My Secret Life: Last Saturday of the summer

     Hello all,


     You know its really hard to believe that the year only has four months left. It seems like only a month or so ago I was sitting in my grandma's house in Idaho watching the ball drop on January 1st 12:00 A.M. Ahh memories... lol. 
     And today is the last Saturday of summer, school starts on Monday for me. Though I suppose not everyone starts on Monday so. :P Anyway, the real reason I'm blogging right now is just to update on everything that's been going on in my life lately. I've had a pretty fabulous summer, even though we didn't go camping, so that was disappointing. BUT, my cousins came to visit! And I got to meet my cousin Emily for the first time, she's so great! I love her. 
    Someday I'll be able to make a trip down to southern California and visit all of my family down there, I haven't been to see them in many-many years. We're always going north to visit my Mom's family.

Me and Emily at the beach! So much fun with that girl! :)

      On to the rest of my story!
     Horseback has been pretty great lately, though I really need to speed up my tacking time. Because I'm always the last one up there, this last Wednesday it was pretty bad lol. I almost didn't have time to tack up completely. I was just bridling Benny when everyone was going up, but I had no worries about bridling him because he's pretty good about accepting the bit and letting me put his ears in the bridle. 
     By the way, I LOVE Benny! He's such an awesome horse! :) I also got to ride Tipper a little while ago, and boy did I miss riding him... he was a lot of fun to get on again. I really wish Corrie would let me ride him more often, but I guess she thinks I'm a better fit for Benny and Sunny. 
     I thought I was doing pretty good on Tippy earlier on, he's a great horse even though he's a pain in my kiester sometimes. 
     So before I get to how my writing is going, I'm going to tell you about a friendship I rekindled. :) I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my friend Paul on here, but I haven't talked to him in months. So I got up the guts to call him up a few weeks ago and ask him to come on over, so now we're trying to hang out every couple of weeks. And its super fun, I so miss the days of being little kids with him. But I have many fond memories locked away in my head. 
     And now I'm going to blab all about my writing life. 
     I'm beginning the long and tedious process of editing my 112K book "The World Within", oh yes, that big sucker. Pretty positive I've mentioned it before, just don't remember when. It is a long book, around 400 pages, and needs some major remodeling. I'm almost tempted to post a sign on my bedroom door when I'm editing it and say "CAUTION: Book remodeling in progress" lol. That's how bad it is, though some people would probably say I'm being to hard on myself, I don't think I am. Because I'm willing to spend the time giving it love and making it the best it can be, it is my baby after all. And a mother should never abandon her baby; she should keep raising the child until its the best it can be. 
     (This is how much I love this book, and how much faith I have in it. I'm using the application of being a mommy... I am a little cooky sometimes but, whatever. :) 
     Someday it will be polished to perfection - as close as I can get it - and I will begin the anticipated day of emailing agents with my query letters and book samples. Now if I'm lucky, I can do such a thing my late junior year, or senior year in High school. Though, I have no idea where God is going to take me on this journey, I'm praying that I'll get such a chance to get published. Every author wants to be a New York Times Bestseller, I don't think that'll happen to me, but it will be a blessing just to get my book published and in people's bookshelves for reading. 
     I would sincerely love it if my book became loved like C.S. Lewis' masterpieces, or Lord of the Rings. (That's a huge dream, but a girl can dream, can't she? ;D ) 
     And to make it even better, I've been re-reading Inkheart (amazing book) and I've been inspired to edit and write in my Amerada books again. I forgot how amazing the Inkworld trilogy is! I might just have to pull out my other two books in the series when I finish Inkheart. And I'm really looking forward to getting farther in TWW and re-discovering the characters I created a couple years ago. Max, Kelly, Arianna, Owen, Ryan, my hotshot Skyeler, and of course my heroine Leslie. :D 
     Though I'm considering changing the way her name is written to Lesley. It looks prettier, I suppose. 
     Anyway, on to other writing things. I got to partake in a writer's conference online, which was absolutely amazing and I am so happy I signed up for it. I thought it would just be a waste of time, and far to boring, but I was so wrong. I got so much advice, and websites for people considering publishing and helping them do it. I'm ecstatic to finish the second draft of TWW, which if I get on it I'll finish it in a few months I think. And now the same people that put on the writer's conference, are doing a Query Letter thing on the same website. Query letters are something you must send into an agent when you want to get published, and I posted mine on there and I already got some good feedback. :) Though I'm a little worried now because there are no people besides me and two other people that posted their query letters. I guess we'll just see what happens. 
     Its exciting knowing that I might be able to get published in the future, I would love to be able to share the stories I've written with the world. If only patience was an easy thing. ha-ha. 
     Anyway, I hope you liked reading my blabby words about my life. :) 

Have a great Saturday everyone! 


~Jazz

"Treasuring Emma" - Review

Emma has put everyone else first in her life. Now at nearly 25, has she missed her chance at marriage?
Emma was Adam's first love but circumstances made them both choose different paths in life. Emma's heart breaks all over again when Adam returns to the Amish community of Middlefield, Ohio, years later.
For the past ten years, Emma has been a care-giver. First for her mother who unsuccessfully battled breast cancer, and now for her grandmother who gets more frail with each passing year. Emma has always put the needs of others above her own. With more time on her hands, she determines to focus on herself and her dream of opening a rescue shelter for stray animals in the community.
With Adam's return come feelings Emma's long buried. They're older and life hasn't turned out the way they thought it would. Adam's feelings for Emma are stronger than ever, but will he be able to convince her to put the past aside and give their love a chance?



     Treasuring Emma is a tale about a woman's struggle through grievances and long buried feelings for a man named Adam. I was a bit skeptic when I saw it, but I decided to read it anyway, it was a good book with a strong plot and Emma was interesting to read about. I liked the romance story between Adam and Emma, but it wasn't one of the greatest love stories I've read. I enjoyed reading it, and it was most definitely a satisfying ending; but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone.
     I did not very much enjoy the strict rules of the Amish people, I respect their way of life, but an Amish tale didn't exactly connect with me. I learned some interesting things about them, but I don't agree with what I've learned about their church ways. Without giving anything away, it just bugged me a little about some of the rules of rejoining the church and having to confess your sins in front of the whole church. I completely respect their lifestyle, but I would definitely not choose that lifestyle.
     Though I would like to point a few things out that I did quite admire about this particular book...
     I love the idea of courting and everything, though my dating values are a little different than the traditional courting I would say, I did enjoy reading about that when it did mention it. And I really liked the whole story revolving very well around God, and when I finally finished the book I had a sense of happiness to know that I could lean on God for everything. Which is what the whole book talked about a lot: leaning on God for everything and praying for guidance through everything you do.
     It showed me that if you don't consult God for important things, God will continue to diverge your plans until you realize that God doesn't have that plan for you. He will say it softly at first, and then as long as you continue to not listen and ignore his cues he will make the signs stronger.
     I think it really taught me to look to God for everything, even if its just small things. (I don't mean what I should eat but you get the point)
     And to also lean on him throughout it all. So, overall I think I did enjoy this book and it taught me some good lessons about faith in Jesus.


I rate this book three out of five stars...

*I am not obligated to write a positive review, only an honest one* 

Thank you booksneeze.com and Thomas Nelson publishers for providing me with a free copy of the book for purely reviewing purposes.**

[Publisher] Thomas Nelson, Inc.

[Pages] 300 pgs. 


[Author] Kathleen Fuller




Thanks for reading! 


Love, 


~Jazz

My Secret Life: Stuff, stuff, stuff.

Hello everyone, 

     I do have a lot of things I wish to mention, so I'll just start off with the first thing that comes to mind. 
     I'm still going through my little dry patch, but that's going away, slowly but surely. Not exactly why God's putting me through this, but what everyone is always saying; He has a plan. But there are some good things going on of course, my little brother is turning 12 on Wednesday. And I'm hoping to have a good time and catch up with a friend who I really hope is coming. 
     And horseback has been going really well, I'm finally in a class where I can zoom on ahead in my riding skills. Last week was especially good, Sunny was a great horsie!! ^_^ Though I do hope I ride Benny this next week, even though I've been spoiled and gotten him quite a lot the past few weeks. 
    But other than that, our family is looking to buy a house soon. And it looks like God is moving through with his plan for it, everything is going through smoothly in the buying process. And we have our eye on a house that I've got a good feeling about, even though I'm kind of really disappointed that I'm going to be getting a room with absolutely no sunshine and not any bigger than my room now. And my brothers get like a ten foot expansion with a sunny room. So that's got me down, but I'm trying to have a positive attitude about it and just suck it up. I'll have my own apartment in a few years anyway and then I'll have a whole place all to myself so :P 
     Its a beautiful house though, and a wonderful neighborhood. I think its a good fit for us, and it seems like so far God wants us to have that house. And even though I would like a bigger room... its really not that big of a deal... I guess... 
     Anyway, I don't really have anything else to say, but I will be posting another review sometime soon. A book called "Treasuring Emma" by Kathleen Fuller, another booksneeze review. :) I think I'll post a review about a book I bought called "Lonestar Sanctuary" by Colleen Coble too while its still fresh on my mind, lemme just say, its a stunning book and I am in love with Colleen Coble's writing. 
     
     Blog you later!!

~Jazz 

My Secret Life: "Spring For Susannah" by Catherine Richmond

"When Susannah goes to Dakota territory as a mail-order bride she finds something she never dreamed she would—true love.
With no prospects for marriage and her parents recently deceased, Susannah Underhill agrees to go west to the Dakota territory to marry her minister's homesteading brother, Jesse. But Susannah is painfully shy, doesn't see herself as worthy of love from either a husband or from God, and lives in constant fear that Jesse is going to ship her back to Detroit.
In spite of her petite size and the fact that Susannah doesn't look like she could survive on the prairie, Jesse quickly discovers that his new wife is a greater blessing than he even hoped for. The years she spent as her father's veterinary assistant allow her to save Jesse's ox and twin calves and to help neighboring farmers with their animals.
But Susannah's feelings of unworthiness are deeply rooted, and she can't believe that Jesse's praise—or the tenderness and love he shows—could possibly last. The thawing of her heart seems almost as distant as Spring in the midst of the winter blanketing the Dakota prairie."


     This book is all about a woman's journey to the Dakota territory, Susannah Underhill is a quiet reserved woman and appears to be very afraid of Jesse Mason when she arrives in her new home. 
     Jesse on the other hand, is quite the opposite of her. He's outgoing, but very loving and tender to Susannah. My opinion on the overall relationship of the newly married couple; I think it's cute. 

     The overall positive stuff I liked about this book was that Jesse is the most tender and loving husband that any woman would want to have. Right from the start Jesse adores Susannah, and thinks she's the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Which in my opinion is what any man should think when he gets married, and what he should think always throughout his marriage to that one woman. 
     I like how Susannah transforms from being quiet and reserved, to a little more outgoing and comfortable with her surroundings, which eventually leads to some big decisions around the ending chapters. And I really do like how the Mason couple's relationship grows and flourishes into a real married couple relationship slowly but surely throughout the book. It's a big difference when Susannah feels so comfortable with Jesse as to be playful with him, as husband and wife usually are. 

     However, there are some negative things that I have to say about this particular book. 
     I think that somewhere around the middle of the book it was really dry, and so I didn't read it for a little while. And the key with books for me is it really has to grab my attention, and if I really like a book I can read it within a few days. This book took me about a month or so. 
     I also have some warnings, it does have some little bits of married couple type stuff that they only do in the bedroom. But its hardly even descriptive, it was borderline icky stuff I guess you could say. And they don't describe what happens when they are doing it, all it is- is them getting in bed and then waking up the next morning. 
     It's a little inappropriate in the sense that Jesse does try to undo the front of her bodice several times throughout the book, but as I said before it's not descriptive beyond that. And then there is a reference to an old time condom, when issues arise with Susannah's health; concerning her bodies' skills to get pregnant. 
     Along with that stuff, I found it a little disturbing that Susannah had a terrible experience before the beginning of the book. I haven't exactly figured it out for sure yet, but I believe it has a reference to a terrible experience she had with a banker who broke into her house... and from what I could tell she was definitely beat up pretty bad, and then possible rape but I haven't figured that out for sure. I'd say she was just assaulted pretty bad, and thus her fear of Jesse. 
     Other than that I really don't have any complaints, but I didn't like how much... bedroom... stuff... was referenced, I mean yes they are married, and yes married people do it. But you don't need to tell us every time they do it. 


     And, yeah... other than that it was a good read. :) I don't think I'll ever read it again, but it was entertaining. 

~Jazz




*Thank you to Booksneeze.com for providing me with a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes* 

*I am not obligated to write a positive review, only an honest one*