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Tea and a Read #5

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Hey, young bloods! For those of you who don't know, Tea and a Read is a link-up created by the lovely Kathryn where you share a book you've been reading and tea you've been drinking that month. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy!



The tea I've been drinking is slightly unusual: it's a dark chocolate and cardamom tea I bought in Guatemala. We went to the Chocolate Museum in Antigua one evening, and this is one of the things I got! It's slightly bitter, but with a hint of spice and fruitiness?? I just. I don't know how to describe it. But it's chocolate tea, so what more is there to say?


I've been reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (affectionally known by the fandom as The Brick), and I'm actually??? really??? enjoying it??? I decided to read it because I've been in the fandom so long I figured it was about time, but I didn't expect to like it. However, it's actually super good! 

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Let's chat! What teas (or other beverages!) have you been loving lately? How about books? Comment below, and remember that you are a very beautiful pickle. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

10 (More) Motivational Writing Quotes

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Hey, young bloods! A while back, I did a post where I shared some of my favorite motivational writing quotes, and you all seemed to like it. Plus, with Camp NaNo just around the corner, I know I (and a lot of other writers) could really use some motivation right about now. Therefore, without further ado, I present to you 10 (more) motivational writing quotes!











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I hoped these helped you! What do you turn to when you need motivation? Which quote was your favorite? And are you doing Camp NaNo? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles <3

Namarië,
Ellue

Some Thoughts on the American School System

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“Well now, my dear,” the teacher sighed,
“what do you wish to do with your life?”
“I’d like to hold a star in my hands,
And have a picnic on the moon,
And lunch with dodo birds on Mars,
And touch the life of someone far,
And travel to the Arctic blue,
And have a secret garden fair,
And snorkel with the Elven King,
And drive a yellow blue-striped car,
And listen to the fairies sing,
And make friends with a firefly,
And live till I’m ten-hundred-nine,
And let my memory never die.”
“That’s nice, my dear,” the teacher said.
“But why not normal goals instead?”
“But teacher dear,” was my reply,
“Who wants to say they did that with their life?”



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When I can't explain the thoughts in my head,
I give up the voice and pick up the pen.

Namarië,
Ellie

Snazzy Snippets #3

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Hey, young bloods! Today I'll be participating in Snazzy Snippets, a linkup for writers hosted by Emily @ Loony Literate and Alyssa @ The Devil Orders Takeout. This month's theme is "Snippets from Childhood", and these are from my sorcery quartet The World of the Four Pillars. I hope you enjoy!

1. A snippet where the characters consider their backstory.
2. A snippet featuring a child.
This next one is from a novel I wrote around two years ago, Red Rebel.

3. A snippet from something you wrote more than two years ago.


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Well, that's all for today's Snazzy Snippets! Which snippet was your favorite? How are your WIPs doing? TELL ME ALL THE THINGS, and remember that you are very beautiful pickles. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

15 Memorable Contemporary Names

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Hey, young bloods!

If you're ANYTHING like me, you spend forever thinking of the perfect name for your characters. Almost as much time as you'd spend naming your firstborn - no, scratch that. Your characters are way more important than your firstborn.


One thing I'm always on the lookout for when choosing character names is how unique the name is - Hermione and Katniss are memorable characters in part because of their cool names. So here are a few of my favorite memorable contemporary names, guaranteed to give your character a unique twist.

















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Which name was your favorite? What are your favorite contemporary names? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

Beautiful People #5 - Khadir

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Hey, young bloods! Today I'm linking up with Cait and Sky to bring you Beautiful People, where you answer questions about your book characters in an effort to get to know them better. With Camp NaNo in full swing, I've been totally and utterly submerged in my WIP novella Heaven Bleeds Fire. So today I'll be introducing Khadir - one of my smol demon beans - to y'all!

(Images from the Heaven Bleeds Fire Pinterest board.)

(Also, a small warning - this post contains some content that's pretty irreverent, so if you think that might upset you please feel free to click away.)

1. Do they want to get married and/or have children? Why or why not?
Marriage is a strong term, as among demons it tends to be more like two (or more) people deciding to be romantic partners for a while, then naturally drifting apart and finding new partners after a few hundred years. Regardless, however, Khadir isn't that interested - maybe sometime in the future he'll find a partner, but right now he's got a bit too much on his plate trying to topple Heaven and all. It's a full-time job, let me tell you.

2. What is their weapon of choice? (It doesn't necessarily have to be a physical weapon.)
CURSES. Khadir is super into curses and enchantments - for example, he has a garden of plants where he names each plant after a person he loves or hates, then nurtures the plants named after people he loves and slowly kills the plants named after people he hates. The luck of the plant is transferred to the person it's named after, and in this way he blesses his friends and fells his enemies.
(This only works on people who are less than or equally as powerful as he is, though, much to his chagrin.)

3. What's the nicest thing they've ever done for someone else, and why did they do it?
Khadir has done many generous things for people via his garden, but one thing that stands out is once when he performed a very complicated spell to take some health out of the plant bearing his name and transfer it to a plant bearing his friend Zaphrim's name. Zaphrim had just been through some pretty nasty physical abuse, and Khadir was trying to help repair injuries.

4. Have they ever been physically violent with someone, and what instigated it?
Khadir can count the number of days he hasn't been physically violent with someone on one hand. (And he has the normal amount of fingers, by the way.)

5. Are they a rule-follower or a rebel?
Khadir makes a point of following rules when he thinks they're fair and just, but if he comes across a rule he believes is wrong he'll probably bend it.
(Like that one against breaking out of Hell, for example.)

6. Are they organized or messy?
Khadir's organizational system can best be described as organized clutter. He tends to throw things in haphazard piles, but the different haphazard piles are different categories of things. That pile of socks is for walking long distances, and this pile is for lounging around.

7. What makes them feel loved, and who's the last person to make them feel this way?
Definitely Viola and Zaphrim, his two closest friends (and, later in the story, an angel named Safildor). It was probably one of those three.

8. What do they eat for breakfast?
Demons actually don't have to consume food while in Hell, but on Earth Khadir is regulated to his almost purely human form, which does need nutritious meals multiple times a day. These past couple years are the first time he's ever eaten human food, and he's discovered a particular fondness for coffee and Belgian waffles.

9. Have they ever lost someone close to them? What happened?
He set out on a mission to topple Heaven and destroy the angels responsible, that's what happened. His mentor, another demon who taught him most of the stuff he knows about curses and charms, was kidnapped, tortured, and eventually killed by a group of angels. (Similar things happened to Viola and Zaphrim, which is why the three of them are out on their mission.)

10. What's their treat of choice? (Or, if not food, how do they reward themselves?)
Khadir LOVES graphic t-shirts - he's often said they're his favorite thing humans ever invented. He owns plenty that say stuff like the ones below, and whenever he feels like he can treat himself he goes out and buys new ones. At this point, he probably has enough wear a different one every day of the month.



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Let's chat! How are all your WIPs doing? Are you participating in Camp NaNo? And are you planning on doing Beautiful People? (Hint: you should.) Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

With help from,

Current TBR Pile #4

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*TBR pile explodes*

Hey, young bloods! Recently I've added a lot of books to my TBR list, primarily a result of coming back from Guatemala and being OVERWHELMED BY ALL THE AWESOME REVIEWS THAT HAPPENED WHEN I WAS GONE. So today, I'll be sharing with you some of the books that have recently been chucked onto my monster of a TBR pile. :)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valante


This book reminds me so much of The Wizard of Oz! It's a whimsical Victorian-style fairytale my new friend recommended to me, and I'm super pumped to start it. PLUS ISN'T THAT COVER SO GORGEOUS.

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin


I'd seen this book floating around the blogosphere a lot, but it didn't really capture my attention until I read Adi's stunning review of it. I've never even heard of a YA fiction with gender fluid representation before, so I'm immensely excited to read it.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart


This is another one I'd seen around the blogosphere, but it wasn't until I read Anna's awesome review that I got interested. Before, I'd just dismissed it as a typical contemporary, but now it sounds really unique!

Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli


This is the result of yet another awesome review by Adi that HAS ME SHIPPING ALREADY. Plus, just like Symptoms, the representation is making me very excite!!!

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur


I've been searching for some new poetry books recently, and this one Michelle recommended looks really good! It's contemporary free verse poetry about heartbreak and healing, and although I usually don't go in for that sort of thing, I sneaked a peek at the contents on Amazon and the poems look amazing.

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga


After a friend mentioned this as being one of her current favorite books, I read the first chapter on Amazon and NOW I MUST FINISH IT. It's super good already!

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Um.

So, somehow I ended up with the majority of these being contemporaries?

*squints suspiciously at computer*

Usually I'm not one for contemporaries, but I guess that'll be changing soon! What's on your TBR pile? Do you have any recommendations for me? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. <3

Namarië,
Ellie
SaveSave

Melancholy Thoughts on a Rainy Day

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I am scared of the day when the birds disappear, when the song of the lark is gone.

When the natural beauty of their sound is overrun by the modern and artificial noises of beeping electronics and blaring car horns.

I am scared there will no longer be people who remember that there were olden days, that there was a time when the thick and wild Druidic woods stretched for thousands of miles in tangled, crazy beauty. When deer and berry bushes weren’t merely suburban accessories - when the birds sang.

I am sure we will always remember the widest canyons and the highest mountains and the deepest seas. But who will remember the ordinary woods, the ordinary sound of birdsong? What use is there, they will think.

The heavens and I cry for the birds, tears dripping from both our eyes.

Who will remember the random birds perching on the treebranches? Who will remember the way they sweep in great sheets across people’s front yards - their very last line of defense, their last plea for acknowledgement.

Someone must be ritual witness, someone must remain who remembers them. For I am scared not only for the day when we cannot hear the sound of the birds - but we forget what they sound like.

And decline to care.

Raindrops drip from the heavens and we weep together. We weep for the memories that are already dying.



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Namarië,
Ellie

A Novel Idea #2

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Hey, young bloods! This week I'm linking up with Sky and Ashley for A Novel Idea, a fabulous new writing link-up. This week, the prompt is to make a collage that represents one of your book characters. Because I'm actually a tad too obsessed with scrolling through Pinterest to find photos, I've bent the rules slightly and made a couple more. xD Without further ado, I hope you enjoy!


This is for Leonard, my teenage Leonardo da Vinci from my Renaissance artists retelling. 


This is Savannah, the steampunk-loving apprentice to the antagonist in my contemporary witches story.


And, finally, this is Eldaya. She's a young sorceress from my fantasy series The World of the Four Pillars.

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Which collage was your favorite? Comment below, and have an amazing day. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

8 Ways to Get to Know Your Characters

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Hey, young bloods! With Camp NaNo underway, I've been working a lot on characterization in the past month - i.e., getting to know the characters in my WIP and making sure they're well-rounded and consistent. I personally adore characters, and they're my favorite part of almost any story. However, even if you don't love them as much as I do, strong characters are very important in most any book whichever way you slice it. With that in mind, here are eight writing exercises I've been using this month to get to know and define my main characters. I hope some of them can help you!

1. Write a list of 20 facts the reader will never know about them. This will slowly seep into your writing, giving your character the vibe of having a life behind the pages.

2. Write them an obituary. This is an interesting way to see how other characters would view them, and it also helps snapshot how their defining characteristics shape their lives.

3. Have them take the Myers-Briggs personality test. Make sure you don't work exclusively off this - many people are combinations of different personality types, and your characters should be no different. But if you have no idea where to start with a particularly stubborn character, this is a great place to begin and definitely gets you thinking in the right direction.

4. Have them write a letter to you, another character, or a historical figure. How does your character react to different types of people and their actions? This is a great way to find out - but no cheating! Don't just do a letter they write during the story anyway.

5. Write two short paragraphs describing them - once to be repulsed by them, once to love them. This is also very helpful for getting to the bottom of how other characters might view them and react to their actions. Plus, it makes sure every character has a good balance of flaws and good traits.

6. Get to the bottom of their motive. One of my characters, Sabina (formerly Ydda) Del'Takshiva, grew up very poor, and her family was the only thing that kept her childhood together. As she matured into adulthood, family continued to be very important to her because of its early effects on her, so whenever she sees someone who looks like they need a guiding or mothering figure she'll step in. What's one of your character's defining traits, and how will it subtly affect their actions and reactions?

7. Find their aesthetic. This is a great one if, like me, you're addicted to Pinterest. xD What calms them down; what atmosphere do they like? Are they a coffee shop on a rainy day kind of person, or watching sunsets from the roof of an abandoned building? Collect some pictures that remind you of your character, and notice any themes that develop.

8. Write a journal entry (or three). Pick an average day in your character's life and have them write a journal entry about it. Although this can be a slightly more time-consuming one (depending how many you do and how much time you put into them), this helps you pull all your character's different traits together to create a cohesive person.

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I hope these helped you :) How do you get to know your characters? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

Let's Discuss Mental Illness Representation in YA

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So, unless you live under a rock or something (although as a person who does sometimes live under a rock, I can testify it can actually be quite nice), you've probably noticed the growing amount of mental illness representation in YA. Now more than ever, books are dealing with depression, anxiety, and other issues. Is this recent trend really great, or does it have some bad parts to it? I enlisted the help of some of my fellow bloggers to discuss the different aspects of mental illness representation in YA and what they'd like to see more of in the future.


Young Adult fiction has gotten way better over the past couple of years about mental illness, what with books like All the Bright Places, My Heart and Other Black Holes, Love Letters to the Dead, and Falling Into Place. And yet, it sometimes seems like depression is the only mental illness represented. Don't get me wrong, it's good that depression is being represented, but what about the other mental illnesses out there, that you have to struggle to find anything about? What about OCD, ADHD, Bipolar disorder, PTSD, and anxiety? I can think of three books that protray anxiety well. Three. 
And I can't speak for any of the others, here, but anxiety is horribly misrepresented. Anxiety is not all hyperventilating and running away. Anxiety is mostly strange, little things that can cause you to spiral into a panic attack, things as small as being in an elevator with a complete stranger. Finding Audrey was a horrible misrepresentation of social anxiety, Fangirl was a great one.
Finally, there is one thing we need to stop, right away: the love cures mental illness thing. Finding a boyfriend or a girlfriend DOES NOT mean you get magically better. They can help, sure, but in the same way a best friend might be able to talk you down from a panic attack. To all writers of mental illness: do not do this.




Readers have been calling for diverse books for a while-- for more LGBTQ+ focus, more POC (people of color) characters, more everything that is outside of the normal YA focus of white, prosperous, and straight. Mental illness is, to me, one of the most important things us readers have clamored for-- yet I can only really count on one hand the number of YA books I’ve read this year that deal with mental illnesses. LGBTQ+ focus has increased greatly over the years, and many authors of today are implementing more and more characters of different origins and races. But I feel like there are still so few mental illness books, and the ones that are out there, seem mostly to be hidden/don’t get the publicity that other YA books get.
One of the books I read in May was A Court of Mist and Fury (Sarah J Maas), and it quickly became my all-time favorite book. Normally that wouldn’t mean much, because I’m a pretty devout Maas fan, but the thing about ACOMAF is that it’s different. It’s a fantasy book whose focus is primarily on PTSD and depression, and I’ve yet to read any other book that deals with mental illness like this book did. Majority of the books I’ve read that represent mental illness, represent it in a way where you almost can’t tell that the character has depression, anxiety, etc. They often make use of scenarios, or almost metaphorical styles of writing to portray that a character is suffering from an illness. (examples: We Are the Ants, A Monster Calls, ) And don’t get me wrong, this does work in some stories! But to me, it almost seems like YA authors don’t think us readers can handle mental illness looked at head-on, or that it’s a topic that needs to be skirted around. I want to know what a regular day is like for those who struggle with bulimia. I want to know how someone who struggles with a bipolar disorder feels. I want to be able to walk into a store and not have to spend hours combing through books online trying to find ones that focus on mental illness beforehand. I want to read books by authors who understand that the YA audience is an intelligent body of bright people, and authors who take the time to meticulously research what they're talking about. 
In A Court of Mist and Fury, nothing was sugar-coated, no topic was avoided. The issues that the main character dealt with were written in such a way that you understood her struggles and her pain, regardless of whether you'd dealt personally with similar things, or not. In my case, it hit pretty close to home, and it made me feel so much better, just to be able to relate to something at that time. It was vivid and it was real
And I feel like that's something we definitely need more of in YA. 
We've truly advanced so much in the past few years with diverse books, but I think we can do more. I think we need to do more. Because yes, books are supposed to be an escape. But they're also meant to be a comfort as well. And I think the more YA books that touch on mental illness, the more teens/adults there will be in the world, that feel a little less alone in what they're going through. ❤︎



Imogen Elvis @ Gossiping with Dragons

Mental illness in books is so much better represented now than it was a few years ago. I really love books like The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten and Are You Seeing Me? by Darren Groth. They represent mental illness in a way that makes it approachable, understandable and relatable. I’m excited to read more books like these in the future. At the same time, I think there’s still room for improvement.

I want to see less books where characters are ‘cured’ at the end. Mental illness is not something you can cure, and I think books that show a character being ‘cured’ do real sufferers of mental illness a huge disservice. One of my sisters has bipolar disorder. For her, there isn’t a moment of ‘I’m all better now’. There are good times, and then there are low times. But there no time when they’re ‘cured’ in any real capacity. I want to see more realistic portrayals of life with a mental illness. Because those are powerful and wonderful and I want to hug them so hard.

I’d also love to see more books containing characters who have mental illnesses, but that aren’t about mental illness. That’s not to say that we don’t need more books directly dealing with mental illness, because we definitely do. But at the same time, I’ve read very few books where a cast member has a mental illness, and it’s not a huge part of the plot. Where are the depressed characters on an epic quest?
A great example of this done well is actually a British crime show called Whitechapel. The main character has OCD and struggles with it throughout the show. But it’s part of who he is, not what the show is about. And while it complicates matters, his OCD isn’t ever really a primary focus. I want more of these characters who live lives and have adventures, and also have some form of mental illness.



Mental illness in YA means a lot to me as I suffer from a mental illness as well as many of my family members and a few of my friends do too. I like how authors are incorporating mental illness into their books, as I haven't seen it around much before late 2015. But to me, I don't see enough representation and not close to enough accurate representation. It is difficult to put mental illnesses into books without having a mental illness, but authors already do a lot of research for their books and I think that they could put forth the extra effort again. Of course there's hundreds of mental illnesses that haven't been put into YA, however as much as I'd like to see them represented, I don't think that authors will be able to represent them all. Some good ways to represent mental illness are by having select characters have a certain mental illness and showing how it can impact life and people around those characters and how it prevents people from doing day to day things. Bad representation can be romanticizing mental illnesses and/or making fun of them. Mental illnesses that are displayed inaccurately and are shown as what people commonly think they are like (like depression is mainly having suicidal thoughts is a common belief) is bad representation, authors can take the time to research and show mental illnesses as they really are. 




Something I’ve been overjoyed to see lately in YA books, is a ton of very good representations of mental health. All kinds of characters, all ages, from all walks of life. It’s very refreshing. But I noticed a trend in these representations: they are all confined to one genre, contemporary. I get why this is, but just think how cool it’d be to have a high fantasy novel, and the hero/heroine has schizophrenia, or bipolar. It’d sure as heck make the hero/heroine more relatable for a lot of people, and make them more real, instead of perfect (aka, a Mary Sue.)  
On the topic of trends, I’m very worried that mental health in YA is just another trend. Everybody’s writing a book about mental health, and then the next thing you know, it’ll be a thing of the past. It’s happened before, and it will happen again. Mental health, however, should be more than a trend. It’s something that is a reality for many, many people, and should always be talked about, and not shoved aside to make way for a new trend. If authors wrote more characters with mental health issues, and not more books about mental health, it’d preserve mental health in YA longer. Not to say books about mental health are bad or anything. They aren’t. But soon people will get bored of them (It’s baffling, but yes, people can grow tired of reading about real issues) and more onto the next ‘big thing’. Characters with mental health issues who star in a book that isn’t specifically about mental health would solve that problem.
I’m not sure what a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ representation of mental health would be. I think it’s a very personal thing. For an instance, All The Bright Places (it’s mainly to do with bipolar) Now I know someone who has bipolar, and for me, it was a very real, accurate representation of what bipolar is. But other people don’t seem to agree. So as I said, it’s a very personal thing. However, I would like to say, if you read a book about mental health, and you don’t like it, please be respectful if and when you do a review, because you never know, the author could be struggling with the same problems as the character in the book, or that someone she/he is close to is, and if you rant and rave about it, you are probably really, really hurting them. For example, All The Bright Places is based off of an experience Jennifer Niven had when she was a teenager. She loved a boy who had bipolar, and he ended up killing himself. She was the one who found him. Sounds pretty much the same as ATBP, eh? So why do people say she misrepresented bipolar? Every case is different, and she was telling a personal story. So yes, when reviewing a book on a sensitive topic, it’s in the best interests of all to remain respectful.
One illness I’d like to see more of is schizophrenia. Now I understand that to do that properly would require a ton of research, but when you look at how many stories there are of mental health, and then look at the percentage of them that are about schizophrenia, it’s very saddening.  I’ve only ever read one book with a main character who had it (the Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong. It was very well done.) That’s something I’d like to see more of.



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Sound off in the comments! What do you think of mental illness representation in YA? Are there any illnesses you think should be represented more? And are there any examples of really good or bad representation that stand out to you? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. 

Namarië,
Ellie

Unpopular Opinions: Fantasy Retellings

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If there's one trend that's totally swept the YA bookosphere in the past year, it's this: fantasy retellings. Everyone and their mother is reading them, writing them, and generally squealing + dying over them.

Except me.

Now, don't get me wrong - when this sub genre first exploded on the scene, I was just as big a fan as anyone else. There were so many unique twists and takes on classic tales, because close to nothing like this had ever been done before. Anything and everything was different and groundbreaking.

But it seems like this genre has gotten stuck in a rut recently.

Instead of branching out from high fantasy retellings to historical, sci-fi, or dystopian, it seems like every retelling is about princesses. Beauty and the Beast, the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Cinderella - I've lost count of how many retellings I've seen of each of these tales, plus of many more classic princess stories. I've gotten sick of hearing about the modern Cinderella or, even worse, the it's-still-fantasy-but-it's-my-own-universe-instead-of-the-fantasy-universe-the-story-was-originally-in Belle. Where are my contemporary Hamlets, my space-themed Sieges of Troy?

It seems like this genre is just a broken record repeating over and over, and I'm very tired of it.

- rant over -

So, what do you think of fantasy retellings? Are you tired of these stories, or do you like them? And what other retellings would you like to see? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. <3

Also, before I go, I created a survey for you to give me feedback on my blog! Click here to take it - I'd really appreciate it :)

Namarië,
Ellie

A Novel Idea #3

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Hey, young bloods! Today I'm linking up with Sky and Ashley for A Novel Idea, a fabulous weekly writing link-up. This week, the prompt is to post a quote from one of your WIPs, so I'll be sharing a snippet from The Other Side of Hope. It's the third book in my sorcery quartet (trilogy? who even knows at this point) - and shhhh, yes, I know I'm not even halfway done with the first book. (NO ONE NEEDS TO KNOW.) Sometimes snippets just scream at me to be written and I must oblige. xD Like the following quote:

The sun was ever-shining in the Red City.
Now, it being evening, the sun had cooled from the bright white fire it had been at midday to a smoky red ember. It cast bloody light through the streets of the City, where cackles and screeches roiled around in a deafening soup of noise. Xiath’s kingdom was a land of the Undead, of fire demons who made deals with mortal thieves and murderers and evil men. It was a land forever hot and wicked and haunted by those who had sold their souls or were in the market for buying - an earthly Hell. And the Red City, the capital, was where most deals were made.

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I hope you enjoyed that small snippet of writing. <3 Also, before I go, I created a survey for you to give me feedback on my blog! Click here to take it - I'd really appreciate it :)

Let's chat! Do you ever skip ahead in your writing? And are you participating in A Novel Idea? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

My 5 Best Blog Design Tips

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Hey, young bloods! Whether you're a lifestyle, literature, or fandom blog, blog design is one of the most important aspects of your brand. Your design is the first thing someone notices when someone comes to your site - and perhaps the biggest factor in whether they leave or stay. As a result, blog design is something I used to dread, but recently I've developed a huge love for it. Here are a few tips + tricks I've picked up while researching blog design - I hope some of them can help you!

1. Keep it focused. Make sure your design is focused and clean - figure out where you want the reader to look and pick a design that ensures they're looking there pretty much all the time.

2. Pick a coherent color scheme. Pick a clean and aesthetically pleasing color scheme - usually, this can be accomplished by picking two neutrals (for me, that's white and grey) and one or two non-neutral colors (sea green). The neutrals give the design a sleek and professional look, and the pops of color give off a creative and friendly vibe.

    

3. Break up long paragraphs. Readers will flinch away from long paragraphs of text, no matter how interesting your content is. Breaking up your posts with lists, bullet points, sub headings, and images helps keep your readers engaged. With my post on mental illness in YA, I could easily have ended up with long, hard-to-read paragraphs of text. Instead, I created several graphics to sprinkle in between the paragraphs and also made use of sub headings. This made the post more interesting to look at and read.

4. Mix opposite fonts. With font mixing, opposites usually attract - a cursive scrawl balances out a professional sans serif, and a taller font looks good with a shorter one. Below, I've included a handy guide for different ways you can mix fonts + examples of what might look good.


5. Make it unique! Experiment with atypical layouts and graphics. Push aside your preconceptions about what a blog "should" look like and focus instead on what you want it to look like. A unique blog design intrigues the reader - just make sure it's still easy to read. Ava @ Quiet Land is someone who I think strikes the balance between unique and readable exceptionally well.

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What are some of your blog design tips? Comment below - let's help each other out!

Namarië,
Ellie

Current TBR Pile #5

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Hey, young bloods!

If you're like me, you love reading and have an unfortunate habit of being drowned by your TBR pile. Today, I figured I'd share with you my current list of TBRs - I hope you enjoy. :)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller


After seeing a ton of fandom stuff about this on Tumblr (wink wink nudge nudge), I finally gave in and checked it out on Amazon + Goodreads. OH MY LORD THIS LOOKS SO GOOD. I already ship Patrochilles hardcore, and that cover is just too gorgeous.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo


I'd seen this book floating around the blogosphere, but I didn't really pay it any attention until I read Áine's review. I LOVE morally grey characters, and a book filled to the brim with them??? SIGN ME THE HECK UP.

Windwitch by Susan Dennard


JANUARY 3RD 2017, PEOPLE. PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDARS.

This sequel to Truthwitch promises to focus on Merik, Prince of Nubrevna and a Windwitch. Although I am firmly of the opinion that the Witchlands characters work best when they're all together and are less enjoyable when separate, I'm still extremely excited to read this as I enjoyed the preceding novel quite a bit.

PLUS THAT COVER Y'ALL. I AM DEAD.

Ruler of the Night by David Morrell


Another impending release (this one in November, I believe), Ruler is the final book in the Thomas de Quincey series and the sequel to Inspector of the Dead. I SWEAR IF EMILY ENDS UP WITH JOSEPH I'M GONNA PULL A MARIUS PONTMERCY AND SLAM MY HEAD INTO A TREE.

(Shush. Do not question the fangirl madness.)

Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick


SHUSH I KNOW I AM A NERD.

(Also serious Nathaniel Philbrick trash. So why are we even surprised, honestly.)

Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne


And aside from being a nerd, I am apparently also five. But Milne was my childhood and his poetry is gorgeous, so I fully intend to pick up, read, bookmark, dog-ear, and treasure this book very shortly.

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Let's chat! What's on your TBR pile? Do you have any recommendations for me? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles <3

Namarië,
Ellie

Mini Reviews: In Which I Am Disappointed

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AKA: Ellie can't get her crap together enough to write full-on reviews for any of these books, so you get shortened versions of a bunch of reviews.

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?

Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is…Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life.

On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.


3/5 slightly judgmental cats

I'm not quite sure what to think of this book.

Everyone I know who's read it ADORED it. Like, this book was the BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO THEM. So I was expecting some kind of Harry Potter or Hunger Games level masterpiece, and instead.....I liked it. In fact, I really liked it. But I did not love it.

In terms of the representation and social problems addressed, this book was groundbreaking. I believe it tackled gender fluid issues in an honest yet respectful way, and it really deepened my understanding of the non-cis community, gender fluid people in particular. Furthermore, I appreciated how it showed that Sierra had plenty of problems of her own that caused her to act out in the way she did.

So was this book good? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did it effectively address important issues? Absolutely. But was it the book of the century? No.

Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell

The year is 1855. The Crimean War is raging. The incompetence of British commanders causes the fall of the English government. The Empire teeters. Amid this crisis comes opium-eater Thomas De Quincey, one of the most notorious and brilliant personalities of Victorian England. Along with his irrepressible daughter, Emily, and their Scotland Yard companions, Ryan and Becker, De Quincey finds himself confronted by an adversary who threatens the heart of the nation.

This killer targets members of the upper echelons of British society, leaving with each corpse the name of someone who previously attempted to kill Queen Victoria. The evidence indicates that the ultimate victim will be Victoria herself.







3/5 glamorous pups

I was gifted this book at a writer's workshop, and (after staring at that beautiful cover for an inordinately long period of time) I finished it several days later with mixed feelings.

One thing Mr. Morrell talked about a lot in his workshop was to limit descriptive imagery to just a few sentences here and there and restrict your dialogue tags to words like "said" and "asked", as opposed to "hissed" or "cried", for example. I disagree quite a bit with both of these ideas, and he definitely followed his own advice in this book. As intriguing as the plot and characters were, I found that the writing wasn't particularly engaging. It always felt like I was reading a book, not experiencing a book - I never felt sucked into the story. 

However, the clever plot and interesting characters were enough to salvage this story, and they're the reason I'm planning on reading the next book.

Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...










2/5 cuddly angels
"JOHN GREEN!" everyone in the book community says, running about and flailing. "JOHN GREEN JOHN GREEN JOHN GREEN!"

"John Green?" I say, after reading this book, my introduction to the aforementioned apparent writing god. "John.....Green?"

I don't like romance novels, so instead of TFIOS I elected to start my John Green journey with Paper Towns. I can't say I'm glad I did.

This novel started off fast-paced, engaging, and real. The characters leapt out of the pages and talked to me, and I was sucked into the world of Margo and Q. But then, around the halfway mark, John Green must have forgotten what writing was, I honestly don't know. Because the pacing slowed to a crawl, the plot became repetitive, and the characters folded into one-dimensional versions of their past selves. I almost didn't finish the book - it took me one hour to get through the first half and three days to get through the second.

This book does not at all leave me eager to read more John Green, and I doubt I will, at least for a long while. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
 

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Let's chat! Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Have you been underwhelmed by any books recently? Comment below, and have a lovely day <3

Namarië,
Ellie

5 Popular Authors I've Never Read

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It is a scientifically proven fact that I live under a rock.

(Exhibit A: I didn't know what Pokémon was until a few months ago.)

So even though I'm a huge bookworm, I often don't hear about popular authors until the buzz has almost died down. And even when I do hear about them, I'm rarely inclined to try them out. As a result, there's quite a long list of very popular authors I've never read....here are a few.

1. V.E. Schwab. This one makes the least sense, as her books sound EXACTLY like the kind of stuff I'd like. Dark fantasy with lots of magic? That's my jam! I guess the hype scares me away......?

2. Cassandra Clare. This one is mainly because I'd have no idea where to start. From what I can gather, it sounds like there are ten trillion interweaving series with spinoffs and prequels galore except you have to read them in the right order or you will be Majorly Confused. Or maybe I'm just Majorly Confused. It's probably that.

3. Rick Riordan. Like Ms. Clare above, this one confuses the hell out of me. There seem to be about six million books, all taking place in the same universe, with overlapping characters and timelines and gahhhh. Plus, I believe most of his novels are MG, so I don't know if I would still enjoy them.

4. Marissa Meyer. I think this one is because the Lunar Chronicles have never really appealed to me - it's rare I enjoy fantasy retellings, plus sci-fi has never been my thing.

5. Maggie Stiefvater. I've been fiddling with the idea of trying The Raven Cycle for a while, but for a long time it's been like it is with Ms. Schwab - the hype freaks me out because I don't want to be disappointed. Plus, I'm going to be a black sheep and voice the opinion that the RC covers are, in my opinion, some of the ugliest I've seen in a while. For a solid few weeks, I literally went out of my way to avoid reviews of the series because I didn't want to have to look at the covers. *hides from rotten tomatoes*

Aaaaand I've officially either scared off or offended all of my followers now. Great.

Let's chat! I would ask if you've read any of these authors, but I'm pretty sure the answer would be yes. So, which one of these authors is your favorite? Do you have any specific recommendations of books by them I should try? And CAN YOU MAKE ANY SENSE OF THE TANGLE THAT IS CASSANDRA CLARE AND RICK RIORDAN BECAUSE I CANNOT. Comment below, and have an awesome day. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

P.S. - I got a Goodreads! If you have one as well, comment your user below and I'll befriend you if I haven't already. :)

The Musical Book Tag!

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In which no one nominated me for a thing and I do not care.

Hey, young bloods! Today I'm going to be doing the Musical Book Tag because I am musical trash and also a book nerd but mainly musical trash.


WICKED: FAVORITE FICTIONAL FRIENDSHIP

Oh my God. Nobby Nobs and Sergeant Colon from Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett are absolutely brilliant. (They appear in other novels as well, but GG is their first appearance.) They're two ultra lazy cops - one (Nobs) who is probably more criminal than cop, and the other (Colon) who runs away from any crime he sees. Their relationship has a sweet and funny mix of sentimental and humorous moments, and honestly how anyone can live without them in their life is beyond me.

SWEENEY TODD: FAVORITE VILLAIN

100% Aeduan from Truthwitch. HE'S SUCH A SMOL SWEET BEAN I WANT HIM TO WIN EVERYTHING.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: FAVORITE LOVE TRIANGLE

Love triangles are a guilty pleasure of mine, not gonna lie. Emily-Joseph-Sean from Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell is one I'm particularly invested in - Emily's a forward-thinking, bloomer-sporting nurse in Victorian England, and Joseph Becker and Sean Ryan are both police officers at Scotland Yard. 

(In case you were wondering, I'm 100% rooting for Sean.)

THE LION KING: FAVORITE SIDEKICK

*AGGRESSIVELY FLAILS AND SCREAMS* GASPODE THE WONDER DOG.

It has come to my attention that I have not discussed Gaspode enough on this blog. Therefore, this is Gaspode, the world's most amazingly sarcastic talking terrier:


And these are some things he's said:


Bonus:




GREASE: LEAST FAVORITE ENDING

Definitely Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. The ending was both depressing - there's no indication that Leonard's situation will improve - and awkward - the way it was written, leaving off on such an abrupt note, left me searching for more.

MATILDA: FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTION

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, hands down. Whereas I despised the book - it bored me to no end and took a couple tries to get through - the movie was one of my favorites of all time.

LES MISÉRABLES: FAVORITE CHARACTER DEATH


SARUMAN. Is it bad that I like Sauron more than him?? While reading The Return of the King, my biggest fear was not that Frodo or Sam might die, but that Saruman might live.

I TAG

Anyone at all who wants to do this! Feel free to add/change up what musicals are used if you want :)

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Let's chat! Who are your favorite villains? Sidekicks? What book to movie adaptions do you think were done well and which ones failed miserably? Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles <3

Namarië,
Ellie

My NaNo Project | Heaven Bleeds Fire

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Hey, young bloods!

This month was my first time trying out NaNo - and, although I didn't finish, I did get a huge amount of writing + plotting done that wouldn't have happened otherwise. In a blog survey I recently put out, several of you seemed interested in learning more about my WIPs - so today I'll be introducing you to my NaNo novella Heaven Bleeds Fire! Snippets, character profiles, and synopses lie ahead - so let us begin!

(Note: I copied and pasted a lot of this from various Google Docs, so my apologies if some of the formatting is off.)


Behind the Scenes

I'll be brief here, but: HBF is an intensely personal piece for me to write. I started out telling this story because I wanted to talk about these characters, this world - but over time, it became more of a story I was telling because I wanted to communicate several important themes. I wanted to warn against the dangers of self-righteousness and persecuting or abusing those you look down upon. I wanted to warn against believing that those you look up to are infallible. And I wanted to show that the people on the other side of the argument aren't usually evil or out to make everybody miserable - they're merely people trying to do what they think is right, just like us.

To summarize: his story is less of a story told for entertainment and more of a contemplation of the above ideas through the vehicle of a story.


Summary

The Second Heavenly War is not going well. At least, not for Safildor.
Heaven is getting restless after an eternity with Michael as God's favored angel, and a revolution soon arises with Gabriel as the figurehead. Caught in the crossfire is Safildor, an angel just trying to live out an ordinary life in Heaven. But when he's kidnapped by a band of demons, Safi is used as a pawn in their quest for vengeance against several angels Safi once knew. Between hair's-breadth escapades and chatting up the Grim Reaper's secretary, Safi's perceptions of right and wrong are turned upside down as he learns to see the evil side of those he once worshipped and the good side of those he once thought impossible to save - just in time to find out he might lose them all.
Angelic anarchy.
Demonic desolation.
Did you know that heaven bleeds fire?



Characters





Can you tell that I really ship Safi and Zaphrim because I really ship Safi and Zaphrim. YOU DON'T KNOW THE AMOUNT OF SELF-CONTROL IT TOOK TO NOT MAKE THEM CANON.

(EDIT AS OF TWO DAYS LATER: they are now canon. fml.)

Snippets

“The Bible says homosexuality is wrong,” Viola pointed out. It was not in a negative way, simply in an interested way. She was gauging Safi’s reaction.

“Yes, well.” Safi shifted uncomfortably. “I - uh. Certainly the Bible says that, and the big police-y angels, Gabriel and Michael among them, always make a point of enforcing that law. But, well - I know some angels who are homosexual. And the Bible also says you’re not allowed to eat shrimp, and I don’t see any mass protests outside seafood eateries.”

Viola laughed, her hair shimmering.

Safi sighed. “Is it that obvious?”

Viola tipped her head up to the ceiling, a grin splitting her face. “Safi,” she said. “I’ve never had good ‘gaydar’ by any means. In fact, I’m notoriously bad at it. But even I could sense your bisexuality from a mile away.”

“You might as well walk around with a neon sign,” added Khadir.


---

When unfolded, demon wings were vast and terrifying voids of darkness, so black the individual feathers were almost impossible to make out. And here they were, folded neat and compact like bedsheets at the Lavender Lady’s back like it was the most natural thing in the world, and somehow that terrified Safi even more than the wings themselves - the fact that something so huge and horrifying and evil, something he had been brought up to fear since the Fall, the symbols of everything that was wrong with the world and the sinful darkness swallowing humanity - that these things could be so nicely folded up to look like small, innocent little things. Like cherub wings that were merely discolored. The fact that something so intrinsically evil could be disguised as something so innocent and ordinary.



---

They stood on an outcropping just about five feet above a huge pool of violent green waves, the tempest flinging cool white spray onto Safi’s face. Several feet away, a huge waterfall roared down a jagged grey cliff and crashed into the water below. But what made Safi gasp the loudest was the view of Eden stretched out before him - the misty, luscious green forests, filled with trees so tall they seemed to touch the sky; the fields overflowing with purple and red flowers, a perpetual snapshot of the idyllic afternoon day; and the canyons, cliffs of jagged, sharp beauty, the kind of beauty you feared as much as you loved, beauty colored in strips of purple, pink, and orange - a sunset immortalized in stone.


---

The entire world was dark.

Not silky, thin darkness, the kind that merely veiled the sunlight and could be brushed away with a sweep of the hand. Nor was it cool, calming darkness, the kind that clung to you like damp clothes and wreathed the stars in crowns of night. No - this was thick, heavy darkness, darkness that threatened to choke Safi, darkness that made him gasp for breath. This was darkness that weighed down on his chest and almost crushed him, darkness that blinded him to the fact he had ever been able to see and made him reach out blindly, desperately groping for some salvation.

He could not remember that he had ever been anything outside this void. The very concept seemed foreign to him.

Sound seemed to whisper along the edge of the void, and then he could remember no more.


---

“Okay, first of all,” Viola said, “we’re not in the middle of nowhere, we’re in Montana,” She flung out her arm to gesture to the land around her.
“And the difference is…..?”


---

It was at this point that Safi realized he hadn’t seen Zaphrim look at the menu this entire time.

“I’ll have a ham and marmalade sandwich,” Zaphrim announced, drumming their fingers on the tabletop and staring idly at the pepper shaker.


The waitress did a double take.

“I’m sorry, sir, I-”

“You did hear me correctly,” Zaphrim stated. “Ham and marmalade. Oh, and an oreo milkshake, too.” There was the sound of a loud thump beneath the table, and Zaphrim winced and sucked in a bit of breath. “Please.”

“Ham...and...marmalade? I’m sorry, sir, that’s not on the menu.”

For the first time, Zaphrim turned to look at the waitress. She shifted and inhaled slightly under their piercing gaze.

“Do you have ham?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you have marmalade?”

“I believe so, sir.”

“Have you ever had a ham and marmalade sandwich?”

“Me, personally? Er, no, sir.”

“Then do you have any right to judge my sandwich choices?”

“Um.....no….sir….”

“I will have a ham and marmalade sandwich,” Zaphrim reiterated, turning back to the pepper shaker.

Viola was trying very hard not to laugh.

“All right, sir,” the waitress said, shaky and dubious. She picked up the menus and walked off, heels clicking on the tile floor.

“And don’t forget the milkshake!” Zaphrim called.


---

Lonely - what a strange word to an angel. In Heaven, he had been in the vicinity of God the Father at all times. He had known a total completeness, a joy, a feeling of being incomprehensibly filled to the brim with love and happiness. Even when he got into fights with other angels, he always ended the day feeling happy and warm because God was here, where he was, and Safi knew he would be taken care of. The sublime joy of Heaven, the company of other angels, and the oversight of God had kept him feeling cared for and protected at all times, but now he was out in a cold, dark world, a whole other physical plane, where he was empty and hollow and felt like a piece of his soul had been cut out and thrown away. He longed to reach out into the darkness, grasping and straining like a blind man, to grab onto his Creator’s hand or even Gabriel’s and be told that everything would be okay, that he was going to be protected - but he knew that if he reached out his arm, he would be greeted by only the cold of unforgiving night. There would be no one, there could be no one, he was cut off entirely from Heaven, and he doubled over in an attempt to warm and fill the hollow coldness inside him. It didn’t work.

He had begun this day in the light of an orange sunrise on the outskirts of Eden, foolishly eager for battle, for the chance to fight for a better world. And he had been stripped and beaten and bled and wrung out until all his angry energy, all his happy energy, all his anything was gone. He would have cried if he had any tears left. He felt like a fruit which had shriveled up in the sun and now had no more taste to it - he was just a limp pile of flesh and bone. Even the ability to feel was stripped from him, and so he laid exhausted and depleted and miserable and mourned silently in his head for the memory of emotion.


---

“Exit 36 in one mile.”

“No.”

“522 miles to St. Paul!”

“We’re not even going there, Khadir.”

“Please keep left of work site.”

“Shut up.”

Safi added one more thing to his mental file on Khadir: When bored on a road trip, the demon likes to read road signs out loud in various horrible accents.

“Buckle up, Missouri. It’s the law!”

“What was that even supposed to be?” snapped Viola.

“Russian.”

“It sounded like you were dying.”


---

Zaphrim opened their eyes, tilted their head back, and appeared to consider the sky. “Have you ever stood on a mountain-top and watched the sunset splash across the landscape below you?” they asked. “Have you ever roared down a country road at top speed; have you ever done whatever you wanted to do, whenever you wanted to do it, simply because you could? Have you ever felt the breeze on your face and the ocean on your skin and thought to yourself, this world is mine? Mine to explore, to seek out all the hidden treasures and nooks and crannies, to make friends with the greatest tigers in the jungle and the meekest fish in the sea? Have you ever looked the stars in the eye and cupped your own destiny in the palm of your hand, yours to shape and bend as you wish?” They smirked at the expression on Safi’s face. “No? Then you do not know what it is to be free."


---

Forget iHop, Safi decided. Denny’s was in a jiffy.

(This was a phrase he had learned from Khadir. He wasn’t quite sure what it meant, so he’d been using it in different contexts and judging the others’ reactions. He was fairly sure that this time he’d gotten it right.)

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Well, that's all for today! Which snippet was your favorite? Which character do you think you're most like? (I'm totally Viola.) Comment below, and remember that you are all very beautiful pickles. <3

Namarië,
Ellie

5 Ways to Boost Blog Traffic With Pinterest

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So, here's the thing: I'm serious Pinterest trash.

Like, some people spend all their time on Tumblr, some on Twitter. But me? I'm a Pinterest girl.

So Pinterest is the social media site I harness most when I'm promoting my blog. Lately, I've been getting some really good traffic from Pinterest, so I thought I'd share a few ways to boost your blog traffic using this site.

1. Create pinnable images. Pinterest is an image-based site, so how attractive your pin is will determine whether or not people click on it. When creating images for your posts, take extra time to make them beautiful and eye-catching, so there will be a better chance of people noticing them. Making your images square or vertical instead of horizontal also really helps, as does making them consistent. Whether that means using similar fonts, colors, or photos each time, it helps establish your brand across the site.

2. Pin to multiple boards. If you're pinning an image from one of your posts, make sure to pin it to all boards it's relevant to. For example, I pinned my 15 Memorable Contemporary Names post to both my On the Blog and Writing: Names boards. This increases the amount of people who will see the pin.

3. Build a following. The more people following you, the more people automatically get your content in their feed. Take a little time to focus on building up your Pinterest following - you can do this by

  • Creating aesthetically-pleasing, consistent board covers
  • Pinning frequently and consistently - if you have too much of a life to be on Pinterest 24/7, pin-scheduling services like Tailward and ViralWoot can help.
  • Commenting on other's pins - people frequently like and repin others' content on Pinterest, but comments are rarer and will definitely get you noticed.
  • Naming your boards things people will search for - for example, name your cooking board "Healthy, Easy Vegan" instead of "I Want to Eat This!". I guarantee you, more people will be searching for the former than the latter.
  • Having a few boards that cover popular topics. I realize you may not be into fashion, baking, interior design, and travel. But all those are very popular topics on Pinterest, so if you can have a board for just one of them it will help boost the amount of people who stumble on your account.

4. Flaunt your blog. I put the fact that I'm a blogger and a brief, catchy description of my content in my bio. In addition, I also have a board solely for my blog posts. In case anyone wasn't clear I'm a blogger before, they are now, and they know exactly what my content is about and are presented with a portfolio of my best posts. This makes them much more likely to check out my site.

5. Make sure there's a Pin It button on your images. Lots of times, I go to pin an image from someone else's post and discover they don't have a Pin It button on their images. There is a browser button you can use, yes, but it only works about a third of the time, plus it takes a lot longer to load. People will be much more likely to pin your image if there's a Pin It button that pops up when they roll over it - here's a tutorial on how to make one.

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What are your favorite social media? How do you promote your posts on other sites? Comment below - let's help each other out!

Namarië,
Ellie
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