I've got fun news for you: The sweet Little Thoughts from Torn Pages (Uzma) is my most recent follower, fresh from today. This means I've finally hit the 100 followers milestone!
Wait. What does that give you, you ask? Dear friend, I have decided to write a free short story to celebrate this with you! Once written, I will post it on here so all of you, lovely followers, can enjoy it! How great is that?! I hope you like this idea because I'm so happy about writing a story for you all! Thank you SO MUCH for following me for 5 whole years now! It means a friggin' lot to me! Do you have any preferences? A specific idea you want me to tackle? Please let me know your thoughts! Because:
Hello everyone! I decided to share my readings and upcoming reviews for the month starting this January! I thought this would be fun for both of us. You will see the categories divided like this: Personal readings (Hardcover, Paperback, Kobo, Kindle) and ARCs and free copies (a.k.a upcoming reviews).
As always you're invited to share your thoughts on these readings, whether you want to read them or already have. 🙂
Enjoy!
Personal Readings
Hardcovers
The Sleeping Prince (The Sin Eater's Daughter #2) by Melinda Salisbury (Library Book)
Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
Paperbacks
That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E. K. Johnston
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke (Library Book)
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Kobo (eBooks)
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
Wendy Darling (Volume 1: Stars) by Colleen Oakes
Kindle (eBooks)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers #1) by Brenda Drake
Echo in Time (Echo Trilogy #1) by Lindsey Fairleigh
Heir of Illaria (Illaria #1) by Dyan Chick
ARCs and Free Copies
Upcoming Reviews
Unwritten by Tara Gilboy (NetGalley)
Comics Experience Guide to Writing Comics: Scripting Your Story Ideas from Start to Finish by Andy Schmidt (NetGalley)
Tommy Hopps and the Aztecs by Vic Connor and Austin Briggs (Reading Deals)
Invincible Assassin 2.5 (Novella) by John Darryl Winston (LibraryThing)
The Initiation by Chris Babu (Direct review request)
I hope you're as excited as I am!
What do you think of these books? Have you read them? Do you want to?
Hello everyone! I decided to share my readings and upcoming reviews for the month starting this January! I thought this would be fun for both of us. You will see the categories divided like this: Personal readings (Hardcover, Paperback, Kobo, Kindle) and ARCs and free copies (a.k.a upcoming reviews).
As always you’re invited to share your thoughts on these readings, whether you want to read them or already have. 🙂
Enjoy!
Personal Readings
Hardcovers
The Sleeping Prince (The Sin Eater’s Daughter #2) by Melinda Salisbury (Library Book)
Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
Paperbacks
That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E. K. Johnston
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke (Library Book)
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Kobo (eBooks)
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
Wendy Darling (Volume 1: Stars) by Colleen Oakes
Kindle (eBooks)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers #1) by Brenda Drake
Echo in Time (Echo Trilogy #1) by Lindsey Fairleigh
Heir of Illaria (Illaria #1) by Dyan Chick
ARCs and Free Copies
Upcoming Reviews
Unwritten by Tara Gilboy (NetGalley)
Comics Experience Guide to Writing Comics: Scripting Your Story Ideas from Start to Finish by Andy Schmidt (NetGalley)
Tommy Hopps and the Aztecs by Vic Connor and Austin Briggs (Reading Deals)
Invincible Assassin 2.5 (Novella) by John Darryl Winston (LibraryThing)
The Initiation by Chris Babu (Direct review request)
I hope you’re as excited as I am!
What do you think of these books? Have you read them? Do you want to?
*A special thanks to Edelweiss+ and Image Comics for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.*
The Blurb:
Isola Vol.1 is a fantasy and adventure comic book series brought to you by renown Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl (Gotham Academy creators) and MSASSYK (Gotham Academy colorist).
Olwyn, Queen of Maar, has been changed into a gorgeous black-and-blue tiger thanks to an evil spell. Accompanied by her loyal Captain of the Guard, she will travel far and wide to reverse it in hopes of finding Isola, a mythical island also known as the land of the dead.
Embark with them on this grand and surprising quest! Be ready for beauty, brilliant colour choices, spirituality, and an emotional journey you won’t regret.
Introduction:
When I first lay eyes on this comic book, the colours and strange animals in this adventurous scene caught my attention. I’ve got to admit I’m a real sucker for bright and/or thematic colours. Also, Isola? What does it mean? Such a beautiful word! Did you see the glyphs that represent an unknown fictional language? As a polyglot and language lover, this appealed to me!
Then, I read the summary. A queen, stuck in a tiger’s body, travels the world with her Captain of the Guard to reverse the curse placed on her? Fantasy and adventure? Plus, a queen as a main character?!
There was no other choice: I had to read this book.
Thanks a lot, Edelweiss+ and Image Comics!
The Positive Sides:
Since I have several positive points, I figured it’d be nice to present them in a… bullet list, yay!
It is INSANELY GOOD! (see other points)
I love the colour themes and contrasts! They add a lot to the story and the emotions, mostly.
Gorgeous drawings. There, I said it. They’re a beautiful mix between American and Japanese comics (manga), which is simply lovely.
Speaking of drawing, the depth techniques the artists used resulted in amazing effects! The characters and important items somehow look closer to the reader than the background itself. It’s mesmerizing, honestly.
As for the characters, their facial expressions are great and quite believable!
The Queen, dear Olwyn, I love her (I hope that’s clear) and she looks AWE-FREAKING-SOME as a human! I love her skin colour—it’s a surprise but a very pleasant one at that.
Also: LGBTQ+ representation, YAY! This time, it’s lesbians, yes! FANTASTIC *throws confetti*! It’s so rare in general and even more in comics! Excuse me while I sit there squealing about this oh-so-cute relationship in Isola.
Did I tell you about my emotions while reading this work of art? No? Here I come: AH, my emotions! The story tugged on them so hard I feared for my safety. And damn, how I love Olwyn and Rook (her Captain of the Guard)!!!
There is tension and a hella lot of mystery. The story’s also mystic and spiritual (in terms of these characters’ beliefs, not ours).
Animals play a big part in this story (the ever-present fox is awesome!) and it’s so refreshing.
Last point but a very important one to me, the symbols of unknown languages (at least to us) are just woooow. As a polyglot, let me tell you they excited me!
The Negative Sides:
Hmmmm… None?
Perhaps the fact that the story is sometimes confusing due to a lot of spirituality and flashbacks involved, but really, it’s not off-putting. But then again, it fits the story… This is not a negative side per se, only a small confusion.
In Conclusion:
Seriously? If this were an attraction at a park, I’d stand in line again after every. damn. time. I get off it. I genuinely loved Isola! All-in-all, I want to KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS STORY! I’ll be damn sure to read the rest of the series and subscribe to Image Comics newsletter just to know when each issue is out and all that jazz. Count me in as a big fan!
On this joyous note, I give Isola a rating of *gasps*5 out of 5! (I swear I would give it more if I could, like 10 out of 5, but hey!)
The sweet Little Thoughts from Torn Pages (Uzma) is my most recent follower, fresh from today. This means I’ve finally hit the 100 followers milestone!
Wait.
What does that give you, you ask?
Dear friend, I have decided to write a free short story to celebrate this with you! Once written, I will post it on here so all of you, lovely followers, can enjoy it!
How great is that?!
I hope you like this idea because I’m so happy about writing a story for you all!
Thank you SO MUCH for following me for 5 whole years now! It means a friggin’ lot to me!
Here is a quick note to wish you a merry Christmas and best wishes!
Also, I have made huge progress with my novel Heaven’s Army: Down to Earth last week in terms of plot and characters. I will update you more when the holidays are over.
There are two or three book reviews coming soon too.
And the poetry workbook I told you about recently? Yes, I did write some of it! It’s coming together. I will tell you more when I am back from the holidays.
Here’s the fun writing technique I promised you a few days ago: the characters’ letters to you.
It is that forthright, I’m not joking.
I was inspired to try such a technique after reading the chapter entitled ”Out from the Dust: Creating Characters” from Colum McCann’s Letters to a Young Writer.
The author recommends we write a letter to each of our MCs (protagonists and antagonists) asking them ”Why don’t I know you?”. A loud bell resounded in my mind.
Indeed, what if I had a go at that seemingly amusing technique? I was in a tight spot where I needed to get closer to my characters in my Heaven’s Army series (particularly Hope, Fesdriel, Anick and Lucifer). Otherwise, I would continue to be stuck and just plain forsake writing their story. Plus, it sounded too fun to miss out on such an attempt.
So, I sat down with a pen and a sheet of paper and I asked that question (”Why don’t I know you?”) to Hope, my MC. I kid you not my hand moved almost on its own; there were so many words in my head and they all needed to be put on the page! In less than two paragraphs I’d already learned three things I didn’t know about him!
It was riveting and fascinating!
But wait: it gets even better. Yes!
I wondered with alarm if this would help me with Lucifer… I was afraid yet curious. I’d never been close to my Lucifer for diverse reasons (notably because I’m quite a believer, so it doesn’t sit well with me… but my book needs him so I do too!). In other words, I never bonded with him like with my other characters. Does that make sense? Anyhow, I told myself the best thing I had to do was at least try.
Nothing came at first.
A week passed… Then, at midnight right when NaNoWriMo began, I swear to God the answers to my questions for Lucifer flooded me!
Cross my heart and hope to die but he answered all of them in a fierce and genuine manner. It was so beautiful I could have cried with glee. For once, I was connecting with that important character! Now, I have material to work with and I understand him much better (it’s still scary, but so fun!).
Break away and it. Break the mold and cross that fourth wall. Ask them on paper as though they were in front of you – or that you were them talking to you – and let their answers flow.
It’ll be worth your time. You might not use everything, but I assure you that you’ll know them in better details and perhaps look at them in another light. Either way, you’ll win.
Why not try that writing technique after all?
Go on, have fun and let me know in the comments how it went for you!
I’ve renewed my Writing.com account so it’s kind of a personal commitment to my writing journey. Thus, my writing portfolio stays online for everyone to enjoy. At least for another year.
New ideas for my main novel Heaven’s Army: Down to Earth hit me like bright flashes last week. Needless to say I wrote them all down! I have been tweaking them and working on the story’s timeline and plot surrounding these fantastic ideas. It’s coming together beautifully, guys and gals!
Moreover, I’ve been working on two short stories (for fun) and a few poems for my collection of poems.
I’ve also worked a bit on Arsonphobia (mostly the plot and the characters’ backgrounds).
Just so you know, I have been juggling a lot of projects lately and it’s become overwhelming to the breaking point. So I had to decide which ones I would focus on. Of course, I chose Down to Earth as my main novel and sweet Nightshade: The Death Stone as my sideline. Those are my biggest projects. I’m not saying I won’t add information to Arsonphobia or write more short stories, but they’re not my main works for now, that’s all. As for the collection of poems, it’s part of the most important ones, too.
Many events have been happening in my life (all at the same time, as usual), which made me re-think my career plans. In the end, I have decided to have a go at translation (like I was supposed to from the start) whilst still teaching English and Italian as second languages on the side. I’ll also try, once I receive my Bachelor’s degree, to get the English teacher position at the college in my region. If I do get it, well, I know exactly what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life (happily too and without putting writing aside either!).
Moreover, I learned and tried a new technique for character-building and it’s working pretty nicely. In fact, it’s awesome! I’ll tell you more about it on Friday. It’s really worth a shot.
I decided to enter with Nightshade this time around because even though Down to Earth is my main focus, I won Camp NaNoWriMo with the latter so I couldn’t enter and win twice with the same novel, right? I also love Nightshade with every fibre of my being, so it was the logical choice. And a right one at that feeling-wise!
I hope to see you on the NaNo site (please go ahead and add me as your buddy). The more the merrier in this crazy ride!
Last thing but not least, I’ll post two reviews in the next two weeks. So, you’ll get to read my recommandations (they are very good books!).
Thank you for reading as always and see you next post, lovelies!
Today I have the most wonderful writing news to share with you!
You have been diligent and adventurous companions on my writing journey for years now. I have shared with you poems, short stories, and excerpts from my novels, my hopes and dreams as well as my temporary setbacks. I have always let you know when I participated in contests, classes, workshops, and the likes.
Though it seemed I wasn’t making much progress, today I haven been proven wrong. Why?
I have the pleasure of announcing to you, dear fellow adventurers, that I am finally published!
Yes!
As of today, my poem The Queen of Justice is published on the lovely Selcouth Station Web site. Simply click here to read it (it’s free!) – I really hope you enjoy it!
Don’t forget to browse the site afterwards for there are other interesting pieces on there too.
Now, here’s that poem’s funny backstory: I started writing it in French over a year ago. Yep, that’s right. About two weeks ago, I stumbled on it again and I found the inspiration to finish writing it! I wrote a line here… then a line there… and I swear I was lying in bed and I just couldn’t stop writing it in my head! However, I was too tired to actually get up… so I took my phone off my nighttable and I wrote all of it on the tiny screen! But, ladies and gents, am I glad I did.
I have been aware of the Selcouth Station Web site for months due to my sometimes discussing with the team on Twitter (they’re very kind and amusing!). I thought: ”Hey, why don’t I translate this kickass poem into English and try to get published on Selcouth Station?!” I had high hopes because, in my opinion, it is my best poem yet. I wanted them to say yes so much!
Thank you Selcouth Station for publishing my poem, thank you!
I am so proud and I hope you guys and gals see the progress I’ve made. I might be as fast as a snail, but I am getting there. Thank you, fellow adventurers, for supporting me.
During the night (I’m a nightowl, you see), I finished a poem that’s been sitting in my drawer for over a year! The thing is… it’s in French. Mind you, it’s a beautiful language! But I was thinking: ”Hey, maybe I could translate it into English and submit it to an online platform/magazine?” And so, of course, I agreed to my idea. Let’s hope translation doesn’t ruin it.
On a side note, it must be said that winter book reviews is are coming. It’ll be quite eclectic, I’m telling you!
Once I’m done reading and reviewing it, I will create a new category on my blog titled ”Writing Craft Books & Resources”. I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain what it will consist of now, aren’t I?
To Own or Not to Own?
I need your opinion: I’m thinking of monetizing my blog through owning a domain (the name of my blog would stay the same, only without the .wordpress.com in it; it would simply be .com) and becoming an Affiliate to writing and books products. What do you guys and gals say?
Your opinion matters since you’re my readers.
My Writing News
As for my writing problematic (which can be read here), I’ve decided (let’s hope I stick to it!) to write and finish Down to Earth (Heaven’s Army pentalogy) and the Arsonphobia series.
Yay for me!
Also, I’m onto finishing a few short stories and posting some of them on my blog whilst I’ll submit to online magazines/platforms with others. How fun is that?!
Unfortunately, even this blog post has to end. But I’ll leave you (only for the next few days, mind you!) on a positive note.
Here’s a bit of backstory to the positive note:
Two days ago, I pampered myself and put some makeup on and a nice shirt (all in my favourite colour!) and played around with my camera. One picture really stood out: I thought I looked beautiful in it.
Ad Librum Aeternam 