A Book Review of Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

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Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron. Growing up in Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her. While some are born with a talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she chose knowledge. However, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true: she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, she reluctantly accepts. But there is much more to his story, for there is a dangerous plot to overthrow the king of Maevana—the rival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the throne.

With war brewing, Brienna must choose which side she will remain loyal to: passion or blood.

Series: The Queen's Rising (Book 1)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen (February 6, 2018)
Page Count: 464 pages

I actually had the chance to meet the author of this book while going to an event for Victoria Aveyard. I got an autograph for Rebecca Ross for a friend and then she recommended I read her book and I’m so glad I did! And I’m also happy because she’s a local author who’s published a book that isn’t riddled with content with Harper Collins. So inspiring.

Interview with Annette (Silver Hood)!

Me:

It's the first character interview of 2019. Whoo hoo! Thanks, Christine, for the great questions! *turns in Tonight Show desk to face Annette who's sitting on a couch*

Annette:
Hello, everyone. *smiles*

Me:
Ready for questions?

Annette:
I am.

New York/New Jersey 2019 Report

Since all of my good friends are long distance I travel periodically to spend time with them. I haven’t visited any good friends since like November so it was about time for me to see someone. I also really wanted a week to just work on my art. My cousin Anne (Yes, my cousin is one of my best friends) invited me to stay with her New York City for a week and I arranged with some of my birth family to finally meet them in person in New Jersey!

So Your Character is Adopted 2 ...

I did another version of this post before I came up with the classic So Your Character ... format, but I wanted to do a redone version that's a little less rough than that other one but if you feel like looking at that mess there's a link below. In case you didn't know, I'm adopted. Surprise!

Questions for Annette (Silver Hood)!

While I was writing Silver Hood and Black Hood the side character Annette grew into a larger and larger character, so I'd like to expand more on her.

Annette Ruacamas is fifteen and the youngest and newest member of Mor Galbraith and Dina Muir's border patrol squad. She is a skilled sharp-shooter with a rifle and she has known Mor and Dina since they were very young. Though she has admired her older peers' skills and looks up to them, she's very mature for her age and she's a calm head in difficult situations.

Instead of growing up in the Western Red Hood Manor all of her life, she was born in a small village where her father was an apple farmer and her mother a scout to keep the village safe from werewolves. It wasn't until Annette was ten that her family moved to the Red Hood Manor so she could begin her mandatory Red Hood training. Her werewolf mimicking abilities enhance her sharpshooting prowess even further and gained her a higher rank in her school sooner than one normally would. When she graduates she hopes to be assigned to the border nests where she can help prevent werewolf attacks from happening before they set foot over the border.

Leave your questions in the comments or in the form if you'd wish to remain anonymous or if you're having trouble with the comments. Annette will answer them next Friday! Thank you! 

Writing Lessons from Movies: Split

With Glass coming out last month, I finally decided to watch M. Night Shyamalan's superhero flicks Unbreakable and Split (I resisted watching them earlier because I'm still mad at him about ruining The Last Airbender). They're both excellent films with great twists, characters, and writing. I was particularly impressed with Split and not just because of James McAvoy's fantastic acting, but the excellent writing. It's kinda funny a few years ago I was pretty averse to horror, but I've found a certain brand that I enjoy and it's mostly because the writing is just fantastic. I'm just not crazy about horror with demons and excessive gore, but films like Split and A Quiet Place I'm really into.

Split is about a man named Kevin Crumb with Dissociative Identity Disorder and has created twenty-three different personalities. One of his personalities kidnaps three teenage girls and they try to escape before a terrifying twenty-fourth personality emerges.

Warning: Some spoilers but I'm trying to keep them to a minimum, especially the big twists.

A Book Review of the House with the Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

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When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan. comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both magicians! Lewis is thrilled. At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Serenna Izard. It seems that Serenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls--a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the Barnavelts can stop it!

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Puffin Books; Lewis Barnavelt edition (August 3, 2004)
Page Count: 179 pages

I'm one of those people who likes to read the book before seeing the movie and I did that ... after I finally got a hold of the book in December the movie was out of theaters so I saw it at home. XD Oops. Anyway, this is a cute little middle-grade book, which is definitely in a different tone than the film.

How I Got My Agent

Not this kind of agent but ya know. ;)

January 24th, 2019 marked the day I signed with my first literary agent and I’m just so overwhelmed and overjoyed. I’ve wanted to get an agent since I was sixteen and I’ve been actively pitching and submitting for five years. This is the sixth agent I’ve applied for and ironically the first one I’ve queried since I’ve pitched to others in person at conferences. For those who don’t know a literary agent is like a liaison between authors and publishers. They can get you into publishers that an author alone wouldn’t have access to, they help negotiate contracts, and help upkeep the author’s interests as a whole in the publishing process and beyond. This is a relationship that will hopefully last me years into my career.