Dos Scribblings Weekly: Be inspired! Drink in the world around you!

Hi there!

I'm here to tell you to take heart when you find yourself stuck... as I have been of late with my writing.


Even though I have not taken any direct action to act on my inspirations by writing, I have been thoroughly inspired with my new experiences lately. But when I'm feeling particularly uninspired I simply just escape for a while to the beach or my own front yard. Recently I decided to spontaneously go to one of my favorite beaches here in Northern Cali, and it was beautiful. I watched the storm clouds roll in from the ocean, poked at some sea anenomes and sea stars, felt the waves rolling around my ankles and tripped a few times by sinking in the wet sand. It was a dazzling experience!

Besides going to your happy place, I would recommend just seeking out whatever inspired you in the first place with your idea for whatever work you have at the moment. For me, many of the places I pulled inspiration from are from my favorite fantasy fiction novels. Specifically, for one of my WIP's I am writing a Beauty and the Beast fiction novel. I am not sure how well it will go, but I have a pretty solid idea for what I want this world to be like. My inspiration for that came from the story of the Beauty and the Beast, (obviously) but more specifically the Disney movie. I love the way that story version is written. In part I think the reason why it inspires me so much is because it's got a lot of beautiful music in it. For my WIP Beauty and the Beast story I drew different parts from the movie and the original story itself to make my work my own. I may be stuck on it now, but every time I watch something or listen to something related to Beauty and the Beast I get a little spark of inspiration.

If you are feeling stuck, you need to go back to the source material that brought you to this brilliant idea in the first place. And if you're in the first draft, all you need to be concerned about is letting your characters story play out and not worry to much about the giant plot holes or gaping inconsistencies.

Hope this inspires someone,

Love,

Jazmine

The Things We Want

Hi again!

Yes, this is my first post in a long-long time. I am making plans to get back on track and post at least once a week on my blog about writerly things. I think it would be good for me.
Anyway, about what I wanted to write this post for... this is something that's been on my heart lately as I've been praying about things in my life. There are many things we want in life: a wonderful job, someone to fall in love with, best friends, a great family, a new car, a million bucks. I could go on with that list but it would be lengthy, to say the least. If we bring that list into more of a writerly realm, it would include things like: more books to read, to be on the New York Times bestseller list, to have your job BE writing, and most of all have people love the stories you so laboriously put together.
Well, for me, it's been a great struggle to see people around me who I know like me as a person have great fun with their friends, yet, I don't really have as many as they do. Or more to the point, I don't have that "core" group of friends to hang out with like many people around me do. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out at college Bible group with all the lovely people there and the other places I go where I meet people. But there as never been a group of people where I've connected with them and we become that "group of friends".
I am BEYOND thankful for the amazing friends I consider sisters to myself, but their lives don't ever intersect all that often and it's not that "group of friends". If you haven't noticed yet, I really want to have that "group of friends". I've been clawing at the wall of despair because I don't have an answer to why no core group of people have ever connected with me where it's stayed that way for a long time. There have definitely been times in the past where there have been short bursts of a "group of friends", but more often than not we've grown up and grown apart, or they've moved away to another city a hundred or more miles away.
Part of it could be me, blocking myself subconsciously because of my insecurities with my age or any other thing. Even though my age does not matter when it comes down to it, I always find myself at the top of the group age wise and not really connecting with any particular person just because we're in a different stage in life... or I find myself the baby of the people I'm around. This has been the case recently, even though I know in my heart that age does not matter, and it shouldn't.

I've been very seriously praying to God asking questions of "WHY?!" mostly. Over the past few months it seems I've been getting the recurring message of "Be thankful for the blessings you have, stop yearning for something you think you need, look to Me and follow. I will provide for you."
There is also another thing I wrote down just as a note to myself... "I need to stop looking for relationships I think I need and open my heart to God instead." What's funny is that just now something occurred to me as I was typing: my best friend came into my life long before my insecurities about friendships came to the surface. A good few years before... yet she's the closest thing I have to a sister. ( You know who you are girlie! )
That in itself has just proved itself in this moment to be a testimony to myself and to anyone reading that God provides what we truly need. When He provides he does not fail, and does it in his timing, and far beyond our expectations.
The friend I wrote about a moment ago is proof of that, she's become my closest of friends over the past 7 years (WOW! That's a long time! Awesome!) I've known her. All of that despite the fact she lives 2,092 miles away from me (I counted girl, oh yes I did... google helped a little haha).


So, whether you are upset because you haven't made your WIP novel the perfect draft ready for publishing, or if you haven't gotten published yet, or you're just dealing with life issues of any kind at all... I hope this encourages you.
I thought I would share my experiences and the things I've discovered over these past months. Things can be extremely frustrating, but God will provide and the struggle with reach the peak eventually and the thing you were getting to will finally come. If not that thing, then something equally (or more likely, greater) awesome.

Love,

Jazmine

P.S.
I'll be trying to blog post more frequently. We will see how that goes with my second semester of college coming up. Not making any promises "etched in stone". Haha.

Pens are like swords, and relationships are like glass...

If you are intrigued by the title, I'm glad, because that was the point. *chuckles*

Welcome to the book review for "The Unlikely Debut of Ellie Sweet" the sequel to "The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet" by Stephanie Morrill. 

She has a pen for a sword... but what can she use for a shield?

I got this book for Christmas from good ol' Santa Claus. 

I'm not unfamiliar with this authors work (obviously, since I read the first book in this series), in fact I read her blog fairly often (Go Teen Writers), she's also partnered with Jill Williamson, the author of The Blood of Kings Trilogy and The Safe Lands, to write with her on the blog. 

I've also read the first book in Stephanie Morrills' other series "The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt". 

Moving on with the review, the opening certainly did not disappoint and I was hooked so well that I stayed up much later than I should with a flu flying about my home. Stephanie Morrill's book starts off at a steady incline to reach the climax of Ellie Sweet's story and leaves you with a satisfactory sigh by the end. From the very first sentences I enjoyed the comic sprinkled throughout it and the iron-clad strengthening in the personalities of the characters. In case those words are a little fuzzy... I'll elaborate:

What I mean by that is we see different sides and much more is revealed about the main characters during the time reading this book. Especially Ellie. A whole new batch of troubles is opened up for Ellie Sweet in this novel and being able to go through them with her so vividly because of Mrs. Morrill's steady hand in her craft makes it that much more enjoyable. 

Ellie Sweet's story contains everything you'd think would be happening in a teenage girls' life: high school drama, boys, schoolwork... the only huge difference is that she is on the verge of becoming a published author at the start of the book. And then perhaps that there is a love triangle weaved into her life story, which was actually established in the first book to begin with, but let's just say that the triangle is continued in this one - without giving to much away. 

Mrs. Morrill balances the elements of Ellie Sweet's writerly life without overdoing it, though I could be biased since I am a writer myself and I find things about it fascinating. And moving past that I think she handled the love triangle masterfully and definitely to her own style, she clearly avoided the cliche average formula for love triangles in many Young Author genre books nowadays. That's saying something coming from me, don't get me wrong, I love romance, but I can only read truly more original romance tales without cringing occasionally. Just because it's been done so many times.

But my favorite thing about this book (and the first book about Ellie Sweet) is how tasteful yet out in the open Mrs. Morrill tackles subjects like sex, beer, and drugs. She makes no clear effort to sugar coat it, and I really admire that, because after all; every high school girl comes across conversations like that. 

If I had one complaint/critique towards this book it would only be the way she cut the scenes and timeline. During my time reading it I feel like there was a 50/50 share of it being to slow, but then to fast at times. 

As I close this post I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. A job well done! =)

I look forward to buying the other books in the Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series. ( And more books about Ellie Sweet? Please? No pressure of course haha :D )

Love

Jazmine

Dos Scribblings Weekly: Using life in your writing

Hey everybody,

It's been a long-long time. But coming this new year I'll be blogging twice a week like I should be.

Anyway, what this post will be about is certainly a little more personal for me. The idea for this post came to me only a little while ago when I was chewing on some thoughts about what's been going on in my life lately. I will not go into to much detail, but it's been difficult and very frustrating dealing with these problems and not being able to do anything about it for fear of screwing up any chance I have. And then on the flip side of things I feel I'm being far to paranoid, and that I just need to knock it off, but then I begin wondering all over again and feeling depressed. As you can see what I'm going through is just one vicious cycle of nasty feelings. As are most things in life unfortunately.
But on a happier note I have been working hard on seeing that I really don't have anything to be that sad about. Sure, the things I'm dealing with right now are difficult and irritating, but I'm a very blessed girl and I have everything I could ever need right in front of me. I may want things, but that doesn't mean I don't have everything I need. That's something I feel God has been putting on my heart lately to grow as a person.

So as I listen to The Piano Guys on my iPod I'll get down to the point of this blog post. All of those feelings I expressed above the picture of the heart (Isn't it a cute heart by the way? I just love it!) I plan on using somehow in my writing. I give credit to the book "The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet" by Stephanie Morrill for making me realize how important that concept really is for any author.
The mentor character Bronte for the main character Ellie Sweet said something like "If someone hurt you Ellie, use it. Use your anger and put it in your writing. Don't dwell on it, just use it." This is the most useful advice to date that I've received from a book or anyone.
Even though I've done it unconsciously for years during my writing career (I don't know if I should call it that?) I've never actually read or heard someone tell me to do specifically that. When I was around 12 or 13 and trying desperately to find who I was, I expressed... age appropriate feelings for the time in my life I was going through in a very excited fashion. Was it good writing? No. But now that I know consciously that using life experiences in your stories can create life in a novel, I can use it to my advantage and craft better stories. Especially now that my writing has simply improved from when I was a pre-teen. (I'm now going to graduate High School in May 2014)
My advice to you: I don't care what it is in your life, whether it be happy experiences or absolutely heartbreaking experiences you must seize the opportunity and write it into one of your novels somehow. This is, after all, what makes us writers; painting on a blank canvas for the onlookers to see and be drawn into our world.
I don't know any of you personally, but for me, this is a way I deal with pain in my life. Writing gives me a way to vent out those experiences that leave me breathless with sadness or anger. Of course you do not have to stay 100% detailed to what you experienced, but to give the reader something so raw from your own soul (whether or not the reader actually knows it) makes the characters all that more real, and the world they live in very real. I can't stress that enough.

So: use your experiences to write. =)

On a last note, I probably won't post again until after the new year. Just to get a fresh start, so I bid thee goodbye.... for now.

Love,

Jazmine

Dos Scribblings Weekly: What do I write next?

Hello!

Another apology is in order for forgetting to write anything yesterday. But hey... this'll happen a lot until I get used to this haha.

Anyway, I decided to make this a short post about plotting.
There are two kinds of writers when it comes to plotting: Pantsers, and Plotters.

Plotters: These authors plot everything down to the very detail of every word before they write very much.

Pantsers: These authors fly by the seat of their pants when they write their stories.  No direct plotting in any sense.

I consider myself somewhere between the two. I tend to really only plot any book chapter by chapter, as for the rest of it, I keep the rest of the book in my head. Just the general outline of it.
No matter the type of writer though, I always recommend plotting to a little extent. The least would be taking notes and jotting down your ideas. ( Most authors do that anyways though ha-ha )
The way I roll when I plot out each chapter in any given book I'm writing is to write it out scene by scene. Many months ago I started out with yellow notepads and wrote it all down on there, but now I use a free writing program called yWriter which was brought to my attention via the blog Go Teen Writers.
 Sometimes I find that what I plot down doesn't always fit into one chapter, but this is the way I write because I write almost to much sometimes, and if you find that something does not fit into the chapter at all story-wise you can just skip the part you wrote down and continue on happily writing.
Before you start plotting it out though, I recommend getting everything straightened out so you know the general line you want to go before you start plotting it.
I find that it makes it a lot easier in the long run when you actually start writing the scenes to plot it out. The great thing is that you never have to be bogged down by anything you write in your plotting notebook (or yWriter). I'm always adding or deleting things I write down, and I believe that it'll pay off when I start the second draft of some of my more recent books.
I already have to deal with the monster book I want to publish someday, and that was long before I found out about the many great tips of writing.
I hope you found this post helpful in any way, not one of my best posts but oh well!
I say plotting out - at least - chapter by chapter helps you keep your story in a straighter arrow towards writing THE END.

Love,

Jazmine

Dos Scribblings Weekly: Writing in the smiles and laughter

Hello again!

So I have to make an apology. I totally failed in blogging on Monday and Friday, but I suppose my excuse is that I was on vacation haha. Anyway... I thought today, an appropriate subject would be writing humor into the things we authors write. And what's funny is that I only just came up with this subject a few hours ago after I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring because of the more humorous scenes. To quote one: "I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox." Gimli has an arrow pointed in his face after he speaks. The elf captain steps forward. "The dwarf breathes so loud we could've shot him in the dark." (Yes, I did just quote that from memory, and yes, I have watched it that many times. Can you tell I'm a fantasy fiction nutball yet? Teehee!)
As I've gotten more involved in the writing world I've realized the importance of humor in writing. Though unconsciously I've always strayed towards movies that always have just a dash of humor in them if not more. Humor makes everything. Humor adds a lightness to the otherwise darker parts of the stories we read and write.
If you are a writer trying to write more of a darker story, I wouldn't put to much humor in your story, of course, but coming from a readers point of view if there isn't any humor at all that might cause a smile or a giggle then it might be to bogged down with to much of the darker and heavier emotions in the book. I am a firm believer in balancing everything in a work of literature; no matter the genre.

Now writing it into your story may be a bit difficult if you think about it to much. Though I'm not a professional writer or anything, I have realized over the 8 or 9 years I've been writing stories that you can't try really hard to put humor in. Otherwise it will come out really... plastic.
This may not happen with everyone, but I find that any humor I have in my book usually just comes to me as I'm writing a scene. I see how the scene is being lain out and usually the words of my characters or the POV of my main character flows perfectly into the scene.
So whenever you're writing and you need humor, it's not a good idea to over think it. It will just cause problems with how the scene reads.
The best advice on learning what's funny if you're having trouble with that, however, is to just watch and read whatever you think is funny. Don't try to appeal to any particular persons funny bone. I have found that if it doesn't make me laugh I can't flesh out the humor as I normally would be able to.
Like I wrote in my last post: find things that inspire, or in this case, inspire the funny in you.
After a while of practicing at writing humor if you ever have trouble with it, you should be able to get the hang of it for the most part.
And if anyone is interested and you're having trouble trying to make something amusing or humorous leave a comment and I'll do my best to help ya!

 I'll be stopping here for now, but check back on Friday (7/12) for another blog post of Dos Scribblings.

Love,

Jazmine

Dos Scribblings Weekly -- Inspirations, imaginings, good literature... and other matters. =]

Well heelloooo!!

Welcome to the first post of Dos Scribblings Weekly. For now it's just one this week, but on Monday I will do another one and then on Friday again.
I decided just to do something simple and talk about some of the things that help me become inspired to weave a great story. But where to start?
Where it all starts. A spark. An idea. An exciting incident to spur the start of a story.
This is what has happened to me time and time again whenever I see an enchanting movie or read a great book woven by a wonderful storyteller. Or in some other not so-common-cases for me is reading other young writers work with a combination of the above.
The combination of other writers work and movies like Lord of the Rings, Terabithia, and Narnia inspired me to write one of my books called The World Within. I am editing the second draft currently, and if I remember correctly I finished it back in 2008 sometime.
This is the book I hope to publish someday soon... it would be fantastic. I am in love with the characters, and I'm lucky enough to be able to have such a strong world to build the story on.
 Everything about stories comes from a spark of inspiration at one point or another. The Hobbit "an Unexpected Journey" was one of the bigger reasons I got into editing my second draft of The World Within. 

There is always something so exciting about being inspired to write a new book... a new story. I love it. Unfortunately for us writers though, not every story idea may have a good storyline ahead of it. Maybe wonderful possibilities, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.
Though I still hold out hope for some of my own personal ideas I've had, (Like my Jack Frost story I got inspired to write after I saw Rise of the Guardians) not all of them are very easy to find conflict within the story.

Inspiration is what keeps writers going though, and thinking up ideas is one of the most fun parts about writing. The only problem is to keep on going once you've started to write this wonderful idea. And that's a whole other story for another time...

I'll leave you to think about this, and I hope this was entertaining enough for you to read so you'll come back on Monday to read the next post. Ta ta! :)

Love,

Jazmine




**Disclaimer** I do not own either of these images. All credit goes to the companies and people affiliated to these movies.

Determination = New blog posts

Hello blogger people's! 

This'll be a really short post since I really need to go to bed... it is exactly 4 minutes until 1 AM where I live. And I'm going on an 18 hour road trip on Wednesday, can we say... STUPID? Bahahaha.... okay. Enough chit chat. Let's get down to business.
I'm going to be on vacation, but I'll still be able to use computer. On Friday I'm going to start what I'll be calling "Dos Scribblings Weekly" (a.k.a. Two Scribblings Weekly). This will be writing related and this will be a constant thing as long as I can keep thinking of subjects to write about about writing.... if that makes any sense. 
I'll probably have to get some ideas for what I'll write about. But this is my new determination; to blog at least twice a week. The days you can expect to see a post will be on Monday - to read a post during the week - and on Friday - so you can read a post over the weekend. 
Now that I've written all this... I am terrified I won't write anything interesting. I suppose if worse comes to worst, I'll just write a ramble. ha-ha. 
The last thing I'll say is that I will possibly post book reviews in the future, and maybe a video review. Or both at the same time. I'm not quite ready to give up my video reviewing that I've tried. 

SO. Check back here on Friday and there will be a post up and ready for you to read! 

... and I'm off to bed, so g'night! And lots of hugs and kisses and blessings to you. 

Love, 

Jazmine

My Secret Life: Some of my pieces of artwork...

I felt like sharing some of my artwork that I've done in the past and recent times... so here ya go!

My Secret Life: The people you don't think about

      Well... it's been quite a while since I've written a blog post. I guess I've just been experimenting with different things. I thought instead of writing book reviews on my blog that I would just do them on youtube, which someday I'll get back to and I did have fun doing them but I've been having some deep issues with some things in my life... so I figured I was lying when I smiled on camera. And I need to work that out before I start doing videos again. Anyway... 
      I was writing a history report for my schoolwork this night... and I kept thinking to myself about the lonely things I've felt in the past, and the lonely feelings I've had even now. And I found myself wandering to the fact that there are other girls and guys just like me that feel all alone and spend their days alone by themselves in their room at home with nothing but themselves and their family to have company for. I suppose it just made me sad, of course I do have some friends, and I am thankful for them very much. :) They are wonderful people. But even so I feel lonely almost all the time on occasion. 
      It makes me wonder why people don't make more of an effort to reach out to those who are sitting alone or don't talk to people all that much. Why don't people reach out to someone who doesn't have any friends? Instead of sticking to your own that you already have? You could change someone's life by doing that.
    Unfortunately I don't really have the chance to do that to often haha... considering I am that person most of the time. But I think I'm fortunate enough to have been able to do that at least one time and chat with a new girl to the area, unfortunately she moved away again, but I was happy to talk to her and I found we had a lot in common. 
      My heart aches for teens like myself who don't have anyone to talk to or spend their time alone wondering why there's no one to be friends with them. And why they always have to be the one to reach out if they want friends, though it is a good thing in order to get out of your shell, but it's nice to know that your wanted when someone says. "Hey, come on over, you wanna go hang out at so and so's house? Or at the park?" 
Or "Hey, have you watched this movie? or read this book? Or heard about this?" 
      This was just something that has been on my heart lately... as I find myself lost in my books and writing to escape the reality of sadness and loneliness around me and in my own personal life. As I'm writing this I'm actually getting a little choked up thinking about the teenagers who are feeling depressed... I don't even really care about my social life actually, I just ache for the kids who may not have one whether or not I do. I wish I could reach out to them even though I don't know them.
      I'll finish writing this post since I have to head off to bed, but maybe we should all start thinking about reaching out to that girl or boy sitting by themselves... instead of just saying "Nah, they're ok. They probably want to be alone." Maybe you should stop and realize that you're wrong. 90% of the time you are wrong when you see this person. 

The next time you see someone like that, stop, consider them, and realize that they are craving love and friendship because they don't have any. Think about how happy you are with your friends, and think about how they don't have that!

Don't even think about walking away and moving on with your day until you talk to them. If you don't know them introduce yourself... if you do know them, than say hello and strike up a conversation.

YOU MIGHT JUST MAKE SOMEONE'S DAY!

And perhaps if you are friends with someone, but they don't talk very much, and they smile all the time and act like everything's A-OK... chances are they aren't. Maybe they need someone to talk to. Invite them out to coffee or lunch, or just over to your house to hang out. 

YOU MIGHT JUST MAKE THEIR DAY!

Think about that the next time you tell yourself that sad looking thing in the corner just wants to be left alone.  

Think about that the next time your friend says that everything is OK. Even if they don't say anything about their problems, just telling them that you are there to listen helps them feel happy that they can confide in someone if they would like.


THINK ABOUT IT.

My Secret Life: The Tale of Cinderella

     We all know what this picture is from. :) 

     The iconic glass slipper... don't you just love the Cinderella Story? 

      I just went and saw a local play telling the story of Cinderella, and it was fabulous! It got my itching to get back on stage again, that's for sure. I suppose watching the play just got me thinking about how refreshing a classic story like this is. I know I remember always loving the Cinderella Disney movie, along with many others, but I just think the story is very beautiful and well told. Even with its many different versions. 

     I think every girl dreams of finding her prince charming one day and hopes that her dreams will come true. I know I do. After seeing this play I think I'm going to see what kind of books I can find with different versions of Cinderella, I know one book I'm probably going to buy if she ever writes it. Melanie Dickerson seems to be writing a series of books based on the classic princesses, so far she has Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty released. And Snow white is coming up in the next year or so, I just absolutely love the cover for it to!! 

     I might write my own version of the Cinderella story to one day, but for now I think I'll stick with the books I'm writing currently. I just wanted to talk about how much I loved this classic story. :) A story that I'll probably be telling my kids if I ever have them. 

::: Review ::: "Save the date" by Jenny B. Jones

hello! :) 

How is everyone today? :-D
I hope you all are going to have lots of fun on the 4th and spend lots of great time with your family and friends! :) I know that it's going to be fun for me this 4th. ^_^ 
So today I'm going to review "Save the date" by Jenny B. Jones. 

"When funding for Lucy's non-profit job is pulled, she is determined to find out why. Enter Alex Sinclair, former professional football star and heir to Sinclair Enterprises-the primary donor to Lucy's non-profit organization.

Both Lucy and Alex have something the other desperately wants.

Alex has it all . . . except for the votes he needs to win his bid for Congress. Despite their mutual dislike, Alex makes Lucy a proposition: pose as his fiancee in return for the money she desperately needs. Bound to a man who isn't quite what he seems, Lucy finds her heart-and her future-on the line."

I truly believe that Jenny B. Jones is a one-of-a-kind author. She brings all sorts of spunk and humor and romance all in one book with this novel. And just like "There you'll find me" (I reviewed it a year or two ago) she did a phenomenal job with this book! 
I hope I'm not being too biased by saying I loved this book. But I honestly cannot find anything wrong with any of the characters, and believe me I'm going to gush about all the things I loved about it. 


Lucy is a spunky woman with a hilarious and surprising taste in books and movies... 
I think the way to describe her is that she is a major Star Wars geek. haha ;) But Lucy knows how to make sure that Alex Sinclair knows what she thinks of everything he says. 
When you pick up this book you won't be disappointed with the romance and heartwarming moments, it has its good share of bickering between the "fake" couple to. hehe ;) 


The element of romance stays true to the reality of falling in love, besides the odd circumstances, and how much work it takes to make a relationship work. Mrs. Jones weaves a tale of superb elegance of these two character's different lives from both of their perspectives. 


All in all, a humorous and heartwarming read with its tearjerker moments. :) Mrs. Jenny B. Jones gives you more than enough reasons to fall in love with these characters again and again  and re-read their story just as many times. 


I rate this book five out of five stars. 

My Secret Life: CampNaNoWriMo

     Hello everybody... : ) 


      So I'm working on a new book for this little program on the world wide web called Camp NaNoWriMo, its a summer version of National Novel Writing Month which takes place in November, and I only just discovered the Nano crew just last year through my friend which is when I started writing my YA contemporary romance novel Limelight. (Still a WIP, mind you)

       And this time around I'm also writing a romance novel, but this time its a YA Historical Romance called We'll Meet Again, and the book has a lot more elements to it than just the romance. :) It all takes place during WW2, I've been reading a lot about that in my history homework and learning about how much people struggled during this time was especially interesting to me and touched my heart personally. Even though I've never been in a situation like the Jews were in with poverty and being brutally murdered and such, I sympathize with them and it makes me realize how lucky I am to have been born in the time period I'm in and how blessed I am by God with everything He's given me. 
     Anyway, this book has been so much fun to write even though I'm only about 5,000 words into it... so today I decided to make a blog post and post a little something about this book. :) I am also going to post a little blurby about my book Limelight as well, because I do not believe I have ever posted one before. 
So here ya go peeps! 


     We'll Meet Again 

Everything for a young German woman's life seems to be hanging in the balance with the sight of war on the horizon for her country. All Lea Amery must do is have faith in God that He will protect her and her family, and their beloved farm home. On the day of September the first of 1939, war is finally declared on Germany by France and England who have had enough of Adolf Hitler's escapades. And so comes the day when her heart breaks of being forced to watch her brothers be drafted for the German army and for the greater good of the fatherland, and her home invaded two times in a month span of one another. She is made to be hospitable to a squadron of Nazi's themselves, the very people she loathes.
But despite her hatred for them, a handsome young man amongst them takes residence in her mind and heart like a mustard stain you can never get out. 


Kaiandre Richter has always been a ladies-man and lived and breathed the German military since the tender age of fourteen. He'd never seen himself going anywhere else besides an officer amongst the German military ranks, and he's never seen the greatness that life can bring besides spending his leave days with dazzling women and drinking as much as his body would allow it. 
When he was finally old enough to join the Nazi's, he did, and he was pleased that they considered him an honorable and worthy man for the job. He'd never exactly been all for Hitler's Nazi escapades, but he didn't really mind doing his duty as long as he never had to do the dirty work. 
A few months into the war his squadron is moved to a secluded location in the middle of nowhere to establish a small HQ on a farm, where he unexpectedly meets a gorgeous girl with the spiciest attitude. And as the handsome soldier soon discovers; it'll take a lot more than just charms to get to through that girl's diamond hard armor.
But these two young people have yet to realize how drastic their lives are going to change by their unpredicted meeting. 


     Limelight

Jasper Myer and teen heartthrob Taylor Greyson have been best friends since they were little kids, and Jasper has always dreamed of being a well known actor like Taylor. And now the eighteen-year-old High school graduate has that chance; she flies across the country from her small town home in Michigan to the big city of Los Angeles, California to finally reunite with Taylor and chase her dreams. 
After struggling for a few months to land a single audition her destiny finally plays out and she meets an ambitious young director looking for an unknown talent to play his lead female role. To her utter delight no sooner after she finishes the audition the crew working on the movie hire her on the spot for the part. But with her dream come true a new obstacle is put in its place for her to overcome, she's up for immense responsibility of the role,  but is she up for the challenge of playing the lover of her best friend's character in this movie? Not only does she have to deal with overwhelming feelings that she knows she should not be having about her best friend, she has to deal with the untold backstabbing that happens behind the glitz and glam of Hollywood life. 
Can she handle the harsh storm winds of her new life? 


(I wrote all this about a month or so ago... I am finished with campnanowrimo, but I figured I should write this blog post anyway, and unfortunately I never did get to 50,000 words on my WW2 novel. But I will finish it eventually :) 

Happy 2012! :)

     This is a bit overdue, but oh well! Better late than never! 

     I'm not feeling to great right now so this is going to be a short post. (I have vertigo again, stayed up to late watching Sherlock Holmes last night) So wow... it's 2012! Yikes! Where did 2011 go? Kinda scary too lol! I'll be 16 years old in a few months... again YIKES! 
     But I just wanted to say that I think this year will be a bit different for a lot of people. :) I just got a good feeling. So umm... one thing I'm really looking forward to this year is THE HUNGER GAMES movie! I just finished reading the book and it was a pretty entertaining book. :) I have a few objections to it, but um I think I might write a review about it. Just some minor things that I don't like, but I'm really impressed that a Young Adult novel didn't have any TO suggestive content in it. Overall I really liked it, and I'm going to read the next one "Catching Fire" hopefully within the next month. 
     So, I'll blog again later maybe! 


See ya!


~Jazmine

Merry Christmas!!

     Merry Christmas everyone! :) 

     So, I'm hoping everyone has had a great Christmas and had fun with their family and friends. :) I know I have, and I'm looking forward to the New Year with a bittersweet attitude. I can feel a lot of things coming on for me, personally, in this next year that God's saving for me so he can mold me into the shape of the woman I'll be for the rest of my life. 
     This year has been an amazing Christmas for me... 
     It is rather bittersweet, considerably, because I'm 15-years-old and though I wish I still was; I'm not a little kid anymore. (I still act like it though on occasion ;) I still smiled and had a blast like every other year though, and I can't thank God enough for blessing me with family that loves me very much. The annual Christmas eve cookie party was a blast, and so was earlier this morning. I was worried it would be more dull Christmas morning than in the past, but I was wrong, it was a lot of fun and I'm so very thankful for the gifts I received. 
   And I can't even begin to describe how great it was hanging out with everyone, though I wished more people would've come to our cookie party I was happy that the people who came-came. It was fun reuniting with some old friends. :) 
     But, the thing I'm most thankful for as a gift, is Jesus' birth and his death on the cross for the world's sins. Or for me personally; my sins. I've realized that even though I know I am saved, and I believe in my heart that Jesus did die on the cross for my sins, I feel like it really hasn't sunk in very well. And I don't focus on Jesus' birth every year on Christmas time like I should, like everyone really should, especially the Christians. We all get so wrapped up in the holidays definitely, and we forget the reason for the season. 
     Makes you wonder why it's so easy to forget the reason for living. 
     Anyway, if I don't stop writing now I'm going to go into New Years resolutions, and I wanted to do a post about that on New Years Eve lol. So I'm going to stop right here, and just say how thankful I am for the greatest gift of all: Jesus, my savior. 
     I'll blog again on New Years Eve, or day, if I can so see ya later! Off to the Wii to enjoy some of my blessed gifts! lol ;D


~Jazmine

Heartland

Hey all, :) 

     So I'm like obsessed with this new TV show I found, it's Canadian, so I can't access it through the television channel website unless I live in Canada, but it's an AMAZING horse themed TV show!!! And it's gotta be one of the best TV show's I've seen in my life, the characters are so well built throughout the shows, there's great emotional impact, and I just feel like I know the characters so well that I get sad and happy when they are, you know what I mean? 
     Heartland is a fantastic show! 
     It's all about a 15-year-old girl named Amy Fleming who lives on a ranch called Heartland and has a special gift of listening to broken and abused horses and healing their scars; what any horse-crazy girl only dreams of being. ;) And best of all, it's CLEAN. Except for two cuss words that aren't extremely foul... one of them is another name for your butt. And then the other one rhymes with "ham". 
     But I just can't get enough of Heartland, it's an addictive show, but I have every reason to love it! Especially because there's a tall dark-haired handsome cowboy in it... hehe. So I just thought I'd blab about my absolute adoration for this show, I'll have to save up some money and buy all the seasons on DVD. And the books. 

Here's some videos for the trailers of season 1 and 2... 

Season 1 Trailer -

 

Season 2 Trailer - 

 

Talk to ya'll later! :) 

~Jazmine 

:: Review :: "The Gathering" by Kelley Armstrong

     " 'The Gathering' is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Maya Denaley who lives in an extremely teeny medical-research town. How small? You can't find it on the map. 
     Strange things begin happening out of the blue to this small town, first; the captain of the swim team drowns in the middle of a calm lake, then cougars start flocking around Maya's house, and won't go away. Things only make it worse when the new bad boy, Rafe, becomes very interested in her. And Maya likes him back, because he makes her feel different."




     While perusing my local library's young adult selections, I found this book, and thought it interesting at a glance. So I picked it up and took it home with me, now before I go into all the critiquing I will say that I did enjoy this book to an extent because of the originality of it. I haven't read or seen to many movies that play out like this, so it's more original than other books that I've read. 
     But I would not recommend this for anyone that steers away from books that have cussing, references to sex, drugs/alcohol, and heated make-out scenes. And for those reasons I kind of regret reading it, but thankfully its not as saturated with icky sexual content as The Twilight Saga. However, again, I say that there are a few suggestive things in there so be forewarned. 
     Now that I've got all that out of the way, onto the critiquing of the literature part of the book! 
     I will be as gentle as possible, but to put it bluntly; I was not impressed with the book. 
     In fact, I was a little ticked off that they even dared to give her the title of "Bestseller". Just goes to prove that you don't have to be very good at writing to get that title; should take the worries off my shoulders for becoming published, right? (har har) 
     Anyway, it was really hard to turn off my internal editor, and it kept screaming at me to edit the paragraphs and paragraphs of distracting-going-off-track-with-the-story paragraphs. That really tended to bug me the entire time through reading that book, don't get me wrong, it was entertaining... but I think Kelley Armstrong could use a bit of work with her writing. There were many times during reading this book that I'd come across a few paragraphs that were completely off-the-wall and had absolutely nothing to do with the story, and they would go on for too long. It bugged me beyond belief, and then there were grammar problems galore throughout it. Not as bad as Stephenie Meyer, but there were grammar things that my internal editor was squealing about. 


Other than that though, I enjoyed the originality of the story for the most part, and the chemistry between Rafe and Maya, and then between Maya and her best friend Daniel. I'm considering reading the second one, but only if I find it at the library. 


All in all I rate this book three out of five stars. 


Note: I wrote this review for my own pleasure, and I am not obligated to write a positive or negative review, only an honest one.

My Secret Life: Wynonna Judd

Hey everybody :) 

So... the deets of last night. I can't express enough of how much I enjoyed the concert I just went to last night! I never did mention it I don't think, but I actually got to see WYNONNA JUDD LIVE! :D How cool is that?!
And I must say that she was extremely... just... WOW. She was so amazing to see live.
Now I'm going to jump back a bit so I can explain an amazing point about her. :) So, a while back mom showed me this video of her singing at one of her concerts and she actually said: "You know... I'm just gonna say it because, its my show, and I'll do what I want." And everybody cheered for her, and then the next thing that came out of her mouth. "So, recently I've been going through some hard things. And I've just come to know my savior, Jesus Christ." That was so cool hearing that come out of her mouth, (note: not at the concert I went to), and I was happy to hear that she seemed to be saved. Especially after she sang "I Can Only Imagine" and tears were streaming down her face as she smiled and sang the lyrics.
And if you're with me here, you all know that 99% of musical artists, actors, everybody in Hollywood, that if they say they're Christian they're usually fibbing. I may be judging, but honestly if you're truly a Christian you need to show it through your actions. (Ex: Don't do drugs, have sex before marriage, etc. Which many young people in Hollywood musical stuff do)
 I don't really follow Wynonna in her career, but as far as I know she's doing her best to mend things with her mom Naomi Judd, and making a better life for herself period.
And sooo... I come to my point. :) At the concert I went to, she actually sang "I Can Only Imagine" at the concert. I was all "OMIGOSH! She's not lying!!! SHE'S ACTUALLY SAVED!!" She got that same look on her face she had in the video I saw, she wasn't crying, but close to it.
And before she sang it she told her audience; "So as you listen to this, just let this wash over you," And then her beautiful amazing fantabulous voice sang out to the crowd.
But um... unfortunately my county I live in is kind of anti-religion-go-with-the-flow. :-/ Not everybody, but a lot of the population is like that. Everyone was absolutely dead silent when she sang that song, compared to the songs before that people were clapping in the middle of her singing, so everyone during that song was dead silent. I felt kind bad for Wynonna, but I'm hoping she heard mom say "Hallelujah!" before everyone started clapping. I was tempted to raise my hands semi-high without bothering people by blocking the view, but I didn't, that's why I hate my shyness sometimes and I don't push it out of the way and just do what I want to do.
She is so amazingly talented though, and she honestly inspired me more than any other artist has. I'm inspired by how she's just pushing herself through the difficulties in her life and coming out a stronger and amazing woman.
So a couple cute and favorable moments and highlights of the show...
One guy during almost all the way through till about half, kept shouting things like "YEAH!" and "WOOHOO!!"
I don't exactly remember what he said that made Wynonna say "Your a guy..." and something about him not knowing squat about being a woman and the things we have to deal with. He ended up saying "REDHEADS ARE HOT!" At one point and she laughed and called him up on stage to get a picture with her lol. It was so funny.
And trust me when I say that he wasn't exactly level-headed or coherant as he could be. ;) I think he may have been high, just a little bit. He had classic long hair, and a bandana, and khaki pants. And a big bulge in his pocket on his leg. Wynonna fingered it and asked what it was, and everyone said "don't ask!" She figured it out pretty quickly. And then she asked his girlfriend if she made the guy come to her concert, and if he even knew who she was lol. She's great!
Another thing is she was saying something sad, and a guy in the audience (not the same guy) said "You need a hug!" And she actually bent over the stage and let him give her a hug, it was so cute and she was grinning ear to ear after that! She even said "That really just made my day." lol.

It was so sweet. :)
Another funny moment is when she mentioned her 15-year-old daughter Grace, and a woman in the audience said "I'm so sorry." Wynonna nodded and said; "Paybacks are hell," everyone laughed and she just smiled. In case you didn't know, Wynonna was kind of a pain-in-the-butt when she was a teenager lol.
Well really all her life, but she's always been getting under people's skin because of the way she is lol. I love her though, she's completely free-spirited and I can tell the difference between her and other musical artists. She's got a distinctive personality and shine to her songs, and she's not afraid to say things that she wants to say.
I just gotta say :) She was really amazing to see, and I'm really happy I got to go see her live. I'll have to see her again, and maybe if I'm lucky I'll meet her in person someday! *crosses fingers*

~Jazmine

My Secret Life: Happy Halloween! :)

     Hey all! :) 

     I guess I just forgot about my blog for a while, that's why I haven't posted much of anything lately. And of course I'm busy with life and everything; mostly because I'm a procrastinator. This year for Halloween I'm not exactly doing much of anything, in fact I kinda don't have any idea what I'm doing tonight besides going to my church's harvest party and dressing up. 
     I think we're going trick-or-treating around where we live, but we don't have a lot of choices besides our street because we're living in the middle of the city so there are a lot of businesses. But it should be fun. :) I'm totally looking forward to breaking in my costume and decorating myself to look like a Wood Elf. That's what I'm being, by the way, a wood elf. 
     The dress is mostly green and other earthy colors, and it has some sparkly fabric hanging from the dress and sleeves. I also got an orange flower clip, and I'm hoping to curl my hair before we leave and put on a bit of facepaint/makeup. Other than that nothing to extravagant. 

Anywho, I should go, gotta go get ready for the night. :) 

TTYL

~Jazz 

"There You'll Find Me" Jenny B. Jones :: Review ::

(Thanks to Booksneeze.com and Thomas Nelson publishing co. for providing me with this advanced copy of the book for reviewing purposes) 

     
Grief brought Finley to Ireland. LOVE WILL LEAD HER HOME.

"Finley Sinclair is not your typical eighteen-year-old. She’s witty, tough, and driven. With an upcoming interview at the Manhattan music conservatory, Finley needs to compose her audition piece. But her creativity disappeared with the death of her older brother, Will.
She decides to study abroad in Ireland so she can follow Will’s travel journal. It’s the place he felt closest to God, and she’s hopeful being there will help her make peace over losing him. So she agrees to an exchange program and boards the plane.
Beckett Rush, teen heartthrob and Hollywood bad boy, is flying to Ireland to finish filming his latest vampire movie. On the flight, he meets Finley. 
She’s the one girl who seems immune to his charm. Undeterred, Beckett convinces her to be his assistant in exchange for his help as a tour guide.
Once in Ireland, Finley starts to break down. The loss of her brother and the pressure of school, her audition, and whatever it is that is happening between her and Beckett, leads her to a new and dangerous vice. When is God going to show up for her in this emerald paradise?
Then she experiences something that radically changes her perspective on life. Could it be God convincing her that everything she’s been looking for has been with her all along?"


     Speechlessly inspiring.
     I can say this, without a doubt in my mind, that this is the best Christian Fiction Young Adult novel you will ever pick up. From the very moment I opened the book to the introduction, I was hooked. Mrs. Jenny B. Jones had me on the edge of my seat crying and laughing right along with Finley Sinclair and the other characters. She held me tight within its pages as she told me the story of this struggling young Christian woman; trying to find God again and feel closer to Him through the land her deceased elder brother felt so in love with, Abbeyglen, Ireland.
     And then before she's even in the glorious land of Ireland, she meets Beckett Rush. (As described in above summary) And I must say that from the very moment she saw him on that plane, I knew their relationship was going to be worth reading about. I even wanted to slap him with some of the horribly arrogant words that came out of that boy's mouth lol, but I grew to like him very much over time because of how Jenny formed his character.
     I salute you Jenny B. Jones for making him so admirable, even within the pages of a book a man can attract me. I found myself wanting to really meet Beckett Rush, just for the sake of saying I did. For once I actually an author with an extraordinary talent of writing a wonderful story and making me fall in love with the characters. The relationship between Beckett and Finley is hilarious and heart warming throughout the book. :)
     And I felt much more connected to Finley when I started to read about her struggle with feeling as though God was being silent, and ignoring her. Right now I'm going through something very similar, so that touched me very much and I teared up a little. That is why I say it was inspiring. And I know that every woman or girl goes through life thinking they are ugly as all get out, and fat, and "flabby" (As Finley describes her arms and thighs more than once in the book) and feel the need to be skinnier in order to be beautiful, Finley goes through stresses of her audition and being in a relationship thing with Beckett and dealing with teenage drama at the Catholic girls school and develops anorexia along with exercising excessively. It inspired me in more ways than one to see her overcome it for the most part.

      I hardly have anything to say negatively about this book, but I suppose I'll pick some things out. The only things that I can pick out is that the accents were confusing a bit, because sometimes there would be things in Beckett's words that would show he has a hint of an Irish accent, but then it wouldn't. Same with the other locals in the story for the most part, it wasn't to bad because I got the idea though and that's what counts.
     And then Beckett's words when he was talking to Finley or his father, was... distant sometimes. Like Mrs. Jones may have gotten distracted and his words lost emotion. It's hard to explain, but there were these scattered very few parts in the book that had these parts in them. It wasn't that bothersome, so I don't really care. Just some little things.
     An excellent read! And this woman captured my heart for Finley's love of Ireland, I would be more than happy if someone gave me a gift of money to go there and enjoy myself!

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars... (of course!) Well done Jenny B. Jones, I'll definitely be picking up the rest of your books very soon! And whenever you come out with your next novel, I'll be buying it.

Thanks for reading.

~Jazmine

(Note: I am not obligated to write an honest review, only an honest one)