Christmas Spirit

Hello! I hope everyone's having a lovely December, and excited for Christmas!

In honor of my Lord Jesus' birthday on earth, I'm sharing that Christmas short story I mentioned before :) I made cover art of the main character of the story, but it's not quite finished yet. Follow this link to read: Christmas Spirit

Have a wonderful weekend!

On writing, reading, and rain

Good afternoon!

I recently updated all of my book review posts, so if you'd like to take a peek, I'm much happier with them now :)

Also, I've been working on a sequel to 'Kingdom Bonders' ! I'm more than halfway done with it, and I'm planning on writing a third/final one. I really need to make some cover art for the sequel, but I'm not sure what it should look like, or who should be on the cover. And I was thinking that each following book in the 'Kingdom Bonders' (hopeful) trilogy should have a second title. I'm so excited to finish my sequel and write a synopsis for you to read!

I picked up a children's book from the library last night called 'Bliss'. It looks cute and harmless, and -if it proves to be worthy - I'll write a book review for you.

Last night, I discovered what the stories mean when they say 'torrents of rain'. I drove with my brother and sister through such a terrible downpour. I couldn't see anything, even with my windshield wipers on high! We were on the highway and it was very windy on top of everything. The Lord protected us and kept my hands steady on the wheel. Now that I'm safe at home, I can say that it was actually pretty fun. I love driving through rain.

Later, as we were driving home, we saw an enormous, vibrant double-rainbow. Sometimes when I see something so beautiful and rare as a double-rainbow, I feel a little sad, knowing I won't be able to capture it in a photo. But it was so wonderful to enjoy with my siblings (while they urged me to keep my eyes off the sky and on the road!).

It's been a lovely summer so far, and I hope yours has as well.

Update on 'Kingdom Bonders'

It is coming. Soon. Very soon.

I'm just having someone in my family read it first and find anything that might be wrong.

It's very good to have a different set of eyes to read and see things that I missed.

So excited to finally get it up on Amazon Kindle!

In the meantime, I updated the cover art :D

My awesome brother taught me how to make the font glow ^_^

Important Message About My Short Story

As of now, my short story is called

'Kingdom Bonders'.

Please forgive me for the confusion with the title.

So, just to clarify, when I upload it to Kindle Direct Publish, it will be called, "Kingdom Bonders".

ALSO.

I amended the story somewhat drastically. Don't worry, to those of you who have already read (most of) it - the characters are still the same and the plot has not changed. I just gave the story more depth and was helped by my gracious Jesus Christ to show my faith through the story, because I realized just how empty it was without my Best Friend in it, helping my main character (and me) to achieve the goals.

There you have it! I changed the title, and amended the story.

Thank you!

Character Post - Ris of Draeborn

There's more to Ris than what you already know...

Name: Ris

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Physical Traits: Ris has wavy pale hair (not gray or blonde, more silvery), fair skin, very pale blue eyes, and is a little shorter than average height. She wears boots, leggings, a thigh-length tunic, fingerless gloves, and a wing-sleeved hooded jacket.

Background: At the age of ten, Ris ran away from home after a terrible incident. She feels she is responsible for what happened, and is too ashamed to return to her parents. At present, she lives in a mountain cave with her dragon friend, Scel.

Skills/Gifts: Ris is a Bonder - one specially gifted with the abilities to tame and speak to any creature. 

Fears: Ris is deathly afraid of deep and/or dark water. She is also afraid to show any outward emotions, a sign of partial insecurity.

Positive Ideals: Ris is protective and smart, wanting to use her bonding gifts only for good. She never uses violence unless it is absolutely necessary.

Negative Ideals: Ris is not a joyful person and can come across as grumpy and too serious, hardly every smiling just because she wants to.

Summer Reading

Isle of Swords.
This book really scared me years ago when my older sister read it aloud to me and my brother. Since then, I steered clear of it. But just a few days ago, I decided to try it again and borrowed it from the library.
It's really good so far! I was only twelve or thirteen when my sister read it to me, so I can see why I was scared. But oh my goodness. It's by a Christian author of three of my favorite books ever, there's no language, and there's nothing inappropriate. It is pretty violent and maybe a bit disturbing here and there, but hey, it's centered around pirates. What else would you expect?
I love it so far and can't wait to read the sequel - Isle of Fire.

 The Sword in the Stars...another one by Wayne Thomas Batson. I ordered it online from Walmart (go figure) with a birthday gift card I hadn't used yet. It should be here next week! Excited!


And this one - The Captive Maiden - I also ordered from Walmart. It's based on the tale of Cinderella, but it's not a fantasy. It was written by a Christian author, and I've only seen good reviews from people who read it. They said it was exciting, frustrating (because of poor Cinderella's sad life), had good, clean romance, and they couldn't wait to see how it ended. I hope it's as good as they say!
And that's my summer reading for now. I already had my once-every-summer reading of A Pearl Among Princes. Such a good book.
Also the Airborn books which I have read two or three times now...three other books perfect for pre-summer reading!

What books are you reading/going to read?

Airborn

Matt Cruse, lighter than air.

He was born in the air (on an airship to be exact) and has since never been comfortable on the ground. He is most at ease in the air, flying on the magnificent airship, the Aurora. He's been a cabin boy on that ship for the past three years and couldn't imagine his life being any different.

One night, he saves an old man from a sinking airship. The old man utters a few words about 'strange creatures', but Matt doesn't think much of it, believing the man was just delirious, or even mad.

Then Kate de Vries enters his life and his entire world is thrown into jeopardy.

Be prepared for high-flying action, merciless pirates, and a bit of romance as you enter this old-fashioned, alternate universe story of a boy and a girl who make an amazing, but dangerous, discovery.

My Thoughts

The Characters: The characters are great in their own little ways - very well-written and believable.

The Setting: The details of this alternate universe were very clever and realistic. The pictures this book painted in my mind were so realistic, I almost felt like I was part of the story.

Overall: The Airborn books are three of my favorites in the world. They're exciting, inspiring, and suspenseful. You won't be bored.

Violence

A man is said to have died in the night after a series of heart failures. A man is shot point blank. A man is attacked by a wild creature, wounding his leg severely. Two people are thrown into a pit to suffocate in the fumes of an alternate-universe gas. A man's leg is badly wounded by a wild creature. A man is found dead in a puddle of blood, having been shot. Two men are viciously attacked by a wild creature. A man falls from an airship, and is then attacked midair by a flock of wild creatures.

Language

One use of the 'f' word, but replaced by an 'e' in the middle. It's not quite the full swear, but it's still said. Two uses of bl--dy h---. God's name is used in vain once or twice.

Other

A male and female kiss twice, and hold hands. The male is obviously attracted to the female, often thinking about how nice she smells, and how beautiful she looks.

Age Range

Young Adult (15+)