Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Titanic Sacrifice part one

Hello, everyone! I apologize for the lack of stories being posted lately. However, I've finally decided on something to post. This is Titanic Sacrifice, a short story I wrote a few months ago for a contest. As a note, this contest, which is hosted by Vision Forum, is the same contest I wrote Knight's Quest for. Anyway, without further ado, Titanic Sacrifice Part One!

Part One
I stared up at the great ship before me, the Titanic. They’d called it the unsinkable, the greatest ship ever built, and incredibly, I’d be traveling on it to America. I could hardly take in the thought. What was more, this would be its maiden voyage, which made the whole thing twice as incredible.
            “Impressive, isn’t she, miss?”
            I turned to see a wealthy-looking gentleman standing behind me. He wore a black top hat and overcoat, and had a round, rather reddish face. I nodded, trying to hide my embarrassment at being caught staring. For a moment, I wondered where I’d seen the gentleman before, but then I shook it off and answered his question. “Indeed, sir. Will you be traveling on her as well?”
            He nodded. “I shall. But I have not introduced myself. I am Richard Barstable.”
            I frowned slightly, my brown eyes sparking with hidden anger. I knew the name all too well. Mr. Barstable had been employing my father when he was killed. I had always blamed him for what had happened. Still, I hid this. “I’m pleased to meet you, sir. I’m Elisabeth Smithson.”
            Mr. Barstable nodded thoughtfully. “The pleasure is mine, I’m sure. Smithson, you said? Where do I know that name?”
            I swallowed hard. “My father, perhaps? William Smithson? He worked for you.” I bit back tears, remembering how Father had been killed after falling from the roof of a building on Mr. Barstable’s property where he’d been repairing the roof. Mother had died soon afterwards, leaving me on my own at the age of seventeen. Now, three years later, I had finally earned passage to America so I could leave these memories behind.
            Mr. Barstable nodded. “Ah, yes. Your father. A good man. I am quite sorry, miss.”
            I nodded, not quite sure how to respond. Finally, I picked up my bag and turned towards the ship. “I need to get on board, sir.”
            “Of course. Perhaps I will see you on our voyage?”
            “Perhaps. Good day, sir.” I hurried away, hoping that I never saw Mr. Barstable again.
            The voyage went smoothly for the first few days. My 3rd-class compartment, though very small and a bit cramped, was enough to suit my needs. I saw Mr. Barstable once or twice, but it was always from a distance, and I slowly began to forget my anger towards him once more.

What will next? You'll have to wait until Thursday to find out! Thank you for reading and for your patience.
-Sarah
 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Healer's Apprentice Review


Author: Melanie Dickerson

Characters: Very good. Rose, Wilhelm, and the rest seem interesting and realistic. The good characters are very likeable; the bad characters a pleasure to dislike.
4/5

Location: Not too bad, though I did get a bit confused in some places. Also, I didn’t realize until about halfway through the book that this was actually set on Earth, not in another world.
2/5

Plot: Very good. The plot is an interesting twist on Sleeping Beauty, and though it isn’t as action-packed as some stories, I still enjoyed it. I will note that, being a remade fairy tale, it has a bit more romance than some of the books I read, though it doesn’t have anything bad in it.
4/5

Other: No other comments.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Saturday, January 21, 2012


Hello, everyone! I’m back, with an update on what I’ve been doing lately.

·        First of all, I’m sorry for the fact that this is late. I meant to post an update last Sunday. However, I ended up spending Sunday in bed with an upset stomach. Thankfully, I’m much better now.
·        Until last Sunday, my story was going very well. After Sunday, however, I kind of took an unexpected break from it because I didn’t feel well enough to work on it on Sunday and after that I just never got around to getting back to it. However, I did get back to work on it yesterday, so I’m hoping that it will start going better soon.
·        What could possibly impede that is the fact that I have five new books to read: The Healer’s Apprentice and The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson and the first three books in The Auralia Thread by Jeffery Overstreet. I’m looking forward to reading them and hope to post reviews of them on my blog.
·        School is going fairly well. I’m currently reading Ben-Hur for one of my subjects, and so far it’s been fairly interesting. Of course, I haven’t gotten very far, but in my experience, if a book starts out interesting, it’ll usually be interesting the rest of the way through too.

Well, that’s about it. Thanks for stopping by!
-Sarah

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Charlatan's Boy Review


Author: Jonathan Rodgers

Characters: Excellent! If there’s one thing I’ve come to expect from the books by Jonathan Rodgers, it’s that the characters will be colorful and full of flavor, and the cast of this book fully meets that expectation.
5/5

Location: Good. The setting was easy to visualize, and I didn’t get confused about where the characters were. The one thing I didn’t like was that it took me half the book to figure out whether the story takes place before or after The Wilderking Trilogy.
3/5

Plot: Very good. The storyline is interesting, with plenty of humorous and exciting sections. The only thing I disliked was the way the story ended. It seemed to be over a little too quickly in my opinion.
4/5

Other: This is an excellent book. I very much enjoyed it, and I can hardly wait until Fall 2011 when the next book in the series comes out!

Overall Rating: 4/5

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Dragons of the Watch Review


Author: Donita K. Paul

Characters: Very good! The characters were interesting and realistic. The only thing that disappointed me was the general lack of characters from previous books in the series, since until the very end, Bealomondore is the only one.
4/5

Location: Very good! There was just the right amount of detail, and since most of the story takes place in one area, it was easy to keep from getting confused. The whole concept of the city was also very interesting.
4/5

Plot: Fairly good. Though not as exciting as other books in the series, the plot was interesting and enjoyable, with plenty of mystery.
4/5

Other: I wish this book would’ve lasted longer, since I finished it in one morning. Other than that, it was excellent.

Overall rating: 4/5

Sunday, January 8, 2012

First Post of 2012

Hello, everyone! Sorry for taking forever to post. I finally have an update on what I've been doing lately. But first, let me say that this is the first post of 2012! (Too bad it's late, ha-ha.)
  • My story has been going fairly well. It's slowed down a bit in the New Year, since I've had school to do. However, that's to be expected, and since I'm writing something, I'm happy. Currently, I'm mostly just trying to figure out how to keep the plot moving along to where I know what I'm doing again.
  • Christmas and New Year's Eve both went well. We spent Christmas at home, as usual, and we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church. New Year's Eve was spent at the home of our friends, which I very much enjoyed. If there's one thing I like more than writing, it's hanging out with my friends. That fun is doubled when cool games and food are involved, which they were.
  • I've been doing a lot of reading in my free time. I've mostly been rereading books, but I got Dragons of the Watch for Christmas, which was exciting. I plan to post a review on it this coming week. I'm also planning to read The Charlatan's Boy, which is by the same person who wrote the Wilderking Trilogy. (I posted review for these books around the beginning of last year.) 
Well, that's about it. Thanks for stopping by!
-Sarah