Drops of Inspira

  Hello!                   I just read this book this month and wanted to give you my honest review:   This book rose and fell like a gentle swell into the nooks and crannies of my heart.     It started slow and built until it crashed into my heart and lit it on fire.     This is the second book by Amanda Dykes that I have read. I don't know how she does it, but her books always leave me overwhelmed and lit from within. Found and held. It's like someone looked me in the eye and said, "I see you. You are not alone." Readers, what was the last book that you read that made you feel this way? Furthermore, why do you read? What makes you pick up a book and stick with it? Until next time... Julia Garcia / Arysta Henry

  Hello! First off, you're going to notice something a little different. The graphic at the top is something I made with Canva that is supposed to be like the newspaper in my WIP (Work-in- Progress) Drops of Inspira.  In my WIP, The Underground  is a newspaper for members of The Underground, a group of members of the resistance against the governor of Inspira who have had to go into hiding or risk imprisonment... or worse. So, I thought I would name my little "life updates" in my blog after that with the goal of sometime in the not-too-distant future starting a newsletter with the same name. So, without further ado, let's get to the updates. Aha! You haven't seen this graphic in a while, have you?  So... Life.  This past year has been an absolute whirlwind.  I've gone from a year at a toxic job to the job I left two years ago. It's been a change for the better in many respects. My memory is strengthening (I lost months of memory from the stress at my last ...

      Carpe Momentum... "Seize the Moment".  I have been thinking about this a lot. It's what the theme of this month is about, in essence, and it's what I did this weekend. I work a 9 to 5 job that is mostly mental, which makes it hard to write as frequently as I'd like. It also means that I get to the weekend completely drained. I push and pull all week, and I wash up on the shores of the weekend, feeling like I just came off a shipwreck.  I know many of you deal with the same thing. A full-time job isn't for the faint of heart, but it's what many of us do to survive.  This weekend, I decided to seize every moment. This meant staying up until eleven on both Friday and Saturday, but I don't regret it.  Here are some things I did: Friday: Stayed up late talking to a friend. Chatted with a sibling via text. Washed all my bedding. (This was an enormous task. Apparently, I really like blankets.) Read some of Saber's Pride by C.M. Banschbach. (This is ...

  Hello! After much consideration, I have decided to talk about just five audiobooks I listened to last year since June 2021 instead of listing every single one I have listened to since then. Life is busy, and I wanted to get this post out before summer faded to fall, so here we go. *Note: These aren't listed in any specific order. 1.  I've known about this book for some time. It's a favorite of several of my friends, but since I now read at a snail's pace because of life circumstances and the crazy job, I finally decided to listen to an audiobook version of this.  My word. Nothing my friends had said quite prepared me for the breathtaking scope and beauty of this. Cinderella in space with cybernetics? Not usually my cup of tea, but somehow this book managed to capture my attention. Fascinating to read or listen to: High. Possible questionable content: Yes. Story epicness: High Sensuality: Fair to middling. 2.  So, I don't think this was the actual version we listen...

  Hello! It's been awhile since this graphic has made an appearance, so I thought it was time. One of my favorite things about the Summer Reading Program at our library was seeing how many books I could cram into three months.       There was one time I checked out fifty books. It was so satisfying seeing my car trunk full of knowledge. I didn't read them all, but I did read a great deal of them. What were they about? Mainly pirates and underwater archaeology. Because...research. I'm a writer. I research weird and wonderful things. So, for this summer, I thought I'd post a little reading challenge. It's not fifty books. I wouldn't do that to you. If you are like me, reading is more of a challenge than it was as a kid, and if you read one or two books in a month, you are doing fantastic. This is just for fun. You can join or ignore. So, here's the graphic I made for the challenge: The idea is to read one of each kind of book by the end of the summer. I though...

Happy New Year's Eve! I've actually been working on this post for three days now. Between recovering from a cold and battling Wi-fi problems because of bad weather, it's been a journey. I hope wherever you are, that you are well and that the weather is good. This is my yearly "bookish" awards post where I choose the top 5 books that I read this year and the top reads in certain other categories. This was really, really hard this year. There were a lot of contenders, so while this is a bookish awards post, know that this list is very limited so far as having all my favorites up here. If you want to see what I mean, follow this link to see all my 2021 reads:  GoodReads Challenge 2021 Link   In no certain order, my top 5 reads of 2021 are: Cry of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse Romanov by Nadine Brandes Oath of the Outcast by C.M. Banschbach The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner What Is and Could Be by Katelyn Buxton Here are some special mentions: Most Influential Theologic...

  Hello! Today, I'm  participating in The Goblin and the Dancer Blog Tour by spotlighting my friend, Allison Tebo's book, The Goblin and the Dancer.               About The Book Grik the goblin spends his days as a janitor cleaning the Metropolitan Dance Hall, drawn to the Elvish world and tired of the darkness of his underground home. He secretly pines for the ballet company’s lead dancer, Rosanna, but his own ugliness and shyness stand in the way of confessing his love. When a handsome soldier named Paul appears on the scene to make a bid for Rosanna's affections, Grik’s jealousy bubbles over and he commits the unthinkable, plunging all of them into the river and down into the depths of the earth. Determined to redeem himself, Grik leads Rosanna and Paul through the place he calls home: but even a goblin can’t be prepared for everything that is found underground. Trapped in the dark, nightmares both within and without rise to the surfa...

  Hello! Today is usually the day when I show a bit of poetry that was inspired by a prompt, but I'm going to do things a little differently. A few weeks ago I posted my first poetry anthology on Wattpad.com. If you aren't familiar with Wattpad, it's a free site that allows you to read and comment on other peoples' books and to post your own for others to read.  I've been on Wattpad for years, but only as a reader. Lately, a friend posted her own poetry on the site and it inspired me to post my own. So here is the cover (link below): The Shadow Wars by Julia Garcia The Shadow Wars is a poetry anthology of darkness, hope and my struggles with mental health. Trigger Warning: Some of the poems may contain allusions to self-harm. I've written these poems over a period of five or more years. Some of them I've posted here on the blog, so for those of you who have been around for a while, they might be familiar.  In life, there is darkness, but there is always ligh...

  Hello! This month is Audiobook Appreciation Month and today I'm showing you what I have listened to in one year of using Audible. So before I begin, let me answer some questions you may be having. What is Audible? In short, Audible is an Amazon.com company where you can listen to audiobooks. It's perfect for doing housework, long drives, if you'd rather listen to a book than read it or if you just need a distraction. What does Audible cost? This is where it gets tricky. There are several options. Either 1. Pay one of two different subscription fees which will get you different options. I'm linking the pricing page for those options here . Or 2. you can buy the individual audiobooks (which can get pricey, but then you are not locked into a subscription.).  If you have any other questions, please place them in the comment section below, and I will try to do my best to answer them. Now to the actual post. I've listened to exactly six audiobooks this past year, mostly...