June 2017 Doings!

Wow. That was a long month. On the upside, that means I've got plenty to say here. On the downside . . . are we sure that was just one month? We are? Ok then. Guess that means I'd better get started on this post, 'cause there's a lot that happened since my last Doings!.

Writing!

• Did I actually beat both my writing and editing goals for June? Yes I did!
• Well, more or less, anyway. I wrote almost two new scenes for Destinies and Decisions, so that counts towards both writing and editing. I'm quite happy with the scenes, but I think I need to cut down one of them, because Ariana's backstory and me trying to create culture kind of took over everything and it's sort of sidetracking the actual point of the scene, which is that someone is getting poisoned.
• And then I got tired of working on Destinies and Decisions (or possibly just didn't want to face the fact that I need to cut down that scene), so I went back to working on Fight Song and edited about two chapters, took a couple weeks off, and edited another two chapters. So now I have about a month's worth of buffer, which means that I should be able to post chapters regularly all through Camp NaNoWriMo. Which is this month. What even.
• I also started compiling worldbuilding information about my different worlds on my phone so I'm not just storing it all in my head and a notebook that I usually forget to take places with me. At the same time, I'm working out how I can connect my major storyworlds into a multiverse, since I've already established that several different stories have multiple worlds and that'll save me some trouble later on because I won't have to keep inventing new worlds when people worldhop; I just have to decide which existing world best suits my needs (and, if necessary, create a new continent in that world because so far, there's exactly two worlds where I have sort of established that there's multiple continents and exactly zero where I've developed those other continents). But that also gives me the opportunity to do cameos and crossovers if I want, which I think could be super fun. Even without those, it's been pretty cool working out how the different worlds relate to each other in terms of magic levels and when they were created and how much people travel to and from them, plus I realized that one of the worlds that's I've only mentioned and haven't actually visited would logically be either pretty sci-fi or pretty dystopian or both and now I'm super excited to write a story set there, if only I had more time.
• Of course, if I spent a little less time on Pinterest and Candy Crush and a little more time editing and writing and stuff, I probably would be able to get a lot more done. But oh well.

Reading!

• Huzzah for another good reading month! All but four of those books I read during my hiatus, which isn't surprising; I almost always get a lot of reading done in the mountains. It's a definite highlight of June.
• The other highlight of the month was reading The Masked City and The Burning Page, which, if you missed my post yesterday, are the sequels to The Invisible Library and are every bit as awesome. I seriously cannot rave enough about this series; it's all kinds of fabulous and unlike some of my other favorites, the books are short enough to read in an afternoon. I would say more, but you're going to hear me rave about them a fair bit when I do my Mid-Year Book Roundup, so . . .
• Going back to the start of the hiatus, I intended to go on a Great Dekker Reread. About five years ago, I counted Dekker as one of my favorite authors, mostly because of the Circle and Paradise trilogies. However, I hadn't read his books in a while, so I decided to reread them and see how they held up. Sadly, it wasn't great. I still enjoyed the Circle trilogy the most, but compared to Sanderson and Stengl and Tolkien, his books feel almost shallow, driven too much by emotion and passion to suit me. (Don't get the wrong idea; there's still some excellent stuff in there, including some unique ideas and a fantasy world that's a nice change from the standard medieval Europe setting. They just aren't as great as I used to think they were.) Saint suffered more; it's supposed to be a thriller, but this time around, I didn't get much of a thrill. The best part of the book was honestly the villain, which is something I don't say very often. As for Showdown and Sinner . . . Well, I DNF'ed Showdown after remembering how annoying most of the characters are and how ew-please-no creepy Marsuvees Black is, and once I did that I didn't bother with Sinner.
• All that said, while I don't love Dekker's books as much as I used to, I'm glad I read them when I did. They shaped who I was then, and just as importantly, they shaped my writing and led to some of my favorite stories I've written. Without the Circle trilogy, I would have no Berstru Tales because Rachelle wouldn't exist. Without Saint, well, Between Two Worlds would probably still exist but it wouldn't be the same story it is today. So, yes, I'm not the fan of these that I once was, but I still owe their author a great deal.
• Aside from invisible libraries and not-so-great rereads, the rest of the month's books were good, but not spectacular. As expected, I quite enjoyed Beggar Magic (steampunk! mystery! fun friendships!), The Lord God Made Them All (an excellent end to the series of biographies, particularly since we get to meet Herriot's kids), and Thief of Time (Discworld weirdness, as usual, but there's Susan and there's time-related powers, so that's awesome). More of a surprise were Dragonwatch (which I didn't expect to like as much as I did), Heidel (which is officially my new favorite of the Nine Princesses novellas), and The Creeping Shadow (which definitely redeemed the angst of the previous book). The only new-book disappointment of the month was Coralina, since it's really hard to enjoy a book when you can't root for the heroine through most of it.
• On a final book-related note: I also listened to an audio drama of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was fun. I was already familiar with the story, having listened to a heavily abridged kids' version of it many times when I was younger, which was a good thing because sometimes the voices were rather difficult to keep straight. I enjoyed the story, and I'm quite pleased to have slightly expanded my Shakespeare experience . . . even if some of the lines I remember best are, quite honestly, Helena and Hermia's fabulous insults for each other in one particular scene.

Watching!

• Has been canceled because I had no time to watch anything in June. I thought about re-watching Avengers: Age of Ultron and found a site where I can watch Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, and Serenity, though. So that's something?

Life!

• The month started out with my yearly hiatus/cabin camping trip. As usual, that was a lot of fun. While I love the internet and technology and wouldn't want to live without it, it's nice to take a break now and then and enjoy nature. We did plenty of hiking (though not as much as we have in some previous years) and shooting, I took lots of pictures (which I still need to edit), we roasted marshmallows, all that fun stuff. I think this was actually one of our better trips; the weather was surprisingly nice, which meant we spent much less time walking in mud and debating whether or not to go out and risk the rain and freezing while Daddy set up to take pictures at some scenic overlook, and much more time enjoying ourselves.
• As usual, on our way back from camping, we stopped at my grandpa's house for a couple days to rest and recuperate and do laundry before making the long drive home. While we were there, we drove into Pittsburgh for an afternoon. We didn't do much there, just walked along Mount Washington and rode the incline and, once again, took lots of pictures. Again, I still need to edit them . . . in my defense, I've been busy, plus my mouse broke a few months ago and I was waiting until they went on sale for back-to-school to get a new one.
• And then we got home! Finally! We were all pretty tired, and we knew we'd be traveling again in about a week, so you'd think we just stayed comfortably at home until that next trip. Right?
• Wrong! Because that Tuesday, look where we went . . .
  
  
• That's right, Niagara Falls! When I was younger, I really wanted to see Niagara Falls, but we were in Virginia and we never made it up there. But in New York, we're close enough to make a day trip out of it . . . in the sense that we were back home within 24 hours of when we left, anyway, not in the sense that we got back home the same day. We did all the usual things: walked around to the different overlooks, went through the Cave of the Winds (which is not actually a cave but which was cool enough to make up for that disappointment, because you're almost right under the falls in some spots), rode the Maid of the Mist (also very cool, and the falls look waaaay bigger from the bottom), took lots of pictures, all on the American side and all before dinner. Then after dinner . . .
  
  
• I went to Canada! Which is mostly just exciting because it was the first time I'd been out of the USA, not because Canada was all that remarkable, at least the bit I saw. It honestly seemed a lot like the USA, just with more French and a different view of the falls. (On that topic: I will admit that Canada has the more scenic view of Niagara Falls, but you can get more exciting pictures on the US side, at least in my opinion.) That said, I'm sure Canada is much more exciting when you're more than a mile from the border. And we did get to see fireworks over the falls while we were there, so that was cool.
• We finally got back at 2:00 the next morning and had a couple days to rest and recuperate before leaving once again, this time for Virginia, on a Top Secret Mission. Actually, it's not especially secret because I think a few of you either know or can guess what we were doing there. But as far as anyone who doesn't know (or is an internet stalker person) is concerned, it was Top Secret. It also lasted just over a week, which was rather longer than we hoped, but that's ok because look what I got:
  
  
• If you can't read the titles: that's four Wheel of Time books, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Howl's Moving Castle (because my copy was falling apart when I got it and I found a really pretty copy of the same version), The Queen of Attolia, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (all four books! hardcover! in really good condition!). Our trip lasted just long enough that I could go to the big library book sale that happens every July, so I ended up spending ten dollars for nine books (or thirteen, depending how you look at it), and it was marvelous. I almost got Dune as well, but decided to wait until I'd actually read the book to buy it, just in case.
• And then we went back to New York for a week of welcome rest and planning for more trips, because let me tell you, July's going to be plenty busy. Speaking of which . . .

July Plans!

• There will be much travel. I can't say more, but we're going to spend a lot of time packing, which I don't look forward to, and a lot of time in the car, which is actually sort of a good thing, because the other major thing that's happening in July is, of course . . .
• Camp NaNoWriMo! I'm working on a Snow White/Goose Girl retelling for the Five Poisoned Apples contest. I think it's going to have an Asian-inspired setting and feel, so that the whole "black as ebony, white as snow, red as blood" thing makes slightly more sense (because paleness equaling beauty was a legitimate thing in ancient China and Japan, and literally the only other way I can think of to justify it is to make Snow White a vampire and I'm not sure how well that'll fly with this contest). I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with that idea, but oh well. Hopefully it'll turn out well; right now I'm second guessing basically everything about this potential novella. (Of course, the decision to procrastinate serious planning on it until two days before Camp NaNo started probably didn't help matters . . .)
• Those two things will probably keep me pretty busy, but if I happen to get bored, I still have plenty of summer reading to catch up on, plus some spring reading that I didn't realize was out. And there are several books I want to reread if I have time . . .
• Also, I really want to go blueberry picking, because there's a farm that does that not too far from my house in NY, and the blueberries are so much better than storebought. Plus you can pick blueberries with minimal bending down or accidentally reaching into spiderwebs or anything like that, and you can eat while you pick. And then you have fresh blueberries at home for ages afterwards. What's not to like?

How was your June? And what are your plans for July? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Fight Song Chapter 3

And we're back, after . . . Oh stars, it's been a month, hasn't it? I'm sorry. I'm possibly a terrible person. Or maybe I'm just a busy one. We're going to go with that and also going to try to post more regularly in future. We'll see how it goes. 

Anyway. Last time, Callie stopped a mugger in his tracks- literally; with her songs, she left him stuck in the floor of a Foundry City subway. This week, Callie gets a bit of downtime and contemplates both her past and her future. As per usual, comments, critiques, suggestions, and questions are welcome in the comments.

Chapter 3: Past and Future

The remains of my adrenaline rush coursed through my veins as I trekked back to my apartment, meandering a bit in case anyone happened to be following. I sipped my coffee as I walked. It had gone lukewarm, and I probably should've tossed it, particularly if I wanted to get to bed early, but I couldn't stand the thought of wasting good Starbucks.

At least the evening had been a productive one. I knew who I was looking for, and would hopefully get more information on him soon. And my encounter with the mugger proved that all my practice had paid off. I could control the effects of the songs, not just as a party trick, but effectively. Next time Welsh and I met, I'd be able to defend myself and, if necessary, his intended victim.

All the same, the encounter left me-- well, not drained like the first few times I ran into this kind of thing, but off-balance. The mugger's insults stuck in my head even when I finally turned down the street to my apartment. "Think you all that just because your mother sold herself to some mad scientist?"I knew it wasn't unheard-of on the streets, a pregnant woman or new mother with no home or money letting a crackpot scientist more interested in what he can do than what's right experiment on her child in return for enough cash to pay rent and buy food for a few months, even a few years. Usually the experiments were unsuccessful. Those that weren't, well, the kids probably would've been better off if they had failed.

I reached my apartment building and started up the steps. Just because that happens to some people doesn’t mean it happens to everyone. The mugger had just been plain wrong about that. Dad was a scientist, yeah, but a legitimate one, working for the government on some kind of space-y thing that had nothing to do with supers. And sure, there had been that one time when I’d been visiting and something weird happened— I’d been too young to understand what— and everyone freaked out, but my powers hadn’t showed up until years later. Dad had nothing to do with it.

Of course, that didn’t mean I didn’t get tired of people assuming he did.

I dug my key out of my pocket and opened my apartment door​. No one greeted me, naturally. Uhjin, my roommate, would be out celebrating until tomorrow morning. I'd learned that well in our two years of friendship: if there was a social event, or an excuse for a social event, Uhjin would be the first there and the last to leave.

I, on the other hand, still wanted to fall into bed early. But I had things to do first, and my coffee had kicked in at full power. So instead I fetched my ancient laptop from my room, scrubbed off the heavy makeup I wore to keep from being easily recognizable, and settled on our worn couch. Opening my email, I skimmed the list of unread messages. Nothing important, so I typed a quick note to Jonathan: Sorry about tonight, but thanks for the info. Can we meet again tomorrow? Same time, same place? By then, I'd be off work at both my music and craft store jobs, since I changed my hours now that class was over. And I should have time to eat and hopefully practice too before I head out.

Next I checked the news. Nothing much there was especially interesting either. I scanned headlines and clicked a few articles: one about refugees from the Middle East, one about Starlight and another superhero, Swordsman, chasing off a not-so-Big Bad who very briefly tried to establish his rule over Foundry City, and one editorial wondering just how many unknown supers are out there, living ordinary lives and trying to keep out of the public eye. The author reached the conclusion that there could be that many, that anyone with powers was guaranteed to take action as either hero or villain eventually. I laughed at that, yet I had to admit: she might not be wrong.

After all, look at what happened tonight. And this was hardly the first time. Freshman year, these kinds of incidents had been rare. I'd spent most of my time on-campus, and though I'd tried to search for​ information on Welsh, I really hadn't known where or how to look. This past semester, on the other hand . . . Well, Uhjin and I had moved to a cheap apartment because it cost less than dorm housing, but as my search started to bear fruit, I spent more and more time out and about. It was easy to stay out late when no one but Uhjin asked where I'd been, and half the time, she was out later than I was. And the longer I stayed out, the more I saw or heard trouble and found myself getting involved. At several points, I found myself actively seeking it out. I felt I could make a difference that way.

But I knew it couldn't last, not like this. I wasn't a real superhero. Not like Starlight or Storm in real life or Black Widow or Wonder Woman in the movies. Eventually, someone would see me and recognize me, and I'd have to go into hiding or something in order to have a halfway normal life. Or else I'd cross the wrong person and have someone hunting me while I hunted Welsh. Or I'd mess up and get myself hurt or killed. There were so many things that could go wrong, and I knew something had to change.

I just didn't know what.

Summer 2017 Reads

Hey'a, everyone! Summer is officially here (even though it feels like it's been here for a while), and with the new season comes a new books! Even though I'm still catching up on the spring releases, I'm pretty excited about some of the novels coming out in the next few months. And, as usual, I'm using today to showcase some of the ones I'm looking forward to the most.

Before I get started on that, though, a quick note: I plan to do Camp NaNoWriMo this July despite the fact that I'm probably going to be running all over the place throughout most of that month. If anyone is interested in being in a cabin with me, please tell me in the comments!

And with that, this summer's releases!

Summer 2017 Reads

1. The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson (June 1)

Ok, this one's technically already out? Which I didn't realize until just now. But June releases count as summer and I am definitely looking forward to this book. It sounds like it might be urban fantasy, which I really want to read more of, but I think it also has a touch of portal fantasy? And I'm generally super curious to find out what it actually is. Also, I don't judge books by their covers, but that cover is gorgeous.

2. Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser (June 6)

So this one is also already out, but in all fairness, I didn't even find the book until recently. It does sound pretty unique, though! Pirates and politics and ship-board fantasy- all things I've read a little bit of (or a lotta bit of), but generally not all together. I look forward to seeing what this holds.

3. Exiles by Jaye L. Knight (July 14)

Prince Daniel! We get to see more of Prince Daniel! I can't wait! Hopefully that'll mean twisty court intrigue as he tries to avoid his sister's attempts to discredit him, but even if it doesn't, I really like Daniel, I was quite disappointed that he didn't show up that much in the last two books, and I can't wait to see more of him here. It sounds like he gets his own subplot, basically, so yay! Of course, I want to see what the rest of my favorite characters are up to as well, especially Jace and the Altair boys. Well, Altair men; Marcus, Liam, and Kaden aren't really boys at this point. And maybe this'll be the time that I buy the book when it actually comes out instead of getting it half a year later . . .

4. The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell (July 18)

So this has urban fantasy and historical fantasy and time travel and heistiness and secret societies and if not for the fact that it also sounds like it'll be kind of dark, I'd say it was another of those books that could've been written just for me. Dark or not, it sounds awesome, and we've got magic in modern New York and in early 1900's New York and a heroine who can manipulate time and travel in time and just give me the book now please.

5. The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana (July 18)

 So the reviews for this book on Goodreads are not exactly fabulous. However, the premise is pretty cool. It's got an Indian-ish setting, which is definitely different and something I'd love to see done well, and a magical library, which is always a good thing. Apparently one of the characters, Thala, is also especially cool? We'll just have to wait and see how this goes.

6. Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody (July 25)

Again, this sounds like it'll probably be pretty dark. I mean, anywhere called the "Gomorrah Festival" can't possibly just be sunshine and daisies, you know? But it's also a fantasy murder mystery set in a circus-city and it sounds absolutely fascinating. I am always down for a good fantasy mystery. Let's just hope it doesn't get so edgy that I have to set the book down . . .

 I'm mildly confused by the fact that there are apparently no books coming out in August that I'm looking forward to? I mean, yes, there's enough coming out in the previous three months to keep me busy, but still, usually August has something. Do you know of anything I missed, in August or another month? If so, please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Three Sleeping Beauties Cover Reveal

Hey'a, everyone! So, my hiatus ended up lasting a little longer than anticipated, due to unexpected traveling (among other things). But I'm back now with another cover reveal for not just one but three fairy tale retellings! These retellings by Kendra E. Ardnek, Morgan Huneke, and Rachel Roden focuses on the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" and take three very different twists on the story.

First up, we have Kendra's story, Poison Kiss, which is the one I'm most excited for. Not only does it feature a very different look at the classic tale, but it also combines the story with "Puss in Boots," and let me tell you, I absolutely love a good mash-up retelling.

About the Book

Everyone knows that Sleeping Beauty's curse is triggered when she pricks her finger on a spindle and that she is awakened by true love's kiss ... but what happens when the wicked fairy decides to switch things up?

Edmund didn't mean to put Auralea to sleep, but now it's up to him and the famous Puss in Boots to figure out how, exactly, a spinning wheel is supposed to awaken her.

About the Author

Kendra E. Ardnek is a homeschool graduate who picked up a pen at an early age and never put it down. The eldest of four, she makes her home in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her parents, younger siblings, giant herd of giraffes, and honor guard of nutcrackers. 

What do you hope readers will love best about your story? 

The plot. I never write a straightforward story, and this book is no exception. I keep the story twisting all the way through.  

Find Poison Kiss on: Goodreads || Amazon 

  

Find the author on: Website || Blog || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || Pinterest

As a note, Kendra previously wrote a "Sleeping Beauty" retelling: the first in the Bookania Chronicles, a humorous and surprisingly twisty series of fairytale mashups. She just finished rewriting that book, entitled Sew, It's a Quest, and the story is currently up for free on Smashwords. Eventually she plans to make it free on Amazon as well, if anyone is interested.

Our second story, Twisted Dreams, is by Morgan Huneke. I haven't read any of Morgan's previous works, though I have a few of them on my Kindle. However, this take on Sleeping Beauty sounds pretty fascinating, featuring alternate worlds and the promise of drama.

 

About the Book

“I, Calandra, of the Wingans, do bestow upon you, the Princess of Hanover, a gift. You have been given long life. I cannot interfere with that, but when you are sixteen years of age, you will prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into an everlasting sleep.” She stepped closer so that she could be heard only by Liesel and her parents. “Then you will at last see the truth. Be wary. Be wise. Your fate rests upon yourself.”

On her sixteenth birthday, Princess Liesel Rosanna falls victim to a sleeping curse—but wakens in another world, a prisoner of war. As the bait in a trap for her fiancé, the crown prince of Hanover, Liesel longs to escape back to the fairy tale world. The world where she is only wanting a true love’s kiss to set everything to rights.

As situations quickly grow dire, Liesel must choose which story to live, which life is real. The fate of her country rests on her decision.

About the Author

Morgan Elizabeth Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Books have always been a big part of her life, never more so than when working at the local library. Her other interests include reading, playing and teaching piano and violin, and politics. She is the author of Across the Stars and The Experiment as well as the Time Captives fantasy trilogy.

What do you hope readers love best about your story?

Probably the characters. No story is really worth reading without great characters, no message really means anything without them. I hope readers will come to love Liesel, Will, and Matthew, that they will find inspiration and characters they can relate to in these three…though considering what I have planned for their futures…  

Find Twisted Dreams on: Goodreads || Amazon

 

Find the author on: Website || Blog || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || Pinterest

Our third and final retelling, Rosette Thornbriar, is the debut of Rachel Roden (who happens to be Kendra's mum). I'm not sure if this is fantasy or not, but it is western, and it sounds fantastic either way. 

 

About the Book

Once upon a time, way out west...

Back when they were young'uns, Fleur Guardstone proposed to Rosette Thornbriar with a cigar band ring. However, not long after, she disappeared back into the forest and hadn't been heard from since. However, when Fleur hears reports of smoke coming from that woods, he's determined to find out if it is, indeed, his dear Rosette. If he can get past all of the briars.

About the Author

Rachel Roden is a natural story teller, capable of weaving the most hilarious of fairy tales. She fell in love with the Lone Ranger in her teens, but ended up with a basketball referee instead. Together, she and the Ref homeschool their four children in the Piney Woods of East Texas, as well as any other odd kid who ends up in their house. She might also be the sole human who still uses math after college.

What do you hope readers will love best about your story?

I really have not thought much about it. I hope readers love my story, of course. But since it is a fairly short story, it is hard to say what they might love best. It is a light-hearted western full of humor but tries to tell the story without the element of magic. I hope they like the "fun" that I put in. 

 

Find Rosette Thornbriar on: Goodreads || Amazon

Find the author on: Blog || Twitter || Pinterest

All three novels release on August 7th. For more details, keep an eye on Kendra's blog, Knitted by God's Plan.

Which of these stories are you most excited for? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)