#AtoZChallenge: Dormouse

Dora Dormouse dozed. It was late March, still too cold out for comfort, but almost time to awake. She turned over and snuggled in her little nest in the hollow of a tree, tail wrapped around her head, dreaming of nuts and fruits and flowers.

The growling of her stomach woke Dora on the fourth of April, sounding loud in her round ears. Eyes still closed, she ran a paw over her ears, smoothing down her golden fur, and scratched at her cheeks. A slight frown formed on her face. Her cheeks felt too thin. Time indeed to emerge from hibernation and find some good food to eat. Too early for berries, maybe, but she was sure the flowers were out. A good dandelion might be a nice waking up snack. She could smell them. Her nose wiggled as she sniffed the air. Dora’s belly rumbled again and her fluffy tail twitched in amusement as she stretched. Finally, she blinked her black eyes open and looked around.

“Ho, sleepy one! Are you finally awake?” Sally Squirrel shouted from her drey.

Dora tried not to roll her eyes. Squirrels were too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for her taste, but one had to be kind to one’s neighbours, she supposed. “Yes, I’m awake, Sally,” she replied.

“Oh good! My pup visited last night and brought me a great batch of hazelnuts. Do you want some?”

“Where on earth did he find hazelnuts in April?” Dora asked.

A doubtful tone crept into Sally’s voice. “It was a stash he hid in winter, I think.”

Maybe, Dora thought, but most likely it was left out by the humans and she wasn’t quite sure she trusted them. One never knew what humans might do. If they were the nice kind, the nuts would be safe to eat, but if they were the other kind, who knew what was in them?

“You haven’t eaten any, have you?” Dora asked.

There was a scrabbling above and Dora sighed, backing away from her door. Two seconds later, Sally burst in, cheeks and paws full of nuts.  Sally dropped them all over the floor then pushed them into two small little piles.

“Here! I haven’t had any! I thought you might unhibernate soon so I waited until I heard you move.”

“That sounds a little creepy, you know,” Dora remarked mildly. She picked up a nut and inspected it. It looked alright, no obvious signs of tampering, and it smelt alright too, nothing unnatural or strange about it. Her tummy grumbled again.

“Oh come on, Dora, I’m sure it’s safe. Red had some last night before he brought them over and he’s fine,” Sally said as she chomped down on one.

Still, Dora waited three seconds to see if Sally keeled over and died. When nothing bad happened, Dora daintily put the nut to her mouth and nibbled at it. “Thanks Sally.”

“No problem, Dora! That’s what neighbours are for!”

When Sally finally left, leaving a small pile of hazelnuts behind, Dora heaved a sigh of relief. It was still bright out, so she decided to take a nap before heading out in the evening.

---

Today's suggestions were:

• Dormouse, from Barbara Harrison
• Dolphin or Dugong, from Sharna Steinert.

I used Sharna's suggestion on Tuesday, so I thought I'd use Barbara's this time! I don't really know much about dormice, so here are the sites I looked them up on:

Dormice: Britain's sleepiest, and most charming little creatures
Dormice - not mice at all!
Ten things you didn't know about dormice
Wikipedia
Dormouse – Muscardinus avellanarius

I'm not sure if dormice and squirrels are actually friends, but they stay in the same areas and eat the same kinds of food, so I figured... why not. They could actually be really bitter enemies but who knows!
I'm a city girl and have never actually seen any of these little critters in real life, so if I'm decidedly wrong, let me know in the comments.

Give me more words!

I generally choose the next word the night before or on the day itself, depending on when I'm writing the post. 

#AtoZChallenge: Card, Orson Scott -- #bookreview of Lost and Found

Lost and found by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ezekiel Bliss finds lost things and returns them, a compulsion that has gotten him into trouble with the police so often that he drives himself to distraction to ignore it. Beth Sorenson is a proportionate dwarf too smart for her own good, who can pretty much get anyone to do what she says just by talking to them. Beth wiggles her way into Ezekiel's "shunning bubble", they agree to take part in a research group that studies their micropowers (which are like superhero powers, just not as useful), and along the way, Ezekiel helps the police and learns how to be a friend to the only one he's got.

Lost and Found is one of those books I'd probably love a lot more if I'd read it when I was younger. Sometimes, I wonder if I liked Ender's Game as much as I do because I read it at just the right age. Because I really wanted to like this. You've got two snarky teens against the world, and the only two humans who aren't against them are Ezekiel's father and the police detective who really wants Ezekiel to help him find a missing kid. What's there not to love? (Though I probably have to note that Ender's Game reads like it's written for adults whereas this one was definitely written for the much, much younger end of YA.)

Card still hits the right spots with his emotional arcs and there's nothing lacking in the action; the only major thing I can pinpoint for sure is that after a while, all the snarkiness became a little too over the top. There could have been a little more variance in the way the characters interacted with each other. I also saw one of the twists from quite far off, but seeing I'm probably two decades older than the target market, that's probably me and not him.

I'm giving this 4-stars because whilst it's not AMAZING, it's actually pretty enjoyable for someone a lot younger and less cynical than me (e.g. hopefully the actual target age group). Personally, it fits more on the 3-star scale. I liked it, but eh.

View all my reviews

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No flash fiction today, sorry. Back tomorrow!

#AtoZChallenge: Bunyip

Bethany sat by the billabong, waiting. Her brother, Barry, said he’d seen a bunyip there yesterday and she wanted to see one too. It had been raining recently, which was why the billabong was half full—and probably why the bunyip had come. At least, that was what Barry said. Bethany wasn’t so sure she believed everything he said anymore. Older brothers were good at protecting you from bullies but not so good at not bullying you, and Bethany had borne the brunt of many a prank from him. Just yesterday, before telling her about the bunyip, he’d also said that Mother had baked cookies and buried them in the backyard. She’d looked a right fool sending the dog out to sniff for cookies while she stood there with a shovel. 

Anyway, Barry had said he’d seen a huge creature emerging from the water, like an alligator, only it got up on its back legs and walked. When Bethany accused him of lying—he’d probably seen an alligator and was teasing her—he’d looked wounded and said it had a birdlike head with a long bill and why would he make up something like that? Why wouldn’t he? But Barry was insistent he’d really seen one, and then he’d shown her the scratch marks high up on a tree which came from the bunyip’s sharp claws. 

The ten-year-old was almost asleep when she heard rustling nearby. She froze, her eyes growing wide as she turned in the direction of the sound.

“Ha! Gotcha!” Barry jumped out of the bushes waving his hands about, making Bethany scream.

“Barry! You scared me.” Bethany’s eyes filled with tears. She’d sat for hours and hours waiting and it was only Barry with his stupid baloney.

“Hey, don’t cry, Beth.”

“You’re mean,” Bethany said between sniffs.

Barry awkwardly put an arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry. It was just a bit of fun.”

Bethany shrugged him off and stomped down the billabong. She should have known it was another one of his tricks, like the buried cookies.

“Hey wait! Don’t wander off,” Barry called after her, but she stuck her fingers in her ears.

His voice faded in the distance and Bethany slowed down as her anger subsided. Soon, all she could hear was the wind in the leaves, the crunching of her own feet on the sand, and the soft lapping of water. She sighed as she kicked off her sandals, clambered on a rock and dipped her feet in the cold water.

A bloop bloop sounded to her right and Bethany frowned.

“Go away, Barry,” she said, splashing the water with her feet.

The blooping sounded again, nearer this time, pushing ripples towards Bethany’s feet.

“Not funny.”

Barry didn’t reply, which felt a little strange because he always liked to gloat. Bethany turned to see a long creature with glossy black fur floating in the water, looking at her with large apricot eyes. She stared back, her mouth agape. The creature came closer, its nose wiggling as if it were sniffing her. Bethany slowly reached out her hand, longing to touch the soft-looking fur, but with a last suspicious look, the creature flipped over and dove back into the water.

Bethany tracked the ripples of its movement until she couldn’t see it anymore. She slipped off the rock, stuck her feet back into her sandals, then made her way home.

When she told Barry about the bunyip, all he said was, “Bunyips aren’t real, silly.”

Bethany didn’t believe him anymore. After all, she’d seen one.

---

Today's suggestions were:

• battledore, from Barbara Harrison
• bunyip or bilby, from Sharna Steinert

I went with bunyip because mythical creatures are cool! You may also realise that Barry and Bethany's descriptions of the creature are different... and that isn't a mistake! If you read the wikipedia link, no one actually agrees on what a bunyip looks like. 

Give me more words!

I generally choose the next word the night before or on the day itself, depending on when I'm writing the post. 

#AtoZChallenge: Agog

All the Mahan palace servants were agog with the news. King Simson was going to marry Queen Layla. The bridge across the channel was going to be rebuilt, trade reestablished between Maha and Bayangan… Yosua would finally be able to see Bayangan after hearing his parents reminisce about their homeland all his life.

“It’s not going to happen,” Garett, his father, said with a grunt, not bothering to look up from where he bent over the washboard and the large, steaming tub. “He has to get the approval of the Temple, and the High Priest in Suci will fight this every step of the way.”

“But Pa, he’s already got the Council of Seven to agree,” Yosua protested.

“Think, Yosua. Who’s got more authority? The Temple or the Council?”

“I thought you wanted to go home.”

Garett stopped scrubbing and gave him a searing look. Yosua shut up, sucking on his lower lip to keep himself from saying something he would regret later.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Garett asked as he resumed his work.

“Dropping off the prince’s laundry,” Yosua replied sullenly.

“Well, get on with it then.”

“It’s done, Pa.” He kicked at the basket by his feet. “His Highness is busy at training, so it’s not like he’s going to miss me.”

Yosua leaned back against the nearby wall and watched his father. As much as Garett said it was random, Yosua knew it was punishment. Yosua had long since realised that his father was assigned the worst jobs every time there was unrest amongst the captives from Bayangan. This latest reshuffling was to humiliate him and to quieten them, to warn them about being too uppity now that the new queen of their home country was visiting.

“It’s not as if they’ll allow me to go,” Garett said so softly that Yosua almost missed it. “You might, though.”

“What?”

“If they have the wedding in Bayangan and Prince Mikal goes, you’ll be brought along.”

“King Simson will bring you too.”

Garett snorted. “He won’t. He’ll make sure I’m kept here, in chains if necessary, to keep everyone else in line.”

“But—they’re proposing an alliance, Pa. Things are changing.”

“I didn’t raise a fool.”

“I’m not—”

“Whatever this treaty is, it’s only for trade. The marriage will be turned into an advantage for Maha alone, not even the rest of Terang. Do you think Bayangan has the power to do anything? The fact that the Queen herself is here, proposing a marriage alliance proves they don’t have enough resources to survive on, Yosua. I cannot think of any other reason why the pride of Bayangan herself would stoop to this.”

“What if—” Yosua froze as the temple bells tolled. He set off at a run.

“You’ll see I’m right,” Garett called after him.

Yosua was still out of breath when the prince entered his rooms.

Prince Mikal frowned at the still-filling bathtub. “What’s got you so excited that you’re late?”

“I… the royal wedding, Master.”

“The what?”

Yosua stammered, “Between your father and the Bayangan Queen?”

The young servant boy had never seen his master turn as white and flustered as he did then, not agog but aghast at the news.

---

Today's suggestions were:

• Apricots, from Barbara Harrison
• Alzheimer's, from Ch'ng Mei Yen 
• Amethyst or Ant, from Sharna Steinert
• Agog, from Inga Vesper

I went with Agog because... I dunno. It sounded fun. haha :)
It's also a plausible scene that may fit somewhere in my WIP, though the timeline may be a little off. By the time this alliance is proposed, several secrets should have been revealed, which don't seem to be evident here. I'll have to think about that.

If you have more prompts for the rest of the month, drop them here.

#bookreview: The Winter Road | Adrian Selby

The Winter Road by Adrian Selby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What does an ex-soldier, newly rich merchant want with a road through the Circle? But Teyr is hungry to prove herself to the family she left behind in the Circle and to the family she has gained in Hillfast: Aude and his boy Mosa, who calls her Ma. The Winter Road is the tale of Teyr Amondsen's ambition, pride, and folly as she pursues her goal, only to be pursued in return by war and death.

It's not often that you find a fantasy book as gritty, grim and brutal as this with a woman who's not waiting to be rescued, but who's leading the fight. Yet also not a woman trying to be a man, but one who has weighed her choices, found peace with her barrenness, and instead loves the people and children that life and chance send her way. It's a fine balance that Selby walks, and Teyr is as facetted a character as you could wish for: ambitious, broken, courageous, defeated, empathetic, foolish... I could go on.

The Winter Road is initially a hard read. I was reading multiple books at the same time, so I had to backtrack and restart the story because a) the flipping between past and present threw off my sense of time, b) I lost track of names, and c) Selby doesn't exactly use standard English all the time. Do not do this. Do not torture yourself. You need to hit this book running and keep going until the payoff when you can no longer stop.

But also, give yourself time to cry and be traumatised mid-book. It's not like Selby doesn't prepare you for it. Almost from the beginning, you know it's going to happen, you know it's going to hurt, but when it finally does, oof, it's a stab in the heart.

The going gets easier in Part Two, when it's all in the present and the action ramps up. Also, if you haven't gotten the slang by now, I don't know what or how you've been reading. The book really ends for me at the closing of Part Two; Part Three is denouement, the playing out of that final story of Aude and Teyr, most of it via letters. It's nice to know, but it feels a little like filler, like when Frodo gets back to the Shire, or the Aragorn and Arwen appendix--you're settling in for the end, tying up loose ends. It's also maybe set up for Snakewood, which I haven't read yet.

The Winter Road is not for the faint-hearted. It's dark and brutal, though, funnily enough, driven by one who wants what's best for the world.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Slow Your Breath Down | Future of Forestry

This chest is full of memories, of gold and silver tears
I'll give you more to own than all of this
And I'll give you more than years
For you were once a child of innocence
And I see you just the same
Your burdens couldn't win or lose a thing
Oh, I'd tell you once again
But you're always on the run

Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your heart now, oh
You can trust and love again, oh
Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your smile now, oh
You can trust and love again, oh

If you leave I'll still be close to you,
When all your fears rain down
I'll take you back a thousand times again
Oh, I'll take you as my own
I would sing you songs of innocence
'Til the light of morning comes
'Til the rays of gold and honey cover you
In the sweetness of the dawn
But you’re always on the run

Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your heart now, oh
You can trust and love again, oh
Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your smile now, oh
You can trust and love again, oh

You're not alone
You're now a part of me
You feel the cure
I'll feel the toil it brought you
You're not alone
You're now a part of me
You feel the cure
I'll feel the toil it brought you

You're not alone
(Slow your breath down, just take it slow)
You're now a part of me
(Find your heart now, oh)
You feel the cure
(You can trust and love again, oh)
I'll feel the toil it brought you
You're not alone
(Slow your breath down, just take it slow)
You're now a part of me
(Find your smile now, oh)
You feel the cure
(You can trust and love again, oh)
I'll feel the toil it brought you

Songwriters: OWYOUNG ERIC

---

If my music is split into eras, this comes from the years of indie and Thern, thrown up into memory by a random Spotify playlist. 

Limbo

When do you stop?

I feel like I'm going, I'm moving, I'm pushing, but I'm just going in endless circles, pushing against nothing, achieving nothing. I want to be done with this, to move on, but I don't want to, it's too much effort.

I'm exhausted from doing nothing, honestly. Or rather, from telling myself to do things that I then fail to do.

All I can tell myself now is that in 1.5 weeks, this will end. With that stupid assignment that's dragging out of the way, and the last of the formal classes done, I'll be able to sit and focus and write.

No distractions.

No excuses.

But for now, I have a lot of things to get out of the way by the end of March.

... how is it already March?!

#bookreview: Lunching with Lions: Strategies for the Networking-Averse

Lunching with Lions: Strategies for the Networking-Averse by Katherine McGraw Patterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked this up because I hate hate hate hate hate networking. You know that feeling where you know you should go to stuff and talk to people and tell them about what you do and all that?
Yeah.
Turns out, according to Patterson I'm doing half of it right but two things are holding me back: my mindset and my lack of purpose.

Lunching with Lions is a pretty breezy read. It's not a textbook that you're going to be struggling over, but a conversational classroom (sorta) with very honest personal anecdotes that make you go yeah, that's me. It's designed to give you both the confidence of "hey, if she can do it, so can I!" plus the kick in the pants of "I really need to get my act together, don't I?"

Patterson breaks things down step-by-step so that it doesn't overwhelm, effectively holding your hand through the process. But then as with all books like this, you've read the materials, now you gotta put it into practice. Which is the hard part, but not as hard now that you've got tips to help you on the way.

View all my reviews

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Apologies! Apparently attending a three-day fair and then going to Stratford-Upon-Avon has wreaked havoc on my deadlines so I've been pushing things further and further back. I hope to be back on regular schedule soon.

Uh I have to anyway, because A to Z is coming up.

#musicmonday: I Won't Let You Go | Switchfoot ft Lauren Daigle

Because this song deserves a repost.

#bookreview: Written to Be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels

A couple of days late because I was waylaid by the London Book Fair!

Written to Be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels by Paul Borgman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This took me longer to finish than expected, mainly because it requires a lot of thought (I tend to speed-read my way through a lot of things, which isn't really optimal, but is what works for me). Written to be Heard, however, is the kind of book that you want to mull over and read with your Bible open at the same time, not because you don't trust what Borgman and Clark are expounding on in the text, but because you want to see with your own eyes the patterns that are being pulled out for you--and maybe read aloud to yourself.

Part Bible exposition, part literary study, the writers cover each of the Gospels in great detail, teasing out the biases, aims and structure of each writer, or in this case, storyteller of the Good News. Rather than cross-referencing the Gospels to each other and arguing about their differences, as we tend to do, they suggest that we consider each Gospel as individual stories, and as a transcription of an oral heritage. Variations, repetitions, and the way each book is structured then becomes understood as less of haphazard and poorly-constructed narrative--they are instead cues for listeners to pick up the points and themes of each Gospel.

Written to Be Heard: Recovering the Messages of the Gospels gives modern Christians a lot to chew on. As society moves from heavy reliance on text and the written word back to a preference for audio-visual forms, maybe the church should also reconsider what it means to read the Bible aloud.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Light / Dust | Josh Yeoh ft Jon Cho

You’re the God who spoke light into darkness

You hold my heart, You remember my frame

You’re the strength in the midst of my weakness

You remember my name

You remember my name 

I signed up for the #atozchallenge and need your help!

Okay, in line with my facebook fast for Lent, I now need to find *ALL NEW WAYS* to procrastinate on homework, and this idea came to me in the shower. (Shower thoughts are the best.)

I've been doing a module on writing in the community and in education, so what better way to procrastinate than to put into practice all the things I've learnt! HAHAH. At least it's productive! Somewhat.

This April, I will be writing flash fiction based on words suggested by YOU, yes all you people who are reading this post. All you have to do is open this google sheet and give me random words/themes/thoughts that begin with the letter for the day. (Or leave a comment here and I'll add them in.) The only rule is let's keep it kid-friendly, eh? Bonuses if you go the mythological/folktale route.

Yes, that's it.

GIVE ME A WORD

My past A-to-Z Challenge posts/themes:
2011: Fiction, on a now defunct blog. I think it became a single, interconnected story
2012: Unrelated flash fiction, words (mostly) chosen from the last word for each letter in the dictionary.
2013: Unrelated flash fiction, mostly influenced by icebreakers and KOL.
2014: Flash fiction: mythical creatures. This eventually became Coexist.
2015: Worship songs, because I was doing camp nano and couldn't write two things at the same time.
2016: Anna's A to Z of Worship Leading, which was compiled into an ebook.
2017: Princesses, which comes with pretty pictures on ind.elvenstar.net.
2018: Absolution, where I merged campnano with A to Z and ended up blogging about my WIP, which is still my WIP, and an offshoot of which will now be my dissertation. Don't you love it when all your projects become one. massive. *insert swearwordy* thingamabob.
2019: Community writing HA.

p/s If you want to throw in a guest post on any of the letters, let me know! Email me at posts [at] annatsp [dot] com and we'll work something out.

---

It's the Blogging from A to Z Challenge's tenth anniversary! This is my ninth year with them, so that's pretty great. A quick summary of what it is: we blog a post a day (except Sundays) following the alphabet! Anything goes--there's a wide range of topics from everyday stuff, photos, music, research, locations, art, fiction, as long as it follows the sequence of the alphabet. Then everyone hops over to other blogs on the list to see what they're writing about!

If you've always wanted to start a blog but didn't know how, this is a quick, easy way to get started. It comes with a guide of posts for the month (A to Z) and it comes with an inbuilt, interactive community (other participants) who will cheer you on the way. 

#fridayflash: Deep Waters

For you cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,

I ran. Of course I ran. What else was I do to? I couldn’t stay—not when staying was certain death. That’s what happens when you disobey a Royal (not quite, but close enough) Decree.

What decree? Do you think I have a death wish? I don’t know you well enough to tell you. I’m far enough away now, but not that far. His reach is pretty long—I shouldn’t even be telling you this. (You’re listening, aren’t you?) I just… don’t have anything else to do on this ship, I guess. By the time I reach shore and you get word back to him, I’ll be long gone anyway. Not that I’m telling you who. Or where. (Not like… never mind.)

I’m not saying anything else.

And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.

What do you mean we’re sinking? You said this ship was unsinkable! The best on the Mediterranean Sea! Was that lie? (I knew you’d catch up.)

Pray? What— (No.)

I— (I’m not talking to you.)

Fine, fine, fine. It’s my fault (Your fault, why are you doing this to me? Just let me go). Throw me in the sea. You’ll be safe. My God’s after me, all right? It wasn’t a Royal Decree. It was a God Decree and YES I KNOW I WAS RUNNING AWAY. (YES, I KNOW I AM A FOOL.)

Just throw me in the sea. You’ll be fine.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Good fish. Nice fish. Don’t digest me. If you could just throw me up on a deserted island, that would be great. Wouldn’t that be great?

(OKAY FINE. IT’S MY FAULT. I SHOULDN’T HAVE RUN. I SHOULDN’T HAVE DISOBEYED. I KNOW THAT TARSHISH IS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION BUT I HATE NINEVEH. I’M… I am sorry. This is stupid.)

If I ascend into heaven, You are there
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

Fine. I’m talking to you. Yes, I’m talking to you again, God. I know I’ve been stupid and childish, but hey, here you are keeping me alive. In a fish. Which is gross, but—alive. Alive is good. (A nice island with nobody around, I’ll survive on fish—no, maybe not fish—Uh, or monkeys. Or something.)

I’ll go. I will (this is coercion) but I will. I—

If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Yeah, I know I’ve been stupid. But you still love me, don’t you? And you still love those horrible people so I guess… I guess I’ll go. (DESERTED ISLAND PLEASE!)

After all, who says they’ll listen? (I hope they don’t.)

No, I didn’t say anything. Scout’s honour. (Though I’ve never been a scout.)

Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

Uh, hey guys. So you’re probably not going to believe me, but God’s angry at you. In forty days, you’re gonna be toast. So you better repent. (Or not—ah yes, repent. Repent!)

(I hate my job.)

---

Because I felt my blog needed more crappy fiction and I found this in my archives. lol

No cookies for guessing where it's from.

#bookreview: A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night: Finding and Following God's Will for You | AW Tozer

A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night: Finding and Following God's Will for You by A.W. Tozer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night is a compilation of A.W. Tozer's sermons around Exodus as compiled and edited by James L. Snyder.

Starting off with seeking God's will in your life, each of the 23 sermons is a compact reminder that as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Canaan with visible, tangible signs of His presence, God will also lead you through your wilderness into the place that He has prepared for you. He doesn't promise it will be easy, doesn't sugarcoat it with the platitudes common in church nowadays, emphasising instead that the journey will be hard and there will be many things that discourage us and disappoint us on the way, and that obedience often means surrender and sacrifice as well.

It's easy to get distracted and to give up, but remember that God goes before you, and stands behind you, providing the cloud by day and a fire by night to get us to where we're meant to be. If you need affirmation of God's truths and guidance to understanding God's will for your life, this is a good book to pick up.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

View all my reviews

Pick up my #ebooks for #free or at 50% off at #Smashwords this week!

Hey! It's Read an E-Book Week over at Smashwords.

In line with that, I thought I'd give you a quick overview of my books and how you can pick them up for free/cheap!

The Painted Hall Collection is a series of short stories set in the mythical North.

A curse binds the City of Winter and the Dragon's prophecy holds the key to breaking it. But will a poor fisherman from the South have the means to fulfil the prophecy? Or will the foreignness of the North itself repel him and his efforts?

Whilst the collection itself, which includes a new standalone story, is at 50% off, you can get the original four short stories in this series free:

1. When Winds Blow Cold
2. The Flame of the North
3. Beneath the Rumbling Earth
4. A Still, Small Voice

If you're looking for Western fairy tales featuring elves, dragons, and fairies, Coexist is the novella for you!

Fifteen-year-old Jane stumbles upon a portal to a fantastical and dangerous world--and discovers things about her family and heritage that she has never known before! Along the way, she makes friend with a friendly adlet, almost gets tricked by a kelpie and has to run from the Fairy Queen herself.

Coexist is available for free this week.

Many years later after Coexist, a young woman named Sara who lives half the globe away stumbles upon a different fairy world--the Malaysian Alam Dongeng.

There’s a war to protect Alam Dongeng, helmed by the Orang Bunian and Garuda. But are the ranks of Hantu really Sara and Helmi's enemies? They may very well be fighting the wrong battle.

Dongeng brings together the dark folklore and fairy creatures of Southeast Asia and the Western fairy tale lore already explored in Coexist. 

Get your copy of Dongeng at 50% off this week.

New book out--The Principal Girl: Feminist Tales from Asia!

This has been a while in the making... I think I got the acceptance for my short story sometime in 2017! At any rate, if you fancy fairy tale rewrites and folklore from Asia, here's where you can get them. Mine features the mythical Gedembai, legends of Laksamana Cheng Ho, and damsels not in distress.

Here's the blurb:

The Principal Girl: Feminist Tales from Asia features stories of bold, bright, and heroic women and girls drawn from Malaysia and Singapore, and the Asian diaspora that underlies the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the two countries. All eighteen stories in this anthology emphasise female empowerment, and privilege the strength and wisdom of young girls and women, over conventionally idealised traits such as beauty, obedience, conformity, and passivity, so frequently depicted in traditional male-centric folk tales.

Of these, eight tales are based on, or inspired by Asian folklore and well-known female cultural icons, while ten are original stories with contemporary settings, drawn from sources as diverse as the Mahabharata and Sejarah Melayu, to Iban and Kadazan folklore.

Apart from reimagined tales of legendary female figures like Hang Li Po, Princess of Mount Ledang, Draupadi, Queen Vishpala, Khawlah bt Azwar, Mahsuri, and Cik Siti Wan Kemboja, and mythical creatures like the Phoenix and Gedembai, readers will also meet the crime-fighting teenager Surya, the scholar and philanthropist Lilly Po, and the beauty queen Eve, who learns the true meaning of embodying the spirit of Huminodun, among many others just as dauntless.

Aimed at young adult readers, this volume showcases the writings of both new and established authors from Malaysia and Singapore, and hopes to inspire its young audience with empowering narratives of various ‘principal girls’ of past and present, all courageous, resourceful, and intelligent in their own ways. These are tales readers will want to revisit, again and again.

Get your copy now!

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On another note, it's read an ebook week on Smashwords this Sunday onwards, so that's a great chance for you to get all my books cheap.

#bookreview: Day 115 on an Alien World | Jeannette Bedard

Day 115 on an Alien World by Jeannette Bedard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So sometime end of last year, I received a random email from the author asking if I'd like to review her book. It happens. I have my review email on my blog. Looked at the details and felt eh, why not? It's the type of thing I would casually pick up if it's cheap enough anyway.

Overall, Day 115 on an Alien World was an interesting enough read for me to give it 3.5 stars. I liked the plot twisty stuff and the way things unfolded. The basic premise is simple enough: things are going terribly at the new colony on Thesan, right from departure. Margo thinks there's a saboteur on board... but who? And who can she trust? It's full of mystery and intrigue, danger and adventure. There's a light romance going on, and there are (sad) deaths to tug at your heartstrings. Space opera, in a nutshell.

What I didn't like so much was the structure of the book. It initially took me a little while to get into it because the first few chapters were a little confusing. There were several time-jumpy things. You start off at Day 114, drop back into pre-departure, jump forwards to Day 114, and then Day 1 or something... It also jumps between Gary's point of view and Margo's. I don't think I got fully oriented until probably Chapter 5 or so when it's firmly in Margo's POV and following the storyline at little more sequentially. I guess doing this kind of ramped up the tension a little? But honestly, I'm not quite sure it was necessary. (But also 20% chance I was confused because I read this while in bed with a cold and slightly headachey.)

At any rate, if you're looking for a thriller/suspense story set in space, this one's a good one to try.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

View all my reviews

#guestpost: C.W. Briar talks about his debut dark fantasy novel, Whispers From the Depths

I’m author C.W. Briar. I have wrestled buffaloes, worked as Jason Momoa’s stunt double, and lied on guest posts for book blogs. One thing that is absolutely true is that my debut dark fantasy novel, Whispers From The Depths, just released.

Describe Whispers From The Depths
I pitched the book in a few ways. I originally described it as Frozen except with less Disney and a lot more Beowulfian horror. A more accurate description would be Beowulf as told by Michael Crichton (and I’m aware that concept already exists in the form of Eaters of the Dead, but let me have this).

During the pitch, I also told my publisher I found new ways to kill people with water.

In this world, the Whisperers are the ones who keep people safe from water spirits. They’ve also been enslaved. Betka is one of the Whisperers, and she’s part of an expedition to free a castle from a water spirit’s attack. She hates and fears the warriors she serves under, but she hopes to rescue her sister from the besieged castle.


What is the magic like?
Whisperers and spirits both have considerable control over water’s forms and flow. They also exert pressure on each other in battles of will. Whisperers can focus that influence through motion and spoken words, but it’s willpower that’s the key.

An everyday battle might involve a spirit flooding a village, trying to drown people, while the Whisperer forces the water back to where it belongs. The battles in the book are significantly fiercer than that, though.


Are there more kinds of magic?
Whispers From The Depths is pretty focused in its scope. There’s a lot more I could have gone into, like the history of the spirits or the origin of the Whisperers’ power. I would love to visit that information in the future. For now, the world is zoomed in on Betka and her grandfather. It’s a story about humans in a world with magic, rather than a story about magic and humans.

That’s my roundabout way of saying there might more to magic in this world, but that information would be revealed as the story expands to different times and places.


What are the themes of the book?
Betka and Asi are Whisperers, both dealing with the same issues, but they approach the problems with different perspectives. A lot of the themes are tied into the things they debate or react to in differing ways. What does it mean to love the world when the world hates you back? How does love really conquer?

Vengeance. Survival. The role of traditions and past/religious wisdom in present turmoil.

Betka faces conflicts with her captors and the water spirit, but she also feels conflicted about her role as a Whisperer and the way she was taught to live.


What kinds of reader would enjoy Whispers From The Depths?
I aim for a balance of the terror of horror with the awe of fantasy. I want to be scary enough for horror fans but adventurous enough for fantasy fans. Good comparisons of that tone are Jurassic Park and Stranger Things.

If you want a medieval fantasy story with an emphasis on suspense, check it out. If you like books that raise moral questions while also entertaining, you’re my kind of reader.

PURCHASE WHISPERS FROM THE DEPTHS FROM:

UUP website | Amazon | Barnes &Noble | Apple | Kobo

C.W. Briar writes fantasy that's dark but hopeful, filled with wonder and humor along with the suspense and creepiness. His favorite stories are the ones that make him both smile and perch on the edge of his seat. By day, he works as a systems engineer, testing or even riding on trains, airplanes, and helicopters. At night, when not writing, he prepares fancy dinners and shows off his awesome corgis. He's a graduate of Binghamton University and lives in Upstate NY with his wife, three kids, and secret stashes of chocolate.

Sign up for newsletter exclusives through his website: http://www.cwbriar.com

Social Media Links:
https://www.facebook.com/CWBriar
https://twitter.com/CW_Briar
https://www.instagram.com/cw_briar/

#bookreview: Whispers From the Depths | C.W. Briar

Whispers From The Depths by C.W. Briar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Whisperers are trapped by their own powers. Although they have the power to speak to and control water spirits, they cannot use the same powers they wield to set themselves free—whatever harm they cause to others will be inflicted on themselves. When the tribute is late from Kysavar Castle, the king sends a team to find out what happened, and Betka, a palace Whisperer, gets herself sent there so she can find out what has happened to her sister. What she finds instead is horror—betrayal, mutiny, and a powerful water spirit gone rogue.

Opening with the dramatic fall of the Whisperer temple, the story jumps NINETY-TWO YEARS into the future, which was really annoying, because I wanted to know what happened to Eder. You do eventually find out what happened to him, but only in flashbacks, and some ingenious story weaving, but it was still… irritating.

That aside, Briar treats us to a story of contrasts: Betka, the bold, angry Whisperer, ready to rebel against the teaching of the order, vs Asi, the calm, timid Whisperer, who holds that by doing everything with love and according to the teachings of the order, they will be able to regain their freedom. Kuros and Vydan, almost-kind soldiers who do not hate the Whisperers, treating them as humans within the bounds of their orders vs Rorlen and Denogrid, hardened soldiers who bully and torture the Whisperers because of the powers they wield.

Whispers From the Depths holds no punches. It is dark and gritty, grim and full of death, and yet there is always this glimmer of hope, first held out by Asi—and then grasped by all the others—that love truly does conquer all.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

View all my reviews

PURCHASE WHISPERS FROM THE DEPTHS:

UUP website | Amazon | Barnes &Noble | Apple | Kobo

C.W. Briar writes fantasy that's dark but hopeful, filled with wonder and humor along with the suspense and creepiness. His favorite stories are the ones that make him both smile and perch on the edge of his seat. By day, he works as a systems engineer, testing or even riding on trains, airplanes, and helicopters. At night, when not writing, he prepares fancy dinners and shows off his awesome corgis. He's a graduate of Binghamton University and lives in Upstate NY with his wife, three kids, and secret stashes of chocolate.

Sign up for newsletter exclusives through his website: http://www.cwbriar.com

Social Media Links:
https://www.facebook.com/CWBriar
https://twitter.com/CW_Briar
https://www.instagram.com/cw_briar/

#bookreview: A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God Is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need

A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God Is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need by Cheryl Brodersen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Filled with anecdotes from Cheryl Brodersen's own life, A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need is an honest look at how much we need God's grace in our lives. Technically, most of the stuff here is applicable to everyone regardless of gender but Brodersen draws on examples of women from the Bible and women in her life, which somewhat skews the examples towards children and motherhood in some ways (though men can also relate. I mean I don't have children. Why is everything gendered ugh.) She also deals particularly with the false expectations of perfection, beauty standards, and self-condemnation that seems to plague women in more ways than men.

Brodersen invites you to reflect on your spiritual walk at the end of every chapter, closing with a prayer and a list of questions for consideration, which makes it great both for personal study, or for discussion with friends.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harvest House Publishers via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

View all my reviews