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Subplots and Storylines – May 2017

Tracey Dyck 24 Comments

Transitions are fickle things. Sometimes one hardly realizes that the season of life has changed, and other times one is aware of every minute detail. May was a month of transition for me, slipping from college to “normal” life.

Princess Peach (me) and Mario (my brother)
It started out with exams, volunteering at a Special Olympics swimming event with my classmates, and dressing up as Princess Peach at a church event for moms and their little ones. There was a Mario Kart track set up where kids could drive little motorized cars in a circle, and my brother and I provided the entertainment!
(Ignore my awkward princess pose. And the fact that my crown is falling off.)

On another day, my classmates and the college interns had a barbecue to celebrate the end of the year. We had written letters to God at the beginning of the year, and now we got to open them and see just how far we’ve come since September.

Then it was Mother’s Day. In creative ministry (for college), we worked hard to put up some amazing décor to celebrate all the moms in church. It turned out beautifully. And at home, we had a quiet celebration involving Chinese takeout. (Come on, we saved her from making supper!)

And then I went to an escape room with my peeps from creative ministry! I’ve never been to an escape room before, but after this, I would LOVE to go again. I tried a castle-themed room with twelve other people. The logic! The teamwork! The tricky puzzles! If we’d had an extra two or three minutes, we would’ve made it out successfully, that’s how close we were.

The middle of the month rolled around, and with it, college graduation! Celebrating with friends and family, looking back on the past nine months, giving a valedictorian speech, and spending the night at a friend’s place for the afterparty–all were such beautiful, bittersweet memories.



We graduated! This is me with Jacky, a good college friend who
recently moved back home, hours away from me. *sniffle*

Like I said, May was a month of transitions. So after grad, life has switched gears. I’ve returned to volunteering in kids ministry at church (which I had taken a break from because of the intense college schedule). I’m back to working four or five shifts a week. And now that my sisters are done school for the summer, life at home has taken on a different pace too. You’d think it would be slower, but oddly, it’s not as slow as I was expecting.

Books

Finally // Wendy Mass

Goodness, I’d forgotten how dramatic the twelve-year-old life could be! This was a cute book about the mishaps and missteps that befall Rory when she turns twelve and can finally do all the things on her list, like get her ears pierced, babysit, and go to the mall with her friends. (Talk about a throwback to simpler days . . .) Four stars.

Crazy Dangerous audiobook // Andrew Klavan (narrated by Nick Podehl)

I read the novel four years ago and loved it then. Listening to the audiobook, I loved it again! It’s intense, it’s endearing, it’s a little creepy at times, and Sam Hopkins is just my favorite. I was reminded of how addictive Andrew Klavan’s books are! Because I can count the number of audiobooks I’ve listened to on one hand, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. But the narrator was perfect for this book. Now I need to go find some more audiobooks to listen to on my drive to work. Five stars!

The Purpose Driven Life // Rick Warren

Another college read. We started in September, but we didn’t even finish (as a class) before grad, so I finished the final chapters on my own. I’m pretty sure I read it eons ago too . . . Anyway, there were a number of good reminders in here. It’s not like I got nothing out of it, don’t get me wrong. But I learned the most from the chapters I disagreed with, because they sparked great class discussions. We dug into the Word, bounced perspectives off each other, and learned how to rectify the disconnect between what we saw in the book vs. what we know of God’s character and the Bible. Three stars.

Green Rider // Kristen Britain

At Jacky’s behest, I began reading one of her favorite series! It felt like the pacing lagged at times, especially in the first half of the book, and later the climax kept looking it was going to happen, but then it wasn’t the climax after all. (That could’ve been just me, though.) But the actual ending helped make up for it, especially when Karigan, the protagonist, started doing more for herself. And I liked the concept of the Green Riders, a group of special messengers/riders with magical abilities. Jacky tells me the series gets progressively better, so I’ll pick up book two sometime. Three stars.

Movies & TV

I watched a fair bit of Once Upon a Time and The Flash, as per usual. My siblings and I finished season 1 of OUAT and started season 2. With my parents, I finished OUAT season 2. With just my sisters, we watched some more of season 5. Jumping around the timeline so much is kind of fun, actually. You get a really good contrast of different parts of each character’s arc!

My siblings and I just recently finished season 2 of The Flash as well. Somebody help me, I think the pieces of my heart are all over the floor. (Seriously, I need to write a blog post about this show ASAP.)

The grade 6 students of a nearby Christian school made a movie based on a WWII novel, which I got to watch. They did such a good job!

Moana: While not as good as Tangled, this was a fresh twist on the typical Disney princess story. I liked that it was a friendship story instead of a romance. And the songs were fantastic! I’ve loved “How Far I’ll Go” long before I watched the movie.

Doctor Strange: This was awesomesauce, you guys. Quite different than most Marvel movies, yes, but I think that’s a good thing. The beginning–wow. Something about the subtlety and atmosphere (and Stephen Strange’s awful attitude) really grabbed me. And then the superhero aspect kicks in . . . and there are jaw-dropping visuals . . . and a dash of humor . . . and gahhh, I want the Cloak of Levitation for myself. Can’t wait for a sequel!


Writing

I booked my appointments for Realm Makers! Woohoo! It feels even more real now, and the pressure is on to finish The Brightest Thread in time to pitch it.

With college being over, I had some time to pick up Ted Dekker’s The Creative Way writing course, so I listened to session 12 and learned more about the four types of conflict. (I’ve yet to do the workbook part of that session, however.)

In the first half of May, I had a little blip of productive writing time, and then wrote basically nothing until after grad. About 12,000 words have been added to The Brightest Thread, bringing it to a total of 32,824 words. The goal is to fall comfortably between 80 and 90k by the end of June so that there’s time to edit a bit before Realm Makers. S.O.S. Please send coffee.

I’ll be fine . . . probably. Most of this TBT work has been quite enjoyable, truly, and this week I wrote some positively scrumptious scenes, if I do say so myself.
But still send coffee. I’m going to need it.

So that was May 2017!

Whew! A lot of fun, some hard work. Goodbye to one season and hello to another. And now it’s summer, and that means sunshine, gardening, and hopefully more books and more writing.

What about the rest of you? If you’re a student, is school out yet? What’s on your summer agenda?

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I Graduated!

Tracey Dyck 30 Comments


“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different?”

These wise words by C.S. Lewis have always struck a chord in me, but perhaps never as strongly as here at the end of college. Because looking back, it’s been one crazy amazing adventure from start to finish. But in the day to day, I experienced hard moments, challenges, frustrations–long days when it felt like no matter how much time or energy I poured into it, nothing was changing. Yet now that it’s over, I look back and I am astounded at the ways I and my classmates have transformed this year.

Of course, none of that would have been possible without some very key people!

My teachers. (I nicknamed them Bob and Larry for their opposite personalities.) Both are very wise, godly men who have become dear mentors to me. They taught me and my classmates, coached us, equipped us, and poured their hearts into us.

The ministry leads. They were all amazing, but this year I got the chance to work under the leadership of the fantastic people in the youth department and the creative department. In youth, my love for teens grew even deeper, and my courage strengthened as I took opportunities to form relationships with them, teach them, and serve them. In creative, I learned new skills with my hands, started thinking outside the box more and more, and realized how much work and forethought go into event planning.

My family and friends. Without a home base of people who loved me, understood my crazy schedule, and supplied me with food, hugs, and listening ears, this year would’ve been a lot harder! Their support, encouragement, and of course prayers made a big difference.

My classmates. They rocked! I learned something from each and every one of them, whether they were aware of it or not. The team we formed got some pretty darn remarkable things done during these past nine months of college, and some of the friendships I formed will last a long time.

I have learned so much at college. Leadership principles, people skills, communication and public speaking, how to serve wholeheartedly, relationship building, and the list goes on. I’ve learned more about God, His Word, and His real purpose for my life.

But it’s one thing to acquire more head knowledge–you can pick up a new book or take a class just about anywhere. It’s a whole other thing to actually apply what you’ve learned, and that was one of the best things about this program.

Through designing chapels for elementary and high school, doing group projects, ministry afternoons, and volunteering at youth, inner city, and big events, we got many chances to really live out exactly what we were being taught.

Perhaps the biggest example of this was the day camp we planned from the ground up. Working on that project, we actually had to lead both each other and the kids. We had to work with each other’s personalities. We saw each other’s strengths shine out, and we came face to face with each other’s flaws. Yet we still chose to build a team, a family.

As a recovering perfectionist, I learned to beat the shame storm. Excellence is just doing the best you can with what you have, and that is enough.

I grew in my public speaking. In September, presenting a speech brought on nervous butterflies and even dizziness. But just two days ago, I delivered a valedictorian speech at grad and–apart from shedding a few tears–felt pretty comfortable behind the mic. (This post, in fact, is a modified version of that grad speech.)

I stepped out of my comfort zone, especially in the area of leadership as I was put in charge of the aforementioned day camp.

Some of my D personality* classmates rubbed off on me, and I became more direct and honest with others, lessening my people pleasing side a bit.

*from the DISC system; D’s are the direct people who cut to the chase and get stuff done.


I learned better strategies for managing my time.

I learned that life is all about relationships, and that tasks are secondary (and really are meant to serve relationships in the first place).

I learned to ask why, to stay curious, and to apply new knowledge to my life at this very moment.

I learned in a greater way that we are all reflections of God’s nature, and so is everything that’s right and true in the world.

It’s been said, “In any given moment, we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.”

My classmates and I took many forward steps between September and now, and it would be easy to stop there, to think of this as the end. Truthfully, I’ve just begun this journey. Many new chapters lie ahead. But I’m well-armed with the tools God has helped me forge this year. I’m sad to see my year at college come to a close, because I’ve made so many good memories. But as my classmates and I move into new adventures, we’ll be cheering each other on.

And faith tells me that no matter what lies ahead, God is already there.

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Subplots and Storylines – April 2017

Tracey Dyck 30 Comments

Hello hello, adventurous questers! My apologies for being late again. Hopefully once college is over in a few weeks I’ll get back to being a prompt blogger again.

Life Adventures

How was your April? Mine went quite well. It started with spring break, which ended up being not very break-ish and rather full of work and social things. But I did manage to get my flight to Realm Makers booked! I’ve never booked a flight before, and since things just weren’t working out properly on my end, I got the help of a travel agent. Maybe it was overkill, but I wanted to get it right. But my goodness, why is it so expensive to hop on a plane and travel a few inches across a map? (Yes, I am a new adult clinging to her delusions as to how money and the world should work, why do you ask?) But regardless of the price, I’m very happy to have that in place!

What else happened, let me think . . .

Some college classmates and I were filmed for a year-end video. #bittersweet

I took an exam, which I think I passed.

Easter happened, and it was lovely.

But the highlight of the month was my class’s trip to Calgary, Alberta! On our first full day in Alberta, we visited Banff and hiked Johnston Canyon. Those mountains are food for my soul, I tell you. The trail was gorgeous, although mostly covered in ice and snow that made navigating inclines rather . . . challenging, especially for those of us wearing fashionable shoes with zero tread. Thankfully my runners (or sneakers, as you Americans call them) had some grip, but I still went slip-sliding all over the place. By the time I reached the bottom of the trail again, I could feel every muscle in my legs. But it was so much fun!

a glimpse of the Rockies on the cloudy drive to Banff

Johnston Canyon
me at Johnston Canyon

more of the canyon

a frozen waterfall in the canyon

 
me and my bro

Banff in all its quaintness

walking through Banff with college friends

One of the main reasons we were in Calgary was to visit a church, so on the second day we got to help out a church picnic. I enjoyed meeting lots of people and making this outreach event possible. Calgary is a city of constant change, and the average person doesn’t live there longer than a couple years. Folks commonly have trouble making friends, so it’s awesome to see relationships forming in a church setting.

After the picnic, some friends and I went to a movie. Because half my group didn’t have money for the c-train, we ended up walking forty minutes in the rain to our hotel afterwards.

On the Sunday we were there, we served in church, which was an amazing experience. I was placed in an area where I had little experience. Even though I made frequent mistakes, I was able to laugh at myself, learn on the fly, and move on–something I wouldn’t have done at the beginning of the school year!

Overall, I had a blast, and I’m sad to see the college year coming to a rapid close.

Screen Adventures

Once Upon a Time, portions of seasons 1, 2, and 5
Again, not much new to report here, except that season 5 is . . . *sniffle* . . . very feelsy. You have been warned.

The Flash, part of season 2
I think the episodes I watched this month are some of the best in the entire show so far! The reasons why are very spoilery, so if you haven’t watched The Flash–DO IT.



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The Lego Batman Movie
Although I didn’t like it as much as The Lego Movie (which had more heart and creativity to it, in my opinion), this was still an entertaining ride. The jokes fly at you a hundred miles an hour, Batman and Robin’s opposite personalities often providing the bulk of them. Plus, the movie was very self-aware and poked plenty of jokes at itself.



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Mulan
Confession: I had never seen this one until now. Never quoted Mushu. Never sang along to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.” But I fixed that problem this month! . . . By watching it in probably illegal five-minute video segments on YouTube. Hush, don’t tell anyone. While I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite Disney movie, Mulan herself was an awesome character, Mushu was hilarious, and I can finally see why “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” is so sing-along-able!

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First three episodes of The Musketeers
I watched these on the bus ride with one of my college friends. Love the period costumes, the swords, the horses, and D’Artagnan, but I could do without the bits of sexual content, please.

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Beauty and the Beast (2017)
There’s been a great big hullaballoo over it, yes, and while I was admittedly disappointed in LeFou’s supposed “gay” moments, I loved the movie overall. It was magical! Beautifully filmed and skillfully acted. I wasn’t sure I’d like Emma Watson as Belle, but she grew on me. I love, love, loved the Beast. The wolf scenes were terrifically intense. Maurice was even more lovable than he was in the animated movie. And I was pleased at how closely this film followed the original, while still throwing in some lovely changes.

But since one of those changes was the aforementioned great big hullaballoo, I feel I need to articulate myself on that topic. Am I 100% sure what I think? No. But I can tell you that:

a) I’m disappointed that Disney felt the need to go that direction,
b) even so, it doesn’t seem to be a step in homosexuality’s favor by making the stupidest character in the movie gay,
and c) most of LeFou’s comments weren’t particularly overt, so I’m not sure if I would’ve missed some of them if I hadn’t been on high alert.

That being said, CAN WE STOP FOR A MOMENT AND APPRECIATE THE LIBRARY SCENE? Oh my heart. Honestly, I think this movie made me cry three or four times.

Book Adventures

Storm Siren // Mary Weber

This one’s been on my TBR for a while, thanks to the enthusiasm of its readers! It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did it was enjoyable. Nym was a snarky bundle of pain, and I loved her character arc. Her elemental powers were awesome, too. I also grew to like Eogan quite a bit. I wish their relationship had had a deeper substance to it, something beyond oh bolcranes, he’s handsome and the calming effect he has on her out-of-control powers. But maybe that will come later in the trilogy.

Sadly, I didn’t connect to most of the cast, even the people I was supposed to like. Not until a certain character death did I really begin to care for that person. Oops?

But I do have to congratulate Mary Weber on a unique combination of premise, storyworld, and theme. I LOVED the themes of this book! I won’t even name any of them, because you’ll just have to take Nym’s journey for yourself.

Outriders and Trackers // Kathryn Mackel


I needed books for the bus ride, so I grabbed these two off my shelf. The first one I read and enjoyed several years ago, but the second I’d never gotten around to. So what did I think this time around? Well, Outriders was both better and worse than I remembered, if that’s possible. I appreciated the characters more now, but the writing and backstory felt weaker at some points. I also would’ve liked to connect with characters a little sooner and a little deeper.

But. The premise was very unique, involving a futuristic world ravaged by toxins and radiation from the Endless Wars. The last of Christianity (though it’s never referred to as such) has taken refuge on an Ark beneath the arctic ice. We never see the Ark, since the story follows the birthrighters, teens and young adults sent out from the Ark to build camps and begin the work of restoring the earth to its God-given birthright. Meanwhile, the baddies mistake DNA manipulation for sorcery, and use it to “transmogrify” creatures into armies of giants and grotesque creatures.

Brady and Niki are my favorite characters, although Ajoba, who annoyed me in the first book, grew on me a lot in the second. I just wish there was a third book, because there were several loose ends that the author never tied up.

(One caution, however. I’d recommend these books for roughly 17 or 18 and up, due to references to rape and the villainous Baron Alrod’s penchant for “lollies,” or concubines.)

The DNA of Relationships // Dr. Gary Smalley


Another college read, and perhaps one of my favorites so far! It was easy to read and offered super practical and insightful advice on how to better all my relationships. One thing I learned was the concept of the Fear Dance, describing the vicious cycle of hurt and reactions between people in a relationship conflict. It opened my eyes to the underlying problems I sometimes have with people I know, what my core fears are, and what I can do to change me. While the book focused more on marriage, I’d recommend it to singles and marrieds alike because the principles are so amazing!

Writing Adventures

I did some more Snowflake Method outlining for The Brightest Thread before deciding that the process had helped me as much as it was going to help (for this story, anyways), and called it quits early. Which means I got to start actually writing again on April 9th!

Alas, I had very little time to write this month, so I was able to work through only the first two chapters, adding about 1200 words to the story. For those of you who don’t know, TBT started out as a novella retelling of Sleeping Beauty, which I’m now expanding into a full novel!

Whew, that was a long post. What sort of April adventures did you undertake? Any thoughts on the books and movies I consumed? Ever been to the Rockies?

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Subplots and Storylines – March 2017

Tracey Dyck 20 Comments

According to the saying, March is either a lamb or a lion, but I think this time around it was much more lion than anything else. I mean, yes, the weather exhibited the kind of schizophrenia I expect of March: whiteout conditions one day and a balmy ten degrees Celsius on another. But life was consistently lion-ish.

Life

I gave my third speech in my public speaking class (yay!), met with a friend out from Mexico, went to a fun wedding show with my peeps from the creative ministry (in order to get décor ideas and stay on top of the trends), and went to another Business & Leadership seminar thingie where I learned about the habits of a great leader.

College had an info night, at which I got a chance to share my experience in the program and hopefully convince potential students to attend this fall. That was a great evening–from a spontaneous Olive Garden dinner with classmates, to standing out in the cold drizzle to welcome guests to the event, to the hilarity of cleaning up afterwards amongst laughter and friends.

Other than that, day camp pretty much swallowed up life! Planning and running that camp was my college class’s final project–a chance to put everything we’ve learned about leadership, organization, people skills, public speaking, and relationships to work in an intense environment. We’ve been working on it since the new year, and this week it all came to a head. Sixty-some kids (grades 1-6) showed up for five days of fun.

It was a ton of work, and it meant giving up a lot of my free mornings/evenings/breaks this month. Being in an admin role was a very stretching experience, and I may have melted down once or twice, but I had an incredible safety net of people around me to pick me back up and remind of important truths. I honestly need to post about some of the things I’ve learned through this experience . . .

The camp itself was fantastic! So many precious kids showered me in hugs, giggles, artwork, and homemade bracelets. I loved doing lessons and skits, playing with the kids, and directing my team of fellow students. Waking up at 5:30 am and coming home at 7 pm was exhausting, but so incredibly worth it.

Movies

Still watching and rewatching various Once Upon a Time episodes, as well as going through season 2 of The Flash. There’s not much more to add than what I’ve been saying for the past few months. (What can I say? I watch shows pretty slowly.)

I didn’t watch any movies this month, actually. At least not full movies. I did see the first ten minutes of Transformers: Age of Extinction with a classmate, then had to leave abruptly in an attempt to beat the blizzard home. That was quite the drive.

I also saw the middle third of Trolls during day camp, but missed the beginning and ending. From what I saw, the trolls themselves were cute, but those Bergen creatures were just plain weird. I don’t really have a desire to see the rest of the movie.

Books

Somehow I finished three books this month despite the busyness, so hooray for that!

Winter//Marissa Meyer

Okay, folks, I LOVED this one. I’ve really enjoyed the whole Lunar Chronicles (despite the slight let-down that was Scarlet), but the conclusion? So good! Overall, I’d still say Cress was my favorite book of the series, yet Winter wrapped it all up wonderfully.

A small list of awesomeness:

  • a barrage of problems and obstacles had me thinking “uh oh . . .” on multiple occasions
  • the character interactions positively crackled with depth and sass
  • Winter was such a fascinating POV character, what with her craziness (I adore loopy charries) (some people say she’s an INFJ, which . . . gives me pause, heheh)
  • Cinder + Kai
  • Thorne + Cress
  • seeing Levana lose control and get angry was so satisfying
  • a revolution plot gave the story a dystopian flavor amidst the fairytale elements
  • ALL THE CHARACTER INTERACTIONS (I had to mention it twice because Marissa Meyer is brilliant at this)

The Spirit Contemporary Life: Unleashing the Miraculous in Your Everyday World // Leon Fontaine//(college assignment book)

I’ve heard this pastor speak before, and it was so neat to read about a topic close to his heart. The Spirit Contemporary Life was a really easy read, but don’t mistake the material to be fluff and stuff. It’s challenging, in a good way. It challenged me to get out of my safe little bubble, and to live in a way that attracts people to Jesus.

Rather than some books that make evangelism seem scary and hard, this one reminded me of how natural and amazing it can be when I’m just open to people and open to God! The world is waiting for Christian’s to rise up and live lives full of the Holy Spirit’s power, in a way that’s relevant and understandable to those around them.

Some quotes I loved:

Change always feels strange, even when it places you smack-dab in the middle of God’s will.

Your personal story of how Jesus made a difference in your life is your most powerful tool for sharing the gospel.

Being Spirit Contemporary isn’t about pleasing people so they will like you. It’s about being so confident, strong, and secure in your identity as a child of God that people notice the different in your life and are attracted to you as you direct them to Jesus.




The Shack//William Paul Young

I’m not really sure how I feel about this book. It’s almost like one has to split the book in half when evaluating it: there’s the story, and then there’s the sermon. I’m not interested in adding to the already-muddy waters surrounding this book recently translated to the silver screen, nor am I prepared to do that. Like I said, I didn’t read it studiously at all. It was a quick book I used to unwind between all the rehearsals and day camp prep.

That being said, I do have a few thoughts.

First, the story. The writing is mediocre. The dialogue felt mostly stilted, which is a problem when probably 70% of the book is dialogue. I felt very distant from Mack, the main character, never getting a real chance to hear his thoughts or feel what he felt. The only reason I felt anything was because the concept of one’s daughter being brutally murdered would tug at anyone’s heartstrings. To me, the author missed a chance to dig into the messiness of that kind of pain.

Not only that, but the dialogue of the black woman representing God was inconsistent. Sometimes it was written like it sounds (you know, words like ain’t, or jes’ instead of just), but most of the time there was none of that.

Now for the sermon aspect. Rather than being mostly story with some sermon, it felt like mostly sermon with some story. Some aspects were powerful. Others were heavy-handed and contrived. I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing the rightness or wrongness of the theology, but suffice it to say I fall somewhere between the this-book-is-wonderful-it-changed-my-life camp and the burn-this-sacrilegious-piece-of-heresy-to-ash camp. I don’t agree with either extreme.

Some of the statements this book made could be interpreted multiple ways. Take this, for example. It’s Jesus talking to Mack.

“Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don’t vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some are bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved.”

“Does that mean,” asked Mack, “that all roads will lead to you?”

“Not at all,” smiled Jesus as he reached for the door handle to the shop. “Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.”

That could be taken to mean that the author believes all religions are correct, or it could mean that Christians have come from all those different backgrounds and chosen to follow Christ (which is true). I’m not sure which meaning the author intended, and he didn’t clear that up.

One of the biggest issues I see people debating is whether it’s right for God to be portrayed as a woman. I believe the Bible refers to God as He on purpose. But male and female are both made in God’s image, so He must embody the best masculine and feminine qualities. Again, it’s a little difficult to tell where the author stands on this issue.

However, there were a small handful of things that I found thought-provoking, in a good way.

[Jesus] “If you try to live this without me, without the ongoing dialogue of us sharing this journey together, it will be like trying to walk on the water by yourself. You can’t! And when you try, however well-intentioned, you’re going to sink . . . It’s extremely hard to rescue someone unless they are willing to trust you . . . That’s all I ask of you. When you start to sink, let me rescue you.”

Although this book has made a big impact on some readers, and although I liked a few aspects, I wouldn’t hand it to a new Christian or anybody struggling to figure out their beliefs, and neither do I feel like rereading it. I may see the movie at some point.

Well. I was not intending to write a review, but it looks like I kind of did. Oops!

Writing

It was abysmally quiet on this front, thanks to everything else going on! I worked a little bit more on using the Snowflake Method to plot out The Brightest Thread, and that’s it.

And now for a break . . .

Spring break, that is! I’m so happy to have a week to relax a bit, recover from an annoying cold, read some books, hopefully finish the abovementioned outline, and get back into proper blogging. Thanks for you patience, dear adventurers!

How was your March? Like a lion or a lamb? Do you enjoy working with kids? Have you read any of those books? Tell me about your sundry quests of the month!

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