Monthly Summary: February 2017

February provided a much needed break for me. I've been so stressed about finances of late that I feel like I've been going crazy. Having two weeks where I didn't have to worry about bills was a much-needed hiatus.

Writing Accents with Milo Thatch

Accents are essential for worldbuilding, can make a very defining trait for characters, and are just part of making your book more realistic. I have been fascinated with accents since I was a child and I've been imitating them for years to the amusement of even some of the native speakers. But accents are also tricky to write. You don't want to butcher an accent and disrespect the speaker or sound inauthentic, or sometimes you want to write an accent and you just have no idea how to start. Let's first define what exactly is an accent. It's such a broad term. I've brought in my friend Cassidy Clayton who is majoring in linguistics at University of Rochester to define that for us:

Canada 2017 Update

Monday I returned from my second trip to Alberta, Canada! I went last year, partially for book research so I can experience subzero temperatures, but it was hot. -_- Thus this year I've gone for round two and I got to experience subzero temperatures and more. So much great book research!

A Book Review of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Buy on Amazon!

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.


Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction―if they don't kill each other first.

So Your Character is From Finland ... Featuring Leona @ Leona's Blog of Shadows

It's time for this month's So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's So Your Character is From the Netherlands ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

I honestly didn't know too much about Finland before this post. I knew it was in Scandinavia, very cold, and there's reindeer. That's one of the many reasons why I was so happy that Leona agreed to be interviewed. Let's welcome Leona!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Let's Talk About the Punks: Four Ages of Technology

You may or may not have heard about the punk genres. These are subgenres of science-fiction that have developed over the years. What I've noticed that they have in common is the level of technology a storyworld has. Technology is essential to think about when you're developing your storyworld. How advanced or primitive effects method of travel, medicine, weaponry, and more. Now these aren't the only ages of your technology your storyworld can have, but here are four established technology genres out there to give you food for thought.

Beautiful People ~ Couples Edition: Caleb & Pro

Happy Valentine's Day! It's time for this month's Beautiful People! Yay! This is a link-up hosted by Paperfury and Further Up and Further In where you answer questions about your characters. I participated in Beautiful People  for the last three years every month. Pretty crazy. XD This link-up has been just so helpful with character development. 

Caleb and Pro's relationship doesn't blossom until the third book of their four book series Subsapien, but it's about time that I start delving into them as a couple. Thus I've chosen them for this year's Couples Edition! If you'd like to participate in this link-up yourself, check out either Paperfury or Further Up and Further In to see how. Here we go!

Writing Lessons from Movies: Doctor Strange

Before the trailers released, most people I knew had never heard of Doctor Strange. The only reason I knew about him was from the Facebook game Marvel's Avenger's Alliance. I absorbed a lot of my Marvel knowledge from there. With Benedict Cumberbatch starring as the one and only Stephen Strange, I knew I had to see the film. I loved it (Full Movie Review). It is own of my favorite movies of 2016 for so many reasons, five of which I'm going to share here in this post. 

For those of you who haven't seen the film, Doctor Strange is about a brilliant surgeon named Doctor Stephen Strange. After suffering a devastating accident, his hands have permanent tremors preventing him from ever practicing. He spends all of his fortune on trying to fix them, but to no avail. As a last resort, he travels to a healer in Nepal who turns out to be part of an order of wizards. Magic seems to be the only way Strange's hands can heal, but he must fight his inner demons if he ever wishes to accomplish that.

Without further ado, let's get to the post!

Warning: Some spoilers.

Freestyle Writing Challenge

Last year Sara Letourneau tagged me for this and now I've finally gotten to it. It sounds like an interesting tag. Normally, I don't care for prompts (I don't like being told what to write), but here is what I've come with. But first ...

A Book Review of The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Buy from Amazon!

In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one…except the "thing" inside her

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch.

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets, against the wishes of his band of misfits. And Finley thinks she might finally be a part of something, finally fit in—until a criminal mastermind known as the Machinist threatens to tear the group apart….

How Movie Trailers Can Help You Write Back Cover Copies

Have you ever read a back cover copy (also known as a blurb) and thought that's not like how the book is at all, that spoils most of the book, or the copy really tells me nothing about the plot? I bet you've thought that about movie trailers, too.

So Your Character is Blind ... Featuring Cheyenne @ Cheyenne Raphael Writes + Jina @ Authors Inspirations

Blind characters are pretty prominent in fiction. Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Iggy from Maximum Ride, and Chirrut from Rogue One are just a few of the many. I haven't known many blind people in real life. I did have the experience of having a tour of a blind school, but that's the majority of my knowledge. I was very happy to stumble upon Cheyenne's blog, and she graciously agreed to be interviewed on what it is like to be blind.

Please welcome Cheyenne and Jina!


(Images aren't mine)