Drops of Inspira

Hi again! I'm not sure about you, but I'm tired. This month has been one giant over-caffeinated, chaotic dream. I wasn't sure if doing NaNoWriMo amid four classes was a good idea, but here we are on day twenty and I'm still making the word count for the day.  Without further ado (and before I fall asleep on the keyboard. Seriously, what is sleep?) let's dive into the post. Here are my answers for the "Know the Novel Link-up" hosted by Christine Smith .   Q 1: How's the writing going overall? A: Well, my little brothers already have been commenting that I've had more than I need of caffeine this month and have probably gone a little insane, but that's normal writer behavior. Right?   Writing has been going great! Despite crazy amounts of schools and wacky deadlines, somehow I've been meeting my word counts every day (sometimes I've been able to exceed them. Seriously. What is this magic?)  Q 2: What's been the most fun aspect of writ...

Hi there! We're fifteen days into November, so it's time for another round of Poetry 15th! Here's the prompt for this month: Gold can either be a Christmas color, a New Year's color, or an Autumn color. This month, my response to the above prompt is a poem written to the gold tree on my walk. It's dying and so its leaves are curled up and gold, but they haven't fallen off yet. It frames a red gate and every morning, the dawn's light catches the leaves and turns them into scripts of gold. Here is my response: Please feel free to use the prompt to generate your own creativity. I'll be back later this month with a continuation to the "Know the Novel" link-up, but until then, I will see you later. Until then, -Julia Garcia/ Arysta Henry  

Today is the release day for Olivia Cornwell's debut novel, Empire of Blood.    I was offered an ARC (advanced reader copy) for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Empire of Blood Review: I will confess that I've read this book twice now, and I plan on reading it a third time before the year is out. Each time gets better and better. Each read I notice something different, some aspect of character, some bit of scenery, some daring tidbit of plot, that just adds to the wonderful thing that is this book. Setting: 5/ 5 stars I've never visited Chicago, but the author did an excellent job of transporting me there and then to her world of Allare. The descriptions were vivid without being wordy. The world is dangerous, but I'd still love to visit some day, (if only it were real!). Plot: 5/5 stars Overall, great plot. It was pretty fast-paced, but had space so the reader can take a breath before plunging onward. Fair warning: Wait for a night where you have ...

       November is the month of NaNoWriMo which, if you've been following this blog for any length of time, have probably heard me talk about. NaNoWriMo stands for "National Novel Writing Month". Every November, hundreds of people across the world try to write 50,000 words of a new novel (or you rebel it and rewrite or edit it like me.)      I never heard about NaNoWriMo until about five years ago when I picked up this book:         Until then, I had written the first draft of a discarded novel, wrote a Star Wars   fanfiction on an old typewriter and myriads of flash fiction for my siblings. I was a few years out of high school and my love of writing was coming back. In high school I had taken two very rigorous essay writing classes and a SAT prep class where we would discuss grammar for three hours every week. (I'm not even kidding. It was horrible.) After the last class, it was hard for me to pick up a book without analy...

I can't believe it's already this time of the year again. Last year I joined Christine Smith   in her three-month Know the Novel link-up. This link-up starts the month before NaNoWriMo and goes through December. If you've been following this blog for more than a year, you'll recognize this series from last year. If you just started following me or are visiting this blog: Welcome! I'm so glad you're here. This month's theme is Introduction  and sets up the groundwork for what I'm doing today.  I've mentioned Harbinger  before. It's a WIP I've been working on for almost six years now. Over the summer I've decided to split it in three books, so now it's the Harbinger Trilogy. The working title for book one is called Sirens of Fate,  and it's this book I will work on for NaNoWriMo. I'm rebelling NaNo, meaning instead of doing this writing challenge traditionally and starting a book from scratch on November 1st, I'm using the c...

 Hello!  Happy October and welcome to the month of cooler temperatures and changing leaves.   The leaves haven't quite changed color in my neighborhood, but I'm celebrating in anticipation of that time.  I'm doing another Fall-themed prompt this month, this time based not only on a word, but on a particular color. Red is a warm color, not quite the temperature I associate with this season, but the color is one I associate with autumnal things like cranberry sauce and falling leaves. Here is my response. I'm so very excited to see Autumn's face again! Temperatures are supposed to drop this week, so maybe the leaves will follow suit.  I might be poking my head in later this month with some novel-ish stuff, so keep watch for that. Until next time... All the best, Julia Garcia/ Arysta Henry

  Hello and happy Autumn! I know that it's been a new season for a bit now, but last month was busy. Anyway, I had originally planned on celebrating Autumn this month. I'm going to get right down to it. Here are five things I love about Autumn. 1. The Colors Where I live, the leaves change colors. At the peak of the season, the mountains are covered in orange, red and gold. It's spectacular!  There's a piece of road right around where I live, where the tree branches arch overhead. Walking through there is like walking through a cathedral. It's glorious, especially in the late afternoon when the sun is going down. The light catches the leaves and turns everything to a reddish gold.   It's lovely taking a walk during this season. At the far end of a five-mile stretch, there's a tree with heart-shaped leaves that turns into a beautiful conflagration of red.  2. The Weather The temperatures dip to the low seventies and sixties this time of year in my part of the...