Monday, October 28, 2013

In Preparation

So I'm a little upset right now. After watching Once Upon a Time last night, I saw that next week they are airing an episode featuring Ariel. Consequently, they go into her background, it looks like, and it will feature Ursula. The reason I'm so upset is because I was writing fan fiction for Ursula for the Once Upon a Time world. I even posted the first part on here a while back. I meant to follow it up -because it was just too fun not to- but just never got around to it. Well, this is me getting to it. Even if Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis wrote their version of Ursula, I haven't written mine, and that is just not jive. Either tonight or tomorrow, then, I am going to post the next part of Ursula's Tale, beginning with part one and transitioning into part two in case people have forgotten or missed the first part or don't know what the heck I'm talking about. All are valid possibilities. Anywho, just wanted to get that out in the open. To the writers of Once Upon a Time, I am a huge fan and I respect you more than you know, but I am writing this because this is what I do. I hope everyone enjoys them.
Later!

-Grace

Monday, October 21, 2013

Sand Pits and Rabbit Holes

My mind and body feel as if they've fallen into a pit of sand. I move slowly, the sand oppressing every undertaking, and still it's almost as if I have made no progress at all. My eyes hurt from staring at my computer (and really, one should never stare at his or her computer) and right now my curser is blinking because I left my computer on during the night. School follows the sunrise, but not before coffee, thank goodness. I wonder if it will be an easy day tomorrow? I enjoyed the reading for school. We moved on from poetry to fantasy, and we had to read excerpts from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass". How curious that Lewis Carroll was able to write two entire books out of unpredictable events. I got dizzy reading of Alice's constant change from too tall to too small, and still she left the key on the glass table. Nevertheless, it does not solve my sand-pit predicament. Why does my mind move so sluggishly when the urgency of every next activity is palpable? I don't know. It's like I've been stuck in the "real world" for far too long, and am in great need of some fantastical liberation. Where is a rabbit hole when you need one?
Gotta go. Almost midnight. Good night.

-Grace

Friday, October 18, 2013

"Whispers From Forbidden Earth"

 


Well it's about bloody time! At long last, the amazingly talented and supremely devoted fantasy writer Mark Venturini released his first novel yesterday on Amazon.com for only $4.99! It's available for Kindle right now, but I'm pretty sure it should be up for Nook soon. Please check it out. It's wonderfully creative and Mark has a gift for imagery. You'll be hooked by "crimson leaves".
Happy reading!

http://www.amazon.com/Whispers-From-Forbidden-Earth-Venturini-ebook/dp/B00FZVDIKI/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1382128679&sr=8-7&keywords=mark+venturini

-Grace

Monday, October 14, 2013

"Origin" Review

They have Katy. After all the planning, the training, the trust they'd extended, Daemon should have seen this coming. And maybe he had... in his nightmares. But now those nightmares were a reality. They had Katy. He would get her back even if he had to burn down the world to do it. They would pay for their actions.
In the latest installment of the Lux series, Daemon fights tooth and nail any being who stands between him and Katy. For want of not revealing spoilers, all I can say is that this book was full of surprises and it kept me at the edge of my seat while retaining the essences of Katy and Daemon I have grown so fond of. One of my favorite new characters was Archer. He was the kind of person I could picture talking about with my brothers and them saying, "Yeah, Archer's awesome." High standard, that. Miss Armentrout weaves a brilliant story combining lots of action, suspense, and romance in addition to making Daemon's perspective a regular contributor. This hinders it none. If anything, changing between Daemon and Katy's points of view propels the story into new and exciting territory. I would give this story a rating of PG-16. In "star rating" language? Five. Definitely five stars. My only complaint is, why can't the next book be out sooner? But I'd rather Jennifer Armentrout take her time with the quality of the story than be rushed into finishing something that felt incomplete. Well done, Armentrout. Well done, indeed.

"Opal" Review

Tensions arise and friendships are tested in the thrilling third installment of the Lux series.
Apparently the impossible is possible: good is evil, aliens exist... and Dawson is alive. But despite being just reunited with his family after a year of captivity, Dawson is determined to go back and rescue the only other person he cares about: Bethany. Nothing will stop him, though perhaps they can delay him. But in order to do so, they must team up with an old enemy, and in this game of shadows, nothing is as it seems. Can the Luxen and Katy break Bethany out? And will she be the same person as she was before?
This book had me so drawn in that I literally sacrificed certain necessities like sleep and... well, mostly sleep. I read snippets wherever I could get them, while my nieces watched "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That," in between classes, at two o'clock in the morning.... Something that captivated me was seeing Dawson in the aftermath of all things Department of Defense-related and comparing it with the images we received from his siblings of what he was like before he disappeared. The change was almost confounding. But I also enjoyed his friendship with Katy. Somehow, it made sense. Jennifer Armentrout keeps you captivated until the very last page. Thankfully the fourth book is available. As far as ratings go, I would put this at PG-16, but that's only n the assumption that if I'd read this when I was fifteen, I would have thought it was too adult for me. Thoroughly enjoyable, nonetheless, and I look forward to more from Miss Armentrout.

-Grace