Introduction to my Novel
By Jessica Marie As you saw a few blog posts ago, I finished the first draft of my novel. So, I wanted to update you on this story and tell you a little about it. As I am several weeks into the editing process, I am seeing the story from a new perspective, as most of what I am now editing I have not seen since I wrote it! I am mostly re-reading the story at the moment. Getting a feel for the flow and arcs I have in place. Making notes on scenes I need to add, what I need to describe in a non-info-dumping format, and refresh my mind on what the book already has and what it still needs. What is this novel about, you may ask? It is a mixed genre science-fiction and fantasy titled The Shadows of Dawn. The tagline is: Magic goes through 2,000-year cycles on Esnevaria. When magic returns it plunges the planet into chaos, war, and political upheaval. This book is the first of what will be a duology. The second book with pick-up exactly where the first leaves off. It’s a story of war, chaos, political upheaval, finding faith, and found family. It is told from multiple POV’s, though my main character is Sorscha Androula. Sorscha Androula: She is a Lieutenant in the Capital Guard, essentially the knights/police of the Capital. She has followed logical steps through her life, aging out of the orphanage she grew up in, joining the Capital Guard as she had the skills to do well and it has also provided stability for her. Her adopted brother, Alasdair, joined the Guard with her and helped create that stable life she desired. She feels a pull to devote herself to her religion, Piishan, but it feels illogical and unstable to her. Though she deeply wants to do it, something holds her back. Sorscha was found, by a woman named Sarine, as a several days old infant abandoned in a park on the Capital. She was taken to an orphanage by Sarine, who would later become her adopted Mother, where she lived and grew up until she was 22 years old. As an elf, who live longer than humans and thus mature slower, she was released at 22 which is considered adulthood in elves. We meet Sorscha after she has been part of the Capital Guard for 10 years and is a respected Lieutenant. She volunteers with security at her Piishan temple. She has an attraction to a fellow elf Guard, Noya, who went to the academy with Sorscha and her brother. Noya and Sorscha are close friends and the attraction is mutual. A secret that everyone knows, though they have never been willing to admit it to one another. The Setting: The Capital is a city that orbits the planet of Esnevaria. Think of the Citadel from the video game series Mass Effect, but rather it orbits a planet much like the ISS orbits Earth. The Capital was created 2,000 years ago during the last cycle of magic in an attempt for the nobility to escape the war and magic by going into space. As magic is tied to living natural things (plants, animals, etc.) by building a city off-planet with no living beings aside from the humans and some elves, the nobility, wealthy, and upper-classes were able to escape. Magic cycled away and has been absent from Esnevaria for 2,000 years. In that time trees, birds, and other small natural elements have been reincorporated into the Capital in the form of parks and creating a more natural feel for residents on the Capital. This was allowed as these elements were no longer considered a threat. It is believed that magic had been present on Esnevaria for as long as recorded history, though it dissipated and disappeared long ago. While some believe or hope it will return, it is widely considered ancient history. Once a month I will introduce another character. Welcome to my novel and hope you enjoy these teasers of my story, can’t wait to see you back for the next installment!
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Leaning in to Growth
By Jessica Marie As, in the past year, I have spent more time reflecting on the past, times and memories of my life, both good and bad. Wonderful and regretful. I am piecing together what makes me who I am and what doesn’t. Here’s a take on some personal growth I am working on at the moment. When looking back at younger versions of myself I can feel regret, guilt, nostalgia, joy, and every emotion in between. And while the more cringe-worthy versions of myself may make me wish I had never been that way, it was through these pieces I was able to become who I am today. Without those rougher, less polished, and more naïve versions I could never have become who I am today. I wasn’t born with all the wisdom I have today. I earned it, I gained it, sometimes I bled for it. Like math or writing, you must learn the basics before you can do geometry or write a book. To have greater perspective, to have faith in myself, in the Divine, and distinguish the difference between a disaster and an inconvenience, I have to live through it. Like building a library, I have built a library of experiences that have taught me how to live. How to react. While I may never be able to fully let go of certain guilts or mistakes of the past, perhaps that isn’t a bad thing. Perhaps that pain also serves a purpose. It reminds me to not act too rashly, to balance passion with patience. To know when to speak, or act, or when to sit back and let the emotions pass so I can react in a calm and respectable manner. I try to learn from others as much as I can, but some lessons I have had to learn myself. I have had to say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, experience the consequences first-hand to know the true depth of actions having reactions. To expand my mind into being ever more kind, considerate, loving, and understanding. I am not perfect. I will continue to learn every day. But that is also the very nature of being human. Right now, I am working on my snappy temperament. It truly bothers me how much or how quickly I can snap at something or someone. A large part of my snappy nature has fallen to the wayside in my fully embracing each moment as it is. Changing what I can, but finding as much joy and contentment in each moment and day as I can. This helps so much slide off my back that would once have ruffled my feathers. Though, just yesterday I was tested. Someone’s tone hit me wrong and sent my mind into a space that I have always responded with sharpness. I felt the tension between who I wanted to be, kinder, snap-free, and rolling with the waves being railed against by my 29 years of snappy responses. I clamped my mouth shut and let the battle rage in my mind but did not let it escape my lips. “Stay calm, this is truly not an issue. Would speaking improve this situation?” I asked myself over and over. No matter how I analyzed it, I knew I was fighting a toxic trait of mine. After a few minutes the battle was over. The emotion passed and I have one victory over my toxic trait. Slowly, I can strengthen this habit until it is second nature. But it is years of living and making mistakes that guides me towards the light. Towards the direction of who I truly want to be, what I would rather offer the world and those around me. In my life I have lived and grown through a lot of situations and changed in so many ways. I have become more and more proud of who I am. It isn’t always easy, but it does always feel good. Experiencing The Blizzard
By Jessica Marie For days the NOAA weather alert radio had been sounding off with its pitched alert tones and humanoid computer voice warning of the impending blizzard. We watched the national weather radar as the storm crept up the east coast. Each day it inevitably marched closer and closer to Maine. We stocked up on goods then hunkered down, preparing for three feet of snow and wind that gusted over fifty miles per hour. Winter in the north looks like a perpetual winter wonderland, once the snow begins to fall it becomes a permanent resident until the spring melt. We gazed across the snow-covered January landscape. It was calm and unassuming, no hint that this serene scene would become a frozen tundra of blinding snow and ice in a matter of hours. The wind began to rail against the house as if warning us to stay inside. The first snowflakes began to fall and we knew it was here. The turbulent winds blew the snow in every direction simultaneously. The gales seemed to rail their angry fists against the house, as if the structure stood in the way blocking a route that the wind claimed was his. We watched the snow pile in drifts. Dead grass nearly poked through the barren spaces and in others the snow stood so deep you could dive in and simply disappear beneath feet of powder. The snow piled high against the door, trying to barricade any way out. Our house stood in a meadow of mankind’s making. Snow swirled off the roof, whipped around solitary trees, and piled on decks, wind shook the house and whistled viciously past. We silently thanked the builders for using two by six construction. I looked to the nearby forest, though I could only see it through momentary lulls in the blinding blizzard. I watched the trees shudder under the storms assault. Trees larger than buildings bowed and bent under its power. I wondered how the forest fared in a storm, did the wind whip past its trunks or did the trees halt the storm from penetrating its depths? The wonder would not leave me. I bundled up. Layers upon layers, my biggest, furriest hat, warmest scarf and gloves, I strapped snowshoes to my boots and took up my trusty hiking stick and set out for the forest on our property. Though to get there I would have to brave the onslaught of the open landscape where the wind and snow reigned as king. I marched towards the dark nearby horizon, the forest looked as such through the storm. Trees and finally a forest became distinguishable as I approached nearer and nearer. The deep whoosh of strong winds through large, sturdy, olden trees filled my ears. Slowly I stepped past the perimeter and trudged deeper and deeper into the forest and watched as the scene around me transformed into a sanctuary. The snow fell faintly and softly to the ground as if it were nothing more than sprinkle. The only clue to the ranging winter storm were the waves of wind that crashed over the canopy. A deep and distinct rumble as strong winds and strong branches fought over who ruled the sky. I walked aimlessly through the forest enjoying the calm and even warmth. The protection from the wind and falling snow made the forest feel like a warm oasis. I watched the thinner, younger trees slowly move and bow under the wind hassling their tops. Even with snowshoes my feet sank several inches into the snow and flakes had begun to invade my boots. At the first twinges of cold threatening my toes I decided it was time to head back home. I followed my tracks back to the space where the forest begins to thin and the clearing starts laying its claim. Here I found the wind fighting for dominance. In the forest my tracks remained untouched, as clear as when I first made each step. In this space in between two worlds the snow had begun to pile into my tracks; making it look as if it had been hours or days since my passing when, in reality, it had been merely minutes. As I broke from the warmth and safety of the forest, I found the snow as pristine as if I had never passed through. Left or right not a track in sight. I knew the property and I knew my direction. I carried on with confidence. The wind began to press me one way and then the next. The condensation in my breath had built up on my scarf that wrapped around my face and neck. The wind carrying its bitter cold bit through the scarf turning the water to ice on my face. Ice so cold it burned my skin. This quickened my pace. Following nothing save for my knowledge of my direction I fought the wind as it tried to batter me. Blowing first from the left then the right, my cheeks burning from the cold. As if from a void the house appeared and I quickly trekked inside. Taking my layers off and hanging them to dry I watched the blizzard rage outside with a new appreciation. Knowing its power and biting cold made me appreciate this home even more. Though I kept in the back of my mind the knowledge that if I ever found myself unlucky enough to be trapped outside in weather like this, I would take refuge in the nearest forest. Then I took to my computer and wrote down my notes on my experience in this truly dangerous storm. As a writer every experience can be used in a book, and I had an upcoming story in the tundra where I could use this knowledge to my advantage. As the wind continued to shake the house and the snow piled itself higher and higher, mocking me as if knowing I would need to shovel it tomorrow, I tossed another log onto our wood burning stove. I carried away on my laptop with my steaming mug of tea, glad to be back inside. January Book Reviews 2022
By Jessica Marie Song of the Forever Rains by E. J. Mellow 5/5 Stars I absolutely loved this book! I found it while looking through the new fiction acquisitions at the library. When I opened the book to start reading the first page to see if I was interested, I was immediately captured by the story and writing. The prose is very poetic and beautifully descriptive. The magic, characters, and world felt completely original and unique. I could not stop reading this book! If you like strong female characters, sisterly banter, unique magical worlds and powers, and fun story twists this fantasy story is for you! Loveable, Livable Home by John and Sherry Petersik 5/5 Stars My mom found this book for me at a library book sale. They have some really fun DIY home décor and design projects, good pictures, and good ideas for how to make your home beautiful while also meeting the needs and function of your family. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai 5/5 Stars This was simultaneously a beautiful story and a heart-breaking story. Some issues are so universal and others are unique to a culture, country, or area. Going through her life and hearing her story helps one to understand how we are all the same and yet also very different. How our basic humanity is the same no matter where you are, but it is expressed differently depending on our culture. She’s an absolutely beautiful soul and her story is one that will touch your heart. A Thieving Curse by Selina R. Gonzalez 5/5 Stars Another amazing book by Selina R. Gonzalez! I couldn’t read the Mage and the Mercenary series fast enough and she didn’t disappoint in this novel either. Retellings aren’t generally my favorite genre as, for me personally, they tend to be predictable and they don’t feel like a fun original adventure as I read them. And while, like all retellings, this novel did have elements of that (it’s a beauty and the beast retelling) she had original takes on the elements of the story that I was able to truly get lost in the book. She has amazing characters, and I adore the banter in her stories. While I knew what was going to happen at certain beats, the original takes and nuances really surprised me and truly kept me engaged. I couldn’t read anything for a few days after finishing this book as I wanted to dive back into this world and story. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis 4/5 Stars I read this book a few years ago, and while I have my issues with Rachel Hollis, I do enjoy her content from time to time. Her books do help to motivate me and help me want to reach my goals. This time I listened to the book on audio and it was nice to hear her emphasis and intonation throughout the book. This book helped me look at certain mental obstacles in my life and think about them in a different light. Strong Looks Better Naked by Khloe Kardashian 5/5 Stars Keeping Up With The Kardashians is one of my favorite guilty pleasure TV shows. Khloe is also my favorite Kardashian. So, I got this book from a thrift book shop and was unsure how I would feel about the book and Khloe after reading it. But I really enjoyed it! Everything she talks about in this book is exactly what I am working on right now. I loved how down to earth she is in the book, it honestly feels like you are sitting down to coffee with Khloe and she is just giving you some life advice. I love her perspective, her genuine heart, and her willingness to share what she has learned and what she has left to work on. Conclusion I know it may seem like I give out five-star reviews like candy, but these books are genuinely good! If I find a bad book (to my very subjective personal opinion) I am not afraid to say it. But January was a good month, I got lucky and really enjoyed every book I had the pleasure of reading or listening to. I get the majority of my books from library book sales, the library, thrift stores, the Libby app, and generally secondhand. Hope you like my reviews from this month and I hope you can add some of these to your own TBR. Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these books and if so, what did you think of them! |
AuthorJessica Marie Cunningham - Intentional lifestyle blogger, aspiring author, and podcast host. All things Slow Living, Books, Writing, Art, creativity, Christianity, and personal stories. Archives
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