New starts.

Well the kids survived their first day of school. They seem to like the new place. I miss them being around all day, but at the same time this is my chance to get back on a good schedule. 

Writing for me is best done with some sort of structure. If my life feels chaotic my writing time suffers. Even when I have free time to write my brain feels too scrambled to do so. 

So that is one thing I will enjoy about this new school year. I have a lot of plans before next summer and I really am ready to jump back into it. It is time to break out the laptop and some lemonade and jump on the porch for some amazing writing sessions. I can't wait to share it all with you guys.

Anyway off to be with the family for a bit. Hope everyone is well. As always, have fun and keep writing. 

Depression and loss.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post about this or not. This death, like it did many others, affected me greatly. This is someone who brought joy and comfort to the world and left it, presumably, quite sad. 

Depression is something I myself have struggled with and my mother before me. It is a deep hole you can find yourself down and climbing up can feel like an impossibility.

Good friends, family and some ability to vent your feelings seem to be the only ways to fight it. The only problem is if we don't reach out then we can't be helped.

Suicide is never the option. If anyone out there is going through something and thinks there is no one to listen my email is always open. If not me there is family, or friends, if not them then there are numbers and websites that offer help. Just don't give up. 

Life is a gift, sometimes it is hard to see that, but trust me on this, every single day is a chance for a new start. Find your happiness and hope. 

Love you all and I hope you are well. 

IWSG 8/6/14

Hey if anyone is interested in joining up to this awesome group click HERE. 

So, today is my return to blogging. Today is also my birthday. 32. Just over three decades spent on this spinning ball. Long enough to learn that the statement "The only constant is change" is quite accurate. In my 32 years I would wager I have moved maybe 15-16 times. I have become quite the pro at it in fact. I can have a house packed and moved in days. 

Well that theory was tested as I just recently had to move again. I won't go into the details, but let's just say the environment had become toxic. So we moved and on very short notice. When these changes happen in our lives we tend to take stock, so to speak. So over the last week and a half I have been reflecting.

The questions hit. Am I where I should be? Do I have the strength to get to where I want to be? Is my skill enough to get me there? Those type of question haunt us all I believe. In fact, how we answer them often define us. 

The place where we moved has some land, 5 acres. Some of that is woods, but there is still a hefty amount of yard work to be done. My son is 10, he has mostly been an inside kid. Playing video games or reading and occasionally going outside to play. I figured it is a good time to change that here so yesterday morning I woke him up and made him go outside to help with the yard.

Handing him the rake I instantly got a flashback of a younger me. I grew up for part of my life on a dairy farm. Coming from the city I was clueless. Luckily a great uncle of mine took me under his wing. I learned so much from him and have benefited from his lessons to this day. I have a step-father now that reminds me of him and I am learning all I can from him as well. 

Some of you may be thinking, "Interesting tale my friend, but how does this apply to a writing group?" Great question. The answer is, there are many stages in our craft. Like in life. You have to start as the one holding the rake, but given time you will be the one who can teach others what to do with it. 

Wherever you are in your writing is where you should be for this moment. It is through being open to learn and striving to continue and grow that we can become a master at this craft or any other. If you are having doubts at this moment just remember we all do and it is by pushing through them we become great. 

Anyways it is good to be back, hope you have all been well. As always have fun and keep writing. OH and as a p.s., don't fear change sometimes it brings you a pool and a rainbow. 

I have returned...um...Wednesday.

Okay so I am back, but I figured I would really really really come back for this Wednesday's IWSG. 

I have missed you all and can't wait to have my blogger family back. See you all soon. 

Not back yet, but...

I am still taking some time, but light is on the horizon. I wanted to post this because I thought it was funny. 

Hope to see you all very soon. 

I'm not back yet, but look.

Hey guys just wanted to stop by and throw a link out for people to check out this awesome cover for Woven.

Go here and check it out. Leave a comment too if you want to. 

Hope all are well and I will see you soon. 

The inevitable.

So I really didn't want to make this blog. I did my best to avoid it. I really liked the Monday/Friday blog schedule and thought I might make it through this. Unfortunately due to things going on in my home life, I am going to need to take a blogging break. 

I really appreciate all who have stopped by the past two months. Even if you didn't comment just seeing views made me happy through a rough time. I am really hopping to be back in action later this month and I will be able to get around to all of your amazing blogs. I do not take any of you lightly and I just hate posting then not being able to get around. 

Anyway, hope all is well your way. As always have fun and keep writing. 

Writing Song

Sigh...

The Magnificent Maleficent.

I had a lot of expectations going into this movie. I have said before out of all the villains in the Disney movies, Maleficent was my favorite. I had a little check list that I went into the theater carrying like a wooden block on my back. So many movies have not been what they could. 

I am so happy to say that as the movie progressed I was able to check off these marks happily. The look was amazing and the movie flows like a dream, maybe once upon a dream even...sorry. Anyway, the acting was spot on. Jolie brings this character to life. Even the supporting roles did justice to the story.

I had one minor complaint and it was pretty small in the overall picture, it is also somewhat a spoiler so I will leave it off here. 

If you like fantasy in general and/or are a fan of fairy tales that don't make you roll your eyes go check out MALEFICENT.  

Happy Father's Day!!!

Just wanted to stop in and say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! I hope you are all enjoying it with your families. Or remembering someone great.

I myself am going to go have some fun with the kiddos. I will have a blog up tomorrow and one Friday...I am so trying to stick to that, lol. 

Reborn Interview!!!

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this book and truly enjoyed the read. It was a fun ride in a great fantasy world. I now get a chance to ask the author a few questions about the book and her process in writing it. 


BAX - Where did the original idea for the story come from?

CR - Back in the early 2000s, I created a character for a Harry Potter online roleplaying game who had the gift of prophecy. Her birth story and how she obtained her gift is what spring-boarded the idea for Yssa. Although the characters’ stories and personalities diverged from each other, I wouldn’t have Yssa’s beginning without roleplaying.

BAX - It is no secret I am a huge Potter fan. That's really cool you could pull from that after all those years. What was it like trying to work with the visions Yssa had throughout the book?

CR -   The first draft and the revised draft didn’t have very many visions except the most important ones. During edits, I found places to add more prophecies. The hardest part about the visions was trying to show how Yssa gains control over them—more visions in the beginning and less as the story goes on—as well as deciding how to showcase the premonitions. I eventually wanted an immediacy to the visions, so that’s why I have them in present tense and italics to set them apart from the past tense story.

BAX - Well it turned out and made for a great tool in telling the story. I really enjoyed Yssa's character, what brought her to life? 

CR - The Harry Potter character I created may have brought her origin story to the forefront, but the revision draft brought Yssa to live. I had her story down, but she felt a little flat in the first draft, which I wrote in third person. When I changed her story to first person narrative, it was like she came to life, since I was more focused on her than what was happening as I was in the first draft.

BAX - Revisions have a way of doing that. I guess that is why the best authors are all great at revising. What would you say was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?

CR - The most challenging aspect of this book was the editing. Although I’d edited shorter works, a novel is so much different. I had to add things, change things, keep so much straight. It was definitely challenging.

BAX - It is truly a lot of work. What would you say was your favorite?

CR - I love world-building. Each draft, each edit, I learned more about Yssa’s world. It never ceased to surprise me.

BAX - I'm right there with you on that. I can get lost in it. How long do you plan on continuing with these characters? 

CR - Yssa’s story/timeline will continue through three more stories: a novella titled Remarked written from Liam’s point of view; book two Reforged, which is the continuation of Yssa’s story; and book three Redestined, which is the conclusion to her story.

BAX - It is good to know I won't have to say goodbye anytime soon. Before we go. There are so many dynamic themes in the book. If you could sum it up for a reader who was interested, what would you say?

CR - Hard question. *laughs* I would say it is a coming of age story questioning free will and Fate and pushing the boundaries of life and death.

BAX - Well that was a great answer. If anyone is interested to learn more of Cherie or of Reborn, I have some info below.

To save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate.

On the day of Yssa’s death and rebirth, the god Apenth chose her as the Phoenix Prophetess.

Sea serpents and gods endanger the young prophetess’s journey and sour the omens. Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. She spends her days reading dusty scrolls, which does nothing to help her forget Tym, the boy back home. But the annoying yet gorgeous ferryman’s son Liam proves to be a distraction she can’t predict, even though he rarely leaves her alone for two sand grains.

Her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom.

Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight to change Fate.

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Cherie Reich
Speculative Fiction Writer and Library Assistant

The magic's within the pages ... become surrounded by books!

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