#jenn is a great writer!

[literallyrousseau]

𝕹𝖊𝖜 𝖄𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖎𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖙

I’m not the best with words so this thing will not be as sweet, or even impactful, as I intended. Warning for the frequent repetition of certain words.

Anyways! I ended up on Tumblr in the last few days of December, therefore pretty much exactly a year ago, landing among the Call of Duty fandom almost immediately, meaning the first people I encountered here were @embry-garrick-ravengard and @pedripop.

Dudes, you two are amazing people, fantastic writers and I’m thankful I met you two. No one can have playful banter as well as you, embryo, specially when you’re united with @akingdomscrypt against me. You’re also one of the most well-informed and knowledgeable individuals I’ve met. It’s genuinely so crazy to think I’ve known you and Kyo for this long, that one year ago I was just some dumb anon flooding Embry’s inbox and making the silliest jokes alongside Gabi — and when talking about “silly”, it’s mandatory to mention Creek, who even though disappeared months ago, was a good friend in the start of 2024 and always had me huffing.

It was through Gabi’s and Embry’s blogs that I was able to meet @hyenaspots, a lil gremlin who was also “just some anon”, like me, 365 days in the past. We first chatted through asks and reposts of @embry-garrick-ravengard’s posts, till we finally had the balls and created our own blogs in the beginning of January. You’re a fantastic person, Sam. Seemed like yesterday that we (me, you, Embry and Gabi) were playing Gartic Phone together and making bad photoshops inspired by Creek and @adrawinggnome.

Mr Gnome, sir, we haven’t interacted for a nice while, however the times we did, you always had me chuckling — you are also an incredible writer. It was also around this same time that I’ve met @kylesgarrick, and bro, I can’t refer to you, Andrew, without having flashbacks of the family drama at that time (/pos). Best Australian guy I’ve ever known. AND @sanguivorousmuse, responsible for the realest takes on anything related to Red Dead Redemption. Brother, you were one of my first moots ever, and I have it ingrained in my mind the goofy moments between us and Benny.

THEN WE HAVE YOU, @coyote-with-a-keyboard. Man, I can’t say how happy I am when I see you’re back on Tumblr. You write absolute bangers and is a JJBA fan, which always makes someone 100x greater than they already are. AND MY OTHER JOJOFAG FRIEND: @blond3ang3l. It’s extremely amusing to realize we first bonded by being two dogs for Risotto Nero, which is valid to pretty much any villain in JoJo. I love your posts bro, you’re always cooking with them. Also makes me happy as hell to see a notification about you. @insuke69, you are a fantastic kid. Thank you for being my moot. And @m1dnight-mars, an awesome man — I’m grateful for all the moments we had together.

@arthurlovesarthurmorgan, Arthur, you are also a good person and I’m grateful for the lil conversations we had.

It was maybe in March and April that I met another set of bewildering people. @abitopiia, you’re an amazing girl and all the interactions we had were golden. This seems futile, but I love your blog’s style. Thank you for all the chats we had and all the internal jokes built. @happyfeet3351: JENN, you are also so fucking sweet and awesome, all the times we interacted you were nothing but kind. I’m grateful for being moots with such a kind woman.

And @pussygirlpower. Zuza, I can’t put into words how much I appreciate you. You are a great friend that I’ve grown a lot close to this year. I value every moment I have with you and I’m so proud of everything you achieved this year. Thank you for being there for me. You’re THE Polish femme fatale, the Joe to my Frank.

@theratthatgotyeeted, brooooo. Much like Jenn, you are exceedingly sweet. Thank you for always tagging me in the nicest quizzes and tag chains, I wholeheartedly appreciate it very much.

It was in May that I got as close as someone can get to who came to be my best friend, my bro-husband. @akingdomscrypt, Cal, you deserve everything good in this world, the best of the best and all the recognition a man can receive. My appreciation for you is indescribable: I have no doubt you are the most talented person I know (the true Renaissance man), however your greatness cannot be summarized to ‘merely’ your abilities. No, you are a whole gentleman and everything people should aspire to be: you are kind, sweet, trustworthy, resilient, prudent, understanding, intelligent, funny — it goes beyond simple adjectives. To think that we went from talking to each other on comment sections to chatting everyday for hours puts the biggest smile on my face. You’ve become my safe harbor and for that I need to thank you for listening to me, and being there for me. Thank you for being not just a friend, Cal, but a confidant and an inspiration.

In the second semester of the year, after watching Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon during my winter vacations, I stumbled upon a great author who is working on the greatest masterpieces about the latter: @serotoninandespresso. Brother, your writing is stunning, and not only that but your personality is something else: you are kind, polite and also sweet. It fills me with happiness to see notifications from you and to see your posts on my “For You”. Thank you for being my moot.

When mentioning HOTD, @gayaristocrat comes to mind, one of the biggest Jacaerys appreciators ever. This is somewhat awkward, but I for some reason admire you a bunch (/pos). Had me all cheerful when I saw we had become moots — and I thank you for that.

@adamant1ne, bro, we haven’t interacted much but you seem like a genuinely nice guy. Thanks for earlier!!

@inlandvoid broooo, you also seem to be a great man and I look forward to interacting more with you in the future

@tapiocakisses absolutely love seeing you on my dashboard as well, mate.

To all my other mutuals, I’m wholeheartedly grateful for the “transactions” we have shared with each other. Genuinely, you’re all very important to me. My apologies for not interacting much, and if anyone ever wants to grow closer, I’m open to do so in this year to come. Thank you for all the support.

For anyone who reads this, I earnestly hope that 2025 enters your list of “the best years of your life”‼️ Wish everyone nothing but the very best and that these next 12 months take you all to new heights ‼️🙏

[madlyn5ever]

I need to talk about the near future Madlyn we didn’t get because it’s eating my brain.

Like we know that Maddox is helping with Romeo and Juliet, and we know somehow the Wildcats are going to weasel their way into it even as extras or crew and big red would of course be the coffee cart guy,

So I’m thinking, Madlyn romance that Parallels the movie.

Obviously Ricky is gonna be Romeo, and that’s gonna cause drama cause him or Gina will take the script a little too intensely and cause a thing

(something along the lines of “I thought you’d be happy we’re finally costars for real. No interruptions.” “Just because Mack left the movie and you stepped in doesn’t give you the right to treat this like HSM. This is a job, Ricky, not a miss Jenn production. This is my career.” “So you care more about you’re career than us? Where have I heard this before- oh wait! Nini.”)

(Ricky seems to be accidentally Romeo because they reporters thought the song was a great way to announce a movie, so obviously they assume Ricky’s Romeo,and Quinn doesn’t know how to fix it so begrudgingly she takes American Eagle advertisement guy)

but in the background Maddox and Ashlyn are like, Oh Romeo, Romeo, you wanna kiss me so bad, you wanna kiss me on the mouth and go on a date with me. I know we’re already together but do you maybe wanna go on a date, no worries if not, it’s stupid I’m stupid we’re stupid marry me.

But also we could get a little too over-protective Ashlyn, like she’s always seeing Quinn and Maddox or Maddox and whoever interact, and she’s always like, “do you want me to hate them for you, I’ll glare daggers at them for as long as you want Maddie. I can hold a grudge for you.”

And Maddox would be all chuckle-y and be like, “Ash, it’s fine, they’re just doing they’re job. I appreciate the thought though.”

And thanks to Quinn in this retelling nobody d-words so they end up following the script sort of closely (but in their own scenarios and not the exact exact ones in the story) and It’s actually all cute.

And of course we’d have Jet, who isn’t in the movie (or he’s Tibbalt that would also work really well) but he follows Maddox around the set when he has breaks from whatever musical Miss Jenn’s doing

(Maddox goes to rehearsals or meetings too but when Quinn needs her it’s hard to pull away for stage managing the musical sometimes)

And he mopes about Kourtney to her and has talks with Maddox about Ash and how “you should just tell her you’re burnt out. She won’t be mad at you.”

because Ash is getting worried at how much Maddox is taking on, and how she constantly has to go running bc of Quinn or Miss Jenn and she looks frazzled half the time.

take this ramble as a contribution to the idea of a season 5 that never was.

Idk I’m too deep in writers block to write this fic (it actually sounds like an interesting concept for a fic right? I’m totally burned out right now but if someone wanted to borrow this idea for a fic I wouldn’t say no. I’d read the hell out of that.)

[redstringraven]

For the TMNT Ask Game!

Could you do #21, #29, and #33?

heck yeah, i can! <:D and thank you!!!

TMNT's 40th anniversary ask game!

21.) what is your favorite story arc?

i'm admittedly a major sucker for the turtles in space arc in s2 because i love triceratons--and especially traximus--if i haven't made that obvious already. i remember losing my mind as a teen when i saw a triceraton for the first time while that arc was airing, because it felt so specifically tailored to ME. i was a massive dinosaur kid, i borrowed dinosaur books from the library constantly, so now you're telling me we have talking dinosaur aliens??? i don't CARE if they're the bad guys, they're SO COOL??? did the writers do this FOR ME??? (they didn't). anyone who knows me also knows i have a tendency to latch onto secondary/minor characters (stares at the 10+ years i've spent writing for dol fma:brotherhood), so when traximus was introduced? bye. this is my favorite ally; the rest of you are great and all but i'm letting my bias win. remains true a decade later. triceratons aside, i also really appreciate it for just... opening up the world a lot more. it made it very, VERY clear that a lot more was out there than just new york. i like that.

29.) what is one headcanon that you have?

ooh, i've kind of been wanting to talk about this one 'publicly' (talked about it with jenn @plantdonutwrites in the past), but since i tend to be kind of on the shy side i usually get worried that i'll be annoying and chicken out of posting about it. >xD i'll use this as my excuse; thank you for enabling me. headcanon(s) on cursing/swearing! because for why! mikey self-proclaimed "good boy, UNLIKE RAPH". does not do a cuss. this is a headcanon shared with jenn since she writes for mikey in our rps. i do sometimes write him thinking cusses, though. such as "The damn thing could go invisible. Even if he had Donnie’s goggles on him, there’d be no body heat to track." in Pretend That I Never Left. might also internally monologue that he 'pissed something off' but won't verbally say it in those words. leo has sworn off cursing but definitely still curses sometimes. very much in line with his 1 and splinter's parenting, he considers cursing 'bad' and ergo doesn't partake in it... when he can help it. he usually has a strong mental filter running, but in times of high stress or high emotion, the filter will drop and he'll say "shit" instead of "shell" or exclaim "fuck!" without thinking. he also tends to drop the filter when alone with raph, because he knows raph won't judge him or think ill of him. also important to note he doesn't think lesser of raph for swearing; it's more of a self-monitoring/self-discipline... thing. if that makes sense. and raph knows this. they're chill. don does curse, but mostly uses it for comedic shock-value, casual moments, or as a bonding method with raph. don won't use curses in high stress or emotion moments like leo, he more does it in casual settings like playing video games or if dropping a swear will make a remark funnier because the swear was unexpected. his cursing is much more playful/humorous, or maybe kind of a way he 'bonds' with raph, like when they watch football together. i feel like he might also do it more around raph because it helps raph feel less like 'the bad kid'. since leo tends to hide or smother any cursing he does and kind of acts regretful afterward, and mikey just doesn't. raph cursing is regular vocabulary. attempts to censor himself around master splinter as a gesture of respect, but isn't always successful. fuck you.

33.) what is your favorite thing you've made for TMNT?

... kind of a toss up between Pretend That I Never Left and my enneagram series. not only did i work very, very hard on both things, but they were both contributions specifically focused on my interests. for the former: combining tmnt'03 with the world of horizon: zero dawn; and for the latter, analyzing the boys through the lens of the enneagram. PtINL gave me something to focus on during a really stressful time, and the enneagram is one of my favorite tools. i dunno. i put a lot of hours into both of those things, a lot of love, and i still enjoy looking back on them after all the time that's passed (even if it's not THAT much time). these two projects make me really happy. i'm proud of them. and i'm glad i took the time to let them exist, whether anyone else engages with them or not. i'm also very happy with how liáfsini is turning out, which is the realm that my OCs gwyn, ash and darach are from. i'm slowly fleshing it out, but seeing it become something real with a grounded culture, history, magic system, and ecosystem has been very exciting and satisfying. i'm really proud of it!!

[literaticat]

With Algonquin closing, ive been hearing talk that YA is dying, YA writers are ditching YA to write adult, and only unicorns and super trendy YA books will get bought now. As a debut author, this is making me feel SO doom and gloom about my career even before it’s started! Do you have any thoughts? Thank u Jenn !

Not to be mean, but baby where have you BEEN?

YA has been "Dying" for like, the better part of a decade, and has been fully rigor mortis, toe up with a tag on it, authors "ditching YA", etc, for several years. If anything, YA has recently experienced something of a reanimation -- the former corpse has officially got a pulse again and is breathing, though perhaps still a little clammy. The hotness of 2024 is complaining about how MIDDLE GRADE is dead. Keep up! ;-)

In reality, everything is cyclical. Categories or genres or trends or whatever boom, they get oversaturated, sales fall off, eventually they come back. And people ALWAYS say that "publishing is dying" that "only trendy books will be able to be bought now" or whatever whatever. I was reading DEAR GENIUS, the collected letters of Ursula Nordstrom (highly recommend btw), and there was this whole part in there about bookstore people complaining that TV was destroying the publishing industry, nobody would buy books anymore, authors should just pack it in, etc. It was literally the same conversation, and that was like 70 years ago.

(For a bit of a reality check, you might check out this post from the pinned FAQ: I heard that traditional publishing is DEAD, is that true?)

As for your opening premise, I think it is faulty, AYR closing hasn't really got much to do with the other stuff.

To be clear: I love Algonquin Young Readers. I have sold many a beautiful book to AYR over the years; they were my special favorite. (Don't tell the others!) Their founding publisher, Elise Howard, who I aspire to be for real, is an absolute Dear Genius herself and a wonderful editor and person (and now, agent)!

I am very grateful to have been able to work with the whole team there for the past decade, and I am sad that the program Elise started and Cheryl Klein and the others continued will be coming to a close, and that two wonderful editors and a terrific marketing person will be looking for new jobs (but I do hope/believe/feel strongly that they will all land in good spots, they are really great!) -- HOWEVER.

Algonquin was bought by Little Brown several years ago. And whilst Algonquin the brand is closing now, those books are not disappearing, they are just being folded in to LB. In other words, the backlist books will still be in print, and the frontlist/forthcoming books are still going to be published, just with a different publisher name on the spine. Also Algonquin only published like... 2, maybe 3 new YA books per season? It's a small list! (Small but mighty! -- but still, very small!)

So.... I'm not sure what, if anything, the news of their closing says about the larger world of YA books? In other words, obviously it is NOT GREAT, it’s a sad loss, we loved that publisher, it's good for the publishing ecosystem to have a variety of publishers so fewer is not good, capitalism and massive corporate conglomeration and whatnot are sucky things, it's awful when nice people are out a job -- but there's zero reason for you to take that news as like, an OMEN about YOUR CAREER or something. It has nothing to do with you. Unless your book was coming out from Algonquin, it won't affect YOU at all. (And even if your debut WAS an AYR book... hopefully those effects would be minimal at the end of the day, as those books are still coming out!)

[cbk1000]

So, if you don’t mind, why would you not let anyone IRL read your fanfic? Obviously it is really good writing, so is it the subject matter then? Based on your other posts here, it doesn't seem like you are someone who would fear judgement for that? Or is it different IRL? (I understand not letting your mom or dad read the porn though, lol).

No, I wouldn't let my parents read the porn. Lol My parents are also both very homophobic, so even if I didn't mind people IRL reading my work, I'd just keep it from them full stop, because even if I gave them the sanitized version of something with the sex scenes cut out, they'd think it was disgusting because two men are in love.

It's not the subject matter; I just find the thought of anyone I know IRL, and regularly have to look in the eyes, reading my writing to be incredibly cringe. I'd let my sister, a fellow writer, read it if she really wanted to, but she would not be allowed to do it in front of me, and she would also not be allowed to talk about it afterward. Lmao

It's not shame about fandom, or subject matter; I've read plenty of off-the-wall stuff and happily terrorize the people who know me by talking about it. "Jenn writes and reads gay fanfic" would probably be one of the least surprising things my friends and family could learn about me. It's my writing specifically that I don't want them getting hold of, because I find the idea embarrassing. I do not, tbh, think it's that good; obviously I enjoy doing it, or I wouldn't have written close to a million words in the last few years, and I take joy in it, and there are lines or scenes I think are well-done, but I don't think readers really understand how I and my Imposter Syndrome perceive my writing. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world, because I have read some really REALLY terrible writing, but I do think it's kind of just mediocre and underwhelming overall, so I think really the motivation for not wanting anyone IRL to see it is that I would find it embarrassing for friends and family to find out I'm really not that great at a hobby they've seen me put so much time and effort into.

It's different with internet strangers, who don't see the alarming volume of medieval history and Arthurian literature I've collected to help with world building, or how many times a week, and for how long, I disappear into my room to write. I also don't have to live in the same house as them after they read my writing. And, too, my specific audience is full of fanfic readers, who are judging it as fanfic, and who are comparing it to other fanfic, a genre that has absolutely no quality control, and where just spell checking your work puts you ahead of a lot of the pack. It's being judged, by fanfic readers, on its merits as fanfic, and it's being compared to other fanfiction. Of course it looks good and polished under those circumstances; a lot of fanfiction is written by people who haven't even been alive as long as I've been writing. But most of the people in my life are not fanfic readers, and would be judging my writing against the actual books they've read. So I guess what I really worry about is when it breaks containment, and has to be judged on its own, just as a piece of writing, and not as fanfiction being compared to a lot of works written by inexperienced authors, it'll be obvious that it's not very good. Even as fanfic, if you were to compare my work fairly, to writers of a similar age (30s) who have been writing for decades, it doesn't really stand out. A lot of writers of that age and experience level are far more educated than me, and, even as hobbyists, often have actual degrees, or at least some kind of credentials, in creative writing or literature. Whereas I am just someone who reads a lot of books and loves to tell stories, and I think that's fairly obvious when you compare my work to people who actually have formal education or training in writing.

[aroundthewaygirlao3]

So I saw @hattathehattxr answer an anon about would they want Portwell to get back together on the show, with some really great points about the only ways it would really make sense, given the narrative they’ve painted themselves into. I’ve actually had a sort of blue print of how *I* would do it kicking around in my head, so... here’s my thought.

- End the ‘flagship’ show with S4. It feels like Josh wants to be done, Julia is poised to be in another Broadway show if The Secret Garden transfers as expected, and both Joe and Frankie have been booking live theater gigs as well. It just feels like they’d be better off calling it on the original cast after this year. Not to mention the original concept has gotten SO meta, I can’t even figure out where you go from there.

- SO the storyline for S4... Ricky is super anxious about being a senior and what comes next, and repeats some of his clingy stuff with Gina. But this time he figures out that’s what he’s doing, and genuinely learns to embrace change. After Miss Jenn and Mike break up, they both make the decision that they want to move to Chicago so Ricky can be closer to his mom. Gina is proud of him for embracing change, but can’t do long distance. Ricky understands, they break up amicably. 

- In the finale, EJ has returned to Salt Lake from his stint in “success school”, newly determined not to let his father rule his life. He tells Ashlyn that he’s been accepted into a film making competition in LA. The winner gets admission to film school, and he’s determined to get that spot.

- With nothing with Ricky tying her to Salt Lake, and inspired by getting to know Mack (Matt Sato’s character who’s an actor), Gina decides to make the leap to move to LA and seriously pursue an acting career. Which leads to...

HSMTMTS: The Spinoff: Gina’s Fabulous Adventure! 

- Following the blueprint from the original HSM franchise that follows Sharpay moving to NYC, Gina moves to LA to live with her brother (because we NEED more Jordan Fisher, people!) 

- Gina and Mack spend most of S1 of the spin off in a sweet little relationship, but Gina can’t help but feel like something is missing. Mack is great, but doesn’t get her the way her other partners both have, leading her to re-evaluate what happened with EJ a bit.

- Gina doesn’t find success immediately, and is feeling discouraged. In a deeply stereotypical LA moment, her car breaks down in the rain. Jamie’s not answering and Mack is on set. Desperate, Gina calls the one other person she knows in LA... EJ. Who of course, shows up for her.

- Mack gets a gig shooting on location in London for six months. They agree they’re not the kind of thing that lasts, and have a mutual breakup. Gina says she’s fine, but is actually still wondering why nothing stays in her life. 

- Meanwhile, she and EJ are rebuilding their friendship, and EJ invites her to the final screening for the film competition he’s entered. When Gina goes, she’s shocked that his short film is the story of the last summer. She’s initially angry and goes to leave, but then she starts to see what it was really like from EJ’s perspective, the intense anxiety that he was feeling and how hard he WAS trying to be there for her... that she never was a maybe.

- At the end of the screening, EJ is announced as the winner. Gina is so happy and proud of him... and then sees him celebrating by kissing the girl who played ‘her’ in the movie... and there’s our S1 cliffhanger!!

Obviously S2 (and maybe even a S3) gets Gina and EJ back together. But I think there’s so much more story that they COULD tell for these two! Tim said in an interview that EJ will be “an important factor” in future seasons, but I don’t trust him with these characters at this point. This is how I’d love to see EJ get the storyline he deserves, and help Gina really become the main girl SHE deserves to be. 

Disney Plus, call me! (ETA: You know, call me after you decide to pay writers a fair wage for their work, without which you would HAVE NO CONTENT. Sorry, had to get a WGA plug in there.)

[monsterhunting]

surprise self-rec time! pick 3 of your favorite things you’ve written and share them here, then put this in the inbox (anonymously or not) of your fellow writers to spread the positivity and help celebrate already written fics ❤️❤️

aww thank you jenn! i feel like i always pick the same answers for this kind of stuff so i tried to pick some different answers this time.

in no particular order -

anon pls because it was a concept i'd come up with a while back so i was happy to finally be able to use it, and though it was challenging, i enjoyed writing tashi's pov and crafting a bit of a ""twist""

of the things you said (that you can't take back now) because i think truth serum is a great sambucky trope but also a great trope in general. but also more specifically because i loved getting writing dialogue for the guardians (my besties <3) and writing their interactions with sam and bucky

who you gonna call? ok i do feel like i usually mention this one in these kinds of things but it's because i had a lot of fun writing and living in this little world and also adding in a bit of a scary plot. if this is the closest thing i ever get to writing a horror novel then i'm okay with that. i think about ghost files au stoncy often and fondly. wonder what they're up to rn

[girll-almightty]

i haven’t seen the entire show so i haven’t checked what everyone is saying about it in fear of getting spoiled.

but does it feel odd to anyone else? the characters, the relationships, the arcs, the dialogues, the situations… they all feel so much more unnatural than before, and the realisticness that it had in the first two seasons was one of my favorite things about the show.

i mean sure, they had dance-offs or musical numbers out of nowhere. but they also had Gina having a weird idea about fake dating EJ which didn’t make sense but it sort of brought some sense of truth to the character, or nini having to write a song that was never gonna end up in the show anyway, or ricky singing bet on it in his room in front of big red and being super cringey and cute at the same time; and they were worried about who played the lead in the musical, not about mrs. darbus’ monologue in high school musical 4. (call me a bitch but the corbin, monique, lucas, etc. situation feels SO UNNECESSARY)

and i understand shows evolve and can’t stay the same forever, but that doesn’t mean you have to get rid of what gave the show relatability. and that was the characters, and their emotions, their personalities, the fact that they weren’t all just a two-dimensional version of what they started as. and definitely not some gen x/millenial writer trying to give them gen z dialogues to make them relatable instead of real life, common people, high school student problems.

i swear to god they were nailing it through seasons 1 - 2. and then everything got so rushed. (they added great stuff tho! like ashlyn’s sexuality’s exploration, and kourtney’s anxiety and being Elsa on the show?! i’m immensely proud of a lot of things they introduced)

it feels like they are trying to kick seb and big red off the show? and they’re making drama with miss jenn and mike just for the sake of it? i don���t know. it’s weird. i miss when i enjoyed the show and didn’t cringe every ten seconds.

maybe i’m a hater. maybe i should go out and get some sunshine, or maybe i’m right, who knows? that’s all i have to say for now, i’ll be back when i finish the show.

[thejennhall]

The Art of Homemaking

The simple art of homemaking means turning your house into a home. A calming, clean, safe place for yourself, your family, and guests. You want people including guests to feel welcome in your home. It doesn't need to look like a museum or something. A simple, cozy, warm, and welcoming home is fairly easy to accomplish. I have been a Homemaker for 27 years. I absolutely love creating a peaceful and beautiful home for my family. It takes a special person to take on the role of Homemaker. You have to be creative first of all. You will be in charge of deciding how to decorate your home with what you have on hand and how to use those items to create a beautiful, peaceful, cozy home. You will also need to be extremely organized. Without organization you will become overwhelmed very quickly. I will cover a Homemaking schedule in another blog post that will help you organize your time.

Taking care of Family

Taking care of your family should always be the first priority. For my husband, I always have a special room ( study) set up for him to relax and enjoy. I believe each spouse should have a place of their own to relax, read, etc. Children need to have fun and be children without all the nonsense that goes on in the world. They also need discipline and boundaries. It's our responsibility to raise respectful children, not the schools, churches, camps, etc. Homeschooling is a great way to know what your kids are being exposed to on a daily basis. I homeschooled our daughter and loved every minute of it. Our daughter was extremely creative when she was young and loved writing and art. Homeschooling allowed us the freedom to really encourage her creativity and watch it blossom and grow. After graduating High School at 15 she went to work as an entertainment writer and Junior Editor at a major entertainment company.

A good rule to follow in the family category is this: Spouse first ( they will still be with you once the kids are grown and on their own), then children. If you're a religious person the order will be God, Spouse, Children.

Clean Daily

Contrary to popular belief cleaning doesn't have to take all day. Clean as you go through the day. Always put stuff back where it belongs when you finish using it. Wash, dry, and put away dishes as you use them. Wipe down kitchen counters and table several times a day. Clean the bathroom every morning.

Cooking

I am the first one to admit that when I got married I had very little knowledge when it came to cooking. I was a big believer in takeout when I was single. My husband taught me how to cook some things but I mostly learned by visiting people and watching how they cooked and prepared weekly menus and grocery lists based on those menus to save money. Over the years I have learned how to prepare meals for very little money and I still have easy dinner ideas I fall back on when I have had a busy day.

Create Inviting Atmosphere

This is probably my favorite part. Throwing quilts over the furniture to wrap up in is a great way to add a cozy feel. I love that warm, cozy feeling I get from having a beautiful quilt to throw over my lap. Scented candles and incense sticks is another way to make a home smell great and add a level of comfort to your home. I also use relaxation music to achieve this effect. When it comes to music you want to be sure it's playing softly in the background. Loud enough to hear but not so loud that people have to yell to hear each other talk.

Entertaining

Most of us don't host fancy dinners but a good rule of thumb is to be prepared when guests stop by unannounced. Always welcome them into your home with a smile. I always have plenty of coffee, sweet tea, and a variety of hot tea on hand for occasions such as this. I also have a couple of no-bake cheesecake mixes on hand. It's simple to whip up a cheesecake to go with coffee and tea.

Hospitality

A good Homemaker always shows grace and hospitality to everyone. It's easy to show hospitality to people you know but you can also reach out to people in your community. A young married couple that may need help, parents that could use a small break from the kids so they can have a date night. Neighbors that need groceries picked up from the store due to age or health problems. Look for ways to help those in need through your church, neighborhood, etc. Hospitality goes hand in hand with Homemaking. Writing letters, sending birthday cards, Christmas cards, even Thank You notes via snail mail is a wonderful way to show hospitality and let people know that you are thinking of them.

Enjoy the article? Consider buying me a coffee 💖

[krankittoeleven]

[20 Question Fic Writer Tag]

tagged by @brasideios - Thank you thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3? 16

What is your AO3 word count? 179,340

What fandoms do you write for? Currently Trigun, Jujutsu Kaisen and Assassin's Creed Valhalla

What are your top five fics by kudos? But Like a Refuge (Trigun), Because the Night (Trigun), Sweets for the Sweet (Trigun), Midnattssol (ACV), Water of Life (ACV)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, if I don't then there was a clerical error on my part or something. Comments make me feel great so of course I'm gonna return the vibe.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Gefinn Óðni, maybe. Honestly all my fics currently up have positive or hopeful endings. If I went through my pre AO3 fics I'm sure I could find worse. lol

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Sweets for the Sweet is pure donut eating fluff so probably that. Or But Like A Refugee since someone lives when they would have died in canon.

Do you get hate on fics? Nah

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes, mlm mostly, have written all orientations in the past. Got some m/f and m/m/f coming down the pipeline (in theory lol).

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I keep mixing Lovecraft into things, so idk if that counts. I keep pondering a GO/Trigun crossover but IDK. One crossover I started 15 years ago, but never finished (I still have it though!) was Kenren (Saiyuki Gaiden)/Kakashi (Naruto) where Kenren was ex military and Kakashi was an assassin whose inner dialogue comes in the form of his dead fellow assassin-former-lover's voice (that'd be Iruka XD). It is 100% the wackiest thing I ever thought up and I honestly would LOVE to finish it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? No but I'd give it a try. Back in the day I did do some writer-artist collabs.

What's your all-time favourite ship? I could not possibly choose one. <- yeah what Jenn said. But I'm gonna go off anyway LOL I cannot separate Kenren/Tenpou, Aziraphale/Crowley and Vash/Wolfwood, they all fell into my lap around the same time in the early 2000s and they all changed my brain chemistry. Even if I never consume a piece of media about them again, they'll live in my head, rent free, for all time. Modern day shout outs, though, to: Eivor/Vili (got me back into writing) Ubba/Vili (kept me writing) and Nanami/Gojo (currently destroying me one molecule at a time).

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? As I said, that crossover up there, that would be awesome but it's probably a pipe dream. I do not want to mention any current WIP of the last couple years because I don't want to jinx anything.

What are your writing strengths? I think I write dialogue and banter well, I get a lot of complements on that and I tend to agree. I think I also nail it on longing and loss just from rl experience lol

What are your writing weaknesses? Not being able to finish but a fraction of what I start. And also sometimes I am just not able to convey things how I really wanted them to be.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I know some people get uppity about sprinkling in foreign language in fic dialogue, but, like, there's good ways and bad ways to do it, and sometimes the original language word has no good equivalent in other languages.

First fandom you wrote for? Saiyuki

Favourite fic you've ever written? Hmmm, well, for better or worse Water of Life is my baby and I love it. lol I have some WIPS though, that I am dying to finish and they might eclipse that love.

Tags with zero pressure to @aeide, @madnessmadness, @softest-punk, @myriath, @akashadarkblade

[defira85]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @elvenmother thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3? Currently 109

What's your total AO3 word count? Okay WITH THE CAVEAT that I am incapable of writing short fic or ficlets and can only write long fic and have been on AO3 since 2011.... it's 2433956. Yes that is 2.5 million words

What fandoms do you write for? Mostly computer game adjacent - Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Baldur's Gate 3, Cinders, Critical Role, Avengers (comics verse, not movies), Once Upon a Time, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Stardew Valley, Touchstarved

Top 5 fics by kudos? Recovery Begins (Finn/Poe), A Safe Port in a Storm (Cullen/Dorian), The Courtship of Dorian Pavus (Cullen/Dorian), The Atonement of Cullen Rutherford (Cullen/Dorian), An Empire's Ransom (Ona'la||Jedi Knight/Thexan)

5. Do you respond to comments? I had a bleak period from about 2019-2022 where I was in a black hole of depression and creativity where I wrote nothing and felt a deep shame every time I got a comment on AO3, so there are people I have never responded to, but otherwise I'm adamant about replying to EVERYONE

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hmm. It could be Grief, a fic about Arcann observing the bounty hunter performing funeral rites for her dead husband. It might also be A Piercing Little Star, which I wrote for the DA Big Bang in 2013 about Leliana and Warden Bethany. And Ten Years Gone, about a very minor NPC couple from DA2, has a bleak ending

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I'll be honest, it's Keep Telling Me To Breathe, my Durgetash fic. Purely self indulgent ending there.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not in a long time, but it used to happen more frequently on Deviant Art and on anonymous kink memes. People were more free about being assholes on LJ because they could do it anonymously. A few on AO3 but again, it's been awhile.

9. Do you write smut? Do I write anything BUT smut lmfao. I mean, yes I do, but I love writing smut, so...

10. Craziest crossover? I'm not much of a crossover gal, the closest I've got at the moment would be some multi-Hawke adventures that I wrote back in my DA2 days where one of my Hawkes was running around in universe with a friend's Hawke

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Touch wood but no, not to the best of my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! I've had multiple of my Dragon Age fics translated into Russian

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before? My co-conspirator @sithrightsactivist will confirm yes, and I'm basically a co-writer with @angelicfangirl on her Calli/Arcann (Swtor) fic

14. All time favourite ship? I don't know if I have one? Hnngh. I guess Ona'la/Thexan because he's essentially my OC at this point in time. I can't read other Thexan fics because I'm like, no, that's wrong, he's supposed to be married to Ona'la. And Elissa/Justice makes me feel a lot of very big emotions because I made her to be a garbage person, an outlet for a lot of my own ugly feelings and self worth issues, and yet someone actually fell in love with her and found her worth cherishing as she was and that stunned me. And Durge/Gortash, I know what I like

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Sigh. It's probably my Stardew Valley fic. Or, no matter how many times I try, my Raina Temple/Shara Jenn||Watcher Two fic (SWTOR).

16. What are your writing strengths? I write GREAT smut. And I do phenomenal worldbuilding

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I don't know when to shut up. I can't write short fic to save my life. I don't actually know how people write such tight, careful fics in such a small amount of words

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I did it more when I was younger and thought I was being very clever but I know enough now that I know better than to try and butcher other languages like that. I know it reads as clumsy at best to native speakers so I try to avoid it. Unless it's fictional, and then I go ham.

19. First fandom you wrote in? First? Very first? I probably wrote stories about being April O'Neill with the TMNT. I wrote about being batgirl when I was like 8. Otherwise I think it was the Wayfarer Redemption Cycle by Sara Douglass or The Belgariad by David Eddings as a teen

20. Favourite fic you've written? HOW CAN I JUST CHOOSE ONE???? Okay well I'm the most proud of Keep Telling Me To Breathe (BG3) and An Empire's Ransom (SWTOR) changed the trajectory of my life for the better. Also? I'm the only person who's written Justice romance fic, and yes, I do mean Awakenings Justice and not "inside Anders' pretty body" DA2 Justice, so I'll own that

[vbartilucci]

I watched Dead Boy Detectives and it was…okay.

I liked it but I didn’t love it. I was interested in the characters but I didn’t care for them.

That’s probably due to a mix of both the writing and the actors being…fine. Charles came off as a British Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. Not quite knowing how to process his feelings, especially THOSE feelings, but largely just being played as a young man with a stick up his ass. Edwin was a tad better, but the eternal peppiness seemed forced – I know it was SUPPOSED to be forced, but I missed a bit of nuance. Crystal was quite good, and Niko…well, I’ll get to her. Lukas Gage as the Cat King was a joy to behold, and Jenn Lyon as Esther grew on me every episode.

Bluntly, I thought the trio was much better in their back-door pilot episode of Doom Patrol.  The chemistry was much better. That’s probably partly cause of the actors, and partly because they were written as already being a team. They knew what they were doing, they already knew what drove them crazy about each other, and they were just plain more fun to watch. I’m giving some of the credit to that to Jeremy Carver, who was the showrunner of Doom Patrol, which I adored. I was hopeful when I saw him listed as an executive producer on this show, but it became clear to me it was only a contractually required position since the characters first appeared on DP. Neil Gaiman was also listed as an executive producer, but I had the impression that his interaction on the show was far less hands-on than Good Omens. He wrote a couple scenes, but no episodes.

The writing was good, but not GREAT.  The show’s mysteries were fun, and I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the stories, it just never hit the level of “I have to see more” like I had with Doom Patrol, Sandman, and Good Omens. They did a journeyman job of crafting an arc, and the episode in Hell worked very well. I’d have been very happy if that had been the finale of the series there.  Once you’ve triumphed over Hell, having the final threat being a witch who wants to stay young felt a tad like a step down. Again, I liked Esther, and I’d have liked to see her hang around as an irritant, not get promoted to Big Bad at the last minute. It felt very much like Tim Shaw TimSza in Jodie Whittaker’s first season of Doctor Who – “why the hell is this lame-o from the first episode the final threat?”

A great deal of the good will I had for the series faded with the last episode. I simply thought that killing off Niko was unnecessary, bordering on hack. Yes, the tag makes it clear she may not really be dead, but I simply saw no need to put the rest of the characters through the wringer of having to deal with her passing.  She could have recovered right then and there with the help of her lucky charm, or Lilith could have fixed her since she was clearly “wronged”, or any number of ways to have them THINK she was gone but saved at the end to tie everything into a bow.

So I guess I did "care" enough about the character enough to be upset, but more because it seemed like the writers thought there had to be a sacrifice to make the drama more intense, and I simply didn't see the need. As I said, there's a ton of ways they could have done that moment and fixed it at the end, and not diminished the drama.

I watched the because I enjoyed it just enough to do so, and I know there were a ton of mutuals who wanted it renewed, so I gave it my support. It was never a chore, but it was never an absolute joy If it gets renewed I’ll give it another chance, but I expect I’ll watch it casually as I did this season, with no grinding desire to see the next one.

Sorry I wasn't as rapturous about it as the rest of you.

[literaticat]

Hi Jenn! A while back, we all basically said we want MG to feel more MG and YA to feel more YA. You mentioned you’re working on it, which is great! I’m just wondering how the industry… works on it. Is it like writers are more encouraged to write younger, then agents either take on or continue to rep those younger kinds of works, then editors acquire them? Is it more like publishing professionals talk about the importance of younger voices together?

(Sorry if I'm repeating myself, I REALLY feel like I have addressed all of this over and over, but hey, maybe that's just in my head????)

Yes? All of the above?

As I KNOW I have said MANY times, in MG, according to what I'M seeing, the fashion among both agents and editors is for shorter, faster, somewhat younger "hi-lo" books. (That means high interest, lower reading level.) There are fewer big chonker fantasies coming out than in previous years. If a book IS a big chonker fantasy, at least it is fast-paced with shorter chapters. More books have illustrations, or graphic novel style elements, or verse elements, or are otherwise "multi-modal".

As I THINK I have said, in YA, according to what I'M seeing, while yes, certainly, big "Romantasy" and older books that skew into the adult realm are still very popular, more editors seem to be open to books on the younger / lighter / shorter end of the spectrum.

I think there are lots of conversations about all this happening amongst ourselves, and on social media, and amongst teachers and librarians and whatnot as well.

[trickarrows-bishop]

LIVE BLOG OF ME REACTING TO EPISODE FIVE OF HSMTMTS

was gonna do this for episode four and forgot, kinda wish i did after all of THOSE scenes but anyways episode five lets GOOOOOO

[open with caution, i didn't realise how mentally unprepared i was]

THE WAY EJ WAS ON THE MOTHERFUCKING BANNER MADE ME SCREAM TBH LIKE BROTHER U WANT ME TO CRY FR FR

"richard bowen" "elton john" caswen is upon us (i cant even say im delusional because madlyn deadass nearly happened last episode)

"the musical is going swimmingly" girl u drowning dont lie

BYE NOT THE NEVER-ENDINGLY USED PLOT OF THE IDEA OF THE MUSICAL BEING CANCELLED I CANT GET AWAY FROM THIS FR

i gotta say kourtney repeatedly getting her moment is insane. like im so fucking happy rn over it its insane. like she's going therapy (WOOOOO THERAPY !!) and actually looking at her future !! im so happy for her im fr putting ms girl in my pocket

also when i found out her mom is played by dara's actual mom i screamed (not lying im so dramatic bye)

"lets start with questions!!" "great 'cause i have many" she is me and i am her. i am kourtney greene coded fr

4 JOBS??? EJ'S DAD CAN SUCK A DICK FR IDEC HE IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE MAN

i cant even say i want it made up bc ej said its a breath of fresh air and HE NEEDS THAT AIR FFS

"talking to val" WOHOOOO MENTION OF PAST CHARACTERS INSANE BEHAVIOR FROM THE WRITERS !! INSANE !! (im in delusion that nini will be back)

"you do look good" "thanks. you do look... terrible" real. ricky bowen me coded fr

cant believe we havent had one season where gina can just. have the lead. and no drama. like pls tim i was BEGGING like. at season two.

caitlyn (actress playing quinn the director) is so hilarious to me like i've been following her online for ages and bro its so funny seeing her on hsmtmts and doing exactly what she does in her other videos LMAO

"g force" i'll puke. fuck off.

GINA KINDA GAGGED QUINN THERE ???

LMFAO NOT HER CHANGING HER MIND JUST AT THE IDEA OF WINNING AN AWARD

EJ and ricky's duet lol they hate me. they want me to cry. im eight mins in too. cant wait to cry to this fr

update: crying over this duet what the fuc

can i just say how for certain songs on this soundtrack they've been HITTING or absolutely MISSING ???

this girl harper is GAGGING kourt LMAO "i see you standing here right now !!" SHES SO FUNNY FOR NO REASON

miss jenn is not using siri rn.

CARLOS BB :(

SIRI SHUSH WITH UR BEEPING

trust the process WOHOOOO

why is it thunderstorming JESUS

22 pages U FUCKIN WHAT (never been in a musical idk seems like a lot)

why is she always wearing a cheer outfit its deadass like the character's personality is cheer outfit bro

"3 children" i need to buy a GUN

quinn i was just routing for u babe why u posting such bullshit on instagram. and was that a FILTER?

BIG RED???FHHSDHFADSJGHFKSDJHFASDKJBFSKV

BIGGIE ???dFHAKSDHFAKSJDHGFKASHDG IS THAT MY SON ???? MY SON ???? IS HE ALSO WEARING GLASSES WHAT THE FUCK OF FUCKS

anyways let me actually play the scene LOLZ

HIS FIRST WORDS ARE "ASH YOU LOOK AMAZING" BYE CANT DO THIS WHY WAS I ROUTING FOR MADLYN FFS

YK WHAT? ASHLYN HAS TWO HANDS. YEAH. THAT CAN WORK FOR ME

grandma red's 100th!! everyone cheered fr (i am everyone)

"your last text said you had something important to tell me" no i am not about to witness redlyn break up. nononono.

I KNEW IT

THE FUCKING MOMENT SEB SAID HE CHEATED I CONNECTED THE DOTS I WAS LIKE

"HMMMMM BIG RED JUST CAME OUT AS BI ??? YOU CHEATED ???? IDK ??? MAYBE SEB HELPED OR SOMETHING" LITERALLY SAID THAT SHIT OUT LOUD AND I WAS RIGHT HOLY FUCK OF FUCKS

"surprise!!" boy- i don't have TIME to even unPACK-

"you okay?" "i am GREAT" me when i LIE

HOLD UP

DID HE JUST

DID RICHARD JUST

MENTION NINI???? WHA

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

THIS WASN'T ON MY HSMTMTS SEASON 4 BINGO CARD?!!!!????

yeah im salty about how shit of an exit that was for nini. next question.

"afraid of the truth?" do u want me to try and make this gay or not richard cuz i stg u are giving me some mixed ass signals

nevermind this is really sad and heartbreaking let me shut the fuck up

AND NOW WE GO BACK TO REDLYN OKAYYYY

THE MOVIES??? BIG RED AND SEB AT THE MOVIES ???

all of this is just so out of character for big red and seb like what

like ej was right there tim come ON

"we were at a harry styles movie" not the fucking millennial ass writing coming in NOW

"my bi origin story" how am i supposed to feel rn??? because i don't know how to feel. like. anything. at all.

GIRL YOU BETTER TELL HIM ABOUT VAL OR MADDOX ???

"yeah!!! she was cute!!!" "yes. she was." BAHAHHAHAJHFGDSKJ

"wait..." NOT THAT BEING THE WAY SHE CAME OUT BAHHDSJH

"there were fireworks... literally"

OHHHHH SHES TALKING ABOUT MADDOX TOO UHM

"YOU almost kissed MADDOX" bro idk if ur disgusted or proud pls elaborate

OH HE KNEW FROM THE DOC LMFAO

wait so im just like ??? meant to let go of redlyn ??

"im happy for you" kms where can i get a big red

aLSO I WANT A NAME REVEAL tim PLEASE

just watched redlyn break up. now FUCKING WHAT

"friends, though... right?" YOU BET YOUR ASS KING

"i will apologise to carlos. BUT YOU NEED TO CALL MADDOX" SO REAL THANK YOU BIG RED UR SUCH A KING

ashlyn stop doubting urself like GIRLIE everyone with EYES is down bad please. PLEASE.

WHY AM I WATCHING CARLOS AND MISS JENN HAVE A CRY SESSION ON SOME RANDOM ASS COUCH ???

why is rehearsals starting at 7 in the evening. that would not fucking slide at my school. ( if i ran a school) (not happening)

"FIFTY SIX MINUTES" girl even made me move tf?

KOURTNEY'S SHOES WHAT THE FUCK I NEED THEM RIGHT NOW

oh come on just hearing all of that she HAS to go to lewis

"i just learnt mack and gina are minors" GIRL ??? WHAT DID YOU THINK-

quinn shouting "CUT!!!" louder every time

"which felt like... nine days" WHY AM I LAUGHING

"because we're friends-" bro fuck off idc

GAG HIM G IT DONT MATTER

THINK OF THE MUSICAL GINA.

ricky PROMISED FR HE BETTER BE THERE

"hugs i love that we're doing this now!!" emmy I CANT NOT LOVE YOU

ASHLYN U MAKE THAT PHONE CALL THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I NEED MADLYN RN

oh fuck i didn't realise that left carlos and big red FUCK

suddenly i DON'T want to be here

carlos can never be fully mad like if i found out someone had kissed my partner im 100% going to jail bc im so pissed off & i've probably killed someone, but why is he saying mf "good day!!" as he stormed off

MADISON FUCK OFF I AM NOT IN THE MOOD

fuck im really gonna have to have madlyn dragged out for me ffs

bro what is this weather on about tho

last time weather was important to plot it was like. keeping nini back in s2 e3 LMAO ???

EJ saying some important shit to ricky and its gonna make me cry again (its not even the finale and i have 17 mins of run time left of this episode FFS)

"im actually hurting them?" "no, you're actually hurting yourself" HOLY FUCK IM TOO VULNERABLE FOR THIS

CASWEN HUG AND IM GONNA RUN WITH IT FR

"stealing my girlfriends" BYE I CANT DO THIS

[keepmovinjunior]

girl u know i love uuuuuu. i'm confessing RN. SMOOCH. jenn, being your friend is awesome i gotta tell you. i tell you enough. but fr you are so genuine, so intelligent. like, you see people for who they are and i think that is a beautiful thing to witness. seeing badass friends thriving on the dash like you is one of my all time favorite things to witness. like, holy crap ur so neat. <3 also, don't even get me started on how you write meg. that is a GREAT PORTRAYAL. truly has every layer to it. every SINGLE LAYER POSSIBLE. and that goes for every blog you write honestly like .. you just write with so much heart and soul. very lucky to know you. thanks for having me around.

awww rose, thank you so much for these kind words. i for one am very grateful for you and your portrayal of belle in this community - you really craft her with so much accuracy, care, and you take the time to engage with the writers around here in a way that really helps us to thrive and have fun and feel connected. thank YOU for writing with me, having your belle here, and having me as one of your blog affiliates <3 love u back!! MEG FOR ONE is super grateful to know belle and be her friend <3

[bookwyrmshoard]

Love at First Book, by Jenn McKinlay

A warm, cozy hug of a romance, and a tribute to books, writers, and booklovers

Librarian Emily Allen arrives in Ireland to spend a year working as assistant to her favorite author, a YA novelist who hasn’t published a book in 10 years. Or rather, she’ll be spending her mornings as Siobhan Riordan’s assistant, and her afternoons working in the village bookstore owned by Siobhan and her son Kieran Murphy, a bookseller with romance-hero looks and a surly manner.

I loved a lot of things about this book. Em and Kier’s banter is great, especially because Kier brings out a feistiness in Em that she never knew she had. Em’s illness anxiety disorder is handled compassionately. Em herself is kind, likeable, enthusiastic, and good at solving problems. It’s a pleasure to watch her bloom and become more courageous and outspoken after spending much of her life trying to keep her (terrible) mother happy.

Kieran starts out as a fairly generic hero (in the handsome-but-grouchy vein), but as he opens up more, his character becomes a bit deeper and more complex, and thus more compelling. it’s easy to see why Em’s initial, physical attraction evolves into something more. Siobhan is a delight, and her acceptance and caring are healing for Em. And I loved seeing Em get the opportunity to work closely with her idol. I also enjoyed the bookstore staff, the village, and the Irish countryside, and wished we got more time with them.

Most of all, I loved how bookish this novel is. McKinlay describes the Last Chapter bookstore in loving detail. Em and Kier have an ongoing quotes competition; the books they quote range from children’s classics to adult literature. And Siobhan’s fictional Tig McMorrow series has much in common with the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series. As a bonus, Em makes references to several romance novel tropes… and daydreams a few scenarios involving Kier.

I admit, there are a few things I wish Ms. McKinlay had done differently. The prose sometimes has more of the tone, flavor, and lightness of a cozy mystery, particularly at the beginning. Em narrates in the first person, which means we never experience Kier’s thoughts and feelings directly; I think I would have been even more invested in their relationship if I had seen it from both sides. Given the serious nature of one of the plot lines, I also would have appreciated deeper character and relationship development overall. Not that there was no depth of feeling! On the contrary, the book had me in tears at least twice.

The book takes place during late summer, fall, and winter, but it’s such a delightful wish-fulfillment romance, I highly recommend sticking it in your beach or vacation bag this summer!

Challenges: COYER Unwind, Chapt. 1; NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2024

(This review has been abridged from a review originally published on my blog, The Bookwyrm's Hoard. To read the full review, click the link.)

FTC disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.