January
Number of Books Read: 3 ReReads: 1 Genres: Non-Fiction || Childrens || Fantasy Stars Given : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐- 2 ⭐⭐⭐- 0 ⭐⭐- 0⭐- 0 DNF: 0 February I got a lot more read this month and even though most of them are comics, I’m just happy I found time to read in the first place! I read Naruto 22-26 by Masashi Kishimoto, a Japanese comic series. I do not recommend these to everyone, as there needs to be some censoring done. But the plot is well written and if you enjoy Ninja-esqe stories in a fantasy Japan setting, you might enjoy it.
The Civil War A Narrative by Shelby Foote surprised me by being my first DNF of the year. I really expected to like it. But the blatant disregard for fact when dealing with Lincoln and Davis was so disappointing I had to stop reading. Someday I might pick it back up, but I’ve got so many other books to read, I couldn’t waste my time.
Number of Books Read: 7 ReReads: 0 Genres: Comic/Manga || Fantasy || Romance Stars Given : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- 6 ⭐⭐⭐⭐- 1 ⭐⭐⭐- 0 ⭐⭐- 0 ⭐- 0 DNF: 1 March Again, lots of Naruto (They are quick reads for me😅), Volumes 27-34. They progressed the story very nicely and introduced my least favorite good guy! Honestly, can’t stand him 😂 I DNF’d The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas because it was so everlastingly boring and the movie explained the two hours I listened to in under ten minutes. Not a fan.
Number of Books Read: 9
ReReads: 1 Genres: Comic/Manga || Historical Fiction Stars Given : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- 8 ⭐⭐⭐⭐- 1 ⭐⭐⭐- 0 ⭐⭐- 0 ⭐- 0 DNF: 1 Here’s the two posts I mentioned earlier! Post Inspiration: January-March Rereads || Joanne, The Well Read Coffee Addict The 2023 Alice and Ivy Read-Along || Kellyn Roth, Lilacs & Revelries Question of the Day: What books have you been reading? Read any I mentioned? What’s a genre you never thought you would like, but now love? Have a wonderful day! Ryana Lynn Jude 22
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Life Update Let’s start with the most important thing: In February I realized I had been trusting in a lie for 20 years and I fell under conviction. On the 5th, when this had all been made clear to me, I got saved! That’s probably not what you expected to hear today, but I appreciate all of you so much and I couldn’t not tell you! It’s such a blessing to finally be at peace, and knowing for sure, without a doubt, where my eternal home will be! I’ve been struggling some with baby blues, but in October I was able to make huge progress in accepting changes in my life, Physically and Emotionally, that come with motherhood. I had another breakthrough just recently and praise the Lord, I’m starting to feel more like myself, just different 😉 The Lord has blessed me with many more singing opportunities at my church, Hunt Valley Baptist Church, and more opportunities for service! I help with our junior church, nursery and have been tapped to head up a couple small projects which has been a blessing to help with! I’ve missed being more involved and my energy levels have finally enabled me to take more part in ministry! Which leads us to the update I know you all actually want… Dixie's Corner No sooner had I typed this than the lady in question woke up! She must have knowing I was about to talk about her 😂 Dixie keeps me on my toes! She is walking now and prefers to be barefoot and in nothing but a diaper; I indulge her in the former, but not the latter 😁 She talks constantly: Da-da, Ma-ma, Pa-Pa (Pop-Pop), no, ba-ba and, “thertle” (no idea what that means) are her most used ones, but she’s constantly learning new sounds! “I ya ya,” is “I Love you,” and “Psh,” is “please.” “Da-Do,” is “Thank You.” She loves books, and will often look through her stack on her own, babbling words to herself! She loves balls (we got her a mini ball pit and Pop-Pop and Ema (Jacob’s parents) got her a big bouncy ball to play with!), stuffed animals of all kinds, and literally anything soft, she claims for her own! She got her need for soft, cozy things from me and Jacob! She turns one April 11th, and honestly, I’m not sure if I’m ready! She’s already so ahead for her age… But no turning back now, right? At this rate, she’ll be ready for pre-school next year 😜 Writing Not much to report here. I did get a story published in the Seize the Night Anthology compiled by Abigail Kay Harris, “A Heart Without Christmas.” That was so much fun and I am working on a second story for her, this time for “Seize the Fight!” I am working on drafting The Battlefield is Silent now that I know what direction I want to go with it! I needed to start it from someone else’s point of view and I think you’re all gonna love it 😇 To Save a Life is almost ready to publish! Just one more revision and the eBook will be ready and I can get with my cover designer to complete the wrap around! Please pray for me that I will have the time to get it all wrapped up! Reading I’ve officially read 20 books so far this year! I set a Goodreads goal of 50 for the year, so I am hoping to increase that soon! I currently have eight started and I have nine on my tbr for the month! Below is the genre breakdown of what I have already read, the titles I’m working on and my April TBR!
 Word of the Year I love doing a word of the year and this year, I chose Reset. I need to slow down, get back to my roots, put down new ones and enjoy the moment. There’s so many ways one can do this! For me, its doing more reading and learning more about home décor and cooking, organizing and restarting my bullet journal! There’s more, but I’ll share more in another blog post! What to Expect My goal is a new blog post each week, but at the very least, every other week. Please pray for me that I will be able to find the time to work on them! I am also planning a newsletter once a month! So be sure and sign up for that! Each time I post, I am hoping to share some blog posts from friends that I have been enjoying. I hope to find ones that match my post, but some may just be posts I loved the past week! Like today! Our next post will be a look at the books I’ve been reading! It won’t be complete reviews this time (those are coming!) but I will include age recommendations, what I liked and an abbreviated content list. After that, I’ll be sharing a post from my Instagram, but expanding on it a little…Something about Christians that annoys me! I will no longer be doing recap posts, those will be reserved for my newsletter! So again, don’t forget to sign up for that! Blog Round-Up As promised, here are some blog posts I've been loving this past week!
Saintly, Sweet, Sensual and Smutty: A Treatise on the Four Types of Romance Novels & How to Navigate them as a Christian || Kellyn Roth, Lilacs & Revelries Book Rules, Book Myths || Katja L., Little Blossoms for Jesus I think that just about covers everything! Sorry this post was so long! It’s been a while! Question of the Day: How have you been? What have you been writing/reading? Did you miss me?? What content would you like to see moving forward? Have a beautiful day and may God bless you as you follow Him! Ryana Lynn Jude 22 Well, I am doing a terrible job of getting back into blogging but I won’t apologize, because life happens and my girly needs more attention with her teething! Two pearlies are working their way to the surface, my husband’s work schedule is a mess at the moment and we are camping out at my in-laws half the time, lol! But today, I am here and I am posting a fun tag with Katja @ Little Blossoms for Jesus, sharing about my current WIPs! I hope you enjoy reading about them!  The Rules
The Questions {And Answers} 1| Has your WIP a working title? If so, tell us! If not, have you any idea of what it might be? Yes! My current WIP is The Battlefield is Silent, book 5 in The Battle for Heritage Series. It’s bittersweet working on the final book in this series…it’s exciting and heartbreaking for me, reaching this milestone. I’m also doing work on Book 2 in the Natty’s Warrior’s Series, To Save a Marriage. And I’m going to mention here, there is no special publishing schedule for the series. Each book can be read on it’s own, so I’m not panicking trying to get them out rapid fire. 2| Have you a synopsis for your WIP? If so, give it to us! If not, can you give us a blurb on what your WIP is about? I don’t have a proper one for either of them, but here’s what I’m working with! The Battlefield is Silent: They don’t know it, but the war will end this year. At least, that’s what the history books try to tell us. But we all know better…the war will never be over. Final clashes of arms, betrayed trusts, nightmares, unjust taxes, murder and mental breakdowns threaten to pull the Mason family down deep into a whirlpool of despair. When the good guys lose, how can the possibly see God’s hand in it all and keep their heads above the water? To Save a Marriage: Before there was a survivor, there was an abortion. Cammie Carter-Tate has fought for her position as director of her prestigious clinic. Unlike many clinics around her, she has a sanitary building, has a hotline to a hospital should something go wrong and has a 98% success rate. Life is good. But the few failures they’ve had and one negative review threatens to bring it all crashing down around her. What’s worse, her own nephew is a survivor. Her husband wants kids; she refuses. A rainy night reveals her darkest secrets and spirals her married life out of control. Is there anyway to bring it all to a halt and rebuild the life she has so carefully curated…without turning into the one woman she despises with all her heart? 3| Have you a working/mock cover for your WIP? If so, show us! If not, have you an idea in mind? I don’t have covers for my books, but I definitely have some ideas! I can’t talk about them much, but I will share my base colors. The Battlefield is Silent is Gray and To Save a Marriage is Blue. 4| How did you get the idea for this story? Nothing super special for books 5, it just follows in line with the rest of the series, lol! But To Save a Marriage wasn’t supposed to happen. But everyone fell in love with my hurting abortion clinic director and begged for a book just about her story and hopefully a redemption arc. Y’all know I hate those, lol! But for her story, it actually worked. So, Cammie’s story in is progress! 5| How long do you think it will be? Is it longer or shorter than you thought it would be? I have no idea! TBIS will probably be over 400 pages. There’s so much to wrap up, I honestly might have to turn it into two books. I figure this one will be about 250 pages or so, close to the first one. Maybe 300, but I’m not sure yet. 6| Who’s your favourite character so far? Michael and Jeremy. Hands down. But Burdy is being adorable as usual. Cammie, even though she stands for everything I am against. She just needs to let God’s love take over… And Chris, her husband. I feel. so. bad. for him… 7| What’s your favourite memory related to this WIP? N/A 8| Any special person(s) who helped create it? Not TBIS, but TSAM was created with Katja, Kassie, Rebekah, Lissa, Jenna, Hannah and Angie (did I miss anyone? 0.0) 9| What’s your favourite scene so far (if you can tell about it without spoilers!)? Sorry, no can reveal XP 10| Can you give us a snippet? Nope *halo* 11| Is the story still what you thought it would be or has it thrown you a couple curve-balls? Both books are throwing curve-balls faster than I can dodge them. As you can see, they don’t know this is baseball and are aiming their throws at my head and heart XD 12| Is there a Bible verse, poem, hymn, picture, or quote that helped shape this story? Not really, for either of them yet. But I know they are coming, because I always get verses and quotes and songs… Well, this isn’t a hymn, but The Southern Girl’s Reply and Your Mission both influence TBIS. 13| When and where have you done most of the writing so far? In bed or on the couch XD 14| Where do you get inspiration for this story? Watching movies about the Wars Between the States, Pinterest and picture books on the war. Pinterest, Instagram and rereading To Save a Life. 15| Are you a plotter or a pantser? I am a plotser (I HATE the term plantser.) I have to have an idea of where the story is going, but if I get too detailed I lose motivation. 16| Do you have a little ritual before you start writing? Not really, but I’m trying to make one. I do try to get something to drink and something to listen to. Also, a sleeping baby is preferable, lol! 17| Are you thinking of publishing this story? Absolutely! I think people would riot if I didn’t XD 18| What things have you learned while writing this story? 1865 is depressing and pro-choice people still need to know God’s love. The Clean Copy
So, what are you working on today? Are you doing NANOWRIMO? (I’m doing an alternate, The King’s Daughters Writing Camp and The Glory Writers {Disclaimer: neither are KJV only} which I am enjoying very much!) Share about your WIP in the comments below, or write your own post! Be sure and come back here and leave the link to your post in the comments below! And don’t forget to check out Katja’s post!
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers…”—Anne Shirley Ryana Lynn+Dixie Cross Jude 22  My Review Recommended for 16+ 🧵🪡|| Content Meter: 4/5 🧵🪡|| Quality Meter: 9/10 🧵🪡|| Personal Enjoyment: 8 🧵🪡|| Overall: 8/10 🧵🪡 The Story This is the second time I've read this book. Frankly, I am in a better place to be reading this book. The first time was too soon and I didn't appreciate it. But this time...I adore it. Alice is a dear and I deeply identify with her. Claire too, but in an out of context way 🤣 Nettie is by far my favorite character and I would love a whole book about her 🥰 Ivy is a dear and the whole story is one big Victorian hug. 🧵🪡 I'll sandwich my complaints between the praise, I've only two. The part about the War Between the States didn't fit, it felt completely random (Also, I listened to part of the audio book and y'all, southerners don't sound like that 🙄). The second issue is that most of the time, I just thought I was in turn of the century New York rather than Victorian England, but that may just be me. 🧵🪡 It's deep and uncomfortable but in a way people need to be made uncomfortable. Prejudging people is not okay. It just isn't. And even if the person is in the wrong, you will never help them see it if you cast them out. I firmly believe that. Jesus didn't refuse to speak to those who rejected Him and neither should we. I am very much looking forward to binging the rest of the series! 🧵🪡 The Aesthetic This book is a book that makes me want to grab a cup of tea; fabric, thread, old sewing machines; tea, finger sandwiches and tea cakes; lace, pearls and ponies; handkerchiefs, kittens and school books; Dickens, shop girls and butlers🧵🪡 The Writing I’ve said it before, Kelly’s is a talented author. I’ve never seen someone craft a story on such a taboo topic with such grace and honesty, balanced with struggle, realistic conflict and grounded truth. I can honestly say, this is a book I would gladly recommend to my friends.🧵🪡 The Vibe This book gives a vibe of desperation, perseverance, love, agony, betrayal and fulfillment. It’s moody with the rainy London backdrop and cheery with the visits out of the city. It’s a reminder that olden days weren’t perfect, yes, far from it. There is darkness…but also Light…🧵🪡 The Content Insinuations of immorality happening in the past, but no details; mentions/assumptions of assault; mention (vague) of how babies are made; mention of running away; verbally/emotionally abusive father; SPOILER: forced annulment and the man remarried while first wife is living, but the situation is resolved in a biblical manner.🧵🪡
Have you read this book? If so, did you enjoy it? If not, would you? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Hello and welcome back to Life of Heritage! A friend suggested this topic to me and I haven’t been able to let it go! I’ve written about books I love to use for research, but today, I’m going to dig into my research process and give you some practical tips on how to research not just a historical novel, but a contemporary one as well!  Timeline First thing I like to do is look at my timeline. If I am writing a historical, this will help me know what would have been going on in the world my characters live in, if it directly effects them or if they would have been talking about it. I like to print calendar pages and fill in all the important information, battles/historical dates, character birthdays, things I know will happen the day after or before a historical event, when a baby is due/when it’s born, etc. For a non-historical novel, I still like having a timeline and calendar, especially since I know To Save a Life would have gone so much better if I had made one ahead of time. I list important events in the character’s lives, holidays and any time the story lines intersect. (Pro Tip: Use different color pencil lead or pens to help you keep track of who’s POV the event belongs to.) Documentaries For Historical eras, this is a no brainer. You find documentaries on the battles, politics, everyday life, etc., that apply to your story. But these can still be helpful for contemporary novels too. 9/11, military life, what it’s like being a chef, a dog breeder, makes instruments, etc., there’s a documentary for that! I once looked up a video about MWDs in the military because a character was a dog handler. I learned so much and by the end I was in tears over the dog that died and another that was reunited with the handler he saved. So, yeah, depending on your topic, get tissues. (Pro Tip: If you can listen to things while you write, keep a playlist of the documentaries handy so you can immerse yourself in the topic.) Books Again, this seems a no-brainer for historicals. But take it a step further and get the books full of random facts and fun stories so you can get a good look at all aspects of life in the times, plus turn up some fun little known nuggets of information! For contemporary, I usually draw from real life, because, shocker, I’m living it XD But seriously though, I find reading other contemporary novels helpful for this bit of research. Lingos that are used by different ages, ethnic groups or even depending on where you live are invaluable! So keep that in mind as you read, take notes, tab your books, use it all for research! (Pro-Tip: find out what books were popular in your era of choice! This tells a lot about society as a whole!) Visit Your Setting I know we can’t all just pack up and go where our story takes place. Too expensive in some cases, just not possible in others. But you can do so through videos and pictures. Pinterest is one of my favorite ways to collect photos of my settings! I just type in what I’m looking for or stalk my friends’ boards! Give it a try! I’m sure you’ll find exactly what you need! But hey, if you can visit your setting location, like me, living near Gettysburg, go do it! It’s amazing just how helpful this is to your creative process! Bonus points if you are well enough versed that you can go to the exact place in your story! For me, it was the Wheatfield and Little Round Top! Also I walked Pickett’s Charge, so yeah, I was an emotional wreck… (Pro-Tip: If you can visit your location and it’s a national park, get souvenirs to remind you of your visit as you write and/or to give away when your book releases!) Music Research the music of your era, historical or modern. It’s so helpful! Make a playlist for your book, for your characters even! Music tells a lot about the time, place and people. What influenced them? What was their turn of phrase? How do they express themselves? What of their music speaks to you?
(Pro-Tip: When your readers comment on loving a character, give them your playlist for that character so they can get to know them better!) What are ways you research your novels? What did I miss? Share your best research tips (or ones you want to try!) below in the comments! "I'm so glad I live in a World where there are Octobers..." Anne Shirley Ryana Lynn + Dixie Cross Jude 22 |
Ryana Lynn
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