyway). 

Millions have already died, and thousands more are perishing daily. As a last ditch effort to preserve the human race, the government implements Project ELE. With the earth heating at rapid speeds, all remaining survivors are forced to turn to F.E.M.A. shelters to wait out ELE's wrath. 

Fifteen-year-old Willow Mosby's life, as she knows it, ends the moment she walks through the shelter's door. Willow has to quickly adapt to the new challenges that shelter life demands, which includes making new friends and working a full time job.

Soon after making an interesting discovery, Willow and her friends start exhibiting strange abilities. Seeking answers, they embark on a mission to find out what these new abilities mean and whether they are a gift or a curse. 

This new adventure can send her world crashing down around her. The question is: Can Willow survive the fall?

My review: 

Project ELE is not your typical book.  Definitely  not a typical apocalypse story either.  Right from the beginning this books keeps you on edge, at the end of your seat just begging to know more!  The story did get slow in a few places but even then I couldn't stop reading.

The story is intriguing, the writing is good and you connect with the characters immediately.  I did think that Willow's relationship with Alec went a little too fast, Willow had some moments that didn't feel real and there were a few moments that just weren't believable.  But despite all the things I didn't like,  I still LOVE the book and will continue to read more work from Courtney and Rebecca!  *SPOILER ALERT: This book ends with 'To be continued'*  (I almost cried when I read those words because now I HAVE TO KNOW what happened!

I thought about what rating I would give this book and my first response was to give it 3 music notes.  I thought about giving it four music notes and that didn't seam right.  I do LOVE the book.  This was a hard book to give a rating but after much consideration (and unable to give it only 3 music notes, or four whole music notes)  I give it 3.5 dragons!

To connect with the authors and learn more about Project ELE, CLICK HERE! 

Epic things I got last week!

I know, I didn't post last week.  I'm sorry.  I have been super busy and I promise to stay on schedule this week!  And to start this amazing week off, I am sharing pictures of some of the epic things I got last week! 

I got my first sword!  YAY! 

I know I don't talk about this one much but I collect Masks.  :)  I got these two beautiful pieces this week! 

Smiling and Frowning Drama masks.  This is a pendant my sister bought for me and gave to me this week! 

My brother went on a road trip and came back with this for me! (Last week really was an incredible week for me!) 

I bought this beautiful journal that I have wanted FOREVER! 

The details are kinda hard to make out in the picture but my mother gave me this beautiful silver box.  A dragon is on top and another dragon wraps around the sides.  (See, three gifts in one week!)


SEE! And now you can begin to understand why I didn't blog last week!  I really was busy!  Have a great Monday everyone! 

Heroes don't know everything!

I hate reading a book where the good guys know EVERYTHING!  

Examples: 

Need an escape route? Oh hey look, there is a motorcycle! I can drive that! 

I need a weapon. What's that?  There is a sword? Oh yeah, I can fight with that. 

I just saved the damsel in distress and now I'm gonna kiss her! Because I know exactly what I'm doing, our first kiss is the romantic thing ever! 

NO! NO! NO! NO! 

When did our hero learn to drive a motorcycle, fight with a sword and be the best kisser ever?!?!?!.

Guess what! In Harry Potter, Harry had no clue what to do when it came to magic.  

What did he do?  Went to school and learned. 

When Katniss walked into the training arena, guess which weapon she chose?  The Bow and Arrow.  Why? 

Because she already knew how to use it! 

In Lord of the Rings, Frodo is given a ring that he must destroy.  Does he know what to do? NO! 

He asks for help! 

Don't give your characters the knowledge.  Give them the tools to learn. 

I hate reading books where the lead character (woman or man) just know everything.  They never think 'hmmm. . . how do I do this?'.  They just KNOW EVERYTHING and it's horrible.  

Do you know everything?  I don't know everything.  If someone handed me a sword and said "Fight!"  I would probably end up cutting my arm off. 

If I came upon a motorcycle as my only fast way for escape, I would just start running.  No way would I try and drive a motorcycle if I've never been taught how! 

Authors have feelings too!

Authors have feelings too!

This writing tip is for anyone who writes book reviews! 

One thing that I have seen a lot of is really mean bad book reviews.  

Honesty is the most important thing from a book reviewer.  But just because you didn't like the book, doesn't mean that the book is bad.  And if it is, you still don't need to be mean about it.  Authors have feelings just like anyone else and it is painful to hear from readers who don't like their work! So if you are going to write a book review for a book you didn't like, don't tear it apart viciously.  Give the reasons you don't like the book, maybe do a point system for reviews.  

You don't have to give it 5 stars even if you didn't like it.  Be honest, don't be mean.

*Originally posted on Writeaway, a blog that is no longer live.

Paranormalcy Trilogy-Review

Let me just start by saying, these covers are beautiful, but they do not match the character AT ALL! I think Evie wears a formal dress like twice, maybe.  So really, they should have done something more fitting for the covers.  I know that a lot of books have women in fancy dresses on the covers and seriously, if it doesn't go with the story, DON'T DO IT AS THE COVER! 

Anyway, besides that this series is incredible!  You laugh, you cry, you smile, you frown, you yell at Evie (the Main Character) for making mistakes and you totally love and hate some of the characters (at the same time!)  The entire series keeps you up reading until you've read all three books because they are THAT GOOD! 

I read Paranormalcy and Supernaturally both in one evening because I could not put them down.  (Yes, I was very tired the next morning.  But it was worth it!) 

Evie is a believable character who makes mistakes, has major flaws and can seriously irritate you at times. BUT, she over comes, learns from her mistakes and has a freakin' awesome boyfriend.  (But I'm not going to say anymore because I don't want to spoil things for you).

So, the entire series overall rating

If I reviewed each book individually, the first would get 4.5 music notes, the second book would get 4 music notes (This book happened to have a really big cliche that I HATE so it would get fewer music notes).  and the third would get 5 music notes.  The entire series all together gets 5 music notes! 

And putting the writing aside, Kiersten White is an incredible, hilarious author!  If you didn't see it CLICK HERE to see another post where I mention her and how she signed my copy of Paranormalcy.  (It is hilarious!)  

Once you have done that, continue reading because this isn't gonna make any sense until you do.  

I handed Kiersten my copy of Endlessly with a stick note attached with the correct spelling of my name.   She laughed. :)


See?!? Isn't she totally awesome!