Monthly Summary: March 2019

March has been crazy busy! Between my jobs changing, prepping for Iceland, and working on Red Hood it's been a whirlwind!

Interview with Aska (Silver Hood) Canceled

I didn't get any questions for Aska so the interview is canceled. If you're interested in asking her questions you can here and perhaps I can do a dual interview in my next character interview post. Thanks!

On Putting a Cap on Your Creativity

I've loved getting obsessed with my story ideas. It's productive and inspiring to be in love with your story, but a couple years ago this creative rush stopped happening to me and it was entirely my own doing. After that long period of creative suppression, I'm finally getting back into that creative flow again. Here's what happened:

Questions for Aska (Silver Hood)!

Hey, all! I need some more interview questions and these are for Aska from Silver Hood! She’s another one of those characters who seems like they’ll play a small part then it gets bigger. Here’s a bit about her (while trying to dance around spoilers.)

Aska is a twenty-year-old halfura, which is a half Isamaour half human. She, along with her younger sister Maeja, was adopted by Lord Nzelt when they were young children, Aska ten and Maeja eight. The two of them have trained under him to learn more about their matter manipulating abilities for the cost of them doing a few “simple tasks” for him.

This young woman grew up with several other halfura whom she treated as siblings, Einer and Benedikt being two of them, and has become highly educated and skilled in her magic, having a strong prowess for turning stone into deadly weapons. She’s used these abilities to go on elite missions with Einer for Nzelt. Because of Lord Nzelt’s position he has to travel from place to place across the country so Aska is constantly on the move along with him but she enjoys skiing on the beautiful slopes of the mountains nearby many of Nzelt’s mansions. A relaxing day for her would be hours on the slopes, soaking in the hot springs, and ending the day with a dinner of Arctic char and rye bread and a dessert of akutaq, an ice cream made with reindeer fat, seal oil, snow, and berries.

However, the method by which Nzelt separated Aska and her sister from her parents has left a stain on her heart and she seeks revenge but Nzelt has woven his web tightly around them, preventing them from leaving. But when a new halfura named Claes arrives on the scene she finally has the hope of escape again.

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. Aska will answer them next Friday! Thank you! 

Writing Lessons from Video Games: Final Fantasy XV

I've been wanting to get into the Final Fantasy games since I watched the gameplay for Kingdom Hearts several years ago. I started Final Fantasy X, but I've yet to finish it (STUPID GUARDIAN BOSS), so Final Fantasy XV became my first Final Fantasy game to ever finish and man, it was absolutely beautiful. Music is gorgeous. Graphics are out of this world. There are so many sequences that just blow the epic meter. And the story is just fantastic. So I had to write a post all about it.

Final Fantasy XV follows the journey of Prince Noctis as he and his three close friends travel across the continent to find the Royal Arms and acquire the power of the gods to stop the land from being plunged into darkness forever.

Warning: Big Spoilers in Point 2, 3, and 4. The rest are spoiler free.

A Book Review of War Storm by Victoria Aveyard

Buy from Amazon!

Mare Barrow learned this all too well when Cal’s betrayal nearly destroyed her. Now determined to protect her heart—and secure freedom for Reds and newbloods like her—Mare resolves to overthrow the kingdom of Norta once and for all . . . starting with the crown on Maven’s head.

But no battle is won alone, and before the Reds may rise as one, Mare must side with the boy who broke her heart in order to defeat the boy who almost broke her. Cal’s powerful Silver allies, alongside Mare and the Scarlet Guard, prove a formidable force. But Maven is driven by an obsession so deep, he will stop at nothing to have Mare as his own again, even if it means demolish everything—and everyone—in his path.

War is coming, and all Mare has fought for hangs in the balance. Will victory be enough to topple the Silver kingdoms? Or will the little lightning girl be forever silenced?

In the epic conclusion to Victoria Aveyard’s stunning series, Mare must embrace her fate and summon all her power . . . for all will be tested, but not all will survive.

Series: Red Queen (Book 4)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen; First Edition edition (May 15, 2018)
Page Count: 672 pages

After the Allegiant incident I’ve been a little wary about YA series endings. Though The Lunar Chronicles helped regain my trust, I was still a little nervous about Red Queen’s finale especially after while at a signing for the author she mentioned some people may not like the ending. Thankfully my trust in the series wasn’t misplaced.

Language of Worlds - Belated January/February Edition

I’m once again late for this tag but better late than ever! I’m going to focus on Mor this time because she is the main character of Red Hood and she hasn’t had a post about her in a while and she is the MC that got me an agent, so she deserves the spotlight a bit. *pats her head* I’m also going to do Mor in the timeline of the first book cause spoilers in the other ones.

So Your Character is Cyberschooled ... Featuring Maggie Shive

I'm homeschooled and I actually hadn't heard of cyberschooling, but this sounds like a really interesting way of getting education (also it makes me think of Cyberchase which is never a bad thing).

Monthly Summary: February 2019

February was a mix of stress and fun between work, drama, and NYC, but I overall consider it a great month!