Reading and Writing

Ok, thought I'd update since I don't have a book finished being read yet. Though I did receive the 2nd book in the Healing Wars and have started it. I am, however, not overflowing with extra time so I am only like 3 chapters into so far. I did however use some free time last night to submit the first 4 chapters I have written of my Harry Potter Fan Fiction story, The Invisible Girl, to fanfiction.net. You can go there and check it out if you'd like. Excited that I already have 2 readers following the story, hopefully I can add more people and get some reviews written on it as well. I will submit my Dark Angel fan fiction story as well when I get the beginning chapters written. LOL. I am bad about that on that story. I have chapters in between chapters that aren't written because I imagined them in my head and didn't write them down. Anyways, sorry no reviews yet. I will try to get some reading done today. Any suggestions for next reads? Any suggestions for fan fiction to write? Let me know. The picture of Fred and George Weasley because George Weasley is one of the main characters in my fan fic.


Here is the link to the story: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7124325/1/The_Invisible_Girl

The Shifter (The Healing Wars: Book 1) aka The Pain Merchants by Janice Hardy

I have to first say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Janice Hardy is a new author to add to my collection. (That's right, I'm collecting you *creepy*) LOL. Anyways... on with the review.

A DANGEROUS SECRET. A DEADLY SKILL.
Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker--with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister, Tali, and the other Takers who become Healers, Nya's skill is flawed: she can't push the pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it into another person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden. If discovered, she could be used as a human weapon.

There is more to the back cover synopsis but I feel like the synopsis is way too long. One of my only complaints about this book. Synopsis should be short, sweet, attention grabbing and exciting. Janice Hardy has written something quite unique. I can't think of a single book this one even remotely reminds me of. So interesting the way she has taken the magic of healing and turned it into something so interesting and dangerous for everyone. The characters are so likable, it's like they are friends of mine from my school days that I have kept close and friendly with since. There is not a single chapter that is boring. Mrs. Hardy keeps the action and excitement flowing from one chapter to the next, so flawlessly that you don't even realize you have started a new chapter. I found myself a couple of times needing to stop for a break and being like, "as soon as I finish this chapter", but then I skip into the next chapter without even realizing it. LOL. At 370 pages long in the paper back format, it only took me 5 hours to read this amazing book. Already ordered the next one in the series, Blue Fire. Keep a look out for the review on it. Overall I found The Shifter to be refreshing, unique and amazing. 5/5 Stars!!!

The Talents (aka Delcroix Academy: The Candidates) by Inara Scott - Short review AND Study Guide Qs

What do you excel in? Would you, could you be a Candidate? Inara Scott nominates population Earth for the chance, the opportunity to be, Talented. America's Got Talent?...Pshh.. Britain's Got Talent?... Pshh... Next American Idol?...Pshh... Dream bigger, dream deeper. You could be a Candidate. *Insert Dramatic Oohs and Ahhs here*

Inara Scott's story of a small town girl hits a homer. The raggedy clothes, sweaty ball cap, and loving grandmother only add more to love about Dancia Lewis. Dancia, the girl who tries to be invisible, is talented but tries to hide it. Yet, everyone knows that you can't hide talent especially from recruiters like Cam and Mr. Judan. Mrs. Scott takes us on a fascinating journey into the life of Dancia as she learns to be accepted and loved for who she really is. A great message to send out to readers of YA. The Talents (aka The Candidates) is one of the best YA fiction novels I have read this year and I highly encourage everyone to buy it for yourselves or your favorite teen. 5/5 Stars!!!

*Apology to Inara Scott for taking so long to get a review of this book up. xoxo

**Read no further if you don't want any spoilers**
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___The Talents (aka The Candidates) Study Guide___

Going to list a few of the study guide questions I really liked and my answers to them.

4.) What kind of person do you think Mr. Judan is? Do you trust him? What clues does the author give that lead you to this conclusion?
I am unsure of what kind of a person Mr. Judan is. He does make me wary. I get this impression from his first apperance when Dancia meets him. Also, the powerful ability we learn he has causes us to be wary of him because it would be very easy for him to use his power for "bad". Examples: pg.4 Comparing his voice to a politician. pg.8 Made Dancia's grandma feel embarrassed about being poor.pg.17 When Dancia wants more time to decide: "Mr. Judan's mouth tightend and his eyes went cold." Cold eyes=bad juju.

5.)What kind of person is Jack? Describe the choices he has made in his life. Do you think he made the right choices? Why or why not?
Jack is a conflicted teen. He wants to be safe, fit in and have friends. Yet, because he understands how this isn't a reality, from his past and knowledge of his powers, he gives up that dream. This causes him to be a darker character but one we can't help but love. I think he made the right choices because they kept him safe and Dancia safe, at least for now. Also, he is in grey area and the choices kept him safe because they were grey too.

8.)Do you know anyone like the characters in the book? In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different?
I think that Dancia, Jack and Cam are pretty identifiable with people anyone could have known in high school. They represent to me: Dancia-the girl in the middle who can be friends with most people. Jack-the loner, rebellious boy. Cam-the popular, cute, jock, All American boy. Dancia's grandmother reminds me of a Betty White character. ;)


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Ok, those were just a few of my favorites from the study guide. You should check it out on Inara Scott's website which is linked in a couple different places on my blog. :) Tell me what you think. Did you like the review? Do you have different answers/opinions of the study guide questions I answered? Let me know! I love to hear what ya think. xoxo ~T

The Marked (aka The Watchers) Book 2 of The Talents (aka Delcroix Academy) series by Inara Scott

Dancia's back at Delcroix, but this year, everything's different. Dancia is Talented, and her powers have earned her an invitation to join Delcroix's real raison d'etre--the Program. All Dancia ever wanted is to use her powers for good--and now Delcroix is going to give her the training she needs to make it happen.
At least that's what the school says she'll learn to do with her powers. Her cuter-than-cute boyfriend, Cam, insists that it's true, and so do all the other students. But a little voice insider her wonders, if the Program's so great, why did her friend Jack run away rather than join? And why are angry ex-students attacking the school?
Dancia's a loyal student... and a loyal girlfriend. But if finding out what's really going on means talking to Jack, well--it's a risk she just might have to take.

First off, I'd like to thank Inara Scott for this beautiful ARC of The Watchers (aka The Marked). I didn't have time to read it when I first received it in the mail and only got five chapters in over a course of 2 days. However, I finally had time last night to gobble it up and it was DELICIOUS!

Inara Scott doesn't disappoint in this continuation of Dancia's life at Delcroix. Though I fantasized many different things happening after The Candidates (aka The Talents), nothing happened like I thought it would. Which isn't to say, a bad thing. It's an AMAZING thing. Nobody could tell this story like Inara Scott, especially considering it's HER story to tell and none others... Moments of angst, tears and awe are what are in store for readers of this amazing tale. I'm excited to go pick up the Marked copy when it comes out next April. I'll be excited to see if and what Inara might have changed from this copy I just read. An AMAZING book, from an AMAZING author, who just AMAZES me up and down, or left and right (which is amazingly harder than up and down). ;) Favorite quote of the whole book, I have to say is: "Your talent painted pictures in the sky." I'm not telling who said it or to whom. ;) You'll have to read to find out. Inara blew my mind with this amazing poetic statement. I want to keep gushing and gushing over this one because of how wonderful it was, but it'll just become repetitive. So, for now I'll just say... I am a very good judge of book, this one is AMAZING, but don't believe me, go out and buy it on April 3, 2012 and find out for yourselves! =D 5/5 STARS!!!!!!!

Update- writing and reading :) yeah!

Hey everyone! SO I figured since I am currently unattached to a book, and not posting a new review yet, that I would update about what I have been up to. If anyone has read my profile bio or who know me personally, you already know that I love to write. Currently I have been bouncing half a dozen ideas around in my head. I have two serious fan fics in the works (photo above is pages I've written for my Dark Angel-tv series- fan fic, other one is a Harry Potter fan fic but it's typed up on the comp) and one original novel still in the works(She Wolf- a paranormal romance). It's hard trying to share my attention between them all. Besides those, I also have several other less serious writing ideas that flash through my head sporadically. I have also been reading some fan fiction still. I have also re-read Inara Scott's Delcroix Academy: The Candidates (recently re-named; The Talents). I re-read it after I won a ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) of the next book of hers called The Marked aka The Watchers. I am planning on doing a blog about Inara Scott's study guide she has provided for readers on her website. I figured to compare my answers from reading it the first time to reading it a second time. We'll see how that goes. Anyways, I was SOOO excited when I won the ARC of The Marked because it had been announced that it's release date was being pushed back from August 2, 2011 to April 2012... *grumble grumble, tear* =( But I'm happy now since I won the ARC and I'll hopefully be receiving it in the mail in a couple of weeks so I can devour it. Between writing and read I have also been busy working my day job and getting things set up for going back to College this fall. My mind has been working over time, aka staying up way too late and getting up way too early. Also dealing with resisting re-reading several other books on my shelf. (The Magicians by Lev Grossman, HP series by J.K. Rowling, Matched by Ally Condie, Divergent by Veronica Roth, etc...) But I can't do that because I feel guilty that my TBR pile is still very large...

I haven't been able to put a dent in my TBR (to be read) pile. My TBR pile still contains: The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist, The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, The Girl Who Heard Dragons by Anne McCaffrey, King's Dragon by Kate Elliott, Witch & Warrior-both by Marie Brennan, Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (actually started this at one point but wasn't into the genre at the time and put it down after a couple chapters), The Passionate Rebel by Helene Lehr, Move Heaven and Earth by Christina Dodd, Mr. Cavendish I Presume by Juila Quiin, Cherokee Storm by Janelle Taylor, Love Me Forever by Johanna Lindsey, The Dreaming Tree by C.J. Cherryh, The Shifter: The Healing Wars-book 1 by Janice Hardy, Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier, Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel, Sapphique by Catherine Fisher, and Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce. *Breathes deeply* *sigh* Yeah, it's a very long list. I don't get dents in it because I keep finding books in the story and reading them immediately. Anyways, what do you think I should read next? I'm open for suggestions even if they aren't in my TBR pile. I really enjoy YA sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian, epic fantasy, paranormal romance, historical romance. Anyways, please comment. I feel really stupid writing this when I'm not even sure anyone is reading my blog... Who knows maybe no one is reading... lol. I guess I've always enjoyed talking to myself anyways...*awkward laugh* *long silence w/ cheesy smile*


My TBR PILEs ↓ (not including Game of Thrones and Pillars of the Earth-only cuz I accidentally didn't get them into the pile *OOpps, sorry* =D

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Who are you? Are you honest? Are you intelligent? Are you courageous? Are you selfless? Are you peaceful? Or do you find you fit into multiple of these? Then you are DIVERGENT.

Divergent is set in a futuristic Chicago setting. We meet Beatrice Prior, whom is a member of the Abnegation (the selfless). She and her brother are 16 and getting ready to choose whether to continue on living their lives as an Abnegate or transfer to a new faction. They feel this heavy weight upon them as they are forced to choose between being who they really are, leaving their family behind or to stay,continuing on living their lives, unfulfilled.

Veronica Roth creates a believable futuristic society that has divided into factions of their beliefs. Beatrice "Tris", is a underdog to cheer for and Ms. Roth gets her readers rallying behind "Tris" for better or for worse. Through the trials "Tris" must face, the readers want to keep her safe, but at the same time we want her to grow stronger and push through this and prove to everyone how strong she is. As games of intrigue (Kristen Britain reference ;p) are being played in the background, we are unaware of them until it is nearly too late. Ms. Roth keeps her readers on the edge of their eyes. She gives her readers everything we could hope for; strong family bonds, surprises, intrigue, action, and romance. I put this book and the books of hers to follow, in category with Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, Ally Condie's Matched, and Lois Lowry's The Giver. This is definitely a book to pick up and read. I could not put this one down. At 487 pages long, it only took me 9 hours to read. AMAZING! 5/5 Stars!!!

To Fan Fiction or Not to Fan Fiction? : a book worm's guilty pleasure

Have you ever gotten to the end of a book or even watched a movie, that ended and you still wanted more? You just have this feeling or curiosity as to what happens next, especially if there's sequels coming? Well, recently I decided to look up some fan fiction. To my delight, I found out that it's quite a big thing actually. Many people are online publishing free fan fiction for people to read all over the world.
I found two websites in particular that were very good as far as the types of stories I was interested in reading. The first, I have to admit, was harrypotterfanfiction.com. I found this website when I suddenly got a craving for more Harry Potter but having read all the books several times and owning all the released movies(that I'd seen many times), I wanted to see what else was out there. In popped the embarrassing words, FAN FICTION. Duh, duh, dun... LOL. Most people believe that all fan fiction is just fluffy non-sense that is an insult to the original author's work. I had this same thought in mind when I went searching. I was embarrassed that I was looking for more "fakes". Yet, I was under a false impression. Fan fiction is not ALL horrible. Yes, some of it isn't great and some is down right awful. But when you go to these websites, they give you the opportunity to tell the author of the fan fics what you think. So I didn't hesitate to give bad and good reviews. As I kept reading, and reading, and reading... I realized that the majority of the stories I picked to read were not too bad and that I was addicted to reading them. My world was changed. Suddenly, harrypotterfanfiction.com wasn't enough. What other fan fiction was out there? For what other books that I love? That's when I found fanfiction.net. Ya, it's a .net! .Nets are always better than .coms in my opinion. They just seem more trust worthy. (idk why, so don't ask.) At fanfiction.net, they have not only fan fiction for books, but also for movies, tv shows, animated shows, comic books, video games, etc... *GASP* OH YEAH!!! JACK POT!!! =D haha. Anyways, first I checked into the "books". There are sooo many books and I was happy to find not only more Harry Potter fan fiction, but fan fiction for several other books I have read and loved. (Matched by Ally Condie, The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, I am Number Four by Patticus Lore...just to name a few). Then I had to check out fan fiction for some of my favorite tv shows that are no longer aired. (Dark Angel, Roswell, Little Men,Legacy...) Then onto the movies where there was some great fan fics too. (Alien/Predator, 10 Things I Hate About You, American Outlaws, etc...) It is an amazing website.
So after going crazy in love with all these fan fictions, I just wasn't feeling completely satisfied. I thought to myself, I just haven't found any stories that tell it like I imagined it could have happened differently. Well, duh, of course not. Which leads me to my biggest question. To Fan Fiction or Not to Fan Fiction? That is what I'm deciding between. Though as a writer, it excites me to think about doing, I'm worried about it demeaning my writing skills. Not to say that I think fan fiction authors don't have writing skills... It's just... IDK. I'm torn between putting my fan fiction works out there for everyone to read or not. I AM writing them, that's not what I'm stuck on. They have to come out now, now that I've entertained them. Tell me what you think of fan fiction. What do you think about writing them? Do you write some yourselves? What kind of fan fiction would interest you the most in reading? Let me know. :)
~T

Websites mentioned: www.harrypotterfanfiction.com , www.fanfiction.net

I'll be adding these links to my favorites links on my blog soon as well.

P.S. Sorry for not posting any new book reviews. I have been burned out on new books and plus as you can tell from this post, that I have been reading fan fiction and writing my own lately too. I'll try to get into a new book here soon. I promise.