GUYS. I have some INCREDIBLY EXCITING NEWS: BOOK TOUR SIGN-UPS ARE HAPPENING NOW.
There are a bunch of different things you can sign up to do (if you’re interested, of course), like a cover reveals, author interviews, release day posts, and ARC reviews!
If you’d like to join the fun and celebrate Imprint releasing soon, feel free to sign up using this link.
I am SO EXCITED to be moving forward with this project and am SO EAGER to get this book out into the world.
Hi guys! This is just a really quick post coming at you (and the last day of the month no less 😅) since I’ve been working behind the scenes on big stuff happening for my book release. Stay tuned for that!
But for now, I’ve really been reading WEBTOONS a lot lately (more than reading actual books, frankly), and there are just so many good ones, I had to share some of them with you guys.
cute art style | absolutely hilarious | romance | aliens | sarcasm | general mayhem
weirdly delightful | spooky | ghosts | quintessentially British | complex narrative | gorgeous art
whimsical | magical | beautiful illustrations | adventurous | fairytale-esque | Studio Ghibli-esque
heart-wrenching | emotional | crime | mysterious | haunting | brother relationship
paranormal happenings | detectives | magical | adulthood | weird but fun | urban fantasy
will mess with you | insane | gripping | thought-provoking | clever | almost dystopian
hilarious | unique | pop star life | but also death | romance | fun art style
bizarre in the best way | mind-bending | goofy | surprisingly complex | playful art style | chaotic
slice-of-life | cartoony art style | relatable | laugh-out-loud funny | weird | comforting
adorable | frogs | life | but seriously frogs | cuteness overload | majorly relatable
Hey guys! What, two posts in one day? What is this madness? Or should I say…March madness? 😉
This is just a short one though, as I’d like to let you all know that…
That’s right! I’ve finally taken the plunge and I’ve started up my own newsletter. I plan to send out letters once per season (winter, spring, summer, fall) with occasional special updates in-between. In the newsletter, you can expect to read about my writing and publishing journey, general life happenings, and thoughts and opinions on the stuff I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to. Plus when you sign up you get access to a special page on my author site where you can find a collection of three short stories I wrote!
That most certainly doesn’t mean I will be leaving the blog! I still plan to post once or twice a month. You can’t get rid of me that easily. 😉
Hey guys! I’m back this month with another tag, and I’m very excited to get into it because it was created by the lovely Christine Smith with the help of eleven other fantastic bloggers listed in the featured image above. Go give them all some love, and let’s jump right into March Muchness!
I have this really niche interest in defunct, abandoned, and old amusement parks, attractions, animatronics, and rides. I stumbled on a YouTube video one day (by Defunctland, actually), and I was immediately intrigued. Twenty videos later, I was hooked. There’s something, eerily fascinating and weirdly nostalgic about old theme park lore.
I would choose three people who I was sure would get along, so there wouldn’t be any weapons drawn or fights broken out. Based on my previous 5-star reads, a tea party with Jonathan Strange from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Jeremiah Goodbye from What Blooms from Dust, and Angel from Dark is the Night would be a real interesting time. 🙂
I could see myself as the Dormouse. Always halfway asleep, haha. “You might just as well say that “I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe”!”
I think I would be scared to change anything about myself, honestly. Well, maybe I would settle my mind to keep it from buzzing all the time. Teach it to calm down once in a while! Give myself a quieter brain. Goodness knows that would be nice when I’m trying to fall asleep at night and all I can think of is that random, embarrassing thing I did 10+ years ago…
I think the real question is how ISN’T it?
Late morning, like 10:00-11:00 is one of my favorite times of the day, so I wouldn’t be too upset if I had to live forever in that period. It’s just so nice and peaceful, the day has begun, but isn’t quite in full swing. And the sun is out (well…usually) but it’s not the heat of the afternoon yet. It’s a nice time.
I think it would be an upside down world, since underground is kind of just the reverse of above ground. Trees that grow from the sky, and birds that pitter-patter on the ground. Everything would be topsy-turvy, but it would make sense if you really looked at it. It’d be a weirdly pleasant place.
Oof. I like being a human, thank you very much. 😂 But I guess if I had to choose, I’d like to be a mermaid or a centaur. It’d be fun to be able to swim well underneath the waves, but it’d also be fun to be able to gallop and run with the wind in your hair. Or, ooh, have you seen those bird women, with the head of a lady and the body of a sparrow? I don’t know…
Alice in Wonderland has such a distinctly whimsical and improbable style that I don’t think I could replicate properly if I tried. But I have delved a bit into weird fiction. A while ago, I wrote a short story about a guy working at DQ who encounters three strange, unearthly visitors, who actually turn out to be shapeshifters. It was a fun exercise, and it had that eeriness and otherness that I get from AiW.
I would definitely rather be small. I could sneak into so many places! And explore things from a new perspective. It would be so fascinating seeing everything from such a tiny point of view. I think it would make me think differently about things, and it would definitely spark some story ideas!
If I could give my younger self one piece of Very Good Advice, it would be:
Don’t be so afraid.
I was the nervous, anxious tween and teen who had a mini heart attack when I got invited to a sleepover. I had a really hard time making friends because I didn’t trust anyone and I thought everyone didn’t like me and thought I was weird.
Being older now, I see that just isn’t true. I still have trust issues, and I still have anxiety, but I would try to drill into my younger self’s brain: stop being afraid. Of everything. Of people. Of relationships. Of life. It’s not always going to be so hard, and you need to realize that this is such a small, small portion of your existence. It’ll be okay.
Wow, I didn’t expect to get so personal there. Now that you know my deepest, darkest secrets… 😅
Hey guys! How has your February been? It sometimes feels like time is simultaneously moving SO fast but so slooow at the same time. My brain is mentally in January as well as March already. 😂
I have a tag for your today! (Because my brain is really having a hard time scrounging up original content 🤪) It was created by The Fairy Tale Central (who do AMAZING spotlights each month all about different fairy tales; seriously, go check them out if you haven’t already), and it looks SO FUN.
So basically how this is going to work, is these 10 questions are all different scenarios that I have to describe how I would finish, or what would happen next. Let’s get into it!
Oof, the pressure. This is so hard, because I would hate to ruin this poor girl’s life by making her give me her greatest desire. So I think I would try to kinda fudge the answer for her. If she said something like, “my first kid,” I might be like… “I’ll take the first baby goat you ever have.” 😂 I would seriously try to find a way for her to keep her desire while also having me help her. It would be really, really hard though.
I might try to pull a Snow White huntsman and bring like an animal heart, pretending it was the witch’s (though how well did that work for Snow White…😅), and maybe find some random girl who wants to live in the palace? Maybe I would just say that I killed the witch, hope that they trusted me, and bring back another girl. Though, if I’m honest, if my brother is ruthless, he may try to steal the throne anyways, so really…there’s no easy solution. 😂
I think I would be a little heartbroken, since this princess clearly only sees me as a good friend. But I don’t think I could bring myself to cause ruin in the relationship. Unless Aladdin was, like, a super jerky guy who was clearly not good for her; then I might try to recruit some magical help from the lamp.
Well, it would really depend on what the curse was, wouldn’t it? If we’re talking classic pricking a hand on the spindle, I think instead of making her fall asleep for a 100 years (what kind of solution is that?), I would give her the gift of wisdom, so she would be smart enough to realize that spindles are dangerous and she shouldn’t be around them. If the curse was something more generic, like the child will die at a certain age, I might give her an eternal sense of youth, so she never quite ages past the predestined date.
Ooh, a mystery! If I were to go about this, I think I would take an extremely methodical approach. If possible, I would have both the bear and the dwarf interrogated, first separately, then jointly. I would work with my mom and sister and discuss reasons for belief in each of them, and come to a conclusion in that way. I think it would be pretty apparent who the liar was once they were scrutinized. (Now I’m thinking a Snow White & Rose Red inspired detective story set in like 1950s noir style would be SUPER fun… 🤯)
Subtlety. I would have to be very sneaky about it. Maybe casually emphasizing a sign when the girl isn’t looking, or leaving a trail of flower petals when my pack isn’t watching. It would be so hard though! Though honestly, if my pack is super fond of eating people and I’m not about that, then maybe it would be a good thing for me to be banished. Then I could be a lone wolf, start a new life, maybe among the humans. I wouldn’t have to secretly guide Red, but rather be her protector and guide wolf.
I don’t think I could bring myself to be really harsh, but I would definitely teach him a lesson. Maybe make an elaborate curse that involved people being brought to his home everyday, and unless he was kind to them—actually, truly kind to them, not just faking it—they would be trapped in his house. So he would have to learn his lesson. And everyday that he wasn’t nice, he would become uglier and uglier on the outside. I think he’d learn. 😂
AGH I don’t know! Maybe the definition of “destroy your kingdom” could mean something else. Maybe he’s eternally clumsy and always messes things up, and that’s what that means. So just don’t have him do anything involving the kingdom. If he were to become evil and destroying my kingdom became his goal…I don’t know what I’d do. I might seek the aid of whoever cursed me and try to talk it out with them, see if we can come to some sort of reconciliation for the sake of me and my kingdom.
I would pick a really, really stupid stereotype that he had to fulfill, like “your teeth must glimmer in the light,” or “your hair must blow majestically in the wind.” It would be hilarious to see how ridiculous that would be, and how stupid the test is to begin with. 😂
Well, I definitely wouldn’t promise my daughters to whichever prince can uncover the mystery. I would seek to figure this out myself, because I care about them. I would stay up and observe what they do, what happens, how it happens, and try to discover a cure. I might seek magical help, or maybe medical, depending on the circumstances. 😂 But I would be so determined to save my daughters from their exhausted fates.
Hey guys! I have some MAJORLY EXCITING news to bring you today! Let’s get a drumroll…
Hopefully summer time! But we’ll see. AGH my very first book, finally going out into the world! The thought it both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. 😀 I’ve been working on this story for so, so long now, and I’m thrilled that it’s finally all coming together, as Kronk would say.
So to celebrate, I thought I would answer some questions about what writing this novel has been like and what exactly this book is about! (I like to think it’s gotten easier to explain my novel to people over the years, but I’d be lying if that were true. XD)
Fairytales are not what they seem…
Paige Turner, an anxious young bookworm, has been able to travel into her favorite stories ever since she could remember. She never imagined it would get her into trouble. She is nearly kidnapped one day by a magical man, and things only get more complicated from there. And soon, in spite of her best efforts, Paige and her friend Markus are caught up in a deadly chase against a vengeful wizard. As Paige and Markus hop back and forth between the worlds of books and reality, she finds out that maybe the world of fairytales isn’t all that it seems. And if she wants to survive, she’ll need more than just book smarts.
The idea started a looong time ago, back when I was just starting to discover that I loved writing. I’ve always loved the idea of being able to travel into stories and books, and when I started to think about writing seriously, this was the first of my ideas I decided to pursue.
It’s really interesting, actually, since usually the characters come to me before the story, but in this case it was the opposite. I had an idea, but no characters. That was a challenge in the beginning, but I’ve grown to love all my Imprint characters dearly.
It really varies depending on the time period I was writing it in! I really, really love writing my main two, Paige and Markus (his dialogue is so fun XD), but I also love my two reaper boys Celthic and Zyke. It’s so hard to choose just one!
But if we’re basing this on how naturally and easily they were to write, I would have to say Markus. He just flew onto the page with his big personality and easy dialogue.
The first draft will most likely look nothing like the finished product. This story went through so many revisions that it is unrecognizable from the first draft I wrote back in 2015. I’m so glad that I learned this, because when I first started out, I was under the impression that the first draft would be mostly done. Sure, I might need to change a thing here and there, fix a few things, and call it a day.
That is not the case. XD
And being a mix of a perfectionist, a procrastinator, and a person with a lot of self-doubt doesn’t help either. It definitely makes for an…interesting writing process. But I can honestly say I’m very happy with how it turned out.
I have a very hard time with beginnings and endings. I can’t tell you how many times I rewrote the beginning because I just wasn’t happy with it. And the ending. Ugh, it took so. many. tries. until I got what was in my head down on paper (and that was after I finally even figured what I wanted the ending to be).
From its conception to the final product, it took about eight years.
An insane amount of time, I now realize.
I’ve already started working on the second book, and I can tell it’s definitely not going to take quite as long. XD I think part of having such a long process was that I was (and still am!) learning a ton.
When I first started out, I didn’t have any experience with writing a story. I didn’t know anything about structure or flow or tone (if I’m honest, I still don’t really have a good grasp on it). But this novel, this whole trilogy, actually, has been the greatest writing course I’ve ever taken. And reading articles and books and blog posts (a lot of them from all of you!) about writing have been invaluable.
I considered giving up on this project several times. Tucking it away for a couple years at a time only to drag it out and look at it and fall in love all over again. It was probably the characters that kept me stayed on this story for so long.
I found so much of a connection with Paige, who has an anxiety disorder. I know what it feels like to go through what she goes through in this story.
I love Markus’s sparkling wit and unabashed humor. He’s the guy friend I never would have thought I wanted.
I love Celthic’s inner struggle and frustration with his life.
I love Zyke’s sarcastic quips that hide his desperate need for approval.
They’re all so interesting and unique in their own ways. And I realized I couldn’t just discard this story. It’s stuck around this long for a reason. No going back now. So here we are. 🙂
GUYS. I am so excited to announce that the second book in the coming-of-age fantasy series Draev Guardians has released! Where elemental magic reigns and monsters lurk, and where Cyrus, a girl who can manipulate metal, and Aken, the last Scourgeblood, struggle in a world that is determined to either use them or destroy them…
If you’re new to the series, scroll down further to see book one: Strayborn, and the Amazon sale!
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | GOODREADS | BOOK DEPOSITORY
Book One: Strayborn
The Draev Guardian Academy is their only sanctuary. But training to become a Draev won’t be easy. Cyrus has to hide her human side as she gets placed in Floor Harlow with the outcast students, and nightmares of her deceased mother keep returning.
With creepy Corpsed on the prowl, and whispers of Cyrus possibly being a reborn Hero, both she and her friend Aken find themselves caught up in a web of secrets, racial tension, and an old legend with enemies that could spell their untimely demise…
If you’re new to the world of Draev Guardians, check out the links to book #1 below and the Amazon sale: The hardback price is discounted, and the ebook is FREE on Amazon through December 1st-5th, and will be $0.99 cents 5th-12th!
Purchase Links:
AMAZON | B&N | BOOK-DEPOSITORY | INDIEBOUND | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP
E.E. Rawls is the product of a traveling family, who even lived in Italy for 6 years. She loves exploring the unknown, whether it be in a forest, inside a forgotten castle, or within the pages of a book. She runs on coffee, cuddly cats and the beauty of nature to keep the story wheels of her mind turning, as she writes stories that will both entertain and inspire, creating worlds that one can explore and quickly become lost within… Be careful you don’t lose your way.
Hi guys! Two posts in one week? What is this madness? XD Well, I’m here to share some exciting news with you (which you probably already guess from the title). Brittany Jean has just released her newest album Wintertide!
BLURB:
“So many of you have been asking for this album for years… Wintertide is for you.”
-Brittany Jean
ARTIST BIO:
Brittany Jean is a folk singer/songwriter in the Pacific Northwest. In 2020, after learning of and then dealing with the loss of her performance schedule for the rest of that year, Brittany turned her focus to creating her first-ever Christmas Album, hoping that it would be ready for Christmas 2021. Brittany is thrilled to announce that Wintertide is available starting November 12. With songs about home and a cabin up north to songs about crystal trees and a Christmas ghost ship, somehow every slice-of-life song she sings is a love song.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Instagram | Facebook | Website | YouTube | Spotify
I am a HUGE lover of Christmas music, so I was so excited for this opportunity to share this album. And seriously, even if you don’t love Christmas music (I mean, who doesn’t though?) this album also has songs that just so beautifully capture that cozy winter aesthetic. Like, just LISTEN to this:
SO GOOD. It’s just the type of music that makes you feel like curling up with a blanket and hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night.
If I haven’t convinced you to check this album out already (or maybe you’re already singing along), Brittany is running an awesome giveaway on her Instagram November 12-25. The prizes are two super cute mugs and a cozy-looking sweatshirt, if you’re interested! Winners are announced November 26, so be sure to enter before then!
Hey guys! I’ve got some exciting news to share! My friend E.E. Rawls is releasing the second book in her Draev Guardian series! I couldn’t be more excited for her and I am SUPER excited to show you this beautiful cover!
But you’ll have to keep scrolling to see it 🙂
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“I am the rescuer of the weak. The hope of those who have none. And the executioner of vempar kind. I am the White Ghost—and your worst nightmare.”
With the events of the Festival Duel over, Cyrus wants to focus on training her Ability with metal. But trouble soon comes in the form of a shapeshifter: the White Ghost, who’s determined to exterminate all vempar kind, and he’s seeking the power of the Swan Princess in order to carry out his plan.
Seriously, why can’t people just leave Cyrus alone? She doesn’t want to be the Swan, some reborn hero from legend! She just wants to be with her friends and train to become a Draev Guardian. Is that too much to ask for?
Apparently, it is. The Oracle, who happens to be a faeryn child, can lead the Ghost right to her—and the Impure Nights, as well. Harlow must keep the Oracle safe, but with the Academy’s yearly Hunters Race coming up, things get even more complicated. The Scourgeblood in Aken’s veins is awakening, and to face the powerful shapeshifter, Cyrus’s fellow Draevs-in-training may have to pay the ultimate price…
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | GOODREADS
Releases December 1st! Would you like to join me and help spread the word about the release? Join the Book Release Shout-Out HERE.
If you’re new to the world of Draev Guardians, check out the links to book #1 below:
AMAZON | B&N | BOOK-DEPOSITORY | INDIEBOUND | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP
E.E. Rawls is the product of a traveling family, who even lived in Italy for 6 years. She loves exploring the unknown, whether it be in a forest, inside a forgotten castle, or within the pages of a book. She runs on coffee, cuddly cats and the beauty of nature to keep the story wheels of her mind turning, as she writes stories that will both entertain and inspire, creating worlds that one can explore and quickly become lost within… Be careful you don’t lose your way.
Hey guys! I’m excited to drop in and show you the beautiful cover of this awesome anthology that Angela Watts and Michaela Bush have put together!
But first, we must build up momentum…
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You can feel it coming, can’t you?
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Just a few more steps…
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And there it is!
Isn’t it just fantastic?! 😍
The theme of this fantasy anthology is light in the darkness. This anthology offers bold, heartfelt stories that will leave the reader deep in thought and breathless from fast-paced action! If you enjoy stories about underdog heroes, or scary foes, this anthology will keep you reading past your bedtime! Releasing early 2022!
Michaela Bush is a Christian author, editor, and entrepreneur. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2019 from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a B.A. in English and a minor in Psychology. She has enjoyed writing from an early age, and mostly writes Christian romance. When she isn’t working or creating her next story, she enjoys spending time with her family, horseback riding, playing violin, and spending time at church. She is also a crazy cat lady and enjoys various arts and crafts.
Angela R. Watts is bestselling author of The Infidel Books and Golgotha. She lives at Step by Step Sanctuary, Tennessee, where she raises horses, dogs, cats, and snails. She’s been writing stories since she was little, and when she’s not writing, she’s probably drawing or working with her amazing editorial clients.
Short & Snappy 