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Subplots and Storylines – November 2017

Wait–November disappeared? I left it right there, turned around for one second, and when I looked back, it was gone!
I suspect many of us are feeling that way, especially all of you who participated in NaNoWriMo! I could use a really long nap right about now. But before I crawl into hibernation, I suppose you’re expecting some witty summaries of how November shaped up in my corner of the world, right?
Well, the month opened up with my 22nd birthday.
Po Po Po
And what with blueberry bran muffins for breakfast and a rousing game of bingo in the evening, it’s been confirmed that I am now an old lady. It was a lovely day, despite school taking up half of it, and a few days later I received a surprise birthday package in the mail from a dear friend (you know who you are!). Later on I also went out for coffee with another good friend whom I hadn’t really chatted with in–oops–close to a year, so that was fun too. (You know who you are as well!)
Let’s see, what else . . .
My little sis had a birthday too! The end of the year is when half the family’s birthdays snowball into Christmas, so there’s always lots of shopping involved. Speaking of which, I started Christmas shopping in November too, but still have a ways to go. That, plus putting up the Christmas tree and seeing the glittering hoarfrost all over the trees on my way to work this morning, means the festive feels are rolling in.
I bought a painting from another friend of mine who was selling her artwork at a local craft faire, and the green-and-blue colors match my room quite nicely.
I finally moved a two-foot stack of books–all acquired last summer–off my desk! Had to clear a shelf to make room for them, but at least now they have a home. Any other book dragons out there struggling to fit your hoard into your existing shelves? It’s tough.
So basically lots of little happenings this month, because school was intense. All the assignment due dates, quizzes, and studying kind of fell into November, plus the deadline for a group project was (and still is) looming, so much of my spare time was funneled into textbooks. Unfortunately. This is why I’m heading off to hibernate!

P.S. Marvel’s Infinity War trailer dropped and I am F R E A K I N G  O U T.

Subplots on the Screen

Yes, yes, I watched more of Once Upon a Time season 3 and The Flash season 3, both of which are still great! And is it just me, or have I been stuck on these seasons for months?!
Wonder Woman
(I actually watched this in October, but somehow forgot to include it in that month’s S&S post.) Back when I first heard they were making a Wonder Woman movie, I’ll admit I rolled my eyes, expecting two hours of overly-feministic claptrap. The character’s appearance in Batman v. Superman didn’t impress me much–she seemed like just another beautiful, kick-butt heroine with little personality.
Buuuut then I started hearing great reviews from friends who were watching Wonder Woman, and when I finally saw it myself–well, I realized they were right! It wasn’t a perfect movie (and it did bear some amusing resemblances to Captain America: The First Avenger), but it was one of the best DC films I’ve seen. Diana’s strong moral compass and pure view of the world rang true for me. (“But the war is that way!”) Seeing her charge into battle, inspiring dozens of men to follow her into the fray, almost brought me to tears. Plus, it was super fun to see an Amazonian women at odds with American WWI society.
The Dark Tower
The preview gave me chills! I’ve never watched nor read anything by Stephen King, but this one had enough of a fantasy vibe (and less of a horror vibe) to interest me. Unfortunately, the plot lacked the depth I was hoping for, and the boy, Jake, could have had a lot more personality. I did enjoy it, though! Matthew McConaughy was the BEST as the Man in Black. He saved the movie for me. So did Idris Elba as the Gunslinger–both were really cool characters. The score was fantastic too.
Not sure if this is true, but apparently the movie was based off a whole series of books by Stephen King, so maybe that’s why it felt like it was missing something. Anyway, I don’t regret watching it.
Priceless
Soooo good! This is a movie about human trafficking, so it wasn’t an easy watch, but the filmmakers did a good job of conveying the worst parts in a subtle, implied way. Even so, there was lots of emotion, and some characters I wanted to smack really hard–disgustingly hard.
Did you know that Joel Smallbone from For King & Country played the lead role? He did a stellar job. Actually, the whole movie was surprisingly good quality. Sorry, but you never know if a Christian film is going to feel low-budget. Terribly unfortunate, and I have many thoughts on that topic, but that’s for another day. This movie was great, though, even if it wrapped up a bit quickly!
Due to the subject matter, I would caution younger viewers to use discernment when deciding whether to see it themselves.

Storylines on the Page

Prodigy Prince // Natasha Sapienza
The author was so sweet and gave me a free e-book copy in exchange for review! (All opinions are my own.) This was a high fantasy novel that kind of toed the line between MG and YA, and the action starts right off the bat with Prince Nuelle’s older brother leaving him in the role of Supreme Prince. It was a really creative story, exceedingly colorful in all senses of the word, with things like magenta grass and blue hair and elemental-ish superpowers. My favorite powers are spoilery, however, so I can’t talk about them!
A slew of fantasy creatures and battles kept the pace running at high-speed; the Savage Shifters in particular were nifty because they were actually limited in their shapeshifting powers (hallelujah for realistic limits!).
I’m a big sucker for training sequences and heroes banding together in an Avengers-like style, so that was another plus for me. My favorite scene, however, took place in an infirmary, where a certain character with healing powers literally absorbed the wounded people’s pain.
My main quibble was that the pace didn’t allow me to delve as deeply into the mind of the protagonist or the nuances of the storyworld as much as I wanted to. I posted a longer review on Goodreads HERE. (Just an FYI, I believe Natasha is making some changes to the story before she fully releases it, but if you’re interested, definitely add it to your to-read list on GR!) Three stars!
The Tomb of the Sea Witch // Kyle Robert Schultz
Eeep, I loved this one! The Beast of Talesend was really fun, don’t get me wrong, but somehow the sequel was just BETTER. I laughed out loud numerous times while the characters went undercover at the Warrengate Academy of Advanced Magic and dealt with threats from the sea (sirens! mermaids! artefacts! oh my!). Full of twists and turns that honestly surprised me, humor on nearly every page, lots of snark, and deliciously fun spins on several different fairy tales at once, this little book was like fluffy chocolate cake. No, make that Black Forest Cake, because the surprises and jokes are like . . . cherries? No? Analogy’s not working? Okay, fine. It was a great book, and I’m so glad I bought it straight from the author at Realm Makers last summer!
I caught a few unfortunate typos, but am still giving it five stars!
A Time to Die // Nadine Brandes

Another book I bought at Realm Makers, yay! And OH. MY. GOODNESS. This trilogy gets a lot of hype, at least in my reader circles, and I was desperately hoping it would live up to all those glowing reviews. IT DID. Bless Nadine’s heart, it did.
This is one of the most unusual dystopian novels I’ve read, because it’s infused with a lot more faith and hard questions and almost urban fantasy-ish settings than others. One setting in particular almost felt out of place, but I found it so fascinating that I didn’t care.
But let’s get back to the beginning. PARVIN. She is gold. I related to her so stinking much. In a society where everyone has a Clock counting down the time until they die, she has a year left and yearns to find her purpose, some way to make her last days count. She swings from apathy to passion a few times throughout the course of the novel, which was uncomfortably realistic (but in a good way). And she’s something of a writer–well, technically an autobiographer–so that was neat.
Some quickie thoughts on other characters:
  • Parvin’s mom was hard to like at first, but that was on purpose, and I felt their somewhat rocky relationship was done really well.
  • Parvin’s twin brother was lovable, except for a few times when he was annoyingly secretive.
  • A certain man with a fedora was verrrrry hateable.
  • Jude–I have conflicting feelings about this guy even now. At times I hated him too, at other times I adored him. He was flawed, temperamental, but he had his reasons. So my undecided opinion is not a bad thing! Just an observation!
  • Hawke–okay, him I like. He had some moments that made me unsure as well, but in other ways he reminded me of the beloved Remko from Rachelle Dekker’s Seer trilogy, minus the stutter. I want more Hawke in the next two instalments!
  • Willow was precious.
  • One minor character had a strong Ecclesiastes (“everything is useless!”) vibe going on, which was intriguing.
  • The Albinos were despicable and strange and yet some of them had redeeming qualities.
I don’t even know how to sum up my thoughts on this book! I’ve been thinking about it for weeks since finishing it. It brought me close to tears. It resonated with me powerfully. The emotions were palpable, the writing was excellent, and the worldbuilding was fleshed out wonderfully. Low cities and high cities, a humongous wall, tightropes, wilderness, a train, the Dregs, emotigraphs, super cool suits: all of it shone through the pages brilliantly. Nadine writes with truckloads of heart, and consequently, mine was broken in a beautiful way.
Can’t wait to read the next two! Five stars!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream // Shakespeare
GASP, what is this? Tracey read a classic? A Shakespeare play, no less? Why yes, I’m not a completely uncultured bookdragon. Sometimes the classic bug bites me, and I’m in the mood for old books. That happened this month, so I picked up this wee little play and enjoyed it immensely. All I knew about it going in was that Puck was in it. And I wanted to read about Puck. And I was not disappointed. He was one of my favorite parts–a mischievous imp who, together with Oberon, mess everything up for the play’s main characters. This was a comedy of errors indeed. Very amusing.
And essentially we have a love square going on. (Thanks, Shakespeare, for inspiring 98% of all modern YA romances–although it looks like you were really just poking fun at the melodrama.) It’s all rather over-the-top and hilarious, but there are also gorgeous descriptions woven throughout, along with musings on the nature of art, love’s blindness, and imagination.
“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact . . .”
Also, Nick Bottom and the other peasant actors are officially the second-best thing ever. Puck is still the best! Another five stars.
In other book news . . .
I won a discount on a PageHabit book box in October, caved in, and subscribed. My box arrived early November, containing two new hardcover YA books–both annotated by the authors–and a small collection of bookish goodies. Quite fun! But it’s an American-based company, and so it’s not exactly cheap for a Canadian . . . so my plan was to unsubscribe after my first box, at least for now while I’m a student paying tuition fees. Except I forgot to unsubscribe in time, and now my second box is in the mail. Oops! Oh well, it means a couple more new books.

Subplots on My Writing Desk

Hey, remember last month when I told y’all that I was going to edit my Snow White retelling for the Rooglewood contest before the end of November so that I could have a month off writing?
That didn’t happen. Instead, school happened.
I think I had exactly four editing sessions the entire month, and the first two were spent reading over the novella and making notes.
But as of now, I did my first pass through chapters 1-4 (out of 9 in total). So . . . I can still finish before the deadline on December 31st. And on the plus side, it’s not as much of a mess as I originally thought? So yay? I don’t know, I guess I’ve been dealing with some writer’s doubt on this one. But it’s starting to shape up a bit–progress!
Oh, guess what! I also have a title AT LAST! No longer must I refer to it as Epically Confused and Possibly Schizophrenic Snow White Retelling (or ECaPSSWR). No, now it is called Mirrors Never Lie. Having something to call it is a relief!

[image via Pinterest; graphic my own]

Hello, final month of 2017!

November was a packed month, so I can’t wait to get final exams done and over with so that I can take Christmas break! How did all of you fare this month? Did you survive NaNo? Has it snowed yet wherever you live? Whatcha think of the new novella title? Pour yourself a hot chocolate and let’s chat!

Subplots and Storylines – October 2017

I’m always amazed at the huge spectrum of events and emotions that one month can hold.

Gratitude & Contentment

  • Celebrating Thanksgiving with family a couple times over
  • Stuffing made with mandarin oranges and cranberries (the best in the world)
  • Yummy pie
  • Remembering that I don’t have to feel thankful to be thankful

Stress vs. Peace

  • Lots of homework, which is always an ebb and flow
  • Working on several group projects
  • Surviving midterm exams (which was actually more relaxing than a regular week of school, oddly enough–I booked time off work, so besides sitting for a 1-2 hour test each day, I had the rest of my time to study and do whatever the ham and eggs I wanted) (that felt soooo good) (and I actually did pretty well on the exams, yay)

Sorrow & Hope

  • Attending the funeral of a dear mentor’s wife. She passed away too young; her love story with her husband was too sweet and strong to be cut short . . . and yet we celebrated her life, singing “Amazing Grace” and “Beautiful Things” with tears and smiles both.
  • In times like these–when we wish the tale had taken a different turn and don’t understand why it didn’t–we cannot give up what we know for what we don’t know.

Joy & Camaraderie

  • A simple coffee date with a close friend
  • An evening out with my church’s young adult group
The contrasts aren’t always this stark, but this October brought with it something new every week, it seemed. Mostly good things, some growing opportunities, and one difficult event. I’m thankful once again that no matter how things change and no matter what life throws our way, God is unchangeable.

Storylines on the Screen

Yes, I watched more of The Flash season 3 and rewatched more of Once Upon a Time season 3. I sound like a broken record by now, I’m sure. Moving on!

The Lego Ninjago Movie
The first Lego Movie is still my favorite, but I did like the Ninjago one more than The Lego Batman Movie! (And I’m wondering how many times they can put “Lego” and “Movie” into their titles before people start mixing them up.)

Anyway, it was a lighthearted flick with a generous dose of humor and quotable quotes. We went to the local theater to watch it, and I splurged on popcorn because I never do that–and I figured, if I was putting homework aside to go to the movies, I might as well really go to the movies.

Also there was a cat. A real, live-action cat in a world of animated Lego people. Pretty great. And Jay’s comments are still my favorite. “This is my new least favorite place.”

Spider-Man Homecoming
It came out on DVD recently, so of course I had to rewatch it! And it was just as awesome as the first time, even if I saw it on a much smaller screen.

The Scorch Trials
Another rewatch! My sisters have read/are reading The Maze Runner books, so they had great fun pointing out all the things the moviemakers got wrong. (What else is new, right?) That ending still frustrates me like crazy! I’m pretty sure The Death Cure is coming out in the near-ish future, so it’s good I refreshed my memory on the plot.

The Giver
I read the book a while back, but this was my first time seeing the movie. It wasn’t quite as good as I expected–a bit of a step down from other dystopian films like The Hunger Games or Divergent. And Fiona’s character annoyed me. But it was still neat to see the book in visual form, and I found the ending of the movie more satisfying than the book!

Subplots on the Page



Beyond the Gateway and Reaper Reborn by Bryan Davis

I reviewed both of these amazing books last week! If you missed it, check it out HERE. Bryan Davis also reposted my reviews on his own blog HERE.

Sadly, I didn’t finish any other books besides those two this month.

Storylines of My Own Creation

Is it just me, or have I been pretty quiet about my writing world lately? Maybe it’s because I still don’t know what I’m doing with my work-in-progress. Heh.
But during the month of October, I wrote 12,000 words in my Snow White novella (for the Five Poisoned Apples contest)*, which means I finished the first draft! I wasn’t sure if I’d manage to meet that goal before November hit, but midterm week gave me the time to write 8k of those words. So grateful for that!
*The story still doesn’t have a title. I think I might call it “Epically Confused and Possibly Schizophrenic Snow White Retelling” and leave it at that, because I changed things halfway through and didn’t stop to edit the beginning. xD
And you know what else? ECaPSSWR (that’s Epically Confused and Possibly Schizophrenic Snow White Retelling abbreviated in case you missed the footnote, pal) clocked in at 19,906 words. I FINALLY LEARNED MY LESSON. I FINISHED IT UNDER THE MAXIMUM WORDCOUNT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE.

Take a look at these first drafts, all written for the Rooglewood contests, which require entries to be 5,000-20,000 words long:
The Glass Girl (Cinderella) – 21,689 words
Blood Rose (Beauty and the Beast) – 21,224 words
The Brightest Thread (Sleeping Beauty) – 29,933 words
Untitled (Snow White) – 19,906 words
I. Am. So. Pleased. Because honestly, if I ended up with a 30k first draft like TBT, I’m not sure I’d be able to wrangle it into shape before the December 31st deadline. Not with college going on. Buuuut I know I have different problems with ECaPSSWR. Things like that schizophrenic plot I mentioned, a whiny protagonist I didn’t even like half the time, forgetting to add an important fairy tale element to the ending, and overall choppiness.
But that’s what editing is for, isn’t it?
In the meantime, I also received even more feedback from beta readers of The Brightest Thread (talking about the current novel right now, not the old novella). Guys, I have some of the best betas EVER with this project. I’ve been so blessed and encouraged by their praise, and challenged and motivated by their critiques. I’m already eager to start implementing their feedback sometime in the New Year! (Which is two months away . . . excuse me, but who gave 2017 permission access to the HyperSpeed 3000 button?!)
Going forward, I plan to edit ECaP . . . you know what, that’s too long to type and I’m getting lazy. Snow White. I plan to edit Snow White this month and submit it so that December is free of writing deadlines. November is a great month to push myself, because I’m surrounded by epic NaNoWriMo participants who are surviving on coffee and wordsprints alone, and their insanity creative energy is catching!
Oh, and one more thing! This month, I have been bombarded by SO MANY IDEAS for things I cannot yet disclose. I think business school is actually helping, you guys. Somehow in the quagmire of income statements and supply/demand graphs and platitudes about marketing, another side of my brain is waking up. And it wants out.

basically me
Wait, no, that sounds terribly gory. The ideas in that part of my brain want out! Sheesh, Tracey.
Everything’s in that fragile bubble state of newness, so I doubt I’ll have time to develop those ideas until December or January . . . but I’m hoping that I can start creating these secret projects and unveiling them to you all sooner rather than later! This is going to be fun, trust me.

So that’s October in a not-so-small nutshell. How was your month? Are you doing NaNo? (I’m jealous if you are!) Are you entering Five Poisoned Apples? And if you’re the one who gave this year a HyperSpeed 3000 button, confess now, or I’ll send my army of time dragons to your doorstep.

Subplots & Storylines – September 2017

And all at once, summer collapsed into fall. -Oscar Wilde



That about sums it up. September was beautiful and crazy and challenging and good. School (and the ensuing homework) has swallowed up much of my time. I’m doing better in my Financial Accounting class than I thought I would, Math is a challenge, and both Business Communication and Intro to Canadian Business are still my favorite classes. Everything else is a bit meh, but I know I’m learning useful skills. Still, I’m glad that after laying a foundation this year, I’ll get to choose a more interesting course load next year.

Anyway, many of you are up to your ears in schoolwork as well, and probably don’t want to hear any more on that subject! So let’s move on.

In between classes, I’ve been enjoying the beauty of autumn. My cousin got married, my parents celebrated their wedding anniversary, and . . .

I went to a Skillet concert with my brother! (For those who may not know, Skillet is a Christian rock band.) Now, truth be told, I’m not much of a concert-goer. In fact, this was only the second real concert I’ve ever been to. So I felt like a shocked little old lady when the volume skyrocketed and rattled my eardrums. My ears were still ringing the next day, haha! But once the two opening acts–which involved much more screaming and much less intelligibility than I prefer–were over, I loved seeing Skillet perform. They’re kind of amazing. I’ve had Comatose playing in my head for weeks since then. If you’re looking for story inspiration, a ton of their songs are great for that!

Here it is–the blurry, sat-in-the-top-balcony proof that I was there!

Screen Subplots

finished Once Upon a Time Season 2 // started Once Upon a Time season 3

If you guys get tired of seeing OUAT mentioned in every. single. S&S post, I wouldn’t blame you! But I’m still watching/re-watching it, so you’re going to keep hearing about it. Currently enjoying Neverland and lots of friction between characters!

started The Flash season 3


Oh my gracious goodness, I love this show. I’ve only seen a couple episodes, but I’m excited to see where it goes! Much heart-wrenching-ness has already happened.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2

So this was really wild and fun! Not quite as good as the first one, and it took a while for the plot to get moving, but it was still entertaining. (I could’ve done without the crude jokes, though.) But BABY GROOT. HE IS THE REASON I WATCHED THIS MOVIE.

The whole crew, really, is awesome together. They fight and call each other names and hold grudges, but in the end, they do love each other and stick up for one another. I loved how they played on the “typical North American family drama” you see in a lot of movies, yet it was in an intergalactic, superhero context.

Other things I liked: Rocket is terrible at winking. Drax is as guileless as ever. Baby Groot is the best thing to grace the silver screen. Yondu is grouchy and awesome. (“I’m Mary Poppins, y’all!”) Gamora has sister issues. Star Lord has daddy issues. Okay, pretty much everyone has issues.

How dorky can Peter Parker get, you ask? (I can relate, though, because
I have definitely waved to people who aren’t waving to me.)

Spider-Man (2002) (rewatch)


Yes, the old one. Yes, the cringey-but-still-adorkable one. This was the first time all of my siblings have watched a superhero movie together. I remember loving this one years ago, but now I just laugh at all the cheesiness! (Sorry, Maguire, but Garfield and Holland are my favorites.)

Page Subplots

This was the month of Sleeping Beauty retellings! Which sounds like I read a pile of them, but in actuality, it was only two books.

Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer


I was really looking forward to reading this one, especially because I’ve got my Spidey sense tuned into the fairy-tale retelling market (wink wink, The Brightest Thread) . . . but sadly, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

One of my main problems with it was small, yet it affected everything: the tense. Spindle Fire was written in third-person present tense. Like this:

Aurora is startled from fitful sleep by a loud rustling of feathers . . . and a voice. “Evening, caged bird,” it says.

I don’t mind present tense at all–I’ll admit that past is my favorite, but I often forget about the tense when the story sweeps me away. Problem is, pretty much all of the present tense books I’ve read are also first person. Third-person present just felt . . . odd. Lurching. At times, it read more like a long synopsis than the kind of narrative I’m used to. There were a handful of truly beautiful moments and snippets of enchanting prose. But then I would feel jerked out of the story again by the way it was written, or by some out-of-place modernism. Obviously, not everyone will feel that way! It could very well just be me who didn’t like that aspect!

But on to the story itself. This is a Sleeping Beauty retelling in which Aurora has a half sister, and both of them are missing senses that were tithed to fairies. Aurora is mute and has no sense of touch; Isabel is blind. So alternating between their viewpoints was very intriguing! And reading about a strong sister relationship is so, so refreshing in YA.

The romantic relationships were pretty good. I kind of feel like Isbe (a.k.a. Isabel) got over something a tad too quickly, but I love a certain prince that gets involved later. And Heath and Aurora were sweet together.

Oh, that brings me to another thing! Aurora winds up in a dream realm . . . except I couldn’t quite figure out if it was a dream realm? It seemed more like a real kingdom trapped by an enchanted wall, and it was even on the map at the front of the book. I’m a little fuzzy on those details. Despite my confusion, it was a chilling setting with some lovely little illogical things you’d expect from a dream.

I will credit the author for making the world feel incredibly real! Despite experiencing half of the book through a blind girl, I do feel like I was right there on the wintry seacoast of Deluce and the green meadows of Aubin. Loved that.

This is turning into a long ramble of random things I liked and didn’t like, but here’s one more: the fairies were quite interesting. It’s hard to like any of them, since most fall somewhere between selfish and downright evil. But they were quite fascinating. (Caution: one fairy, who takes people’s sense of touch, lives a very loose lifestyle. Her flagrant ways are referenced several times, and a scene or two takes place in her brothel-like house, thankfully from blind Isbe’s point of view.)

Anyway, I should wrap this up. Books that give me conflicted feelings are the hardest to review! Three stars.

Five Magic Spindles by Rachel Kovaciny, Kathryn McConaughy, Grace Mullins, Michelle Pennington, and Ashley Stangl


I plan to post a full review on this in the near future, so I won’t say anything now except that this was a positively delightful collection! Five stars.

Writing Subplots

Wonder of wonders, I actually managed to write during the college life! Here’s a peek into what happened on my side of the computer screen:

  • I brainstormed my Snow White novella for Rooglewood’s Five Poisoned Apples contest.*
  • I plotted Snow White. Briefly. There are holes. But there’s also a basic framework in place, so hooray, I know what I’m doing. (Not really.)
  • And I wrote close to 8,000 words of Snow White! Almost halfway!

*The deadline is December 31st, 2017. All you incredible writers out there who are even considering entering: there’s still time! For one of these contests, I wrote my entry in a month. Not advisable, but still possible.

The novella still has no title, and the plot is a skeleton I’m joining together bone by bone. But I can tell you that it’s a Nordic-inspired fantasy setting, it may or may not take place in the same world as The Brightest Thread, and winter is coming. There’s creepy mirror magic, hunting, and BFFs that won’t admit they love each other. Oh yes, and everything you know about Snow White actually happened in the past.

On another note, beta feedback on The Brightest Thread is trickling in (you readers are amazing!), and I’m excited to see where the novel is working and where it needs some tune-ups. Getting fresh eyes on a story is so helpful, guys. I polished that novel as best as I knew how, but now I’m starting to know more–so there’s additional work to be done. And that’s exciting, because it means TBT will improve!

I suppose it’s almost worth mentioning school papers I’ve been writing in the meantime. Besides practicing writing memos, business emails, and informational reports, I actually got to write a letter from the perspective of a young Titanic survivor. That exercise nearly brought tears to my eyes.

[Pinterest]

Onward to October

Life moves in seasons, much like the earth spins, and I’m learning to be content where I am. This month was harder in that regard, as school pulled me away from so many of the things I love. (And many of my monthly goals for September remain unfinished.) But I have to remember that I’m in college to equip myself to do the things I love better. And I’m thankful for family and friends and God who all love me through my frazzled moments and remind me that seasons do change.

What sort of adventures have YOU been on this autumn? Are you back in school? Writing something new? And obviously the most pressing question: what are your thoughts on third-person present tense?!

Subplots and Storylines – August 2017

I think I’m stuck in a Donkey Kong game.

You know, where he hops into a barrel cannon, and it shoots him into the next cannon, and that shoots him into the next? That is Donkey Kong, right? (Correct me if I’m wrong.) This whole year has been a series of cannons–all very good ones, though not necessarily all easy–and despite feeling full to the brim, 2017 is only two-thirds done.*

*Pshh, “only.” I feel like it should still be April, thank you very much.

But for the most part, August gave me a chance to catch my breath. The day after I returned from Realm Makers, my family and I packed up and headed south of the border again for a week of much-needed vacation at a cabin! It was so, so good to not have anywhere to be, anything to write, or any deadlines to meet. Just wide open hours to swim and kayak in the lake, soak in the sunshine, devour books, eat too much food, stay up too late, and sleep in every morning. Just amazing. And I loved spending all that time with my family!

The next couple weeks were the steady as she goes kind, during which I:

  • tried (and failed) to clean my room
  • took my youngest sister out for fun stuff like riding a tandem bike for the first time ever (we didn’t die! and it was so much fun!)
  • had a video chat with a dear friend who lives miles away
  • went to orientation day for college
  • had a campfire with another friend who lives a lot closer but is leaving for university
  • ate fresh corn on the cob from the garden
  • met yet another friend for root beer and a catching up

And now summer feels like it’s officially easing into autumn. The days are getting a little cooler already and parts of the garden are being harvested, but the biggest indication that summer is over is this:

I started college this week!

Which is kind of a big deal. I’m adjusting to a new schedule, figuring out how to stuff as much homework as possible into the nooks and crannies of my days, getting to know my teachers, and finally experiencing a public school classroom.*

*Some classes are great. Others feel like a waste of time because hi, I was homeschooled, and I’m used to just reading textbooks for myself, no need to read it to me, thank you, good-bye. Okay, it’s not all that bad. Besides, it means less school reading at home later.

Oh, yes, I suppose I should mention this is for a two-year business admin diploma! I sincerely hope to keep up with Adventure Awaits in the meantime. That may mean shorter posts sometimes, or even some Sunday posts instead of Saturdays, but I’ll try to keep things as normal and scheduled here as possible.

Subplots on Screen

Mostly rewatches this month!

The Flash season 2 – rewatched three episodes
My family was watching it while at the cabin, so hey, why not join them? I was missing Barry Allen and Co.

Once Upon a Time – rewatched some of season 2 + 3 and finished season 5
My siblings and I are almost through season 2, and with my parents we’re well into season 3. But my two sisters and I FINISHED SEASON 5. IT BASICALLY BROKE MY HEART AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER.

Avatar: The Last Airbender
My sisters pulled me into it, and so far I’m only three or so episodes in. Aang is cute and the episodes are nice and short.

The Maze Runner – rewatch
Also a holiday movie. My sisters had never seen it before, so it was super fun to see it with them and my brother.

Storylines on the Page

books read on holidays

August was a great reading month for me, thanks to vacation!

Ink and Bone // Rachel Caine


Ink and Bone is . . . how to describe it? Aesthetic. Rich. Colorful. Raw. It feels like dusty old books and hot Alexandrian sun and rattling trains and bloody, muddy war. It wasn’t the fastest read, but that was okay because I wanted to be immersed like that!


I loved the vaguely steampunk setting, the school aspect, and the way Jess is the son of a black market book smuggler. Instant cool points! Wolfe, the ruthless teacher, was someone I hated at first, then slowly grew to love. I also loved the premise of the library of Alexandria still being around!


Unfortunately, there was a bit of language and one homosexual subplot off to the side that I didn’t care for.


Still, I gave the book 4.5 stars! Read my full review on Goodreads HERE.

The Penderwicks // Jeanne Birdsall

This book came highly recommended by several friends, and it did not disappoint!

Think back to your fondest childhood summer, sprinkle it with imagination and adventure, and mix it with a dash of humor and buckets of warm fuzzies. That’s pretty much The Penderwicks. Like Peter Pan did for me last summer, it transported me back to childhood in a way that made me smile and want to live at Arundel with these kids just a little longer. Seriously, if you haven’t read this yet, GO DO IT.

5 stars! Read my full review on Goodreads HERE.

The Fatal Tree // Stephen Lawhead

The Fatal Tree ended the Bright Empires series differently than I expected, but it was still really, really good. I can say very little without plunging straight into spoiler territory, but suffice it to say that:

a) I love the crew, especially Kit, Cass, Mina, Etzel (dear, dear Etzel!), and Gianni.
b) I am endlessly fascinated by this multiverse of ley lines and by the topics this series has examined, such as time, the humongous effect everything and everybody has on everything and everybody else, redemption, human will, and WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNIVERSE STARTS TO SHRINK.
c) That beautiful cover.

5 stars! Read my full review on Goodreads HERE.

Some Kind of Happiness // Claire Legrand

I bought this on a whim, and by the time I finished I was a small mess of feelings. Which may have been the point of the whole story. Despite it’s title, Some Kind of Happiness deals with a lot of sad topics: depression, cancer, broken families, secrets. (It’s labeled MG, but I probably wouldn’t give it to a reader that young.) However, it was a powerful, beautifully written story packed with my favorite kind of imagery and grand adventures shared by a pack of rambunctious cousins and their friends.

But to back up a little–the whole premise of this book is amazing. 11-year-old Finley deals with her sadness by writing stories about a place called the Everwood, stories that mirror her own struggles. So it was cathartic and affirming to see how her life inspired her writing, and how her writing, in turn, helped her real life!

4 stars! Read my full review (including my favorite quote from the book) on Goodreads HERE.

The Five Times I Met Myself // James L. Rubart

I actually met Jim Rubart at Realm Makers, and he is one of the kindest, most encouraging authors I’ve talked to!

The Five Times I Met Myself is a trippy, introspective book dealing with regret and second (and third and fourth and fifth) chances. At first, the concept of Brock’s lucid dreaming and actually talking to his younger self was a bit hard to believe, but the concept was so interesting that pretty soon I didn’t care. Especially when Brock’s attempts to improve his life by getting his younger self to make different decisions start making everything worse.

4.5 stars! Read my full review on Goodreads HERE.

The Beast of Talesend // Kyle Robert Schultz

Another author I met at Realm Makers. You might recognize his name from the Silmarillion Awards this summer, because he hosted the award for Most Incompetent Henchman!

I’d heard great things about The Beast of Talesend as well, the highlight of my friends’ reviews definitely being the humor. And it was quite an amusing tale! The dialogue is one of this novella’s greatest strengths for sure. I also really liked the 1920’s alternate history setting, where fairy tales actually happened long ago, but magic has since faded into obscurity. Except for instances like this one, where Detective Nick Beasley happens to turn into a beast . . . despite the fact he’s spent his whole career disproving magic! His brother, Crispin, and the unstoppable Lady Cordelia prove to be entertaining sidekicks on their little quest.

My only quibble would be the writing. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t particularly arresting either, and I found the sentence structure repetitive now and then. Nevertheless, this was a good, quick read! Kind of a fluffy cupcake sort of thing, and–oddly enough–something that reminded me of Adventures in Odyssey radio dramas (even though the two aren’t related in the slightest).

3.5 stars! (As of right now, I haven’t reviewed this on Goodreads yet.)

Subplots on the Writing Desk

After the intensity of May-July, followed by no writing during vacation, I’ve been taking it easy in this department. I received an amazing, thought-provoking critique of The Brightest Thread’s first chapter at Realm Makers, so I spent my writing time this month brainstorming ways to incorporate that feedback.

I ended up experimenting with chapter one and trying different approaches. My first attempt flopped halfway through. With tea and prayer, I tried again, and it went a lot better . . . though that version of chapter one is really long. Then I wrote yet another version, which was much shorter. I haven’t yet decided which approach is best.

But TBT is currently in the hands of betas, so I’ll see what they say!

Oh, and I updated my Writings page here on the blog! That was a long overdue change.

I had planned to brainstorm a novella for Five Poisoned Apples in August, but that didn’t happen. Hopefully this month! There are only four months left of the contest–yikes.

What about you, valiant adventurers? How was your August? Are you going back to school? What was your best summer memory?