Prompt 31

 May 31st 

Today, it has been ten years since I graduated from high school and a lot has changed since that day. I got the idea for today's prompt from a project that my English teacher had us do in our senior year. We were meant to write a letter to ourselves a couple years in the future. This time around I wanted to write a letter to my eighteen-year-old self. There is quite a lot that I'd like to tell myself at that age. Makes me think of the song "Letter to Me" by Brad Paisley.

Dear Carrie, 

    Today, you graduated from high school, and I remember that day just like it was yesterday. You're sitting there worried about what's going to happen with your friends. What you're going to do over the summer and also about the new school year coming sooner than you will believe. It's going to all go okay. 

    You're going to make a ton of mistakes in the next couple of years. Some of them that I wish that we never made and others that actually turned out okay. There are going to be a couple of guys that are going to break your heart. And guess what, it was still worth it. 

    Life's speeding on past us now and I have got to say, I'm quite proud of what we have accomplished in the last ten years. You graduated from Bloomsburg University with two degrees in December 2016. Yes, you did major in Creative Writing also. In 2017, you finished your first draft of your novel, the first in a four-part series. Then you spent the next couple of years editing it. But man, you should be proud of that accomplishment. We've started many different projects since then and are almost finished with another novel. 

    You spent a good portion of the last ten years working with children. Not in the way we were expecting, but I believe some of it was much more fulfilling than anything we ever dreamed of. I know that I would never change a minute of it. I don't know where the next ten years are going to lead us now, but I look forward to finding out. 

    I hope to be able to tell you in another five years, that we're published but for now, we'll keep the faith, kid (as Dad always has said). 

    Carrie, never take the little moments for granted. Those moments that don't feel as special at the time but eventually, you'll remember them fondly. Let yourself love and be loved no matter how fleeting that all becomes. I don't regret those days in the slightest, even though I know you will for a time. Enjoy the time you have with your friends and try not to be so self-conscience about it all. They'll love you no matter what. Write and read as much as you can. Dance, Laugh, Sing, Scream, and enjoy your time for the next ten years. Some days will be hard but there will be days that make it all worth it in the end.  

P.S. Carrie, go hug Grandma for me. 

Reviews Week 21

 Reviews Week 21

May 23rd- 29th

Book 57: Jim Henson's Storyteller: Witches

by S.M. Vidaurri, Kyla Vanderklugt, Matthew Dow Smith, Jeff Stokely

Read May 13th-25th

📚📚📚

"The Magic Swan Goose & the Lord of the Forest"- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed the plot of this story and also the style of the illustrations. It was so beautiful to look at. It was my favorite out of the collection.

"The Snow Witch"- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was quite an interesting story, with a pretty good illustration style. A good fairy tale that I did like quite a bit.

"The Phantom Isle"- ⭐⭐

I didn't like this story or the illustration style. It was just okay.

"Vasilissa the Beautiful" - ⭐⭐⭐

This was definitely the most beautiful of the stories and the story was pretty good. This is the only one out of the collection that I had known the story before. Well, at least a version of the story.

Book 58: Jim Henson's Storyteller: Dragons

by Daniel Bayliss

Read May 25th

📚📚📚

"Song of the Serpent"- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story was great! It was the most beautiful of this collection and the story was my favorite. I enjoyed the story of the father and the son. The sacrifice that the father makes for his son was beautiful and touching. I love the Storyteller's little intrudes throughout this tale, especially with his dog. 

"The Worm of Lambton" - ⭐⭐

I didn't really enjoy this story too much. Though I did like that they made illustrations throughout that looked like an old Medieval tapestry. That was a neat little addition. 

"Albina" - ⭐⭐⭐

An okay story with stunning illustrations. 

"Samurai's Sacrifice"- ⭐⭐

Another okay story with pretty good illustrations. This had much more of a traditional dragon in the story than the rest of them did. 

Book 59: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Primary Phase

by Douglas Adams

Read May 25th

📚📚📚📚📚

Over the last ten years, I have read or listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a lot. It has always been one of my absolute favorite books and this time around, I decided to listen to the original radio drama that the book was based on. This was such an enjoyable experience that brought so much more to the story. It was great having the different narrators for each of the roles, all of them embodying the characters perfectly. Also, the great sound effects brought even more to this production. I will definitely be continuing with the radio show whenever I get the opportunity. 

I highly recommend listening to this to the fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and also for those who love great humor. 

Book 60: The Eyre Affair 

by Jasper Fforde 

Read May 23rd- 28th

📚📚📚📚

I first want to start out this review by saying that I almost put this book down and I'm so glad that I didn't. This was a book that I have wanted to read for years because it sounded right up my alley. An adult version of Inkheart or a book like that. I will forever be drawn to books where there are book-loving characters that are able to enter a story. It's many a dream of us booklovers. 

I will also say that I am not a person that usually reads a mystery. I love mysterious elements in fantasy a lot but I'm not someone who picks up a book that is in the mystery genre. Well, at least not too often anyway. I love mystery television and movies though, which I watch a lot with my dad. This book had a great mixture of the fantastical/science fiction elements along with the overall mystery. We get famous literary characters, writers, book conspiracies, time travel, and so much more in this gem of a book. 

 The beginning of this book was not drawing me in, and I will say right now that it would have been a two-star read for me. That was until about halfway into the book. Then, this book got so damn good. I was hooked in and could not get enough of it at that point. I won't spoil what happens, but I loved it and I hope that the rest of the series is like that because I will love it if it is.

I especially am hoping that the end is hinting at the plot of the next book. With the literary work that is discussed. That would be awesome. This book will not be for everyone, but I am so glad that I continued on with it. I found a new series that I plan on reading throughout the rest of this year. 

Book 61: Monstrous Regiment

by Terry Pratchett

Read May 22nd-29th

📚📚📚

This was a pretty good book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as most of Terry's other books. It had some good discussions on gender roles, that are still prevalent today. I did enjoy the fact that we followed characters from a different section of the Discworld and just to see their opinions on war and other more important issues. 

“This was not a fairy-tale castle and there was no such thing as a fairy-tale ending, but sometimes you could threaten to kick the handsome prince in the ham-and-eggs.”

There is a major focus on women working in roles that are usually men-led, at least in this part of the Discworld. We see Polly join the army, pretending to be a male. Very similar to the way Mulan joins in her movie, but this story goes in a direction that I was not quite expecting at all when I started. Which I should have figured from Terry. I won't spoil that part of the plot but it was quite enjoyable as you learn more and more about the soldiers that are part of Polly's regiment. 

“The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.”

A story about a group of misfits that are just trying to escape the life they were living or find someone that they are missing. We get a vampire, an Igor, a troll, a religious fanatic, and so many others. Along with familiar faces such as Sam Vimes and Angua. Over the course of the book, they helped change the war and also form a tight-knit group you can't help but grow attached to. 

Prompt 30

May 30th

Current Projects/ Future Projects/ Writing Hopes

For today's writing prompt, I decided to talk about some of the projects that I am working on, future ideas for projects, and any writing hopes that I have for myself. 

Current Projects

    1. Marching On (The Chronicles of Grimmless Book 2)- By the end of July, my major writing goal is to have the first full draft done of the second book in my Grimmless series. I plan on writing as much for it as I can in my free time and seeing where I get with it. At the moment, I'm over 88,000 words in, and I'm getting to the end. The one thing I have in my favor is that I have been editing and revising it as I have been writing. So, it is in a lot better shape than my first book was when I finished the first draft. 

    2. What I Know- This is the contemporary book that I have also been working on for about as long as Marching On. I plan on really deviling into this book once I finish my draft of Marching On. 

Future Projects

    3. Book written in verse: I have always wanted to write a book in verse, especially in my Grimmless world, but from a different time period or something. This is definitely something that I'm going to keep in mind as I continue on with my Grimmless series and see if I get any inspiration for some other project. This would be a companion book to the series and not part of the actual main books.

    4. A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Story: This is a project that I actually made in my Creative Writing Seminar class back in college, that I really enjoyed. I would like to make a full-book version of this eventually. It would be another companion book to the Grimmless series. 

    5. Road trip Contemporary Book: Another idea that I started quite some time ago now, was a road trip book with siblings. I have not really touched it in years but would love to get back to it eventually.

There are plenty of other ideas that I have for future projects but these are the ones that are more fleshed out. 

Writing Hopes

    6. Young Adult/Middle-Grade Series: Eventually, I would love to write another young adult or even a middle-grade series. I have many ideas that I have come up with over the years, that I would love to try out in a new light.

    7. Children's Book: Over the years as a preschool teacher, I have read a ton of children's books and have had multiple ideas for my own children's books. I don't know if this one will ever happen but I think it would be cool to write one of my own someday in the future. 

    8. Poetry Collection: One of my biggest goals has always been to publish a poetry collection. I have written a lot of poems over the years and would have plenty of material to work with. It would be great to be able to get one out there someday. 

Prompt 29

May 29th

"You Play On" Poem

Sometimes I wonder where we would be today,

If we had actually met up on that day,

Or if I didn't say no to you three years later. 

There are so many times I have thought about you, 

While hearing a song we once listened to,

And in those moments, I stop and remember.

But you were the one that decided to never show,

That made me sit there and wait for you for over an hour,

Hoping and praying that you wouldn't stand me up, again.

Sometimes I wonder where we would be today, 

If you would have come like you told me you would,

Or that I would have given you a second chance three years later. 

There have been so many times that I thought of you

Over the last couple of years, while hearing one 

Of your favorite songs, and always they make me remember,

That you were the one that decided to not show

And I'm not going to keep up this hope anymore. 

You have played on in my head too many times ever since,

A song that I wish was never written on some days

And on others, one that was an old nostalgic favorite. 

Playing on and on.

    Who knows when it will ever stop. 

Prompt 28

 May 28th 

The fire should have... 

Prompt

    The fire should have destroyed our kingdom when it could have. Then I wouldn’t have to sit through these lessons with my father’s latest excuse for a princess tutor. But instead of my magic working for anything other than these “tests” from Barley, it decided to only catch my favorite garden on fire and then deplete within ten minutes. 

    Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to destroy everyone in my father’s kingdom. That would have been absolutely terrible. But from the age of five until now my fourteenth year, I have been dealing with princess lessons. Which consisted of me curtsying, wearing ball gowns, and other useless material. I wanted to use my magic, whether that be for destruction or something else, I didn’t care. 

    Destroying our kingdom was not how I thought I would start my Monday. I woke up early that day, ready to have breakfast with Barley. But then an idea came to mind. Where it came from, I’m not completely sure but it did and I made a mistake. The spell was easy. It was almost as if someone else was speaking it for me, which I should have realized was suspicious. So, I spoke the words out, “Bring out the fire from me” and the fire came into my hands. To tell the truth, it was my first time even doing the spell. I had read it in one of my father’s spellbooks in the library. The books that I was not supposed to read. 

    I didn’t actually know what the full extent of the spell was. Or even if it would work. Little did I know, how well it would work or that it would not work in the way that I expected it to. I commanded the fire to destroy the castle, to light it up all around us. But specified for it to not kill anyone at all. I guess you can say that it didn’t.

    It didn’t destroy my father’s castle though. What it actually destroyed was a neighboring kingdom, about ten leagues north of ours. It was the kingdom of King Martin and his semi-good-looking son Henry. Who I had been betrothed to since I was an infant. The joys of being a princess. Our betrothal ended on the day that I decided to burn his kingdom to the ground. Not that I didn’t get any consequences on my own end. I did lose my beautiful flowers. 

    I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it wasn’t the first time, I heard mysterious voices. Telling me to do things that I know are not right. But I went along with them because I wanted to get something done. What I didn’t know was that burning kingdoms to the ground was not going to be the last of my problems or my arsonist days. Magic ran deep within my soul. And was slowly during my fourteenth year, taking over my body. 

Prompt 27

 May 27th

Prompt 26

 May 26th

Blackout Poem- Attempt 1 

Story used: "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde

Prompt 25

 May 25th

Towel Day 2022

     For Towel Day today, I decided that I was going to talk about my experience with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Towel Day is a day for fans to celebrate Douglas Adams and his books.

     My first time reading the book was in my freshman year of college back in 2012. So just about ten years ago. I fell in love with Douglas Adams' humor, characters, and story pretty instantly. British humor has been a favorite of mine ever since I first watched Monty Python. This was the perfect novel with that type of humor for me. Over the years, I have read the original novel a lot and it has become one of my top ten favorite books of all time. 

     This year, I decided to listen to the original radio drama that the book was based on. It's going to be so much fun to revisit an old favorite in a new way. Can't wait to spend my free time today doing that. 

Happy Towel Day! And always remember: Don't Panic!

Reviews Week 20

 Reviews Week 20

May 16th- 22nd 

Book 55: Once Upon a Broken Heart

by Stephanie Garber

Read May 17th- 21st

📚📚📚📚📚

Loved this fantasy world, especially the parts that take place in the North. The tales that come from the North and how they are cursed so that you don't know the full story was such a cool idea. Just everything dealing with the magic of this world pulled me in. Stephanie Garber has a beautiful writing style and has created a fantasy world that I am highly interested in returning to. 

I want to know more about the arches/doorways, the royal family, and the North in general. This world pulled me in from the very first chapter and held me until the end. I love fantasy that does that. 

“Heroes don't get happy endings. They give them to other people.”

The best parts were the interactions between Jacks and Evangeline. He was such a piece of work and I loved that some much, what a great villain. I want so much more of him. Now, I'll have to read the Caraval series so I can get more of this man. I will definitely be picking up the other books in this series. Cannot wait for the sequel. 

Book 56: Literary Critters: William Shakesbear's Journey for Inspiration

by Sophie Corrigan

Read May 22nd

📚📚📚📚📚

Great introductory material for many famous writers, with a cute little tale. 

The book focuses on William Shakesbear, who is trying to create his next play. He goes to each of his friends who gives him many ideas. Each of his friends is an animal counterpart of famous writers like Mole Dahl, Crane Austen, Beatrix Trotter, Edgar Talon Crow, Yak Kerouac, C.S. Shrewis, Langston Mews, and so many more. They each help show the importance of storytelling and reading. While being so whimsical and inventive.

 I loved how they were giving him ideas that eventually became their own works. For instance, C.S. Shrewis talked about mythological creatures, kings and queens, and Turkish delight, which all are parts of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. This was such a clever little book that I had a lot of fun with. I will definitely be picking up a copy of this for my own children's book collection. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free ARC of the book. All opinions are my own*

Prompt 24

 May 24th

Create your own one-of-a-kind mythological creature.

The Laughing Ancients: 

     - Known to be the oldest living creatures in all of Grimmless. Their heads were the way that you could tell how old they are. Most were known to not have more than five heads, which meant that they were five hundred years old, a head for each century. But there was at least one in the history of Grimmless that was much older than that. Their name comes from the fits of laughter that they would break into. 

    The creatures lived in large bodies of water and were not known by most inhabitants of the world of Grimmless. Even though they had an immense size, they were very good at hiding. If you happen to come across them in your exploration of Grimmless be careful. They are not known to eat travelers in most cases but there always is a chance. Good luck and happy travels. 

Happy National Turtle Day!

 May 23rd

"The Turtle Moves" by Terry Pratchett 🐢

Prompt 23

 May 23rd

My Top 1o Favorite Movies 

1. Stardust- This movie has been a favorite of mine ever since I first watched it. At the time, I didn't even realize that it was also a book. I didn't find that out until maybe three years later. I also really love Neil Gaiman's book. This is my favorite movie of all time. 

2. The Empire Strikes Back- My favorite Star Wars movie. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched this, but it has been a lot, along with the rest of the original trilogy. No other Star Wars movie is ever going to beat this out for me. It's just so great. 

3. A Knight's Tale- One of the funniest movies that I have ever watched. I adore Paul Bettany and Heath Ledger in this. The story is a favorite that makes me laugh so hard. There are so many great lines in this. Especially, the scene below. Bettany is an amazing actor. 

4. Saving Mr. Banks- I really love this movie so much and I wish Disney would do more movies like this, with Tom Hanks as Walt. He really embodied Walt. Definitely, my favorite live-action Disney movie. Also, I love the way that they combined Travers past along with the present. Beautiful movie!

5. The Little Mermaid- This is in my top two favorite Disney movies of all time along with the next movie. I have loved Ariel's story since I was a little girl. This is probably my most-watched movie from when I was a child. My sister and I used to watch it a lot. We broke two VHSs because we watched them so much. I adore the story and the music. The ending scene with King Triton always makes me tear up. 

King Triton: "Well, I guess there's just one problem left."

Sebastian: "And what's that, your majesty?"

King Triton: "How much I'm going to miss her..." 😢

"I love you, Daddy." 

6. Hercules- This is my other favorite Disney movie. I have a hard time picking between this and The Little Mermaid. I love the music and the story. Also, this is the first movie that got me into Greek Mythology and now I'm hooked on those stories. I'm even writing my own takes on those tales. This will always be a favorite of mine that I could watch at any time. Hades makes my sarcastic/snarky heart happy.

7. My Best Friend's Wedding- "The moment I wake up, before I put on my makeup. I say a little prayer for you..." This movie is gold. Especially, their version of "I Say a Little Prayer" I have watched this movie a lot over the years with my mom and it will never get old. It is so funny and heartwarming. George will always be a favorite. 

8. My Girl- I love a movie that can make me cry and man, does this make me cry. This is such a sweet story that touched my heart. Also, little Macaulay Culkin was in a lot of great movies. Home Alone is my favorite Christmas movie. He was such a cutie in this one. 

Now, we'll have my cheat answers because I can't pick from these sets of movies to put on here. 

9. The Lord of the Rings trilogy- My favorite trilogy and my favorite fantasy movie series. I love these movies with all my heart. Just thinking about them makes me happy. I definitely have to watch them again real soon. Also, the books are some of my absolute favorites.

10. The Librarian Movies- These movies make me think of my dad a lot. Dad and I used to watch these all the time whenever they were on tv. It's been years since we have but I still remember those days. 

Prompt 22

 May 22nd

Disney Writing Tag

I enjoy doing these writing tags and just talking about my stories with them. This was one that I knew that I had to do when I saw it on Youtube, because I love Disney and these questions are great. 

Here is a link to the original video: ​​​ DISNEY WRITING TAG (original) - YouTube

1. ALADDIN -- Poof! A genie appears and is willing to grant you ONE wish to fix your current WIP. What do you wish for?

    ✍️ I would wish for the genie to fix the grammatical errors, so I don't have to. Then I can just focus on the story. 

2. LION KING -- If you had to retell a Shakespearean play using animals as the main characters, which play would you choose and which animals?

    ✍️ Twelfth Night could be quite fun, I think. I'd love to see one of his comedies in a different form like that. For the animals, I'd say maybe dogs or birds. It would have to be something different. This could be a lot of fun. 

3. POCAHONTAS -- Have you ever pulled inspiration for a story from history, and what was it?

    ✍️ I am more of a person that pulls from Fantasy and not really history. But recently for a prompt, I decided to work on a historical piece for a murder mystery. I really didn't pull much from history it was more that the story took place in the past and not in a fantasy world. 

4. SNOW WHITE -- What was the very first story you ever wrote? 

    ✍️ My first full-fledged story would be Our Connection which was going to be my first novel at one time. I never did finish that piece. Our Connection was about these three different girls that were all named some variant of the same name and how they had a magical connection with each other. I started that in tenth grade. 

5. MULAN -- Who is the strongest character you've ever written and what made them strong?

    ✍️ I would say that Max from my The Chronicles of Grimmless series, would be the strongest character that I have ever written and not because of physical strength (not completely anyway). More for the fact of what he is dealing with and how he has to overcome those obstacles that are in his way. He's far stronger than I could have ever been in those situations. 

6. STAR WARS -- If you had to live in one of the worlds or setting you've created, which would it be and why?

    ✍️ Well, obviously I would pick Grimmless in heartbeat. I would love to live in a fantasy world, especially one like Grimmless. 

7. ANTHEMS -- Which Disney song(s) would you put on your writing playlist?

    ✍️ I have a fairly large playlist like I have mentioned on here before. Music is something that I love so much and a lot of times it helps me focus when I am writing. Some of the Disney songs that are on my writing playlist are: "Go the Distance" from Disney's Hercules, "If I Can't Love Her" from the Beauty and the Beast musical, "Some Things Never Change" from Frozen 2, "Strangers Like Me" and "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan, "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, and it goes on and on. I love music and Disney. 

8. RETELLINGS -- Which fairytale movie would you want to retell?

    ✍️ My Grimmless series is actually a twisting of many different fairytales and other classic tales. It has characters from Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and many other pieces. 

9. FROZEN -- Which character that you've written is Most Likely to be misunderstood or incorrectly interpreted as a villain?

    ✍️ I really love this question. One of the characters that probably would most likely be considered a villain would be my character that is known as Miss Misery. She does some pretty terrible things in the course of the second book in my series. It's funny because she started out not being such a vital character to my overall story, but I fell in love with writing her and just kept writing more scenes with her. 

10. MOANA -- If you had to go on an epic journey with ONE of your characters, and the two of you were tasked with saving the world, who would you choose and why?

    ✍️ Wow, this is a hard one. There are so many characters that I would pick because of some part of their character that would help in the journey. I think that I would choose Lyndell and the reason for this is because of his determination and loyalty. Lyndell is the most loyal and brave character that I have ever written, and I love him for that. He would do anything to help out a friend in need. Even if he was scared to death while doing it. He was another character that started out being very minor but became so much more than that. To tell the truth, he's probably one of my favorite characters that I have ever written. I adore Lyndell. 

11. PINOCCHIO -- What's the most common lie you tell people about your stories or writing?

    ✍️ I really don't lie about my stories to people. The most I might say that isn't completely true would-be spoiler related. But I can't say that I don't tell people stuff like that either. I've told my family and friends tons of plot details that are full of spoilers. Haha 

12. SIDEKICKS -- Who is your favorite minor character you've written that you wish you could give their own full story to?

    ✍️ I definitely would love to write a full book or something longer for Miss Misery. She's a character that I love writing about and would enjoy deviling even more into a story about her. Morally gray characters are some of my absolute favorites and I'd have a lot of fun with her. It would also be a completely different dynamic than anything in my Grimmless world so far, so that would be fun. 

    ✍️ Also, I would pick Patrick from my contemporary novel What I Know. I wrote a piece on here already with Patrick that was a ton of fun and I'd love to even go more into him as a character.  He has become another all-time favorite character of mine to write. 

Prompt 21

 May 21st

Bucket List 2022 Edition

As I get closer and closer to it being ten years since I graduated high school, I keep thinking more about the things I'd like to accomplish in my life. Also, the places I'd like to see. Here is a list of my top twenty bucket list ideas. 

1.) Backpacking in Europe with my best friend for our thirtieth birthdays

2.) Finish writing The Chronicles of Grimmless series 

3.) Get my series published

4.) Finish all the other ideas I have for books- well at least the good ones. 

5.) Road trip across America

6.) Go to the Harry Potter theme park in Florida. 

7.) See castles in Germany, especially Neuschwanstein Castle

8.) Go to Greece

9.) Do the Hobbiton Movie Set Tours

10.) See the Pyramids in Egypt 

11.) Publish a poetry collection

12.) Go to Disneyland and Disney World

13.) Watch a play in The Globe Theatre

14.) See another Broadway Musical

15.) Ride a double-decker bus in London

16.) Write in every country I visit

17.) Go to a Drag Show

18.) Go to a movie at a drive-in theater.

19.) Attend a music festival.

20.) Sing a duet on karaoke night. 

Prompt 20

 May 20th

All the... of my life.

I saw this prompt on a website today where you list all the ____ in your life and I decided to take this and use it a little differently. My version is for all my characters from my Grimmless series, well at least the ones in the first book.

All the... characters... of Grimmless. (Part 1)

• The Fairy Godmother- a sarcastic narrator that has opinions about everyone in the cast
• Alabaster (Albee for short)- a troll 
• Rapunzel- known for her long hair, introduced in a prison cell
• Evianna Clark (Evi for short)- one of the main characters, Clark is not actually her last name
• Maximus Leetwell (Max for short)- the other main character and a magic-user
• Lyndell- Max and Evianna's best friend, half-elf/half-god
• Wendeline Leetwell- Max's mother and Headmistress of The Academy
• Tinksley- watches and tries to keep Max out of trouble, has helped Max learn magic
• Montague (Monti)- a lover of Wendeline Leetwell 
• Professor Lucia Mixwell- teaches History of the Royal Families at The Academy
• Kenzie- a student at The Academy who went missing at the beginning of the school year
• The Grimm Brothers (not actually characters in the story as of yet, but they are mentioned)- connected the kingdoms into the world of Grimmless
• Little Red Riding Hood (only briefly mentioned, will have more in the plot as the books go on)
• Little Red Riding Hood's Grandmother (briefly mentioned)
• Wilfred (briefly mentioned)- a friend of The Fairy Godmother and a powerful enchantress
• The Big Bad Wolf (briefly mentioned)
• Zeus- Ruler of the Gods and of Grimmless, fathers lots of children who you will meet in The Chronicles of Grimmless
• Hephaestus (briefly mentioned)- forging god
• Tilda (briefly mentioned)- a student at the Academy 
• Helga- a witch
• Mortimer (Mort for short)- a goblin and half-brother of Albee
• Queen Snow White- ruler of the White Kingdom
• Evanore- Also known as the former Evil Queen of the White Kingdom
• Moria- Mortimer's mother
• The Troll King- Mortimer's father
• Coaline Black- a Duke's daughter in the White Kingdom
• Shebastian- a man trying to court Coaline
• The dwarfs
• Evanore's Huntsman (Huntie for short)
• Thadeus- a former follower of Evanore
• Helgatha (mentioned multiple times in the story)- a witch
• Sleeping Beauty- ruler of The Thorn Kingdom
• Bentley- The White Rabbit
• Cheshire Cat (Chess for short)
• The Mermaids- also called sirens
• Captain James Hook (James Hookington)
• James' Pirates (some named below)
• Smee
• Nash
• Nathanial
• Tobias
• Humphrey
• Balthazar 
• Barnaby
• Wyler
• Sharkodile- a cross between a crocodile and a shark, watch out
• Peter Pan
• Peter's Lost Boys
• Samuel
• Apollo
• James' mother
• James' father
• James' mother's nurse
• Tommy- a bully from James' old school
• Tinkerbell (Tink for short)
• The Other Pixies
• Sapphire-has sapphire hair
• Saffron- orange, fiery hair
• Delilah- yellow hair
• Ebony- black hair
• Merryclove- green hair
• Flix- purple hair
• Zicwich- a goblin 
• Hermes- messenger god
• Charon- boatman in the Underworld
• Cerberus- three-headed dog in the Underworld
• Hades- God of the Underworld
• Orpheus (briefly mentioned)
• The Lawyer of Spells (Mary the Fairy)- an annoying fairy
• Hartwell (the antlered creature)
• Cinderella- ruler of the Glass Kingdom
• Fermount Charming (Fermy for short)- Snow White's husband
• Duke Charming- Cinderella's husband
• Trevan Charming- Sleeping Beauty's husband
• Hemlock Thorn- Sleeping Beauty's brother, prince of The Thorn Kingdom, and very dramatic
• Prince Phillip- (briefly mentioned)
• Steve- the lumberjack ghost
• The Ace of Hearts- leader of the Card Guard
• Ten of Hearts- one of the Card Guard
• Mattheus- citizen in Wonderland
• Jack of Hearts- also known as The Knave of Hearts
• Queen of Hearts- ruler of Wonderland
• Brigsbee- one of Queen Snow White's guards
• March Hare (only mentioned)
• The Hatter- old friend of Jack of Hearts 

Prompt 19

May 19th

The idea for my prompt for today came to me early this morning. I really love when a line just pops into my head and then the ideas just flow. The idea of a magical door in a hedge felt perfect for my Grimmless world. This scene below is part of a much bigger piece, but I feel that it can hold on its own pretty well. 

The Magical Door

    There was a door on the hedge that nobody was able to open. It was a darker green than the hedge it was built into. The doorknob was rusting from age and tinting in the sunlight. It had been locked for as long as Jack had known, and he knew that plenty of people had tried to get in there. Not that they even knew what was behind the door. There were plenty of rumors about what it could hold but there was no one alive that even had a clue. Some people believed that they heard voices behind the door. Either voices of family members that had passed or of people that were not living around them anymore. 

    Jack didn’t hear voices behind the door or anything for that matter. Even though he sometimes wished that he would hear one voice behind the door and that he could open it up and see her standing there staring back at him again. That he would see her blue eyes looking at him with that mischievous look. He didn’t want to admit to how many days he had gone to what so many believed to be a magical door and just stood there. His hand over the doorknob hoping that it would be the time that he would be able to finally get in the door. After over one hundred attempts in the last seventeen years, you’d think that he would have stopped. But I’ll tell you this, temptations were not an easy thing to overcome. 

    Evianna came upon the door when she was exploring the other pathways that led past the directional signs. The one that pointed down that pathway didn’t even say anything about it, which intrigued her. She walked down the path and saw the hedge and the door. Surprisingly, she did not hear the stories of the door yet. You would have thought that Bentley would have given her that little piece of knowledge by now but knowing Bentley, he wanted to have her find out for herself. On the other side of the door, Evianna could hear the sound of a piano playing. She put her hand on the doorknob and turned it. The door opened easily for her. 

    All she could see at first was a lone piano until a man appeared on the bench in front of it. The room looked just like one of the rooms at The Academy, except for the color. It was too white. She had never seen the man before, but he looked so familiar to her. 

    “Who are you?” she asked as she walked closer to the piano. The closer she walked though the further away it appeared to be. 

    “You’ll be finding out sooner than you believe, young Hart. Look to your dreams,” the man smirked hitting the keys in a tune that Evianna would have known anywhere. She had heard Max play it so many times before. Right before her eyes, the man transformed into Max. 

    “Max!” Evianna gasped when she saw the scarring covering Max’s arms. As the man (who she knew wasn’t actually Max) continued to play the piano, she saw the walls begin to get covered in paint. She had seen Max create with his piano before. Surrounding them, the walls were covered with a grotesque painting that depicted a scene that would follow Evianna into her nightmares for a very long time. The first thing she saw was the remains of a kingdom that looked to be burnt to the ground. With what she did not know. Then, she saw the largest labyrinth she had ever seen in her life with a pool in the middle of it. There was so much blood in the pathways. She walked over to the image on the wall and put her hand over the surface. 

    The third image that appeared out of nowhere was what shook her to the bone. In the middle of a dark forest, stood two figures. Cloaked in black hooded capes that flowed down to the ground. All you could see of their faces were their glowing eyes, which seemed to follow her as she walked through the room. Floating above the two figures was a third. It was cloaked like the others but she could see its head. The creature’s head was actually just a skull with antlers coming out of the top. Its eyes glowed green as she continued to stare into them, she couldn’t stop herself as much as she tried. Her head would not turn away. She swore that she could hear it speaking to her in a hoarse voice that was coming from deep within it. You’ll meet your end at the hand of your best friend. Watch each step young one. The creature breathed in deeply and Evianna swore that she felt its breath on her arms, causing goosebumps to cover them. Its eyes never leaving her.

     The images continued on but before she could examine them anymore, they started to fade away. 

    The man playing the piano still looked like Max but started to transform into Jack, then Bentley, and then finally into a woman that looked so familiar to Evianna. “Mom?” Evianna walked away from the wall and to her mother. She went to her hoping to be able to give her a hug, but she disappeared like the illusion that she should have realized that she was the entire time. Everything she had seen behind the door disappeared in the blink of her eye and there she stood on the other side of the green door, just staring. From her side, Bentley hopped by and saw her looking at the door. 

    “Don’t even bother with that Evianna. Nobody has been able to ever open the door for over three centuries. I don’t believe that there is anything on the other side anyway.” Bentley hopped off in the opposite direction. 

    Evianna stood there staring at the door with wide eyes. She could still see the paintings on the walls and then see her mother sitting there. A woman she hadn’t seen in over twelve years. What could that creature had meant? You’ll meet your end at the hand of your best friend. It could not have been true. She backed up from the door and continued down the path back towards the castle. Some days she really loved the craziness of her kingdom and other days she wished that something felt normal again. She wasn’t quite sure what normal was anymore though. 

Prompt 18

 May 18

I decided for my prompt today, to do a free write poem. So for the last ten minutes, I sat down and just wrote what came to mind. "Seven Days" is what came out of that.

Seven Days

She sat there with her head down

In the background she could hear the screaming yet again

It's sad to say how used to it she was by now.

Seven days of freedom

That's what she had to look forward to

But she had to get through one more week.

If she had the means, she'd get in that truck

And go anywhere else but there

Leave and never look back in the rearview mirror.

The days kept drifting on by

One step closer to her week of freedom

But life hits you fast when you don't expect it to. 

She sat with her hands in her pockets

Humming some 90s country song

Always a coping mechanism when the worst hit. 

Seven days of freedom

That's what she said to keep herself going

But she had lost that all, with one little turn.

If she hadn't lost her means, she'd be on her way.

One step closer to somewhere else than there.

And away from those mistakes.

The days went by until she was there

On the day of her departure

But life has a way of taking those dreams away.

She sat with her head in her hands

In the background she could still hear the screaming

Even though it had been seven years.

Seven days of freedom

That's what she had promised herself

But that turned into seven years

Of heavy regret.

Prompt 17

 May 17th

 Substitute teachers are tired of not being taken seriously. They come together and form a secret society, with plans to revolt. -prompt from https://www.squibler.io/blog/writing-prompt-for-adults/ 

For this prompt, I decided to create another scene for the novel I am working on called What I Know. I figured Phillip, Martin, and Gloria would be perfect for this storyline. This is the same world that Prompt 9 was about. This scene is rough, and I'd like to eventually add more to it, but I do enjoy the dynamic between Phillip, Martin, and Gloria. It's a lot of fun writing scenes with these three together and playing off of each other. Especially, the cousin bond between Phillip and Gloria. 

    Phillip and Martin walked into the classroom where their meeting was supposed to be and looked around at all of the substitute teachers sitting there gossiping with each other. Most of them they had seen around the school over the years. Many were there more than some of the actual teachers that were supposed to be working. They chose to sit in the very back of the classroom away from the rest of the group. 

    "We start our meeting of the substitute teachers of Smithsville High School at 3:55 PM," Macey Tankersley stated at the front of room 315. The teachers were in the students' desks, most of them munching on the snacks that Macey had provided for the meeting. 

    "Why were we invited to this meeting. We're not subs," Phillip asked as he slid into one of the desks with difficulty. The desks were too small for his long legs. Martin just shrugged as he sat down beside him, putting his pile of carrots onto the desk. He had grabbed two handfuls of them when they had walked into the room. He knew full well what was going to happen to them. 

    "Why did you both come to this then?" Gloria asked from the seat behind Phillip, who just noticed her there. She had been looking down at a notebook she was writing in. 

    "Because I was interested as soon as I heard about this meeting of the subs and was wondering why they had asked us to come. We have been actual teachers at this school for almost fifteen years now," Martin said chewing on one of his carrots. The best thing about faculty meetings, Martin had realized was that they provided lots of free food. 

    "Jesus Mickey, don't remind me," Phillip answered coldly as he tried to take one of the carrots, but got his hand slapped away. "That's boyfriend abuse, you dick," Phillip whispered, which caused Gloria to snort so loudly that everyone in the room turned to look to their back corner of the room. They were not paying attention to the meeting going on around them. 

    "The real question Gloria is why you were invited to this meeting? You're not a substitute. Also, you don't have a teaching degree." Martin said after they had calmed down from Phillip's exasperation at being slapped.

    "The school has asked me a couple of times since I came back to town, if I would be interested in subbing in the English department," she took one of Martin's carrots smirking at Phillip and took a bite that made the loudest crunching sound. "I guess that since I have a master's degree in English, they figure I would be qualified enough. But I have yet to accept the offer." 

    Phillip looked between Martin and Gloria in shock. "That's not how it works, and I get slapped."

    "As I was saying" Macey stated from the front of the classroom. "I believe that we need to take revenge on the students who have caused trouble for all of us subs in the room," Macey sat on top of the teacher's desk and crossed her legs at the ankles. "I think a proper prank on them could be the perfect way for avenging every one of us in the room."

    "First, of all what kind of pranks are we talking about?" Martin asked sitting up in his seat a little higher. He had never heard of substitutes wanting to revolt but it sounded like it could be intriguing.

    "I say we burn down those little fuckers' football field," one of the gym teacher subs said from the left side of the classroom. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. "What? Do you know what my tenth-grade gym class did yesterday? They put laxatives in my damn coffee, and I don't know how they could have because I locked it in the gym teacher's office. Especially, after what they did the last time, I taught their class." The man shook his fist in the air in anger. 

    "We can't burn down the football field that's arson, Jimmy. You will go to jail," Phillip stated trying to hold back a laugh at the plight of the gym teacher. Jimmy was actually someone he had graduated high school with. The man was the star baseball player back in the day until he had an accident early in college. Phillip didn't know what happened after that but eventually, Jimmy came to work as a sub for the gym teacher who was out all of the time. The kids might as well have been his students. Phillip had heard about students pranking subs over the years but hadn't heard of anything like these students. Those were his kids too and he was surprised to hear that they would do such a thing. 

    "Well, at least I wouldn't have to be in this hell hole of a school anymore with the little shits," Jimmy stated before he looked over at Phillip and Martin sitting there. "Hey, what the fuck? Why are you two here anyway? You're not subs."

    "Mr. Mainsville, you need to quit swearing. We're still in the school, even if it is after hours. As for Mr. Clarksdale and Mr. Martinson, I invited them to our meeting because they know the students, we are having problems with very well." She grinned maniacally at the rest of the subs. 

    "Oh my god, they're all crazy," Phillip whispered to Martin. "Let's get out of here." 

    "I figured we would have 'actual teachers' at this meeting and see if they could tell us the perfect way of pranking the kids," Macey stated as she looked between Phillip and Martin. 

    "We could TP their cars like they did to mine two weeks ago," Alison Clacker stated holding up rolls of toilet paper. Apparently, some of these subs had come prepared for the meeting. 

    "Most of the students we deal with do not even drive let alone have cars," Macey answered having already thought this herself. She had gone through a lot of different methods to prank the students but never came up with anything quite good enough. They needed a perfect idea. Something that would say, don't mess with us anymore you little shits. Expect obviously they wouldn't swear at the students. Well, most of them wouldn't anyway. Maybe, she shouldn't have invited Jimmy Mainsville to the meeting. 

    Gloria looked up at the other teachers as they sat around in their groups discussing what could be done. "Well, I don't know if this will work for everyone. But maybe you could do a teacher switch day. Ask the principal if you could and see if he'd like to participate too. Make sure it's on a day that a bunch of you are subbing and then let's say your tenth-grade gym class," she pointed to Jimmy, "decides to put laxatives in your coffee again but then it's the principal drinking it. Wouldn't be too good for them now, would it?" 

    "Ooh, I like that idea. But what if the students find out about it ahead of time?" Jimmy asked. 

    "That could work and have the teacher that is taking over say that their name is whatever teacher is supposed to be in the classroom already," Macey stated writing down Gloria's idea. "I know that you have never subbed here Ms. Clarksdale but if you would be interested you could participate also. The principal is aware of my idea of setting up this little meeting today and is interested in helping out. I'll text him about this idea." 

    "I want to switch with Martin. You're teaching a Shakespeare unit now, right? I do a great witch trio," Phillip put a hand over his head dramatically as he tilted his head back. 

    "That's something I have to see," Gloria said laughing along with her fool of a cousin. 

    After they all discussed the idea even more and had the principal come in and listen, they decided on doing the prank on the students the next Friday. A good amount of the subs would be there that day and the principal was definitely going to help too. Though, he definitely was not going to drink the coffee. 

    Phillip, Martin, and Gloria walked out of the meeting an hour later laughing. "So, Gloria do you need any help at Aunt June's shop this weekend? Martin and I will be free."

    "Yeah, I definitely could use some help in The Stacks this weekend. I actually have quite the project at the moment." 

    "What would that be?" 

    "Oh, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night. I've got to get home before my mother tells Timmy how much she wants grandbabies." Gloria walked over to her car shaking her head at the thoughts of her mother. 

    "That's what you get for leaving them alone and knowing your mother, she probably did that years ago." Phillip laughed. "Don't worry, I don't think she can scare Timmy away." 

Prompt 16

 May 16th

A Writer's Life For Me Tag

Another tag for my prompt for today. Below is a link to the video where I first saw this tag. I don't actually know who created it originally. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMk1x2z0jOI&t=1s

1. What kind of writer are you?
     ✍️ Young adult fantasy
     ✍️ Young adult and adult contemporary

     ✍️ Poetry

2. When did you start writing and what made you want to try it?
     ✍️ Majorly in tenth grade, I have always really loved the idea of creating worlds that people can experience. Worlds that become real to people just as much as our own. It's an incredible feeling. I wanted to create my own worlds that people would want to venture to.

3. What inspires your stories?
    ✍️ There is so much that has inspired my writing. Whether that be the books that I love, a random line, nature, or just life in general. A lot of times some random idea will pop in my head from something I saw in a dream. Or I'll get an idea from something someone said. It all depends.

4. What themes do you explore in your writing?
     ✍️ There are multiple examples of themes throughout the books I'm writing now. There's a bit of ambition, coming of age, courage, deception, discovery, and I could continue on from there.

    ✍️ For an overall theme, I'd say coming of age. Max and Evianna are both growing up and learning how to live in the world around them.

5. Are you a plotter, pantser, or planters?
    ✍️ Definitely, a plotter. I like having a somewhat clear idea of where I'm going in a story. I like having a full working outline, though it does change as I'm writing.

6. Where are you in your writing journey?
     ✍️ I have written one novel and am almost done with my second. I also have a working outline for the rest of the books in my series. There are also other ideas that I have worked on over the years that I have started. On WIP that I have is at about 30,000 words and I have so many ideas for that. 

7. Have you entered any writing contests? Did you win any?
    ✍️ I entered into a poetry contest five years ago. I didn't win but I was published in an anthology. That was an incredible achievement.

8. Who are your writing heroes?
     ✍️ Terry Pratchett, Chris Colfer, Neil Gaiman, Madeleine Miller, Rebecca Ross, and Diana Wynne Jones

9. Have you been to a writing conference?
     ✍️ Yes, I went to the Virginia Woolf Conference in college for a paper that I wrote on Mina Loy.  It was a great experience.

10. What are your top 3 writing tips?
      1. Don't be afraid of writing something you weren't planning to originally into a story. You never know where it may go.

      2. Write what you know and what you love.

      3. Believe that you can finish what you are working on. Don't doubt yourself.

Reviews Week 19

 Reviews Week 19

May 9th-15th

Book 52: Taran Wanderer

by Lloyd Alexander

Read May 13th

📚📚📚📚📚

I have really enjoyed following Taran on his journey throughout this series. The Chronicles of Prydain has definitely become one of my favorite series ever. I loved every one of the books besides the first one. This book was no exception to that. In fact, I believe that each of the books has gotten better as the series has continued. Taran Wanderer stands out greatly. 

We saw Taran become a hero in The Black Cauldron and his hero's journey throughout the other books in this series. In Taran Wanderer, we see Taran grapple with finding an identity for himself. He is in search of his parents and throughout at least the first half of the book that is his major goal. That changes as he goes on his adventure. Taran goes through a lot in this book, and the search for his parents is not his only goal by far. This was quite the coming-of-age story, that hits pretty hard.  

Many familiar faces appear throughout the book, but the major focus is on Taran and his loyal follower Gurgi. Gurgi is such a great character that helps Taran so much throughout the series.

I really look forward to reading the final book next month. I'll also have to pick up the collection of short stories too. 

Book 53: The Unofficial Harry Potter Companion Volume 1: Sorcerer's Stone

presented by Alohomora

Read May 13th-14th

📚📚📚📚

I wish that there were more books like this for other newer fantasy series. Ones that look in-depth into books in a way like this does. This was a great little book that deep-dived into the first book in the Harry Potter series. I have never listened to the Alohomora podcast before but this made me interested in it. My favorite section of the book was at the very end when they discussed the different tasks that Harry, Hermione, and Ron have to do at the end of the book. They discuss the connections between the tasks and plot points from the other six books in the series. This book was full of information that I mostly knew about the series but some of the tidbits were quite interesting. I enjoyed this book a lot and it just made me want to read the series again.

Book 54: Enchanted Glass

by Diana Wynne Jones

Read May 15th

📚📚📚📚

Diana Wynne Jones had so a great writing style that I am really falling in love with as I read her books. I love the way she explains magic in her worlds. It's just another part of the world. We get bits of it throughout the entire story. 

The story follows a thirty-something academic named Andrew Hope, who inherits his magician grandfather's house after he passes away. This also gets him involved with his grandfather's job that he has forgotten most of since he was a child. He has magical abilities that he does not fully understand at first. A twelve-year-old 

 named Adrian comes to live with him after being chased by creatures dead set on catching him. 

Together Andrew and Adrian are trying to figure out how to control the magic and who really is after Adrian. With magical beings, bossy servants who don't want the changes that Andrew is bringing into the house, a pretty young woman who wants to become Andrew's secretary, and a mysterious man named Mr. Brown.

What I wasn't expecting were the fae characters such as Puck, Titania, and Oberon, known from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and other English folklore, to play a role in the story. It really added to the overall story and I enjoyed what part they had to play. 

This was an entertaining read overall with a good amount of humor and heartfelt moments. I just was not a fan of the ending of this book, which I won't spoil here. It wasn't for me. But I really did enjoy most of the rest of the book.