#Fridayflash: The Mirror of Erised

The trolls had it wrong, of course. You can't go through time facing backwards. Nothing would make sense. Although, as it often was, nothing ever did make sense. So maybe they had a grain of truth - just a speck.

Jenny thought that life should be an adventure - something that you jumped into without looking, though maybe looking to see that there were no obvious rocks to knock into was quite a smart thing to do if you planned to continue adventuring. So now she looked sideways at the mirror Erised and wondered what she should do with it. Dumbledore had it wrong, of course, as most people around her did.

An enchanted mirror called Desire might show you what you wanted most in life. But with a backwards name like Erised, it was more likely that it would most likely only give you the thing you feared the most. After all, what was the opposite of desire?

What if - she pulled at her pony tail - she faced the mirror Erised with another enchanted mirror? Would the reflection of what she feared then be reflected back into what she desired? Would it keep reflecting until it was distilled into pure desire or pure fear?

She didn't have another enchanted mirror, so she decided that she'd just take whatever she got. Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at her reflection. There was a  ripple and then it went dark. What did that mean? Either she desired the dark or she feared it and she wasn't sure which. Words suddenly filled the screen.

Error. Too many conflicting desires.
Error. Too many conflicting desires.

There, she knew it was a hoax. She walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

In her wake, a little mouse creeped out from behind the table it was hiding behind. It peeped into the mirror and saw himself surrounded by chunks of cheese. It sighed happily.

---

Writing prompt: Mirror

#bookreview: Ashlynn's Dreams by Julie C. Gilbert

Ashlynn's Dreams by Julie C. Gilbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jillian Marie Antel Blairington (which is a super long name for any kid) is kidnapped and held in a strange facility where she's taught to use her talent of entering and changing people's dreams that she never knew she had. If that isn't freaky enough, she's introduced to a whole new family and is tasked to use her talent to find her missing brother.

The story is written in a series of letters or journals from Jillian and her baby sitter, Danielle, who was kidnapped along with her, with a few letters here and there from other characters.

I kinda liked the story. It wasn't really my kind of thing (I'm increasingly unsure what my kind of thing is now actually). I mean, I've been reading sci-fi a lot more now, but it wasn't as awesome as, say, God's Loophole or Eternity’s End. Maybe it was the style it was written in - the letter/journal type thing isn't normally what I go for. It also takes a way part of the tension of the story (the "kin-cheongness") or the presence of being in that moment.

So I'd give it a 3.5 - somewhere between "yea, I liked it" and "hey it was really good". Maybe if I'd read it when I was much younger I would have liked it better.

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Because I love

God demonstrates His love
That while we were separated, Christ died for us
God demonstrates His love
Through one man's obedience we're bought back in blood

The thought that accompanied my morning walk today (WOAH ANNA WALKS!) was really that in the light of God's sacrifice, all the things we give up or complain about giving up are small sacrifices in comparison.

And so really, all that we do (or are not supposed to do) aren't really a big deal, in the grand scheme of things.
Because He didn't have to.
But he did anyway.
Because, love.

Yet it's not a selfish kind of love which expects a commensurate return, which puts down your love and sacrifice because they are too small, or not worthy enough, or not sacrificial enough.
It's a love that says it's okay if you can only love me that much because your heart is too small. I still love you and I will love you until your heart starts to grow again.
Because, love.

And so he writes his story over and over again in your heart until one day you realise that your narrative has changed. It's no longer I love because, but because I love.

#bookreview: Creation by Kat Mellon

So this girl from the Nanowrimo FB page posts and says that her book is free on Amazon for a day, and would we support her by downloading it? And I was like, sure, why not? It's free anyway.

And then I read it. (Which is what I usually do with books. But usually not that fast).

Creation by Kat Mellon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't know how to review this book, because to write about what the core of what the book meant to me would be to reveal the ending and be extremely spoilerish. And you wouldn't want that with this book, seriously.

I was fascinated with the world Mellon created, the sense of the surreal in her writing and the way it makes you look at the world with fresh new eyes - a little Pratchett-ish in that sense, only not in a humourous way.

It's beautiful prose. *tears*

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#bookreview: Eternity's End by Dan Rix

This review should probably have come earlier... except that I got caught up in reading Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance.

Eternity’s End by Dan Rix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the gripping sequel to God's Loophole, Dan Rix plunges us into a terrifying time crunch: Gabriel Rockwell has to figure out how to get Raedyn Summers out of the bubble before she runs out of air and water... and before the FBI & U.S. military manage to kill him. Rae was ready to give up - until she inexplicably hears Gabe's voice outside the bubble and discovers that she's not quite ready to lie down and die just yet.

Rix weaves a complex puzzle as Rae circles through the maze of bubbles, trying to maximize the air she has left. (I admit I was too interested in what was going to happen next than to analyse the maze and try to solve the puzzle on my own!) Rae's not the only with a problem to solve - Gabe must learn to control his abilities in order to recreate Rae in the real world. Only, which world and which Rae is the real one now?

There's a cockiness to these two extremely smart teens that, mixed with the vulnerability, stupidity and resilience of youth, makes you start rooting for them and hoping that they'll get through to their happily-ever-after (well, or at least to just stay alive).

Looking forward to the third book, Heaven’s Enigma!

Note: I received a pre-release copy of this book as part of Dan Rix's mailing list.

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My reviews of Dan Rix's other books:
God's Loophole
Entanglement
Triton

I have an editor!

Okay, I probably shouldn't be so excited since I'm the one hiring an editor. It's not as if I found an agent (do we actually have any in Malaysia?) or signed a book deal (long way more to go).
But well, I realised a while back that an old college friend of mine has struck out on her own as a freelance writer, editor and translator and it took me about... a month (or more... yes I am that indecisive and slow and lazy) to decide that YES, I want to do this. I'm going to hire someone to make sure my words are all sparkly and pretty!

Meet the awesome Chin Pei Ling from Word Espress!

Pei Ling has been writing for as long as she can remember. The SMS was never made for her, because her text messages to friends are always long. Mostly because she has too much to say (and she has a strange liking of typing every word fully). From overwriting in her school essays to graduating with a Journalism Diploma and B.A. in English, with over six years of experience in journalism and publishing, you can say that she's where she's always wanted to be. And you can enrich her journey even more.

*wiggles*

Okay. Back to making sure my manuscript does not SUCK SO BAD before she sets her eyes on it. :)

More than enough

And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it be not to my sorrow! And God granted him that which he requested.

1 Chronicles 4:10