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Book Review: The Silence Between Us
by Alison Gervais publisher’s synopsis Maya could only imagine one thing worse than moving halfway across the country to Colorado right before the start of her senior year in high school: leaving behind Pratt School for the Deaf, where she’s been a student for years, to attend Engelmann, a hearing school. And then there’s Beau…
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Gift Ideas for the Writers and Reader in Your Life
It is December! Snow is falling. Christmas lights are shining. Christmas is practically here! And that means that it is time to shop for presents! I don’t know about you, but I personally love shopping for Christmas presents to give to my family. I love trying to come up with creative gifts that they won’t…
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope that you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving. As it is Thanksgiving, I would like to take a minute to look back and list some of the writing related things that I am thankful for this year. I am thankful for the ability to write. I am thankful for my wild…
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What is NaNoWriMo? + Brief Thoughts on NaNoWriMo
In the secret world of writers, a word suddenly starts to float around, causing the new writers and curious, non-writer spies to wonder what this word, “NaNoWriMo”, could possibly mean. Is it a time machine? A plan to take over the world? A new continent or planet? A secret mission? Some sort of dwarven word?…
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My NaNoWriMo WIP
So, I know I told you all that I would tell you what my newest project was a while ago. But then I go busy working on the actual WIP rather than writing a post about it. Sorry… So, onto what my project is! This WIP is for National Novel Writing Month, which occurs every…
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Book Review: Fairest
By Gail Carson Levine publisher’s synopsis The fairy Lucinda has once again given a dreadful gift. This time, it’s a mysterious magical mirror. The gift is disastrous when it falls into the hands of Aza, who never looks into a mirror if she can help it. In the Kingdom of Ayortha, Aza is most definitely…
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Book Review: The Last Dragon
By Silvana De Mari publisher’s synopsis In a world shrouded in darkness and continually lashed by rain, a young elf named Yorsh struggles to survive. When his village is destroyed by the torrential waters, Yorsh finds himself suddenly orphaned and alone–the earth’s last elf. But soon Yorsh discovers he is part of a powerful prophecy:…
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The Opening Line
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” (The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien) “Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves.” (Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes, Jonathan Auxier) “There was once a time when only God knew the…
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Book Review: The Giant Slayer
by Iain Lawrence publisher’s synopsis The spring of 1955 tests Laurie Valentine’s gifts as a storyteller. After her friend Dickie contracts polio and finds himself confined to an iron lung, Laurie visits him in the hospital . She meets two other kids trapped inside the breathing machines: there’s Carolyn, an obnoxious girl whose family has…
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Book Review: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
by Dusti Bowling publisher’s synopsis Aven Green didn’t lose her arms in an alligator wrestling match or a wildfire in Tanzania. That’s just what she tells people when she gets the “look.” The truth is Aven was born without arms, but, at age 13, that hasn’t stopped her from doing almost anything. Then her parents…
