#parents once again suck in a story cinder writes

[hottestthingalive]

Let's see how you turn this fake tittle into analogical: “And this is why you don't try to run away from home on the middle of Halloween”

i lost my first draft of this. have my second one. if i have to make a third though i might lose my mind

But it helps that I was told to write analogical, and therefore will feel no guilt when I do this time >:D

-Virgil grows up surrounded by warnings.

-Never sing in the darkness, his parents and teachers and friends and family say, whispers and reminders that guide their lives. Tell the bees of the events of the day. Wear black after the first leaves fall. Do not make deals with a stranger if you cannot see their eyes. 

-And on All Hallow’s Eve (or Samhain, or Halloween, or simply October 31st, depending on who is speaking) always be inside when midnight strikes. 

-Except. 

-Except Virgil stopped listening to his parents a long time ago, if only because thinking of himself as worthless and useless and a burden and a failure got to be exhausting. And his teachers, as he gets older, seem to say a lot of things that are wrong. He doesn’t have many friends anymore, and the rest of his family... Well, he never got along with them, anyways. 

-He still obeys most of the rules, if only for convenience’s sake. If he wears black in the fall and winter like everyone else, if he is seen whispering to bees as he tends to the garden, if he is careful and cautious and anxious all the time, no one suspects anything, for that is the way they all are. And thus he is not suspicious, and no one seems to notice that he hoards money in a box under his bed, that the bank account he’d originally made separate from his parents’ to “learn responsibility” has been completely cut off from them, that he studies maps of the town and looks into housing and works on fixing up his ancient car whenever he has the free time. 

-It is a town of warnings, and it is a town of monsters, too. And Virgil has always dealt with monsters by hiding, clamping his hands over his ears and curling up in a ball under his bed. 

-He thinks, now, he will try running. 

-And so on the night of October 31st, he goes to bed at ten. “Goodnight,” he says to his parents, and when they check on him just before midnight, standing at his door and looking at his bed, he pretends to be asleep. They do not check under his bed and see the bag stashed underneath it, or pull down the covers and see him wearing his sneakers and jeans under them. He hears them go to bed, and when he checks on them a few minutes later, they are sound asleep. 

-This is Virgil’s only chance, the night when no one will be outside to call his parents and tell them their son is leaving. He has been out after dark before, though never on Halloween -- invariably, someone spots him and calls his family. They are respected, in this town, and as his mother tells him, they cannot tolerate disrespect. Even the mayor is under their thumb, Virgil thinks, as policies his father agrees with pass and ones he disagrees with are never mentioned again. 

-No one crosses the Mallorys. Except, of course, their own son. 

-At half-past midnight, he climbs out of his window, backpack slung over one shoulder and his suitcase already packed into the trunk of his car, parked a little ways down the street. It is an easy climb, one he has made many times before, and though it is cold outside, his sweatshirt protects him from the worst of the wind. He has his parka and boots in the car as well, plus food, water, money -- all he needs. He is seventeen now, Virgil reminds himself. He can do this. It is legal. 

-He tries not to think about what will happen if he is caught, so clearly trying to leave, and on All Hallow’s Eve, no less. He tries not to think about what his parents will do. 

-He tries not to think about it, and yet the sound of his heart in his ears blots out every other sound. 

-It is surprisingly easy. He sticks to the shadows, makes as little noise as possible, blinks slowly at the cats that he passes and watches them blink back, and he is in his car in no time at all. He is sure people hear him driving past, rush to their windows to see who is so foolish, who is awake, but he goes as quickly as his clunker of a car will allow and he leaves houses behind for the forest in no time at all. 

-“Fuck,” he says, because he doesn’t know what else to say, and he can’t help but grin. 

-Said grin abruptly vanishes when someone beside him says “Well, you seem to be in quite the hurry.” 

-Virgil nearly drives the car into a tree, turning to see a man sitting beside him. He’s tall, the man, and is dressed one of Virgil’s teachers, blue tie and black polo shirt and black khakis. He is wearing sunglasses, the kind where you can’t see the eyes at all, and yet Virgil knows that he is looking directly at him. 

-“Don’t panic,” says the man, which, yeah, too late for that, buddy. “I will not hurt you.” 

-“Oh, that’s comforting,” says Virgil sarcastically, his knuckles white as he clings to the wheel. “Who are you? Did my parents send you?” 

-“No,” he replies, and adjusts his glasses. He does not answer the first question. “I thought your people did not leave your dens on Samhain.” 

-Virgil blinks. Turns that over in his head. “What are you?” he asks next, and the man grins. His teeth are pointed, and gleam in the light from the console. 

-“Oh, so you are a clever one, then,” the man remarks, and Virgil tries to focus on not going off the road when the creature whispers its title into his ear. 

-“Fuck,” he says, and it is not celebratory this time. 

-“I told you I would not hurt you,” says the being beside him, sounding oddly perplexed. “I come in peace? I... offer my support and aid in whatever venture you may chose to embark on?” 

-Virgil just stares at him for a moment, before returning his eyes to the road. “Will you get out of my car?” he asks, though he already knows the answer. 

-“Not yet,” he says. “This is fun. Do you want a... ‘granola bar’?” 

-He is holding out one of the bars Virgil had packed for the trip. It is peanut-butter flavoured, in bright packaging. 

-“I know not to accept your food,” he says. 

-“It is not mine,” the thing remarks, sounding confused again. “It is yours. And it is not enchanted. Why would you refuse it? Do you not like it?” 

-Virgil is silent. The creature taps his chin with one long finger, staring down at the granola bar in his hand, and then straightens. “Ah. You do not trust me.” 

-He still does not answer.

-“That is... understandable,” he agrees, sounding rather dejected nonetheless. “I swear, though, I mean you no harm. I have come to warn you, in fact.” 

-His kind cannot break an oath. Virgil knows this. That is the only reason he turns, breaks his silence, asks “Warn me of what?” 

-“They hunt you,” says the creature. “Your kin. They want to find you, Virgil Mallory, before you disappear.”

-He doesn’t even ask how this being knows his name. “Why?” Virgil says instead. 

-“Humans will always cling to power,” he replies, tapping a finger to the space between Virgil’s eyes. “And you are gifted.” 

“Cursed, more like,” he mutters, batting the hand away. Virgil’s eyes are purple and green, two unnatural shades that have always seemed to glow slightly in the dark. His parents had made a point of never speaking of the warnings surrounding a thing like him, but he heard them nonetheless. 

-Beware of children whose eyes are not their own, and keep a changeling close, if you ever hope to see your own child ever again. 

-There is a reason he grows his bangs over his eyes. 

-“Gifted,” the being insists, and Virgil just sighs, turning to look at the road behind him. Even if he felt inclined to doubt his story, the lights of cars speeding down the road behind him is more than enough proof. 

-“Okay,” he says. “How do I escape them?” 

-The creature holds out his hand, glasses shining, and Virgil can’t tell if they are reflecting the console or the moonlight or if they aren’t reflecting anything at all, glowing from the inside. “Let’s make a deal, Virgil Mallory.” 

-They find the car, parked in the middle of the road. This is all -- it is empty, nothing at all left behind to indicate it ever held Virgil at all, save for the black and silver and blue and purple dust that looks like a galaxy and shines in the darkness, covering the insides of the car. All of his belongings are gone, and his mother runs her fingers through the dust and screams. 

-“I never got your name” Virgil says as he stands up, brushing the dirt from his jeans and turning to face the creature, in a forest far away where his parents will never be able to find him. 

-“I am Logan,” he says, and grins that sharp smile again. 

-It is years later that Virgil remarks “You know, I wasn’t supposed to make deals with any person I couldn’t see the eyes of.” 

-“Really?” Logan asks, tilting his head to the side, looking so adorably confused. “What of deals not made in person? How does that work?”

-“I couldn’t make any bargains with anyone from outside the town,” Virgil explains, moving his hands in the way Logan had taught him, the way that speaks to the bees and prompts them to come closer. 

-They stand together among summer flowers, before a hollow tree trunk, and around them the bees dance. 

-“I’d like to stay with you forever,” Virgil admits.

-“Well,” says Logan, taking off his sunglasses, “let’s make a deal, then.” 

-His eyes are like the sky at midnight, blue and black all at once, both absorbing light and shining with it, and Virgil thinks he falls in love all over again at the sight. 

-“I think I’m done with deals,” Virgil shrugs, reaching up to tug Logan into a kiss. “You could make me do anything you wanted without them, anyways, my love.” 

-Logan turns a delightful shade of red at that, and the bees hum around them as Virgil laughs. 

-He never returns to his village again. He tells the children they take (the ones who would have died otherwise, the ones who were hurt, the ones who were not loved) that he’d made a mistake, running away with a scoundrel of a faerie like Logan (appearing in the middle of a metal deathtrap of a vehicle, really!) but the way he wraps his arms around his husband afterwards doesn’t exactly make the children believe his story. 

-Virgil never regrets his deal made with the man whose eyes he could not see, nor does he regret running away from home on Halloween. He’s gotten Logan out of it, and the other beings like himself. He’s found a family here, in this forest where the bees hide amidst his hair and the flowers curl their stems around his fingertips, where the other fey treat him like a gift instead of a curse and the children do not run away as he approaches. 

-He is happy, for the first time in his life. And the warnings he has grown up with vanish over the years, replaced with other words. 

-You are kind. You are a gift. You are loved. 

-I love you. 

-And so Virgil breaks every rule, disregards every warning, and he has never been happier.

-(Except for the one about bees. Bees like gossip, and it’s always good to tell them about the events of the day, especially the deaths. Sometimes, they can help.)

I actually loved writing this one!!!! I hope you liked it too, anon! 

Send me a fake fic title and I’ll tell you what I’d write for it!

[creampuffqueen]

No Bedtime

Word Count: 851

Requested by the lovely @cinder--selene, #22: reading a book to little one. This is the first Little Ones request I’ve gotten for ACOTAR, so this was fun to write. 

If y’all want to see more of Cirrus, you should maybe check out my Ao3... *wink wink*

~~~~

“Mama is very extra prettiest mama ever!” Cirrus Archeron giggled, tugging on Feyre’s dress. 

“Did your Dada tell you to say that?” Feyre laughed, scooping up her two-year-old son. “Or is Uncle Cas trying to get on my good side?”

“Don’t go, Mama.” Cirrus whined. 

“I won’t be gone for long, my darling.” She promised. “Your Dada is going to take me to dinner, and then we’ll come right home. Besides, you’re going to have so much fun with Uncle Cas, aren’t you?”

“Want Tess.” Cirrus pouted. “Want Tess and Winnie.”

Feyre carried the toddler through the bedroom with her, cradling him close to her chest with one hand while she searched for a pair of earrings with the other. It had been a very long time since she and Rhys had gone on a date, and even her son’s cute begging face wouldn’t make her stay.

“Tess and Winnie aren’t here.” She told him. “But you’ll see your cousins soon, I promise.”

She set Cirrus down on the bed and put on her jewelry, then planted some kisses on his head.

A loud knock sounded, and Cirrus scrambled off the bed, forgetting all about Feyre leaving. His mother followed, slower, pulling on her shoes as she walked to the door.

“Hey, buddy. Are we gonna have fun tonight?” Cassian’s voice boomed down the hallway, Cirrus’s chirping voice nearly drowned out. Feyre made it to the entryway to see her son crawling up Cassian’s side, laughing his heart out.

“We’ve got this, Feyre.” Cassian promised with a grin. “I’ve got it all planned out.”

“Is Tess here?” Cirrus asked again. Cassian, who had obviously not planned for that, sputtered over his answer.

“I- She’s on her way, buddy. You’ll see Tess and your Aunt Nesta tomorrow.”

Feyre slipped out the door while Cirrus was distracted, hoping to ease the pain of leaving. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and she struggled to ignore his wails as she left the house.

It’s only for an hour or two, darling. Rhy’s voice permeated her thoughts, and Feyre let out a sigh.

I know. It’s still hard, though.

~~~~

“Oh, thank the mother, you’re home.” Cassian gasped as Feyre pushed the door open. It took her a moment, but Feyre took in the chaos of the entryway and her eyes widened. 

Cassian looked more exhausted than she’d ever seen him, with his hair a mess and dark circles forming under his eyes.

Feyre was about to ask what was going on, they’d only been gone for two hours, but then-

She saw the toddler bouncing on the couch, letting out a loud shriek as he did so. When he saw his parents home, he shouted again, before jumping off the couch and racing towards them.

“Mama! Dada!” Cirrus cried. “No bedtime! No bedtime!”

“Cirrus, what are you still doing up?” Rhys asked over her shoulder as Feyre picked up their son.

“He wouldn’t go to bed.” Cassian groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I tried lullabies, warm milk, bedtime stories, all of it. He’s not tired at all. Even Tess isn’t this difficult, and she’s a carbon copy of Nesta.”

“Thank you for watching him, Cas.” Rhys said sympathetically. “We’ll take him from here.”

Cassian sighed and left quickly, shaking his head and muttering under his breath. Feyre turned her attentions back to the toddler squirming in her arms.

“No bedtime.” He said again, very seriously.

“Yes, bedtime.” Feyre corrected. “It’s very late, darling.”

“No bed!” Cirrus wailed. “Dada, no bed!”

Rhys chuckled at his son. “Sorry, buddy. I’m with Mama on this one.”

“You’re in your pajamas already, so lets get tucked in. Will you go to bed if Mama reads you a story?”

“No.” Cirrus pouted, furrowing his little brow. “No bedtime.”

“Let’s go pick out a story.” Feyre said, ignoring his protests. She and her mate walked upstairs with Cirrus, cradling him between them. In the nursery, she let him take a book, then tucked him under the covers of his bed.

Feyre sat down on the bed, angling herself so her son was tucked into her side and could see the pages. Cirrus snuggled closer, and Rhys sat on a rocking chair across the room.

“Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away…” Feyre read the book slowly, her voice soft, watching as Cirrus’s head drooped further and further

“And they all lived happily ever after.” When she finished the story, Cirrus was laying in her lap, sucking his thumb. His wings were tucked in close to his body, rising and falling slightly as he breathed, deep and even.

“Nother story, Mama.” He murmured sleepily. “No bedtime.”

Feyre didn’t answer, instead kissing his night-dark hair and slipping off the bed. Cirrus’s eyes closed again, and his breathing soon evened out.

Feyre put the book away and walked over to Rhys, still in her fancy dress. She sat down on his lap in the chair, and her mate laid his head on her shoulder.

And both the High Lady and High Lord of the Night Court watched their son fall asleep.

~~~~

Gen 2 Asks

[supergenial]

Cindered Shadows was pretty decent

I recently finished the Cindered Shadows DLC and decided to once again write about my impressions, don't worry though, this one isn't as long as the previous ones. Spoilers: I think this is as good as fire emblem is gonna get for a while.

1) No Agarthans, thank GOD

A story as old as fire emblem: There's an interesting human villain with down to earth motivations or obsessions, but in the large scale of the story they're overshadowed by a supernatural being who wants to destroy the world for no reason other than "they're just evil". This is Edelgard and the Agarthans, Arvis and Manfroy/Loptous, Rudolph and Duma, Ashnard and Ashera, Walhart and Grima... you get it. This shit sucks to put it bluntly. Having these stereotypically evil bad guys who are clearly evil is one of the main things that brings down the plot of any fire emblem game. I'm of the belief that they should kick out these supernatural villains and just leave us against the human villains, the one's with actual ideals and beliefs other than "hurr durr, destroy the world".

And then there’s our villain for this DLC. Now yes, it feels like they recycled a certain professor from the Harry Potter series, but I like that he is "The" bad guy for the DLC, he's not being controlled by anyone. He's obsessed with Byleth's mom and in-game this makes a lot of sense. If Byleth, who is incapable of communication, can drive people crazy for them just by existing then just imagine a Byleth who can actually talk. Her "waifu" charms must be off the charts, so I can't blame this guy for being obsessed. More importantly he's not being controlled by the Agarthans, he's not being played by anyone. He's a man who's lived a righteous life, he took care of a lot of people who all love him but ultimately decided to use them for his own gain and his own obsessions. As far as FE villains go... He's good, honestly, great job Intelligent Systems, I expected a lot less.

2) Reduced avatar wanking

Shots fucking fired

Sure, Byleth's mom is a main focus of the plot, and Byleth is the one who sets the plot in motion, but rarely does it feel like the game is going "gee Player, you're so great, you're our god, we all love you and want to marry you". Byleth still plays a large role sure (unfortunately) but it still feels like this is the story of Yuri and his gang with Byleth being their strategist which is, idk, way better than the idea behind the main game? The one where Byleth turns into a literal god, gets every achievement of the army attributed to them only, has every other conversation remind us how glorious Byleth is, etc.

In fact the dlc goes as far as having Hapi constantly belittle Byleth and even make fun of their communication skills by calling him Chatterbox (good job to the localizers, she doesn’t say this in the japanese audio). Get that teacher’s ass girl, destroy them. (Obviously I would hate this behavior if it was directed to someone else, but in this case I'm willing to make a concession).

3) Yuri's backstory

Ashe: I admire and love this man who is my only parental figure but Rhea said he's kind of bad so I killed him Yuri: Church ordered me to kill a bunch of thieves and delinquents and I refused

You have no idea who much I love the fact that Yuri is someone who protested his orders and got kicked out of the church for refusing to kill civillians. This instantly sends him very high in my rankings. Playing through the first half of the game all I wanted was to stop and say "No, Lady Rhea, fuck you. I don't think it's very cash money for the most powerful military force in the continent to eradicate a lightly armed militia of farmers (with popular support in their locality!)" this is what true imperialism is all about! But there is sadly no option for that.

Just by telling us that Yuri is someone who was punished for saying "No, these orders are inhumane, I refuse to carry them out" that is enough for me, the game is saying "yes, we know, have your compensation price". In the end Yuri is extremely loyal to Rhea which is unfortunate but hey, at least they lampshaded one of the most glaring issues I have with the main game, so that's at least something.

4) "You've obtained all information. Proceed with the story, NOW"

Rather than wasting time forever thinking up which activity I should carry out, abyss is simply a place where you talk to the abyssal denizens to get some plot information or speculation, and boom, you're done. No running around forever, no quests, no doors that take ages to load. You can perfectly skip the abyss parts and at most you'll miss out on Edelgard's conversation with Dimiri (which is fucking hilarious) and a few rusted weapons that can be forged but that's it. Upon talking to every resident of the abyss the game will actually say you’ve acquired all information and will prompt you to go into combat rather than assume you want to dilly dally for a while.

I actually rather like this and would not be opposed to it being the philosophy behind future in-between segments between chapters. I can understand IntSys wanting to load in a ton of features like a sauna and fishing to rack up excitement for the game, I know I was excited for fishing, but when these activities have rewards tied to them, replaying becomes kind of a chore, "aw geez, I have to fish 69 fish to reach professor rank A+ AGAIN" (I actually had to when trying to get the piss screen from clearing maddening). Getting only some conversations and a bit of context for the story, that's... pretty good honestly, I liked this better than the monastery and better than My Castle. Throw in some skits with multiple characters at once and I’m gold

(seriously how come there’s no scenes with the three of the bros, Dimitri, Sylvain and Felix all hanging out together, the fact that a third character never shows up in support conversations is fucking bad)

5) Sometimes less is more

I've extensively complained about three houses already but bear with me. Yet another thing that infuriates me about the game is the extensive amount of work it required. I truly do think that if they had released only the blue lions route and left everything else in the plot as mysterious and unexplained loose ends left entirely up to speculation, that'd be a great game on it's own. Instead I have to see all the hard work that went into making the other routes only so that, in the end, they just had me going "well it was ok I guess". Every scene in the game requires work, many hours of coding, writing, voice acting, sound editing, making sure the models don't look too messed up, bug testing, etc. The amount of work that went into three houses was brutal regardless of what you think of the final product, yet a lot of people didn't even bother playing through all of that. So yes, I honestly wanted less, give me a more concise game rather than spreading too wide and ending up thin.

Cindered Shadows on the other hand is concise to a fault to make up for that. The story is pretty straightforward and leaves no loose ends to itself, there's no anime cutscenes, no supports (within abyss, you can support them all in the main game). There's even that very awkward sacrifice scene where some characters are having their life and blood drained from them yet the visual representation we see is just them standing around like normal, with Yuri even doing that hand pose he does all the time instead of squirming in pain or something. It's very awkward looking, objectively not good, but it gets the point across and doesn't make me go "wow you put in all this effort for nothing" because the whole thing is also fairly short (5 to 10 hours in hard mode).

I know, it sounds like I'm shitting on the dlc, but the point is I'd much rather get something short that leaves me satisfied than something like the main game that makes me go "this could've been so hecking gooood if they changed X" for the rest of my life.

6) The gameplay

Chapter 4 is my favorite mission in the whole game

They made Hard Mode good. I previously said maddening was the one difficulty where this game made sense, but this one achieves perfection with just hard mode. This is because the team actually knows what you have. In the main game there's all sorts of variables to account for due to the large amount of player expression that is possible, you can reclass anyone into anything and throughout many lucky or unlucky level ups, maps can be entirely different based on that rng and choices. Here though, your characters already have solid bases starting at lvl 20, and you can't reclass too much so the devs know exactly what you're working with and can plan accordingly. Beating the maps feels incredibly satisfying not just because the objectives have more variety now, but also because you feel like you found the right way to use the tools you were given. This is why the first few chapters of any fire emblem game often feel so good, because the devs know exactly what you have.

Not that I think player expression is bad! It's very satisfying to warp skip chapters and to use broken units like battalion vantage+wrath Dimitri as these things make you feel like you've truly subjugated the game, but it takes some time for those things to really take off. There's a time to reap and a time to sow, and the sowing time can get pretty dull sometimes but that's what makes the payoff feel worth it. Still, for a short experience like cindered shadows is, this style just fits perfectly, plus chapter 4 has quickly become one of my favorite chapters in the whole game, along with chapter 6.

7) In The End

Idk folks, I just like it. If you just want more adventures with the three lords, this is it.

If you’re looking for any excuses to avoid this I'd say the better ones are: maps are reused from the main game (they work much better here though), it's 10 hours at most so it's price-to-cash ratio isn't very good with the expansion pass being $30, and also the Abysskeeper feels a bit TOO winkwink nudgenudge to me, especially since Gatekeeper was popular enough to make it into Super Smash Brothers. Like yeah bro, we get it, we all love Gatekeeper, you didn't have to do this.

I also like that they finally gave Dimitri a semi-problematic quote where he says he kinda likes the idea of poor people living underground out of sight, I think it’s a very rich-white-boy flaw to have and not entirely awful given his life experience up to that point. And yes I do think he has no flaws and is entirely unproblematic in the main game, “feral” as he may look it doesn’t seem like he goes around killing civilians or doing anything other than busting up imperial troops which is kind of justified since they started the invasion, on top that he’s the strongest unit in the game and the most chill and honest ruler once he calms down, so little dent in his record that’s irrelevant in the large picture is indeed welcome.

Overall though, after being so massively disappointed by the Fates DLC, so much I didn't even bother with the ones for Echoes, I certainly like what I'm seeing here and that's a good sign, bravo Intsys.

[libralita]

June Wrap Up | 2018

This was a really great month for reading. I read sixteen books and once again I have to reblog this post to fit all the tags in. A lot of them were great. Some of them were absolute trash but most were pretty good.

The first book I read was One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus:

Okay so I enjoyed this book but I had some major problems with it. Mostly because the crux of the conflict relies on things that are completely illogical. Teachers practice illegal(ish) searches and seizure that wouldn’t fly by any judge or education administration. An app that caused someone to attempt suicide is not immediately taken down. Author writing a book about crime doesn’t know about the two party recording consent laws. It’s frustrating and yet was enjoyable. I think McManus can write a good mystery and I liked her characters. She just needs to work on her plots. I gave this book a three out of five stars.

Then I read The Wicker King by K. Ancrum:

I don’t really know how to feel about this book. Partly anxiety because of all the mental health stuff and medical stuff. I thought Jack and August’s relationship was pretty toxic and not very healthy. I’m not really into the super edgy, angsty, life-fucking-sucks style of books but it wasn’t bad. I enjoyed reading this. It kept me going. I think I liked the side characters more. The twins, Rina and Alex mostly. So I guess I’m giving this four out of five stars.

Next, I caved and bought the next volume of A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima:

So, in this book Shoya gets Shoko to reunite with the girl who tried to learn sign language in sixth grade. That was really nice. She’s kind of a bland character though. Then we get the re-introduction of Naoka. Who’s still a bitch. She’s an interesting character and it’ll be interesting to see if she shows up again and has any development. But the big tear jerking in this story is when Shoko admits to loving Shoya but he doesn’t understand her. And it’s so sad. Ughhhhh…I’m probably going to buy the next one. Wasn’t as good as the last two but still five out of five stars.

Then I read the fourth volume of A Silent Voice:

Ahhhh so many emotions in this one. First Shoya gets more friends. There’s Satoshi Mashiba is a hottie. Then Naoka planned for Shoya to see one of his childhood friends. I’m guessing at some point he’s actually going to talk to Kazuki. But the big thing that happened in this one was that Shoko’s grandma died. It was really sad and we got to see Shoko’s mother’s backstory and it made me tear up. I just want someone to help out this poor woman. My favorite so far! Five out of five!

Then I finished but did not complete the Summer I Turned Pretty bind up by Jenny Han:

I read the first two books in this bind up but rage quit the last one after five chapters. The first book was fun. Belly was a snot and is written like a 10 year old instead of a sixteen year old. However, I liked the rest of the characters and wanted to see what would happen to them. I gave that four out of five stars. Then I went onto the next book hoping that Belly got better. She did not. She got worse. She’s such a bitch to her parents in this book, especially to her mother. Belly says some awful things to her mother and I don’t even think she apologizes for it. Conrad also starts to act like a little snot. He just leaves school without telling his brother. They also don’t do the most logical and correct answer which is to call Belly’s mom and ask her for help. That was my first instinct and it takes them forever to figure it out. And it’s only when Belly drunk calls her mom. God this book was so bad. Two out of five. Then I tried to read the third book but it was just Belly being a bitch to Jeremiah and Jeremiah kind of cheating on Belly. DNF’ed. Will not be reading any more Jenny Han books.

Next, I finally reread Cress by Marissa Meyer:

I still can’t believe how well this series has held up. There are a few logic problems like Cinder presses her metal hand onto her face to “cool off”. Marissa, I don’t press my face to the roof of my car to cool off. Also Kai is kind of more annoying than I remember him being. However, I still really enjoying this series. I like the dynamic Cress adds and I teared up when Erland died. I also really liked Winter small roll. She’s such a fun character. Jacin was also amusing. I give this book five out of five stars.

I think picked up Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi:

This book was pretty good. I was a little bit skeptical going in and I did end up having a few problems with it. The humor didn’t always land and it was a little too similar to the Lightning Thief. However, I think this series has potential and there were a lot of cool elements that I really enjoyed and I’m excited to see where this series goes. I gave this book four out of five stars.

I felt like going back to A Silent Voice and read the fifth, sixth and final volume:

The fifth one was a little underwhelming. I still gave it four stars but it mostly focused on the movie plot which isn’t my favorite thing. I did like getting to know more about Mashiba who is my favorite even if he is a little…intense. Also Shoko might have attempted suicide at the so it was a real cliffhanger. Get it? Then the sixth one was a bit better. It’s starts off with Shoko’s mother apologizing to Shoya’s mother and it’s really sad. Also Nao just starts beating the shit out of Shoko and then Shoko’s mother fights back which was really awesome. We saw that Satoshi was bullied for his…eyebrows and is super creepy about it. Then we get kind of Shoko’s perspective on things. Not my favorite but I enjoyed it. Five out of five stars. Then I finally read the 7th and last volume. This was a nice ending to the series. You had the mothers getting drunk and becoming friends. Shoko and Shoya both want to become hairdressers. And they’re eventually going to Tokyo together? It’s a nice, hopeful ending. I gave it five out of five stars.

Next, I read The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert:

This book was Every Heart a Doorway but done better. I still didn’t love this book. I gave it three stars. I just don’t like this type of super cynical tone. It just annoys me. However I thought the world and how the Hinterland worked was pretty awesome. I also liked the twist that Alice was Alice-Three-Times and Ella had plucked her from the story. Finches character kind of bugged me. Overall I gave this book three out of five stars. I won’t be continuing on with this series but I may check out another Albert book.

Then the newest volume of Tokyo Ghoul: re by Sui Ishida came out:

I enjoyed this one. I wasn’t expect an all out fight. In this Shu’s family is discovered of being a bunch of ghouls so there’s a big fight. Sen/Bandage girl got Kanae and made him crazy…er, crazier. There’s a really great seen between Akira and Kaneki where she hugs him. I’m pretty sure Amon’s out there somewhere. Lots of people die, including Hairu who was really cute. Then a random monster came at the end. Overall it wasn’t the best fight ever but I still enjoyed it Five out of five stars.

I decided to order Volume Two of Teen Titans so I reread the first volume Teen Titans: Damien Knows Best by Benjamin Percy:

Why read new books when I can reread comics? Also god I love the art in the first issue. I wish the art had stayed that way. But I did like the art in the last issue. I think the rest is fine but man that first issue is great. I really love this team dynamic. All the different personalities and powers. It’s so cool. And I’m a sucker for the heroes versus their opposites. It’s great. I wonder when we’ll see Mara and the Demon’s Fist again. Five out of five stars.

A few days later Teen Titans Vol. 2: The Rise of Aqualad by Benjamin Percy came out:

I really enjoyed this book. I’m a little sad that Aqualad’s personality and backstory is completely different but he still has the same Young Justice design. However, I still think he’s a really interesting character. I like his arc with his father. I really liked Kid Flash and Raven’s relationship and wish we saw more of it. But the thing I really liked was Star Fire taking charge. She’s my favorite character and honestly the best leader for this team. Hopefully we’ll see more of her doing this in the future. This book got five out of five stars as well.

Then, I read Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor:

This took me like 10 days to read despite the fact that I really enjoyed it. I kept getting distract by shorter books. I really enjoyed this book. I liked Karou having to work with the White Wolf. Thiago is such a great villain and I’m glad he died. I’m sad that Hazael died and wish he would have stuck around. He gave the angel trio a fun dynamic. I’m interested to read the next book. It’s going to be a lot of battling but hopefully not a lot of “Will Karou and Akiva get together???” Because they will.

And those are all the books I read in June! It was a great month and I’m now onto July!

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

hot take

if you’re gonna write a story that takes place in china

maybe actually do the research abt china???

fair warning: if you like really like cinder and/or marissa meyer you may just wanna sit this one out

in these trying times of lost innocence of childhood and being more aware of social justice issues, i find myself being very critical of the entertainment media i consume

esp when it comes to representation, bc representation is important to me. and it’s becoming more and more important to me the older i get, as an asexual chinese-american woman. i’m still on the fence abt no rep v. bad rep, but this isn’t what this post is mainly abt

i’m currently reading cinder, by marissa meyer for my book club

and i just...i have a lot to say abt it. a lot that i really gotta get off my chest before i feel i can continue to read it

i’d preferably like to talk abt it with my friends (and maybe i will when the time comes), but i’d have to wait until june 1 and finish the book. as i said above, i really have to get this off my chest before i can finish it, so here i am, screaming into the void

so to begin, and i usually comment abt this when it comes to A LOT of east asian rep i see in entertainment media: my beef with the combination of east asian culture to mean one (1) asian/east asian culture

in this case, a combo of east asian cultureS (plural) into one (1), which would be china

honorifics

there are honorifics in china--like you definitely want to apply the correct honorific to your authority figures (i.e., parents, teachers, doctors, bosses, etc.)

and that part of china’s culture was taken, and then adapted into japanese culture today, HOWEVER, the way it’s used in japanese culture today is very different than how chinese ppl use them

okay so disclaimer real quick, chinese is my second language, and i have not taken up learning japanese, and am i’m going off information i’ve learned from my friends who took japanese as their second langauge; so the information i provide here may not be precisely accruate (hence, having trouble finding better words to explain this)

a lot of china’s honorifics aren’t as “““specific”””--for major lack of a better word--as japan’s

they have mr., miss, mrs., teacher/master, doctor, etc., and, in general, it’s custom to use them bc they are important--authority and hierarchy is v important to collectivistic cultures

japan has “““specific””” identifiers that are often, if not always, used to identify any of those older, younger, or equal to you

senpai, -chan, -san, -sama, etc., as well as other identifiers as placeholders for the person’s name to communicate who they are in relation to the person speaking (e.g., oniisan, oniichan, oniisama)

how honorifics are used in cinder is almost completely wrong, not just in culture, but also through translation

from meyer’s website:

-dàren: for a high-ranking official today is simply means adult, or grown up. it can be used as a respectful honorific toward superiors, but it mostly just means adult. archaically it did mean “your/his excellency.” but again, today, it’s mainly used to refer to an adult. and i imagine however far into the future this book takes places, they’d use it the same way??? but i mean i guess if they went back to imperialism

-shìfu: for an older male this is actually master (as an honorific, such as teacher is, or to specify a very qualified worker). sometimes it can be used to address strangers, specifically older men (not necessarily specifically, or often, used for an older male)

-jūn: for a younger male idk where she got “younger male” from bc it’s mostly used as a measure word. it can be used as an honorific, but translates to “your” not younger male. had she been going by the “honorifics” she uses below, it should be dì, which comes from dìdi (弟弟), which means younger brother (but not necessarily younger male)

-jiĕ: for an older female my best guess is this is derived from jiĕjie (姐姐), which means older sister (not necessarily older female)

-mèi: for a younger female once again, she probably derived this from mèimei (妹妹), which means younger sister (not necessarily younger female)

these specific pinyin (more specifically the last two/three) that she picked cannot be separated from the other pinyin that help to identify them. jiĕ and mèi don’t exist by themselves in the chinese language (compared to -chan, or -san do in japanese), and therefore do not translate as such in meyer’s book. not to mention, multiple characters can be applied to jiĕ and mèi depending on the context and other pinyin/character next to it that helps form the word, or helps distinguish the context

she perhaps simplified these honorifics a little too much. so much so in fact that they lost their meaning. quite literally

and, as i said before, these honorifics aren’t used like they are in japanese culture/language. you don’t tack on honorifics behind someone’s name (like a suffix) as they do in japan. the whole honorific (not just half of it, not like a suffix) comes after someone’s name, such as Lín lăoshī (林���师), which means Teacher Lin. or replaces their name entirely, such as tā shì wŏ de dìdi (他是我的弟弟), which means “this is my younger brother” (as opposed to, “this is bob, my younger brother” or variations of that same sentiment)

names

now, in this futuristic world, i can understand if there are names from other countries (esp. other east asian countries)

however, if your crown prince’s name of china has a japanese name...i’m probs gonna call you out on it. esp bc china and japan don’t have The Best history. now maybe they’ve worked thru it after all these yrs, but still

he’s the crown prince of china

he’s mostly just refered to as prince kai. which i would be okay with if it was just that bc kai is chinese

however, his full name? kaito. kaito is japanese

rikan? japanese. like wtf, if your the emperor of china, you should probs have a chinese name. i mean, you’d think hope?

iko? also japanese (i admit this is being a lil nit-picky, bc cinder or adri or whoever is free to name their android whatever-the-hell they want to, i’m just saying)

and i mean, i guess i can see names from other countries in the real world too, but you have to remember china has the largest population of ppl in the world, so the chances that there are ppl within a certain district who don’t have chinese names is v slim (esp bc you have to take the hsk to show you can contribute to society in china before they grant you a visa to live/work there).

compare that to cinder’s district, where we have cinder, adri, iko, peony, pearl, sacha, fateema, and dr. earland. oh and then the lab tech named li, who’s most definitely the only one i can assuredly say is chinese (and i would hope looks chinese)

now, again, bc it is the future, maybe more (like A LOT more) ppl have moved to china lbr tho, they’ve moved back to imperialism, why would you choose to live there? but i’d still be bitter abt it regardless, bc like china, in theory, should have chinese ppl? w/ chinese names??? i imagine it’s still a p big country in this future

optics

i really wish cinder looked chinese. this is more of a personal thing, and i get that genes aren’t so cut and dry, and if she’s a lunar, then yeah she probably won’t look completely chinese

but a girl can dream for representation other than just mulan ya know (not saying mulan sucks or anything, but it’s like, kinda the only thing i have so)

esp bc the book takes place in china. and she is said to be at least mixed “““““asian”””””

i also wish the fucking prince looked chinese--his skin is fair according to the wikia

bruh

why are you so afraid to make your main characters brown

on a more serious note, and this is getting really nit-picky (kinda) again, but i really wish meyer had put more thought into dr. earland’s character. okay, now, i haven’t finished the book so the good doctor may, in fact,,, be...a...good....................doctor..............?

but my point still stands in that dr. earland comes of as very sexist (with undertones of racism, wheeeeee) bc he hates fateen (who has dark skin, btw) bc she’s taller than him

and he’s also super creepy (as in, “where i’m from, that’s called pedophilia” kind of creepy) bc of his strange interest in young, teenage (cyborg) girls...

yeah

and okay, again, i haven’t finished the book, so maybe he’s supposed to come off that way

but an old, white dude showing too much interest in finding a young woc? not v good optics, regardless of dr. earland’s character yeah?

the fact the fateen points this out does absolutely nothing (aka lampshading).

if you point it out, but continue to fall into a harmful stereotype, you are still perpetuating the stereotype. full stop

misc

i say “misc” but most of this really falls under criticism of the author herself, misc is just shorter

i think it’s great that she’s taking this age-old fairy-tale and putting it into my place of birth, bc representation means the absolute world to me. also i really like this idea that the first telling of cinderella took place in china like fuck yeah, steal that white disney princess from the europeans

but i really wish you’d do it right

in her faq, she apologizes if she got anything wrong, but that’s like putting a band-aid over a bullet wound

how much research is research? did she just google a bunch of stuff, or did she sit down and actually talk to ppl from china? or chinese-americans who have kept their chinese culture?  participate in chinese culture to gain a better understanding?

going by the fact that she wrote cinder in a month, she probably stuck to google

which...i mean i guess i’m glad she made the effort, but it woulda been nice if she’d, after getting a book deal, consulted chinese ppl and edited what needed to be edited yeah? i know she did a little editing, but she said the whole process took 3 months from the time she found an agent to getting a book deal, so like...i’m willing to bet she didn’t sit down with some chinese folk and talk abt their culture (and so on)

and look, it’s really not that hard. and, sure it may delay when the book gets published, but at least it’d be more accurate. and better representation.

rather than falling into what most ppl do these days (i’m looking at you miraculous ladybug) and combining all the east asian cultures to make one (1) culture, and call it--not even east asian--but asian

as if that one (1) monster culture that’s mostly made of up east asian cultures could speak for the variety and diversity of a total of 48 countries, and their respective cultures, that are within the asian continent

now, this whole “calling it asian culture” isn’t meyer’s fault--it’s a side-effect of our society. like i get that, and i’m not trying to put the blame solely on her shoulders

but she still perpetuates it by choosing not to talk to chinese ppl abt a folk tale the may have originated in china, in order to ya know, make it more accurate to china. considering it takes place...IN CHINA

[jenroses]

Original Female Character: Ashley Burton

For @omgcpwomenfest Friday March 10 Original Female Character day.

Oh, Ashley. Now, if you haven’t read Actually, I Do Make the Rules, you should probably go do that first. As Ashley is the mother of another OC that shows up in the fifth story in the series, this does contain some spoilerish stuff for that and you might want to go read that first. For those who have read it, Ashley is Theo’s mother. 

More behind the cut. Warnings for teen pregnancy, the kind of dubious consent that happens when kids the same age don’t know shit about sex (it’s complicated, but neither of them would call it rape, and it’s not explicitly described,) the aftermath, and spoilers for Broken Rules. Ashley’s story is not a particularly happy one. 

Also, contains references to a trans character who is misgendered on purpose for protective reasons because the person doing the knowing misgendering doesn’t have permission to out him to his mother.

Ashley was raised in a Southern Baptist family, which moved to Rhode Island from Georgia when she was ten. They didn’t so much leave Georgia as bring it with them. 

She spent every summer at a church camp in Western Massachusetts. She was a pretty, ordinary girl, and never really thought of herself as much of a rebel, but she met Simon when she was 12. They became fast friends, and while being a teenager sucked, looking forward to camp got her through her Mama’s lectures and her Daddy’s anger. Each summer she would escape to trees and canoes and giggling slumber parties and yeah, there was some dramatic bullshit from the other girls because there was always dramatic bullshit from the other girls, but she just rolled with it.

And Simon was the actual best. When all the thirteen-year-old girls in her cabin were PMS-ing at once, she escaped the snarling to sit with him on the dock at the lake, just talking. He listened to her like no one had ever listened, and she listed to him in turn, and he always, always felt safe. 

They became camp counselors the year they turned 15, and with that came more freedom than they’d ever had. Both of them had reputations as “good kids,” and by the beginning of the next summer, they had more freedom than either of them had ever had in their lives.  They’d been close for two summers. Neither was allowed social media, and in 2002, for a couple of teenagers living with conservative Christian parents, it wasn’t all that strange. Writing letters wasn’t really an option because their parents were the sort who would read all mail, and her father would want to know everything. Running the risk of being banned from camp wasn’t worth a few letters.

It was the last week of camp, almost the last day, the summer she was 16, and they’d made their way down to the dock by the light of a full moon so bright they didn’t even bother with a flashlight. 

She’d been the one to strip off her clothes and dive into the water, still warm from the sun, the humid air holding heat far into the evening. He’d been stunned, but eventually followed, and they’d swum out to the big rock in the middle of the lake.

They’d kissed, before, and they kissed then, and then things led to things and while she knew they hadn’t talked about much, she also knew it hadn’t been Simon pushing things along. Not that either of them was doing much thinking at that point. 

When it was over, she smiled at him, shy, and he looked vaguely horrified, and the bubble of safety she’d felt with him seemed to pop completely.

“I have to go to sleep,” she’d said, sliding back into the water. “It’s a busy day tomorrow.”

He’d started to say, “I’m sorry,” but she dove off the ledge under the water and swam in powerful strokes to reach the shore before the words could finish coming out of his mouth.

He’d followed, and tried to say something about how he hadn’t meant to lead her into sin, and she’d just rolled her eyes, put on her clothes, and walked away. 

It would be 20 years before they’d speak again, when she’d run into him in a park in Providence, watching a curly-haired blonde boy shrieking with laughter on a swing while a blonde young man pushed the child up and up again.

He’d changed, shoulders thicker, face grown up, babyfat gone, but the kindness in his eyes was still there. It wasn’t that, though, that really caught her attention, but the way he’d tipped his head when he laughed at the little boy jumping off the swing.

She was on her way home from work, and she stared at him for a full minute before he’d noticed she was there.

She knew she looked different. Stress had drawn lines on her face, age had dimmed her hair and bleach had not quite done the job she’d wanted it to do, to put the light back into it. But she’d worn ponytails often enough at camp, and rarely makeup, and so maybe she hadn’t changed all that much, because his eyes widened and he was on his feet as soon as he saw her. His eyes darted back to the child and the young man behind him, and slid away, and all she could do was stare at him as he walked over.

“Cinders?” he said, his voice a much deeper baritone than she’d remembered. 

“Simon says,” she murmured. 

He stared at her another moment and then held his arms open.

She blinked back tears and accepted the hug, and then pulled back. 

“I know,” he said.

“You know?”

“About the baby you had. My baby. About everything.”

She put her hand over her mouth. “Have you seen her? Is she okay?”

He hesitated, and then said, “Yeah, doing great. In college now. Has a trust fund, even.”

“And... the baby? No one told me what happened to it. I don’t even know if it was a boy or a girl.”

His eyes flicked over and then back to her and he said, “He’s just fine. He’s been adopted, and his parents adore him.”

“Do they let you... do they let you see him?”

At that, he laughed. “You could say that. Yes, I see them both, often.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “My daddy...”

“Suzanne told me,” Simon explained. “When she found me, she said you didn’t tell me because you were afraid your father would kill me.”

“I thought I’d done something against your will, and the idea of him hurting you after that...” She looked down at the ground. “I didn’t want to ruin both of us.”

“Against my... Ash, no. We were kids. No one told us anything like what we needed to know to stay out of trouble. I only reacted the way I did because I felt like I’d done something wrong to you, that I’d hurt you, that I’d ruined you. I still worry that I did.”

She shook her head. “I’m adult enough now to know where the fault lies. I should have told you about Shelly. I should have let you have the choice to be involved. Maybe I wouldn’t have...” Her hand came up to her mouth, and she sobbed. “I don’t think I knew how to be a good mother to her. I tried, and I failed, and I really hurt her.”

“You did hurt...her,” Simon said quietly. “And maybe, someday, she might be willing to sit down with you and let you apologize. But there’s a lot we’d have to talk about, first, things you’d need to understand about who she is and the life she’s living now.” 

“I just wanted to keep her on a path with God, so that she wouldn’t make the mistakes I made, and when she said she was pregnant... Oh god, I did to her what my daddy did to me, didn’t I?”

“The difference is that she ended up where she needed to be, with people who could support her through the process and help her get to where she wanted to be. And you... didn’t.”

“I’m working. I’m surviving.” She wasn’t looking at him.

He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, and said, “Can I get your number? I don’t want to lose track, and if our child is willing to give you a chance, I’d be more than willing to help make that happen.”

She glanced up at him and then took the phone, entering her number in, and sending herself a text. 

She bit her lips and said, “I missed you, you know. Every day.”

“Yeah,” he said. He took the phone back, and glanced back over his shoulder again. 

“I... You probably have plans,” she said. “I need to get home.”

“I do have plans, but please, do send me a message. Or I can message you?”

She smiled, a small, worried smile. “I think I’d like that.” 

“Good.” His smile was genuine, and for a moment, she could see the boy she’d fallen in love with, so long ago. 

She swallowed back a wave of emotion that threatened to swamp her, and walked away.

She looked back once, just before the park was out of sigh, to see Simon picking up the little four year old child and tossing him up in the air, and then handing him back to the other man. Her hand came up to her mouth, and she thought about going back, about asking if that child was her grandson, and then she thought about what he’d said, and what she’d done, and she turned, and walked away.

As she was locking the deadbolt on her front door, and hanging her purse up on the hat rack, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

[claeriekavanaugh]

This week’s author interview is with my awesome friend J.M. Sullivan, author of Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles!

Intro: What’s your name, what do you write, where can readers find you on social media? And just for fun, if you could be any mythological being, what or who would you be?  

Hi! My name is JM Sullivan and I write retellings! My debut novel, Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles is a Dark Fantasy retelling of Alice in Wonderland, and my current WIP is a SciFi retelling of Peter Pan! If this sounds like your cup of tea, you can follow me on Twitter or Instagram @_JM_Sullivan or on YouTube on my Author Confession channel. As for mythological beings: I think I’d have to go with a fairy! It would bring my sparkle game to a whole new level!

What got you interested in writing/ When did you become SERIOUS about writing?

I have always been interested in writing, even at a young age. My parents were both teachers and fostered a love of reading in me, which turned into telling my own stories as soon as I could write. I’ve written several short stories, and even began a couple of novel projects, but, I didn’t become serious about my writing until I got the idea for Alice. It hit me like a ton of bricks and the way it fell into place, it was just like ‘I have to write this.’ After that I made the commitment to finish the draft by the end of 2016, and instead, I finished it in three months. The rest, as they say, was history! 😉

What inspired your book?

THE WANDERLAND CHRONICLES is a mash-up of two of my favorite things. Fairy tales and horror. I was thinking about retellings and the ideas behind them when I thought about the Red Queen’s iconic line, ‘Off With Their Heads!’ Well, my husband and I had recently been on a zombie kick, and as any good zombie-buff knows, the only way to stop the undead is by chopping off their heads. It was too perfect not to use!

What is the book about?

THE WANDERLAND CHRONICLES follows the story of sixteen-year-old Alice Carroll as she tries to navigate the wilds of Wanderland to save her sister from succumbing to the Momerath Plague. Unfortunately, outside the safety of the Sector, momerath aren’t the only danger waiting for her and she must fight to survive or both she—and Dinah—will be lost forever.

What are the characters like? 

Since it’s a retelling, I tried to make all of the characters reflect their counterparts in Carroll’s story in at least some way. You can expect to see all of your favorite Wonderland residents in ALICE, including a few new faces! I’ll give a couple of examples of the traits I partnered with my characters, but you’ll have to read to find the rest!

Alice: Curious, has a strange habit of talking to herself

Chess: Has a tendency to disappear then mysteriously turn up again.

Bug: Terrible chain smoker. Also a conspiracy theorist

Dr. Waite R. Abbott: Extremely nervous pharmaceutical doctor. Most likely suffering from PTSD.

Who should pick up your book and why? 

Of course, I would love to hear what Lewis Carroll fans think about THE WANDERLAND CHRONICLES, but ALICE was written for retelling fans everywhere. If you enjoy fairy tales, especially twisty ones—I think this just might be a book for you. If you aren’t familiar with retellings but you enjoy action, suspense, and just a dash of horror this could just be your gateway book! 😀

Favorite quote from your own work?

Well, I don’t know how impressive this line will be without context, but it’s one of my favorite lines in ALICE.

“That’s easy, Alice,” he said. His amber eyes melted into hers. “It’s the first rule of chess:  always protect your queen.”

Once you read, you’ll have to tell me what you think. 😉

Traditional or Self-publishing? Why?

ALICE is represented by Pen Name Publishing, which is a small but traditional publishing company. I knew that I wanted to be represented by a publisher because I wanted as much help as I could get to share Alice with the world. Even though self-publishing is a completely viable option, it is HUGE (kudos to all you self-pubbed authors!!). It wasn’t something I felt confident that I could do well enough to give Alice justice. And after jumping into the publishing world, I definitely think I made the right choice.

If you could only write in one genre for the rest of your life what would it be and why?

Well, at least for the foreseeable future, I’m planning on sticking with retellings! If it takes me forever to get them out, then I’m totally ok with it. I love retellings because there are so many incredible classics out there and countless ways that they can be reimagined. I love finding ways to blend the old and the new and see what the final project turns out to be. I guess you could say, I’m Hooked.

Name one book that affected the way you write? 

The Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce was definitely a game changer for me. It was the first retelling I ever read that took a darker turn on the fairy tale rather than following the ‘standard’ light-hearted re-imaginings I’d seen. I loved what she did to Little Red Riding Hood and how it made for a gritty, thrilling adventure. I knew if I ever wrote a retelling (which happened a long time after I originally read the series) I wanted it to be something more than just Fantasy, and her books showed me it could be done.

Three authors you recommend and why?

Well, based on my previous answer, if you are a retelling fan, definitely check out Jackson Pearce. Her work is great. Marissa Meyer is also another retelling queen, and her Cinder series? Off the chain. So, between those two, your TBR easily just added six books. If you aren’t really in the mood for fairy tales, I would recommend Richelle Mead. She is an excellent author with a broad range of books. Although she’s most famous for her Vampire Academy series, her Bloodlines series (which is a spinoff from Vampire Academy) has really taken off as well. BUT my favorite book of hers is actually a little less-well known—tragic, I tell you—and it is the Age of X series. It’s aimed at an older audience (I’d say New Adult/Adult), but the storyline is incredible. Definitely one of my favorite series! 

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

  If I could change one thing about the world, I would have people be nicer to each other. It makes me so sad to see so much hate everywhere. I understand that our world and the people in it are not perfect and obviously that not everyone is going to feel the exact same way about things, but we don’t have to tear each other apart about it. Honestly, seeing some of the things that are going on just make my heart hurt. So, if you every need a little happy, come see me. Because even though I’m just one person and my impact may be small, I’ll do whatever I can to help the world Sparkle On. 

What do you believe is your main purpose/motivation as a writer? 

For me, it’s all about my readers. As I said above, sometimes life just sucks and we need an escape. If my book can provide that reprieve or fantasy for someone and make their day seem just a little better, I’ll consider it a success.

What’s a favorite moment you’ve had with a fan/someone who’s read your work?

Gosh there are so many! I love meeting and interacting with my readers; it’s one of the best things about being an author! But I LOVE when people send me fan art of characters from Wanderland. It’s so cool too see what their representations of the characters and story are. It’s like their work breathes in a whole new life to ALICE and it is so fun to see!

One fun fact most people don’t know about you?

Ummm… well, I don’t just like to write, I also love to sing. I’ve performed in several theater productions and have been a vocalist for several praise bands! 

One piece of advice you would give to new writers?

Be kind to yourself! I think more often than not the reason we writers feel the need to give up is because we beat up on ourselves so often! Having an inner critic can be good to help stretch your work and yourself, but don’t give the nasty little guy so much reign that he completely derails you. Just remember, someone needs your words. To get them out there you have to write them!

  Thanks for all the awesome advice J.M! What’s your favorite retelling? Share in the comments and don’t forget to grab your own copy of Alice from Amazon!           

As always, keep making magic, word weavers!

Check out this awesome #interview with @_JM_Sullivan #author of #Alice! #writer #retellings This week's author interview is with my awesome friend J.M. Sullivan, author of Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles!