Drops of Inspira

 Two posts in a day? Has Julia lost her mind? Well, maybe.   I'm very excited to be a part of Olivia Cornwell's cover reveal for her debut book, Empire of Blood. Coming November 10th, 2020. Book Summary: Lilly Faine is tired of classmates dissing her family, and doesn’t care when she receives suspension for nearly punching the lights out of a classmate. Her father isn’t crazy, even if he does spout stories about a world full of magic, a cruel king who hunted him, and has a shattered amulet that tingles when Lilly touches it. When an old enemy appears under Chicago’s beloved Bean, Lilly and her brother Gabriel are shoved into the impossible world their father believed in. Alone on opposite ends of a war, they race to rescue each other. Lilly finds aid and friendship in a band of rebels, but she is also hunted by the emperor’s personal assassin. Gabriel gains the help of the emperor, but Gabriel’s choices to do good may lead him into dark shadows he can’t find h...

Hello! It's the last full month of summer and the season has come in a blast of heat with the temperatures being in the upper 90s more often than not.  I wrote my response to the poetry prompt earlier than usual this month to get a jump on things.   I'll admit that it was hard for me to come up with an idea for both the prompt and the poem this month. I was coming up blank, but a few conversations that I've been a part of online and that I've taken part in via email have been the real inspiration behind this. Here is the prompt for this month (and yes, I know. It's unusual.): There's something about doing things by candlelight that turns on a different part of my brain. The part that told stories to my little brother during blackouts when the power went out. The part that tried to draw by the light of a shiny, green candle.  If you're having a hard time being creative, try doing it in a different environment. Or turn off the lights and do it by candlelight. ...

Hello! This month I wanted to discuss something that I normally don't talk about: books! Okay, so I'm joking. But only halfway! My favorite genre to read in is fantasy, especially lesser known fantasy, but way back when I was a wee thing, I didn't have access to the internet which has broadened my reading field.  I grew up on classics and read them for school. One of my goals for this year is to revisit some of them and read some new ones.  Today, I want to share with you some classics I've read that have inspired my WIPs (Works-in-Progress). These aren't arranged in order from most inspiring to least. They're just numbered for my sake (because I like order and that sort of thing). Classic #1: Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle My entire childhood I had a friend who would badger me to read this book, but it wasn't until I was an adult and in desperate need of reading material that I took him seriously and checked out this massive book from my local l...