April 2023 Doings!

Hello, all! April is over (well, almost), and so is my blogging hiatus. As I expected, this has been a very busy, tiring month. A good month, to be sure, but still. I have had far too many lates and earlies, as Bastian would put it, for my taste, and too many days in which I was running behind the schedule of when I wanted to. I almost thought I was going to have to push this post until next Friday, which would've been a week later than it should've run, but I managed to find enough spare time at the last minute to get it up. So, let's get on with the Doings!

Writing!

• I have gotten tragically little creative writing done this month — only about 12,000 words, which is less than half of my average in the previous several months. There's been some weeks when I haven't been able to touch my manuscript more than once, if I got to touch it at all. (The week of the 16th, the only reasons I got to do any creative writing of any kind was that I skipped out on a D&D session that I was going to be late to anyway, and then I needed to do prep for a session in my campaign.) On the upside, I've generally been pleased with what I did write, so . . . there's that.
• (Needless to say, the fact that I haven't been able to do as much creative writing at a time when I very much want to be writing has not helped my stress levels at all.)
• What was I doing instead of writing? Grad school stuff. Which is actually writing-adjacent, so I suppose I may as well talk about it now instead of in the Life section. I spent most of this month working on my final project for my second grad school class. If you follow me on Facebook or you share a Discord server with me, you're probably already aware of this project: doing research into a possible reason why some writers prefer to write to music and why some writers prefer silence and then writing that research into a series of blog posts. This was an interesting project, and I've wanted to look into it for several years, but I haven't had a reason to until now. Unfortunately, it was also extremely time-consuming — and, yes, I knew going in that these things take time, but I actually got through a whole class before this without sacrificing significant amounts of writing time. Anyway, I finally got my rough draft done this past Wednesday (three days after I wanted to have it finished), so now at least I get a semi-break while I wait for peer review . . .
• Further delaying the research project was another smaller assignment for the same class: writing a blog post about how to do research in one's field. I opted to write about how I research for worldbuilding, so that was another technically-fun-but-time-consuming task. On the upside, once this class is over, I'll have four weeks' worth of blog posts to share over the summer! 
• The D&D campaign I run didn't meet much this month — which, surprisingly, was more due to other peoples' schedules than mine. We only had two sessions, one of which was . . . not the best, as everyone (including me) was tired. The second session, though, was really fun; we actually had our full group for the first time in ages, and people got pretty into the roleplay. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting more of that once peoples' schedules ease up.

Reading!

• I predicted in my last Doings! post that this month would be mostly rereads and mood reads, and what do you know? I was absolutely right.
• I did finish The Shepherd's Crown, which I was in the middle of last month, and I continue to feel generally meh about it. Was it a good book? Sure. Was it a fairly good ending to the Discworld series? Again, sure. Was it anywhere close to being one of my favorites in the series? Not remotely.
• As far as new books that I read entirely this month go, The Orb and the Airship was absolutely the best. I got an early copy because I backed the Kickstarter, and that was so very worth it. This is such a wonderful blend of steampunk and epic fantasy, and I loved the characters (especially Marik and Beren) and the storyline. I can't wait to read the rest! For those who didn't back the Kickstarter, you can currently preorder it in either ebook or hardcover from Amazon. I 100% recommend doing that, if you couldn't tell.
• Another excellent new read was Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons, which is one part Austen, one part fantasy, and all parts excellent. A Regency-era spinster unknowingly inherits a dragon egg from her great-uncle; hijinks ensue; it's excellent. Slow-paced, but still with enough to intrigue and keep me turning the pages, and the narration is full of self-aware, Princess-Bride-esque humor.
• My final new-to-me read was The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass. This is the book version of the workshop series I did at last year's Realm Makers conference, and I appreciated the opportunity to revisit what I'd learned. I probably would've appreciated it more if I hadn't been so tired and if I could've had more opportunity to put the principles in the book into practice, but . . . oh well.
• I'm not really going to go into my rereads, save to say that The Secret Garden is still delightful for adults (as the best books are), and I am strongly tempted to combine it with some fairytales and write a retelling of it. I won't be doing so soon, but . . . sometime.

 Life!

• (Yes, we skipped a section because I didn't watch anything noteworthy this month, even if you set the bar for "noteworthy" pretty much on the ground.)
• The month obviously started with Holy Week, which was . . .  a lot. Even with my best efforts to get stuff done in advance, and even with getting some extra time off on Thursday, it was a busy, tiring week. But it ended well — I got to actually see the Stations of the Cross that I worked so hard on last year, our church's Easter service was good, and Easter lunch with our Bible study was very fun. I made a coconut cake, and that turned out quite delicious if I do say so myself!
• With the onset of spring comes the time to plant, and so I have acquired more herbs to join my rosemary and thyme plants from last year. This year I got two more basil plants (since the one I had last year died over the winter — not surprising), as well as a mint and a parsley. I potted all of them last weekend, and I'm hoping that they do all right. The basil seems fine, but I'm a bit worried about the parsley (which didn't have very well-developed roots, though it looked great up top) and the mint (which lost a lot of leaves before I could get it in a real pot, though its roots seem fine). We'll see how things go. I do hope it warms up properly again soon so I can leave them outside . . .
• On the crafting front, I finished my Dark King's Curse fanart embroidery (except for removing the stabilizer and mounting it in something for display), but I was running low on embroidery floss and didn't have time to get to the store, so I switched back to the shrug I'm crocheting. That's working up fairly fast, but it's also getting large enough that taking it anywhere will become very awkward very soon.
• Finally, we have D&D — the campaign I play in has had a few sessions this month, which were all . . . interesting. Our party was split until the most recent session, with our sorcerer off scoping out an enemy's headquarters and the rest of the group trying to rescue my character's sister and the sister's adventuring party. The rescue did succeed, but storms was it a struggle at times. Happily, we're all back together now and prepared to storm a fiend's hideout (well, one of his hideouts) and maybe do a little, ah, social reorganization in the country where said hideout is located. And by that I mean that we need to help a lot of halfling farmers deal with the people who are oppressing and taking advantage of them. It's definitely going to be an interesting challenge.
• Since I already discussed grad school stuff in the Writing section, that about covers it. This has been a busy month, as I said, but it's mostly been busy with the same things over and over again.

May Plans

• My grad school class ends in the second week of May, so next month should actually be a lot less stressful.
• That said, I still do anticipate a full month. Just, you know, full of more fun things.
• The big event of the month is likely to be my sister's graduation on the first weekend in May. I am so proud of and excited for her — she's a mechanical engineer, so not an easy program, but she's done and finished well, and I know she really enjoyed most of her studies. I'm looking forward to going up to Ohio to celebrate with her and also to have her back home for one more summer. (I'm also hoping to visit some friends while I'm in Ohio, so that will also be fun if it works out.)
• I'm also looking forward to going back to the local Viking Festival the weekend after my sister's graduation. My sister and I went last year, and it was fun — basically a very small viking-themed Ren Fest-ish event. I'm sure it'll be fun this year as well, and we may end up doing something with a friend afterwards, so that'll be a good day. We may also try to attend the Virginia Renaissance Faire at some point, since it's mostly in May and tickets are actually pretty cheap, but we'll see how that works out.
• Of course, since I'll be done with grad school for the summer, and since I need to have my Selkie Story finished (or nearly so) by the end of the month, I also plan to dive back into writing and get a lot done. And once the Selkie Story is drafted, it'll be back to work on Bastian Dennel, PI Book 4. Plus, the group I run is close to wrapping up our LotR D&D adventure, which means I'll need to prep for the next adventure after that. (I'd also like to work on some one-shot ideas I have . . . but only if I end up with a bunch of extra time somehow.)
• At work, I expect things will continue as they have been for the last couple weeks since Easter. Summer is often a somewhat quieter time for me, at least compared to Lent and Advent, and if that continues to be the case, I will not complain!

How was your April? What are you looking forward to in May? How did you celebrate Easter (if you celebrated)? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

 

April 2017 Doings!

What. How is April over already? That seems really fast, guys. Where did the time go? It was a super busy month, though, so I guess that explains it. Hopefully I'll be less busy sometime in the future . . . That said, as a friend of mine pointed out, at least the busyness means I'm actually doing things.

Writing!

• I won Camp NaNoWriMo! I hit my goal of 10K words edited on Friday (the 28th), ending the day with 10,054 words.
• The month started out a bit slow. I did get 650-odd words on the first . . . but then I spent the rest of that day, plus all of the next two, writing an immense paper on New Zealand. Which, I will admit, was quite interesting, but it was also quite exhausting.
• Thankfully, after I finished that, I didn't really have many other major projects, save my final speech, so I was able to keep a steady pace for the rest of the month. It helped that, the week before Easter break, my Psych professor had to go out of town, so I had an extra hour to write Monday and Wednesday, plus my awesome hour on Tuesday and Thursday.
• Easter break was also more productive than I expected. I worried that I wouldn't really get anything done, since I'd be spending time with friends and I did need to draft my speech at that point. However, I discovered that I could edit on my phone in the car by using Google Drive, and so I ended up getting an average of 600-odd words every day and it made me immensely happy.
• Despite this, I didn't go quite as far over my goal as I hoped to, mostly because I had to slow down some once I got back to college, and also once I ran into some more difficult scenes. I'm still ok with how I did, though.
• Hopefully I'll start posting chapters sometime very soon. Within-the-next-week-or-two soon. We'll see if that works out or not.

Reading!

• Perhaps because I spent so much time writing (and, as you'll see, watching, and going to events), April was a pretty slow reading month. I finished up the Echoes from the Edge series and meant to buy the new versions right after, but that . . . didn't happen. At this point, I think I'm just going to wait until after finals and get the books then.
• After that, I wanted . . . well, I wanted something light, and I wanted Diana Wynne Jones, and what I thought I wanted was Charmed Life. Except all the library had in the Chrestomanci series was The Pinhoe Egg, so I settled for that . . . and then discovered that it was really what I'd wanted all along.
• I still wanted more Chrestomanci, but unfortunately that wasn't an option, so I went on a general Diana Wynne Jones kick and reread Howl's Moving Castle over Easter break and House of Many Ways when I got back. I'm still on the kick now, as I'm finally reading Hexwood, partially because I have the book anyway and partially because Deborah O'Carroll did a fabulous review of it that made me curious.
• Oh, and I reread Dealing With Dragons, mostly on a whim. Well, I got it out on a whim. Then I reread it because I had it out and I felt obligated. It's a problem. Not really, actually, not in this case. But sometimes.
• And I just now realized that the only new thing I read all month was Hexwood. What is this madness?

 Watching!

• I actually watched a ton of stuff this month. Most of it, naturally, was over Easter break.
  
  
• Most of the month, naturally, was taken up by watching Merlin, mostly because Alana and I had to get through three seasons in a little over a month in order to finish before we both go home for the semester. At the moment, we're a little over halfway through Season 5, so we should be able to get to the end in time.
• Because we've moved so fast through the seasons, I can't really post all my thoughts on them. But, in general:
  • Gwen and Arthur are quite adorable. Also, Gwen is a surprisingly ruthless queen. I approve. Except not right now because that's not the right people to be ruthless at; Gwen what are you doing? But at the beginning of the season, I approved.
  • Why does no one run background checks on servants? Or visiting nobles? Or anyone? I know it's medieval era, but they should be able to do something more than whatever they're currently doing, and I'm pretty sure that would prevent at least 50% of their problems right there.
  • So, my roomie's favorite characters are Gwain and Percival, and I very much understand why. They're quite awesome, especially Gwain. Gwain is fun. If he's not in my top five, he's at least close to there. That said, my favorites of the knights are Lancelot and Elyan. I'm not sure if they're my favorite characters overall, because I love Gwen and I quite like Merlin and usually Arthur. But those are my favorite of the knights for sure.
  • But Lancelot. Whyyyyyyy. It's not ok.
  • Seriously not ok.
  • And then there was that one episode and I thought it was going to be ok for an hour or so? But then Morgana did that and it was even less ok. Whyyyyy.
  • And then Elyan too. Whyyyyyy. Morgana needs to stop messing with my favorite characters.
  • Also, I understand that characters need to make bad life choices sometimes in order for them to be relatable and all, but certain recent life choices by certain characters, particularly in a certain episode which I watched this past week are just stupid. Why.
• All that said: Merlin wasn't the only thing I watched this month! And none of the other things I watched were half as feels-heavy!
  
  
• I am one step closer to catching up on the Marvel universe! Over Easter break, I saw Doctor Strange. As I expected, there was a bit of spiritual weirdness. That aside, I really enjoyed the movie. The character development was really good, and there were some great scenes, both in the funny sense and the serious sense . . . but honestly, one of my favorite bits was the superpowers. The whole reality-warping bit is something I've tried to do with one of my villains and it didn't work so well because I didn't have a good idea of what it would look like, but now that I've seen someone else do it, I'm kind of excited to revisit that story and make it better. Also, time-related powers! Yes! Thank you!
  
  
• Also over Easter break, I finally watched Despicable Me. Yes, I know, it's been out for ages. Yes, I know, I've seen Despicable Me 2 at least a half-dozen times. I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it- I like the second one, but worried that the first one would make me cringe more than laugh- but I quite liked it!
• Finally, I got to watch two episodes of Hogan's Heroes, which is basically my favorite old-time TV show. And while I was waiting for that to come on, I ended up watching an episode of MacGyver for the first time, so now I have a slightly less vague idea about what it is. It was pretty good overall, but I still prefer Hogan's Heroes. That said, MacGyver is on Prime, so I may give it another try later on if I have time.
• (You know, between trying to knock some books off my TBR list and catching up on Marvel and finishing the Back to the Future trilogy and watching Indiana Jones because my family watched that without me too . . . Of course I'm not bitter at all. And all the other stuff I want to do this summer.)

Musings!

• Different people have different perspectives of God, right? Some people tend to focus more on certain aspects of His character and others focus more on other aspects. And I think a part of how people see God relates really strongly to the things they're passionate about. For example, I'm a writer and a bookworm, so I tend to see God in the context of the Great Author of history. My Western Lit prof last year was excited about gardening and cooking (in addition to the obvious, books), and she often compared God to a gardener, and once she commented on how the Bible has the world's oldest recipe for beef stock. And a scientist, like the Enlightenment rationalists, might see God more in terms of the Cosmic Designer. And that can be bad in some respects because it's really easy to get fixated on just those aspects of God that fit with your passions. But it can also be good, and it's a major reason why we need to have community with other Christians who have diverse interests, because different people will have different insights, and will understand some concepts better than others, and by sharing those insights, each person in the community can learn a little more about who God is and spiritual life in general.
• It's scary how little is required to turn an OK day into an awful one. One bad class and I can end up frustrated and stressed the rest of the day. One announcement from the prof or realization that something is coming up sooner than I thought and I can easily end up in a panic. One event- sometimes, that's all it takes to determine what color the rest of my day will take. It seems stupid in some respects, that I get so worked up about relatively little things at times. And in other respects, it's terrifying, because I can't be the only one who does this, and how many people's days have I unintentionally ruined through a thoughtless statement or action?
• Even an introvert is not meant to be always alone. We get lonely sometimes. I don't want to constantly be around people, but there are times when I really want people. One of those times is at meals. Food is best if it's enjoyed with someone else. I don't mind eating alone when necessary, but I am convinced that eating alone is one of the loneliest things in life, particularly if you thought you would eat with someone else. Eating alone when you knew you'd be eating alone is one thing. It can almost be enjoyable, and if you end up running into a friend who'll join you, it's a pleasant surprise. But eating alone when you thought you'd have a friend with you is just sad.

Life!

• As you can see, I decided this month to run off and go visit an old German village. It was amazing! So beautiful! So many photography opportunities! My two years of high school German totally came in handy!
• Just kidding. I did actually leave campus this month, which is a bit of a rarity, but I definitely did not go to Germany.
• The picture which is not in a German village is actually my roommate's home library. Yes, it is magnificent. Another girl from our hall and I went home with her for Easter break, and on Monday we went to visit the library because my roommate kept telling me about how amazing it is. She wasn't exaggerating at all; it's like a castle.
• Also over Easter break, we went to the outlet mall, which was surprisingly fun. I needed new dress shoes, so we were looking for that, but it was nice to just sort of wander and look around. Usually when my family goes to any mall, we have fairly specific stores we need to go to and there isn't really any wandering.
• In addition, I got to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my aunt and her family! Catching up with them was nice, and the cousins were cute. Plus, I hadn't actually been to the Cheesecake Factory before, so that was exciting. Also, I now understand this meme:
  
  
• And then we celebrated actual Easter with my roommate's grandparents, who are quite wonderful people, and there was much delicious homemade food both there and at the roommate's actual house. I don't think I realized quite how blessed I was at home to have Mommy's homemade cooking every day until I had to eat dining hall food every day for so long. I mean, Chuck's is good. As dining halls good, we have one of the best in the country. But by this point . . . well, it's getting old.
• Of course, Easter break was only one small weekend!
• Backing up: the weekend before Easter break, my roommate, another friend, and I went to see our college's spring play, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] [Revised]. It was . . . interesting. I don't think I caught all the references because I only really know a half-dozen of Shakespeare's plays. I still enjoyed it, though.
• That same weekend, my roommate and I went down into town and spent the morning at a coffeeshop, like we did last month. We visited a different coffeeshop this time, though. I think I like the first one better for overall writer-y atmosphere, but this one served more breakfasty foods. That said, we've discovered that the best place to get breakfast in cedarville is the Corner Bakery, which has delicious quiches and equally delicious scones. And if you happen to want dessert, not breakfast, their maple-walnut bars and lemon bars are also pretty amazing.
• Anyway. Sort-of-continuing the topic of food: remember how I mentioned last month that I had fancy-ish end-of-year things coming up? One of those things was the PWID Awards Banquet, which took place the day after I got back from Easter break. It was nice. Good food (I haven't had chicken breast in ages, and the chocolate cake was spot-on), and less intimidating than I expected, even if I did end up seated with a complete stranger, without another student for backup . . . And then the banquet ran late, so I had to run across campus in fancy shoes to get to a finals study group meeting.
• Rather more exciting thing that also happened that day: TDK Assassins began! For those who are currently freaking out because SARAH, I THOUGHT YOU WENT TO A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (or who are just curious): assassins is sort of an elaborate game of tag. Everyone who signs up receives two things: a plastic spoon and the name of one of the other participant. This other participant is your target; your goal is to tap or lightly stab them with the plastic spoon. Once you do this, they're "dead" and you receive the name of their target as your next target. I managed to get first "kill" (a fact that I tried to keep quiet in order to not be considered a threat, though somehow it leaked out), and I also survived until day three, of which I'm rather proud. I would've gotten my second target too, except she slept through both chapel and her first class . . . I think it's going to become an annual thing (the game, not this particular person oversleeping), so I'm quite excited for next year. Hopefully I'll do even better then.
• Also I attended three concerts this week! Which meant I spent a few days feeling quite fancy and cultured and all that sort of thing.
  
  • The first was a farewell concert by one of the music profs, the former head of the music department actually. It was also the world premier of a set of pieces by another music prof. Those two factors meant that literally everyone was there: the university president and other officials, all the professor's former and current students, the head of the honors program (who also happens to teach the philosophy part of Honors and is my favorite professor ever) . . . I got there fifteen minutes earlier and still ended up sitting in the very back. Because it was such a Big Deal, this concert also included a fancy reception with cake and little tarts and macarons. You know something's fancy when there are macarons there. The tarts and macarons were delicious; I can't speak for the cake. Also, I managed to meet the philosophy prof's wife, so that was fun.
  • The second concert was the symphonic band concert. I realized in hindsight that I have several friends in said band, so I could've said I was there because they were playing or something. Actually, I only went because I happened to have time after the Communications Department end-of-year celebration (more good food- barbeque, macaroni and cheese, fruit, and desserts, including peanut butter cookies with Reese's Cups in the middle) and the posters said the band was playing something called the "Steampunk Suite." It wasn't quite as amazing as I hoped, but I still enjoyed it.
  • Finally, I went to the jazz band concert, partially because I have a friend in jazz band, and partially because I discovered last semester that I actually enjoy some jazz. (For context: I spent most of my life thinking that I heartily disliked jazz; then the jazz band provided music for chapel one day and I realized, "Oh my pumpernickel, this is so fun!") By the end of the concert, I'd realized that I don't understand jazz any better than I understand any other type of music, but I did enjoy it very much. I also had "Jericho" stuck in my head for a few hours afterwards, but there are worse songs to have stuck in your head . . .
• To finish out the month: tonight is the end-of-year celebration for the Honors Org. We're having a formal soiree, and I'm not quite sure what that means? But the invitation says "food, fellowship, and jollification," and the people running it have mentioned games, so it should be all good. Feel free to ask me in comments how it went, if you're curious.

May Plans!

• I'm going home! There's less than a week left until summer break! Huzzah!
• Except before that, I have to survive finals. I have three, and only one is cumulative, so it should've terrible. Prayers would be nice anyway, if you don't mind, especially since I got the date of one of the finals mixed up and so didn't start studying as soon as I perhaps should've.
• But after that- home! freedom! family! homemade food!
• Yes, I think about food a lot. How very observant of you to notice. I'm pretty sure that's a common trait of college students, though.
• I am a little sad about the semester ending, since it means I have to say goodbye to my roommate and my friend and everyone, and some of them either are not or might not be coming back. I don't think I realized until I came here how much I'd missed having people my own age around while I was in New York. But I'm still looking forward to seeing my family and having more time for creative stuff and all that.
• I need to keep editing Fight Song, obviously, particularly if I'm going to start posting soon. Plus I'd like to get back to work on Destinies and Decisions at some point in the near future. And I think I might have some photos I need to edit from last summer? I could be wrong about that, though.
• Also I have, like, two or three seasons' worth of book releases to catch up on, so that's going to be fun.
• And I want to do some movie-watching, namely the rest of the Back to the Time trilogy and more Marvel. And hopefully Indiana Jones as well. I don't think I'll get in all of that during May, though; it'll have to be spread over the summer.
• Also, there will be photography. Some of the people from our photo club in Virginia are running a photography tour of an abandoned factory/steel mill, or at least what's left of it, and we're going and I'm very excited.
• I'm also hoping to join in on Nadine Brandes' #Walk30Days Challenge. With luck, that'll be enough to keep me moving once I get home, because I definitely need to exercise . . . I kind of slacked off over the winter, because it was cold outside and I didn't want to leave the dorm more than necessary. Also, I was busy. Obviously. But, yeah, we'll see if that actually happens or if my motivation peters out halfway through the month because books/editing/movies/whatever seem more interesting.
• Other than that . . . there may be some travel, but I don't know exactly what the plans for that look like yet. We'll see. The month overall should be pretty chill- it has to be; I won't have classes or homework to deal with!

How's your April been? Have any big plans for May? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

I Live!

Well, I'm back.

Not that I really went anywhere. But I have been guest-hosting Random Fridays at Awkwordly Emma for the past few weeks, which is why I haven't been doing those here. That's done now, and your regularly scheduled Random Fridays posts will hopefully resume on the first Friday in April. So will Top Ten Tuesdays (for which my only excuse is that I couldn't think of anything to say for the last several topics).

And you know what else is coming up in April? Camp NaNoWriMo. Which, yes, I am doing. I'm hoping to rewrite my novel from November, since it has plot holes big enough for Smaug to fly through. I'm also hoping to actually do some planning before I start writing this time. Why? A large part of it is that I need to figure out what's going to happen in this novel and what's going to happen in the one after it, which was part of why my first try didn't turn out so well. Also, I'll have main characters in at least three different places, which means at least three main plot threads. I can't keep it all balanced in my head. (Of course, I still need to make this outline, but it's going to happen. Trust me.)

I'm also lowering my wordcount goal to 30K rather than the usual 50K. While I'm guessing this novel will be a bit longer than that, I will still have other things I need to get done. This blog, for example. And school. And the ACT test (eep!). And whatever we end up doing at Easter, because no matter what we decide, I probably won't be able to get 1,667 words in that day. So, 30K seemed like a much easier goal to reach.  

In other news, I recently (as in, this morning) finished watching the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and it was pretty awesome! I do wish that Peter Jackson had just left out the whole Azog plotline and instead left in some of the cut scenes, particularly certain White Council scenes that foreshadow events in The Desolation of Smaug. There were also a few scenes- namely one or two of the dwarves in Rivendell- that I was very glad were left out. They were . . . painful. But otherwise, it was good. And I still have lots of bonus materials to watch, probably over the summer. Yay!

What about you? Are you doing Camp NaNo? Have you seen the extended edition of An Unexpected Journey? What have you been up to lately?

Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)         

What's Up in April

Hello, everyone! As you can see, I’m finally posting an update on what I’ve been doing this month. Sorry for taking so long to get around to it.

• ·        I had fun this Easter. We went to church, and then we went to a friend’s house for lunch. I had a lot of fun there, especially since I got to play Settlers of Catan, a board game that I really enjoy.
• ·        My writing has been going well. If you remember from my last news post, I was writing two short stories at the beginning of the month and trying to finish them by Easter. I succeeded, and so I started a novel on Easter. That novel is going very well. I’ve been able to keep up my goal of ten pages a day, which means I’m about halfway done and having a lot of fun.
• ·        Although I haven’t been doing much photography, I did enter some photos in the a photo contest that I’ve entered in for the past few years. This year, one of my photos, Cherry Blossoms, won best in show for the youth category, and several of my other pictures also won ribbons. You can see the winning pictures on my blog here.
• ·        School is going well. We’re finishing things up for the year and getting ready for the end-of-year tests. I’m pretty excited about school ending and about most of my summer plans.
• ·        I semi-recently (around the end of Easter week) read The Hunger Games for the first time. Although I was a little unsure at first, I really enjoyed it and am eagerly looking forward to reading its sequel once we can get it. I’ll be posting a review of it once I finish posting reviews of books by Andrew Klaven, a new favorite author of mine.

Well, that’s about it. Thanks for reading and for waiting so patiently for a post.

-Sarah

The Blame

Forced to die

A criminal’s death,

Though in all things

You were innocent.

Turned against and denied;

Beaten and betrayed,

By those who You loved;

Those who You made.

And who shares in their guilt?

Certainly not I!

I was not there

When You were sentenced to die.

It was not I

Who called out from the crowd;

It was not I

Who denied you aloud.

I did not drive

The nails in Your hands;

I did not help

In the Pharisee’s plans.

And yet, perhaps I

Share some of the blame,

Though I did not live

In the time that You came.

For it was I

Who sinned against You;

And it was I

Who tried to go without You.

It was indeed I

Who went my own way,

And it was I

Whose sins You did pay.

Yes, it was my sins

That You bore on the tree.

It was because of those sins

That You died for me.

And yet even though my sins

Led to Your death,

You still forgave me

In Your final breath.

And when You said

That it was done,

Those sins were wiped clean

The battle was won.

You died for us all,

For we all share in the blame,

But for those who trust You,

There is no shame.

And when the last trumpet sounds

And the world is made new

Those who accept Your forgiveness

Will have a home with You.

Simply because

You loved us so much

That you carried our sins

In Your death on the cross.

"For He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."

-Isaiah 53:5 

The Sacrifice Part Nine

Hello, everyone! Ready for the conclusion of The Sacrifice? I hope so, because I’m posting it right now!

Part Nine

Abbie was the one who suggested it. “Why not have a picnic in the garden while we wait for the Prince to come?” she had asked Bethany. Bethany had liked the idea, and that was why they were setting out their noontime meal on a makeshift table.

            Abbie set down the last plate. “What now, Mama?”

            Bethany laid a platter of rolls on the table. “Run and get your father, Abbie, and I’ll bring out the butter. Hurry!”

            Abbie obeyed, running through the house to Matthias’ study. “Papa! Lunch is ready!” she called.

            Matthias rose from his chair. “All right, sunshine, I’m coming.”

            Abbie smiled and tugged on Matthias’ hand. “Mama said to hurry!”

            Matthias allowed himself to be pulled to the table, where he sat down. He bowed his head, saying “Let us thank the Great King for our food.” Abbie and Bethany also bowed their heads, and Matthias prayed “Great King, we thank you for this food and the hands that prepared it. We pray that it will strengthen our bodies to do Your will. Amen.”

            Abbie raised her head and waited for Bethany to give her some salad and fish. Her eyes roved over the table to the garden beyond. Suddenly, she saw someone standing at the garden gate . . . someone familiar. “Mama! Papa!” she cried. “Look who’s here!”

            Bethany and Matthias turned. Bethany gasped and dropped the plate she was holding, which fell back to the table. Matthias fell to his knees. Abbie rushed to open the gate. “You came back! I knew You would!”

            The Prince of Peace knelt to hug Abbie, saying “Ah, Abbie, I wish that all My people had faith like yours. You never doubted Me.”

            Abbie smiled. “You said You’d come. You wouldn’t break Your word.”

            The Prince of Peace stood, saying “Of such is the Great King’s Kingdom.” He walked to Bethany, who blushed.

            “I’m sorry for not having a place for You, my Prince. I wasn’t expecting you quite so soon.”

            The Prince of Peace smiled kindly at her. “Bethany, you have been faithful to Me ever since we met. For this you will be rewarded one day. Do not worry about the place, but be prepared in the future, for I may come at any time.” He turned to Matthias. “Matthias, stand up. Look at Me.”

            Matthias obeyed. “”Is it You, my Prince?” He saw the scars from the rope on His neck. “How, my Prince?”

            The Prince of Peace said “With the Great King, all things are possible.”

            Matthias hung his head. “I know it is You, my Prince. Forgive me for my unbelief.”

            “You are forgiven, Matthias. You believe because you have seen, but blessed are those who believe without seeing.” He looked at the three of them. “I cannot stay with you, My friends. Soon I must return to My Father.”

            Abbie frowned. “Will You ever come back?”

            The Prince of Peace said “Someday I will return, Abbie, and then I will take all those who follow Me back to live with the Great King. But before then, I will not return, though I will still be with you.”

            “What are we to do until then?” Matthias asked.

            “Spread the word!” the Prince of Peace replied. “Tell the world of Me. Do not fear, though people will persecute you, for the Great King will protect you.”

            Matthias nodded. “We will, my Prince. I promise.”

            The Prince of Peace smiled at them. “Thank you, my friends. I must leave you now, but remember me and my words.”

            Abbie, Matthias, and Bethany watched as the Prince of Peace turned and walked out of the garden. The Great King’s long-ago promise to provide a way back to himself had been fulfilled at last, and a new promise had been set in place. They would wait patiently for the fulfillment of the promise; wait patiently to see their Prince once more.

Well? What did you think? Please comment and let me know!

-Sarah

The Sacrifice Part Eight

Hello, all! I’m back once again, with the next part of The Sacrifice! Unfortunately, because of a miscalculation on my part, it will not be finished today, but next Tuesday. I hope you enjoy part eight!

Part Eight

Bethany was telling Matthias of the encounter on the hill when Abbie burst in, exclaiming “He came back! The Prince is back! He isn’t dead!”

            Bethany sighed. “Abbie, what do you mean?”

            “I saw Him!” Abbie exclaimed. “I did! He told me to tell you that He’ll come see all of us soon!”

            Bethany gasped, remembering the strange words of the man on the hill. He will return . . . can it be?

            Matthias, however, shook his head. “It can’t be. How could the Prince of Peace have come back? I saw him hung.”

            Abbie insisted “I saw Him! I really did.”

            “I believe you, Abbie.” Bethany said. “Someone told me that He wasn’t gone, and you wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

            Matthias shook his head. “She saw someone who looked like Him, that’s all. Don’t encourage her, Bethany.”

            Bethany frowned. “Matthias, if He could bring others back from the dead, why couldn’t He come back Himself? Why couldn’t the Great King bring Him back?”

            Matthias crossed his arms. “Believe what you will, but I won’t believe it until I see Him for myself, and that is my final word on the subject.”

            Bethany sighed. If only you weren’t so stubborn, husband of mine.  

Is Matthias right? Bethany? Has the Prince of Peace really come back, or is this just a trick? There’s only one way to find out: check back soon for the conclusion of The Sacrifice! In the meantime, please comment! I’d love to hear what you think!

-Sarah

The Sacrifice Part Seven

Hello, everyone! Guess what I’ve got! If you guessed a book review, you are wrong, unfortunately. However, if you guessed another part of The Sacrifice, you’re right! I’m trying to finish it fairly quickly since it is, after all, an Easter story. So, without further ado, the next part of The Sacrifice!

Part Seven

Abbie looked up at the looming clouds. It had been dark and overcast ever since the Prince of Peace was hung; and this turned the garden, which was usually a cheerful place, into a dreary land of gloom. Still, it was better than wandering around inside the house with nothing to do. I wish that the Prince was still here. I miss Him.

            Footsteps came from behind Abbie. “Hello, Abbie.” The voice was kind and strong, and oddly familiar.

            Abbie didn’t look to see who it was. She didn’t really care. “Hello.”

            The footsteps came closer. “You seem sad, Abbie. What’s wrong?”

            Abbie sighed. “The Prince is gone. I miss Him.”

            “He is not gone.”

            Abbie frowned and began to turn around. “What do you-?” She saw who the speaker was and her face lit up. “You’re back! How?”

            The Prince of Peace, for it was He, smiled. “With the Great King, anything is possible, Abbie.” She ran to Him, and He hugged her.

            As soon as He released her, Abbie turned. “Mama and Papa will want to see You! Will You come?”

            The Prince of Peace shook His head. “Not yet. I must still greet others before I see them. Go tell them that you have seen Me, and that I will come see them soon.”

            Abbie nodded. “Yes sir!” She hurried away. The Prince is back!   

Is the Prince of Peace really back? Will Bethany and Matthias believe when Abbie tells them? To find out, check back tomorrow for Part Eight of The Sacrifice! In the meantime, please comment! I’d love to hear your thoughts on my writing!

-Sarah