Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE 

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Christmas this year and makes a New Year's resolution. My New Year's resolution is to work on my writing more since I have really been slacking the past few years. I also like to look back on the past year and see how much I have changed and all the things I have accomplished. They're so many things I have done in the past 6 months alone that I never thought i'd  do so I am very proud of myself and I am looking forward to next year. I look forward to my new posts and book reviews (even though no one reads them) and I hope everyone has a safe and happy year!

A small look into my "new" novel.

Since I mentioned on Sunday that I was beginning to work on my novel I will give everyone a little insight to what the new plot will be about. This is not the official synopsis that will appear on the back of the book but it is just enough so you know what the book will be about. Also, if you are wondering why I changed it in the first places it's mainly because I was very bored with the original plot (which I don't think I ever mentioned) and had a lot of trouble writing it. 

The new plot has the same main characters,Naomi and Gabriel, 15 and 16-years old, who have been forced together by their parents since the day they were born. But despite this, the two teenagers hate each other. Little do Naomi and Gabriel know, their parents are keeping a dark secret from them, and on Naomi's 16th birthday, their secret cannot remain hidden any longer. When Naomi discovers she has the uncanny ability to channel the emotions of others, she realizes she is not the only one with special gifts and the world she thought she lived in, is just a small one within many larger ones. In order to escape the destiny that was fated to her, she turns to the only person immune to her, and all other unnatural abilities: Gabriel. Will the two be able to set aside their differences to change the fate of the world? Or will Naomi's destiny pull her under?

Now I know it might sound kinda lame right now since I am still working on it but I promise it will be good. Also, for the next 12 hours my first book What Happens After will be free for the Kindle on Amazon and can be found here. If I don't post tomorrow I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, stay safe and enjoy life! 

The Journal of Callie Wade-Book review #6

I first read The Journal of Callie Wade by Dawn Miller back when I was in the eighth grade and I honestly have no idea what drew me to this book in the first place. I saw it at the library and all I needed to read was the first three pages before I knew it was coming home with me. 

Now, the book is in the point of view of 18-Year-old Callie Wade who is traveling with her brother Jack, her father and her sick little sister Rose to California from Independence, Missouri. Her father buys a wagon and sells their family farm so they can join the wagon trains during the California gold rush.  Shortly before leaving, Callie meets Quinn, a quiet Irish blacksmith who she finds fascinating and melancholy. 

I love this book because the historical aspect and the romance, loss and hardships that the main characters must face. Despite the terrible things that Callie deals with on her journey she still manages to make friends and fall in love. I find this book so sad and so beautiful at the same time because it really shows the things some one had to go through during the 1800's through the eyes of 18-year-old Callie. It is heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. 

So if you like historical fiction and romance I would definitely suggest this one and it should be added to the school reading list because the character is relatable and the book is actually educational without being boring. I just love the story and love that begins to form between Callie and Quinn despite all the death and disease that is going on around them. Please, if you get the chance, read this book it really is amazing and it has three others that follow! 

Same old excuses but big news!

Okay so I know I have been neglecting my blog a lot and haven't done any book reviews because I have been so busy with school and studying for finals. Now that school and finals are over for the next month I am able to work on all the stuff I have neglected before like my novel, book reviews, blog and my boyfriend. Now as far as the book review goes I will be doing one of my old favorites that I was thinking about rereading because of how amazing it is called The Journal of Callie Wade by Dawn Miller. I love this book for many reasons but I won't share them until my review comes out, probably later today. 

Also, I have been beginning to work on my long lost novel Running from Fate of which I began so long ago I am not even going to tell you. I have decided, after much internal debate to completely scrap the original plot and make a completely new one to match my "teen paranormal romance" theme that I have going on right now. The titles and characters will all remain the same but there will be slight differences in the storyline. I only finished 84 pages so far that have to be edited which now I have all the time in the world for. Instead of binge watching Charmed on Netflix I can do something productive like go for a walk (haha yeah right) or read my favorite books. 

Since my newest book review will be posted today I will have to make a separate one next week as an official "promotion" for my old/new novel once I rewrite the synopsis. I will also be making my other book What Happens After available in libraries so you can look forward to that. Also, from December 21-23 it will be available for free on Amazon. I will be a busy bee for the next month until school starts so I hope you are prepared! 

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe Thanksgiving! 

Spend the day with your families and eat until you can't eat anymore, I know I will!

Also, I am still in the middle or reading my Nancy Drew book of choice while studying for finals in December (can't believe I am graduating in 6 months.) I have been pretty busy but now that I am on vacation I should get some more reading done, I have also done some Holiday shopping for my family but have no idea what to get my boyfriend.

If anyone is going out black Friday shopping, stay safe and good luck!!

Potential next book review?

I know it has been a while since my last review and I am trying my hardest to keep up with my blog despite everything going on in my life right now. As I mentioned before I am getting ready to begin my final semester at my current two year college before transferring to a four year college to obtain my bachelors degree in English. I was accepted into three different good schools and in between working on my ten page paper for my nutrition class I have been tirelessly researching two of these schools. The first college is over an hour away and since I can't afford to live on campus I decided not to go there. The remaining two colleges are both very well known in my area and I am weighing the pros and cons of each. While doing all of these things I also have to concentrate on the school I am attending now considering it is my last year and I waited to take all the boring and annoying classes. 

I want to have more time to read books or even work on my own but sadly that hasn't happened. Since the only books I have been reading lately are textbooks, I have been trying to save some time to read a book to review. It seems I am leaning towards another Nancy Drew book. Not only is this because I love Nancy Drew I also received several books for free by my neighbor so I have plenty to read. Once I choose one I will be sure to review it and post it as soon as possible. I am hoping that things cool down a little but I am not sure how that is going to work out. Everyone send luck my way!

Happy Halloweeen!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

Busy week

I will not have a review this week due to how busy I will be. Not only do I have three tests next week, I also have a paper due that needs to be 7-10 pages long. Also, I have my interview at Moravian College this thursday, I am handing out Halloween candy on Friday and an open house on Moravian campus this Halloween which will take up most of my day, and I will most likely be going to a party that night. As of now I am thinking about reading Hemingway or Charles Dickens I am not sure which. So as you can see the next few weeks are going to be very busy so I will try to get another book review done in a week or two depending on how much I will have to study for my test on Nov 9th. I am doing all this while trying to write my children's book and I am doing the best I can.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas-Review #5

I know this is a little unorthodox but I would like to do a review on the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin. I had first read this short story about a year ago when it was assigned in my college English class and I really enjoyed it.

The story begins by describing this perfect little town having a Festival of Summer and Le Guin describes the citizens of Omelas as joyous and cheerful. The elements of setting and style are used to develop and improve each other to make a thought provoking and well developed tale. Ursula Le.Guin uses language that creates great visionary and makes the reader feel like they too are in the story which is something I love in an Author. She goes on to illustrate a wonderful place where children are playing, families get together, and seemingly perfect place to live. 

Then the author goes on to describe a completely different and unsettling setting that changes the entire tone of the story which is what I like about it, the darkness behind it. She describes a room as having only one door and no windows, she says there are filthy, smelly mops and there is a child sitting in the room. The setting is dark and she describes the child as being unintelligent and thin. Le Guin uses very descriptive and disturbing language to create an image of the poor child. She even goes as far as calling the child “it” and saying it could be either a boy or a girl. In the beginning of the story everyone is picturing this perfect little place with green grass and joy, but like all good things, it has its terrible secrets. As it turns out, in order for Omelas to stay "perfect", have wealth and good health, this child needs to suffer and act as a sacrifice. Most citizens of Omelas know it's there which makes it even more horrible of a situation but some of them are so horrified by this that they end up leaving and walking away from Omelas to an unknown place.

Now I love this story because it reminds me a lot of another short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson which is mainly about someone being stoned to death in order for the town to have good harvest for the year. Stories like these have a good way of describing the selfishness of humans and how they would rather "stay with the crowd" then go against it to stand up for what they know is wrong. The situation in The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas all the citizens know it is morally wrong but they justify it by pretending to believe it will give them good luck, health and wellness. I recommend these two short stories to anyone who enjoys reading about moral values and overall human stupidity and selfishness. 

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova- soon to be book review #4

Disclaimer- Since I am still in the process of reading a fairly long book I figured I would tell you what my thoughts are on it so far. I haven't had much time to read considering I have been working on my own book and continuing to submit my work to several literary magazines. On top of this I have been studying for school and preparing for two interviews I have for different colleges. So the book I will be telling you about is called The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a very long book which might turn some people off the way it turns me on, I just love long books. So I was first attracted to this book due to the fact that it was about Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) which is right up my alley. The book revolves around a woman named Helen who grew up in Germany with her father and one day discovered an old mysterious book in her fathers library. This mysterious book also has a strange letter with it that the woman reluctantly asks her father about.

The girls father explains that the book with the strange dragon cover was found by him while he was in college and took it to his friend Professor Rossi who revealed he had one very similar that he found. The father explains to the daughter the Vlad Tepes legend and reveals to her that he might infact been alive this whole time.

As far as I can understand The Historian follows the woman as she continues her father's (now dead) journey and research in finding out more about Vlad and how he could somehow be involved in Helen's mothers death. I am hoping they do go down the "vampire" route in a more mature way. I was so tired of the teen romance vampire novels so it will be refreshing to read something more like Anne Rice or Bram Stoker's work. I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical creative fiction and long books (I believe it's over 600 pages.) Hopefully I will be able to tell you more about it once I finish it.

School, Writing Contests, Literary Magazines.

Now I know I owe you guys another book review but I have been so busy with school and my own writing that I have no extra time to do any reading. Several of the books I have considered reading I do not think I can review due to the content....

Anyway, I have been submitting  a lot of my work to writing competitions accepting both poetry, fiction and nonfiction short stories. I have also been submitting my poetry to literary magazines in hopes of being selected. Some of these magazines and contests have entry "reading fees" but the winner payout is nice. Whether I win or not (I'm certainly not expecting to) I would just be happy with being chosen to be put into the magazine. The last poem of mine that won any sort of reward was in August of 2008 I won a poem of the year award so I am hoping for the best. 

Aside from the writing contests and competitions I have been trying to concentrate on school and passing all of my classes. I have also been working my ass off to get into the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society at my school. Two days of the week they have meetings which will take up even more of my time but the group has many benefits including special recognition at graduation and many scholarships that I will need. 

So sorry about the late updates and no book review (I will try to do one next week I promise) but I have been so busy with life I can't even breathe sometimes. Wish me luck on the competitions and literary submissions, I am going to need it! 

A few little words

Okay I know it has been almost a month since my last post this is because I have been really busy and I am only about to get busier since school starts Monday. It is so crazy that I am already in my last year of college (before transferring to get my bachelors degree in English.) Even though I have not been posting any book reviews (not that anyone reads them) I have been reading the other books in the Pretty Little Liars series but I figured I would only review the first one so once I am finished with the fourth book in the first arch I will read a different book to review. Also, for some unknown reason I have been playing The Sims 4 like my life depends on it. So overall I will try to post more but most of it will be me complaining about biology and how much I dislike it.

Pretty Little Liars-Book Review #3

Disclaimer: I know my book review is late but things have been crazy around my house and my grandma just got out of the hospital on Monday so things SHOULD be getting back to normal. 

My third book review is going to be about the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series. The books are written by Sara Shepard and there is an amazing television show of the same title based off of the books. The first book introduces the girls Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily who are about to enter their junior year of high school, three years after their best friend (and leader of their group) Alison, goes missing. Each one of the girls has their own dirty little secrets that they have been hiding and when Alison disappeared, so have their secrets. Until they each begin to get messages and emails from an unknown sender who knows what the girls are hiding. But how can this person, who calls themselves A, know things about the girls that only Alison knew? Unless...Alison is back? 

I love this book mainly because I absolutely love the T.V show and all the characters so much. I love the mystery and the scandal that goes with both the books and the show. Anyone who knows me knows I am super obsessed with the show and I thought "why not read the books since the show is ending soon." Although the show is different from the books there are a lot of similarities and the first book is basically the pilot episode of the show. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the T.V show or just loves a scandalous mystery. 

The Hidden Staircase- Book review # 2

For my next book review I decided to do a book from my favorite female detective, Nancy Drew! I began reading Nancy Drew (by Carolyn Keen) books since I was very young (when most kids were still reading Captain Underpants) and had to share one of my favorites. This particular case is called The Hidden Staircase, involves 18-Year-Old detective Nancy Drew investigating a “haunted house.” The owner of the house, Aunt Rosemary and her niece reported voices, strange music, creaking at night and objects going missing. Nancy must figure out if it really is ghostly activity, or a more rational, and criminal explanation. She comes to the conclusion that this is not ghostly activity but in fact a person trying to scare them away, but why? While working on this mystery Nancy is also dealing with problems regarding her father and a missing man named Willie Wharton. I don’t want to give any of it away so you will have to read it for yourself but in the end Nancy saves a family from losing their home and closes another case (obviously.) Also, If you enjoy Nancy Drew books there are some awesome PC games by Her Interactive™ that are absolutely amazing! I love this book, as well as the other ND books because I love mystery novels and I like how Nancy is so relatable  and she is definitely an inspiration to young girls who love a little sleuthing. So if you enjoy a good mystery pick up The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keen!

Updates and next book review

I know I have been slacking lately, I had a really busy week since the Forth of July with parties and cleaning and babysitting. After Forth of July weekend (which was pretty hectic) I had to do a lot of cleaning and I have to do dishes, laundry, take care of the dogs and water the plants since my boyfriends parents went on vacation. I swear you would think he would fall over dead if he did any house work. Although, he has stepped up quite a bit, so there is hope for him after all. 

I haven't been doing much writing mainly because I have been reading so much. My next book review will be posted by Tuesday or Wednesday. Since I have another busy weekend ahead of me I don't know how much I will be able to read. I had read two different books and tried to decide which one I was going to do my review on and I decided to do another book completely so I guess It's my own fault I am behind. 

On another note my boyfriend Max and I had a good time at the zoo on Sunday. I have to say, I really loved seeing the ravens which are A LOT bigger in person. I have some pictures that I am more then happy to share. Also, I have been searching around for another chinchilla cage and soon but they are not cheap if you get the proper size, School starts in about 7 weeks so I am looking forward to that (kind of) and since I have to pay for that I can't dig too deep for the chinchilla cage. Most days I just want to hide in my room and avoid doing anything that needs to be done. Anyway, I will work on my book review and post it as soon as it's finished. 

Happy Fourth of July!

  Happy 

Fourth

of

July

Everyone!

Hope everyone has a good holiday and remember, don't drink and drive. Have fun but be smart!

Nevermore- Book review #1

Book review for Nevermore

The first book I am going to review is my very favorite one and has been for many years. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh is about a cheerleader named Isobel Lanley who gets partnered for an English project with goth kid Veren Nethers. Veren chooses to do their English paper on his favorite author Edgar Allan Poe, much to Isobel’s disdain and they are forced to work together. As Isobel gets closer to Veren and begins to lose all her “popular” friends  she soon discovers that Poe’s world might not be as fiction as she once thought. Isobel's new found love for Veren is tested when she must save him from a dream world made up of the dark creatures inside Poe's mind. Basically this is a dark fiction about finding love from the other side of the tracks and brings life to the macabre world that Edgar Allan Poe created. I don't want to go into too much detail and ruin anything but this book is definitely worth a read.

I like this book because it involves Edgar Allan Poe who is my favorite writer and I find a lot of inspiration from what he has accomplished. Kelly Creagh uses Nevermore to put an explanation to Poe’s mysterious death and added some twists of her own. I believe I read this book in only a few days despite the fact that it is over 540 pages only because I couldn’t put it down! I love the relationship that forms between Isobel and Varen because Isobel is popular, outgoing and very closed minded in the beginning and Veren is dark, quiet and does not like Isobel at all. Over time they begin to learn more about each other and Isobel realizes that her old friends were never really good friends to have. Both Isobel and Veren grow as characters though out the book which I like because most books have characters that tend to fall flat. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading young adult fiction and Edgar Allan Poe or dark, paranormal fiction. The sequel to Nevermore is called Enshadowed and the third and final book, Oblivion, will be out this summer!

--On a side note, I have to get a new copy of this book because my chinchilla Lola decided to turn it into a snack.--

A few random things.

Since my domain www.thoughtsofjessilynn.com is now working I figured I would repost links to purchase my two books What Happens After and Nothing To Hide. Both books are also available on Amazon so here are the links to that. I will try to post more interesting things in the next few days but no promises. Writing and literature will be a huge part of this blog and I will be posing different books I have read and reviewing them over the next few weeks so you all can look forward to that! The books will range from young adult, adult and even children's. I read all sorts of books find inspiration from any genre. I will try to post a new one ever one to two weeks but when the summer is over and I return to college I am not sure how often I will be able to post.

In celebration of....

To celebrate the fact that I finally bought an official domain for my blog www.thoughtsofjessilynn.com (although it is not ready yet) I thought I would share with everyone the sonnet I submitted to the literary magazines. This sonnet is called Night Terrors. Now for those of you who do not know, a sonnet is a poem what typically rhymes in an abab format. This means that every other sentence must rhyme. Also, a sonnet (usually) has a ten syllable format too. This means that every line must be no more than ten syllables long. Now that you have an idea of what a "sonnet" is, here is one I wrote for my creative writing class. If you do go to my website you will probably get an error for the next few days!

Night Terrors

Night falls and darkness breaks, casting shadows. 

Here she lies awakened by macabre dreams. 

Nightmares wreak havoc why? Nobody knows.

Cold creeps up her spine. Wind quieting her screams. 

 Shivering, shaking, ice stops her blood flow, 

She feels she’s coming apart at the seams.

Nighttime covers the scars she dare not show. 

No one she trusts, nope, not by any means. 

Each night roused by horrors and the moons glow

Monsters inside her, lowers self-esteem.

Waiting for the day time to rid her foe

Without it, nightmares are a constant theme.

More shadows approach, she feels her fear grow

Her only relief is the suns bright gleam.

After much debate...

After much debate I have decided, instead of scrapping this blog, to continue it. I have read back on all the things going on with my life when I started this blog and it made me a bit sad to see how things have changed so much. Since I have started my blog almost 3 years ago I have made friends, lost friends, graduated college and gotten job after job. Only a few things have remained consistent and that is my friendship with my best friend Amy and my love of writing. I am also still with my amazing boyfriend Max and it has been over 2 years now. My band No Comment is no longer together (and hasn't been for some time) and I am no longer friends with anyone from the group other than Amy which I am fine with because it was a pretty bad break up. I do not know what we were hoping to accomplish anyway. Now that I am 23-years-old I can see why my parents told me it wasn't going to work out. My passion was always with writing, not with music so I took it pretty well when we broke up. I graduated from Ashworth College in Psychology and I am now continuing on to get my bachelors degree in English. Although I am not sure if I want to peruse literature or creative writing. First I am trying to get an associates in General and liberal studies just to open more options for me when it comes to if I want to edit, publish, write or teach. I am starting my last year in August and I feel excited as well as nervous. I am making a few hundred dollars a month during my summer job but I have to save my money for not only a new chinchilla cage, but textbooks too. 

I am going to try to write more and I recently submitted some of my sonnets to literary magazines and have only heard back from one so far. I took a creative writing class in college and learned a lot about not only writing but about myself as a writer. I have met some great people who love the same thing as me and although things are very different, I wouldn't take anything back. Since my boyfriend graduated from college he works full time at a job in computer networking and maintenance. We have a few parties to attend this weekend seeing as its Fourth of July weekend! My sisters boyfriend is coming to visit from Chicago and Max and I have invited both of them as well as Amy and her boyfriend to a barbecue. Lola and Onyx are doing great and now I have two other chinchillas to care for that belong to Max named Ziggy and Vincent. Ziggy is my baby since we bought him very young he is desensitized to my kisses and cuddles. Since this blog is already super long I will just end it with some pictures! 

 Me and Max
My precious Ziggy