Writer’s Block

Things are going so well with your story. You are writing and writing. Inspiration is literally shooting out rainbows from you head to your fingers, sparkling on the way down. You have such fun. What a great story. What an enjoyable thing to write. What fantastic characters and plot. All is going so well.

…And then it comes.

Writer’s Block.

The bane of my existence.

It comes out of nowhere. A giant blockade full of barbed wire, duct tape, and sometimes even fire, rising up like a ten foot thick, steel wall blocking that rainbow midsentence.

All that inspiration is gone. That wonderful plot: Gone. Those interesting characters: Gone. All the magnificent things that you thought were about to happen: Gone. All that is left is confusion, frustration, and a dead rainbow splattered across that seemingly impenetrable wall.

It is the down falling of us writers.

Want to know why I have not posted anything for weeks? You probably have guessed the answer by now. Yep, writer’s block. It has hit me hard. In every area, from blog posts to stories. I’ve been completely dry. I’ve just been staring at that steel wall blankly, hoping by some miracle it will fall down and let my rainbow continue its delightful flow to my fingers.

Unfortunately, no matter how much you hope it will work, just staring at the wall does not always help. Sometimes it does. Just a little time is often all it takes for it to crumble into little pieces and let your muse flow again. But sometimes it doesn’t.

Sometimes it takes a sledgehammer and chainsaw to pull it down bit by bit. You have to pound that wall with all your might. It may seem impossible, but it can be done.

I have quite a few “sledgehammers” and “chainsaws” I use to tear that wall apart and conquer that evil known as writer’s block.

-Go on Walks
This helps me tremendously to get over writer’s block. I often get inspiration being outside and alone, walking around and thinking about my story. I almost always conquer writer’s block this way.

-Take a Shower
This might be just me, but pretty much all my ideas have formed in the shower for some strange reason. My mind is always going during showers and when I start thinking about my stories all sorts of ideas pop up. It is much like taking walks, so I suppose getting alone and just thinking works wonders.

-Listen to Music
Music can do all sorts of things to our muse. We listen to a sad song and it pulls on our heartstrings and brings a sad, dramatic scene of a story to mind that we realize we must write. We listen to a happy tune that makes us laugh, and a prank our characters should play on each other comes to mind. We hear soundtracks from battle scenes of movies and realize we must make an epic battle scene of our own. It just goes on and on, and helps a lot! Instrumental music and movie soundtracks help me the most.

-Write Nonsense
This might be odd, but it does often help. If you just sit down and start writing anything and everything that pops up in your head, you might very well find inspiration starts to form. I started a whole story by doing that once. Plus, it is quite fun!

-Talk to Your Story Characters
I know what you are thinking, “Whaaa?” Writers are strange beings, okay, I will not deny that for one second. (*lightbulb* Blog post idea! Huh? What? Oh…just thinking (typing?) out loud. Ignore me…) Having “conversations” with your characters often brings up ideas to break down that wall into one great heap. My characters have often whispered ideas into my head. *still not denying I’m crazy*

-Watch Epic Movie Trailers
This one may sound strange (or not, compared to the previous one) but it does wonders. Nothing gets me more roused up than watching an epicsauce trailer for a movie or show I like. Being as how I write fantasy, I love to go to YouTube and watch Lord of the Rings or Narnia movie trailers. They are so exciting and thrilling, they get my mind whirring with all sorts of ideas and ready to start writing again.

-Read
Well, where else would inspiration come from than a book? Reading something, especially a book the same genre as you are writing, brings all sorts of ideas and inspiration. Not copying what you are reading of course, but just getting ideas. It helps tremendously.

So, you see, breaking down that evil wall of doom and despair known as writer’s block is actually possible. It might not seem it, and often it takes more of a heart-wrenching swing of that sledgehammer instead of just a tap of the finger to make it topple over, but it is possible.

We can defeat writer’s block! We can conquer it!

Grab your sledgehammers, writers!

*Pow!*

Dear Slightly,

You are a fine word. There are many uses for one such as yourself. Adjectives have a high ranking in our English vocabulary and you have proved yourself as one of the best.

But I think it is time we part from one another.

Yes, dear Slightly, it is true. As I edit my book, I find you scattered all across the pages. Paragraph after paragraph, sentence after sentence, there you are, often multiple times. I do not know if it is you or I. Is it my own lack of ability to use other words to describe my sentences, or have you grown arrogant, demanding you be overused? Perhaps it is both our faults. Either way…this must end.

There are other words that need love, too. You cannot let your synonym family waste away and feel alone as you clutter the page with your own self. Somewhat, Vaguely, Faintly…these are all members of your own family who have been abandoned.

I must replace you, dear Slightly, with others. There is no other way.

It is not all your fault though. I, myself, grew very fond of your useful ways. But I am afraid it got out of hand. You are everywhere, to such a point that my eyes have grown tired of the very sight of your eight letters pushed together all across my pages. This must end.

Please do not be mad. Do not abandon me completely. I promise you will find a place across my pages where you will be loved. I know you wish for many places but it cannot be so anymore.

I fear this is the end of our many times together.

Goodbye, Slightly.

Your Shamed Over-User,
Lauriloth

The Dragons of Chiril Book Review

Synopsis
Tipper is a young emerlindian who’s responsible for the upkeep of her family’s estate during her sculptor father’s absence. Tipper soon discovers that her actions have unbalanced the whole foundation of her world, and she must act quickly to undo the calamitous threat. But how can she save her father and her world on her own?

The task is too huge for one person, so she gathers the help of some unlikely companions—including the nearly five-foot tall parrot Beccaroon—and eventually witnesses the loving care and miraculous resources of Wulder. Through Tipper’s breathtaking story, readers will discover the beauty of knowing and serving God.

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Summary
The Dragons of Chiril is an allegorical, Christian, fantasy novel and the first book in The Chiril Chronicles trilogy written by Donita K. Paul. This story was first published as The Vanishing Sculptor, but later rereleased as its current name, The Dragons of Chiril.

Donita K. Paul wrote another series before this called The DragonKeeper Chronicles that takes place in the same world. While The Chiril Chronicles is actually set in an earlier time than the DragonKeeper one, I highly suggest reading The DragonKeeper Chronicles first. The Dragons of Chiril is a fantastic book but it appeared to be made for those who have already read the other series in my opinion. While it is its own story, there are many things that are not explained in as much detail as in The DragonKeeper Chronicles. Besides, The DragonKeeper Chronicles is fantastic! Perhaps I shall do a review for it someday.

This story is set in a fantasy world with all kinds of unique races and creatures. You have emerlindians, o’rants, mariones, tumanhofers, kimens, and that only includes the human-type races. Not only this, but with odd fruits, strange names, new kind of trees, and even peculiar bugs much different from those on Earth, the reader really feels as if they are in an entirely different world. Donita K. Paul does an absolutely stunning job with her world building. Again though, the types of races and way the world works is not explained much in this book, most likely making some readers that have never read The DragonKeeper Chronicles somewhat confused. Also, you will find a few familiar and lovable faces from the DragonKeeper series in this story.

Donita K. Paul probably is one of my most favorite authors. Not only can she make interesting races and an astounding world, but she weaves together a very entertaining story. Her books are not dark nor dramatic, you’re probably not going to find yourself crying or upset, most likely you will be laughing throughout the book instead. There is one word that explains her writing: Witty. Her stories are so very, very witty. And just downright fun!

When you have conversations like-
“Absurd bits of absurdity.”
”Nonsensical bits of Nonsense.”

Or comment such as-
“It’s starting already. Lost a memory. Next it’ll be something I really value…like my hat.”

Or a chapter called “Baa!” and the next “Baa-Baa-Boom!”

You know it has to be a good book!

Plot
The story is set in the continent of Chiril where a young lady named Tipper and her grand parrot guardian, Beccaroon, are trying their best to maintain the upkeep of Tipper and her parent’s great estate, for her father mysteriously disappeared many years past and her mother is in an unhealthy state of mind. With no means of money, Tipper has no choice but to sell her father’s famous artwork. She has no idea what a mistake this is.

Her father now returns after so many years, with a strange old wizard and librarian with him. Tipper is thrown into chaotic confusion as these three men attempt to explain to her that her father’s life as well as the balance of the entire world lays upon three of her father’s statues, three statues which she had sold.

This group of peculiar ones are forced to set off on a quest to find the three statues. Unfortunately, this is no walk in the park.

Evil forces stand in their way while the world itself is going into disarray…all because of three missing statues.

All the while, the questers are learning of the almighty love and power of Wulder, the God figure of this beautiful, allegorical tale.

Characters
I am not even sure I can express in words what a fantastical ability Donita K. Paul has with weaving characters. I can go on and on and on. The characters of her books are ones that make you laugh and smile as you turn every page. Her characters are unique, and that is an understatement. She also usually throws in lots of them, keeping the story interesting and all the more fun. Yet even with so many running around the place, no two are the same.

The main character in this particular story is Tipper (don’t you love her name?), the strong-willed heroine who, though is stubborn and often makes mistakes, tries to do right. “Excitable” and “Tenderhearted” is what one of the characters always refers to her as. Most of the story is from her point of view, but the readers do often get a peek through Beccaroon’s eyes, a near five-foot tall parrot who is determined to stay dignified and regal no matter the circumstance, yet has a deep love for his ward, Tipper.

Many others fill the story with fun and intrigue, including a crazy wizard who thinks far too much of his hat, a renowned artist, a prince of dragons, four little dragons as well as big, and more.

One of my most favorite characters was Tipper’s mother, Lady Peg. Her mother is a bit…erm…out of sorts I suppose you can say. I love her because everything that comes out of her mouth is utter, hilarious nonsense. In most books, having a mother with a confused mind might be portrayed as sad and depressing, in this book it is humorous and fun.

For example, one conversation of Lady Peg’s goes-
Lady Peg’s husband: “I know, dear one. But someday your father will relent.”
Lady Peg: “He never will. I don’t think so. Not at all. As I understand it, he will have to lend us something first, and then that something could be re-lent. As it is, he’s never lent us so much as the time of day, and he can’t re-lend that even if he had the first time, because lending the time of day is such a confusing trial. Trial and error, you know. Error always comes with the trial of lending the time of day, and the clocks are never at quite the same time after that.”

Didn’t I tell you her writing was humorous? Nearly every page is filled with conversations such as that and ridiculous comments from the bizarre but lovable characters.

Out of all the books I’ve read, Donita K. Paul’s is my number one vote in unique characters. Her stories are worth reading for the characters alone.

Other Material
So we have a great plot, humorous characters, and incredibly witty writing, what else does the author bring to us? A lovely way to share the love and care of God, yet in a way that is easy for everyone to understand without sounding preachy.

In the land of Chiril no ones knows of the Creator, Wulder. When Three of the characters come to Chiril from another continent, Amara, they spread the word, bringing the knowledge of Wulder to this land. The way she told the tale in this fashion made me smile. It was beautifully done.

One thing I do question in these books is the use of magic. I usually try to stay away from magic, especially in reading. This world focuses a lot on magic, but the thing is that it is a different world where things would work differently, and the characters often thank Wulder for their abilities. This particular book does not have nearly as much magic as The DragonKeeper Chronicles, which focuses on it immensely. The main source of magic use is one person, and he does not do spells often. Still, I am not entirely sure where I stand on this. But I will not go into all my personal beliefs now. It is still a lovely book.^^

Appropriate Ages
I believe Donita K. Paul writes for a younger audience more so than older teens and adults. Like I have said, her stories are full of fun and humor. There are some battle scenes and deaths, but she rarely goes into great detail, and everything is always kept so light that you barely think much of the unpleasant stuff.

It is hard for me to say if adults would enjoy this book as well, because I, myself, still enjoy Dr. Suess books and fairytales. Hehe. So I am not the greatest judge on such things. I think they will though. I honestly believe nearly every age can enjoy her books.

I’d say probably around 10 years old and up for this one, though perhaps younger depending on the person.

Conclusion
This book brings lightheartedness and smiles to its reader. Unique characters, an interesting plot, a fantastical world, and a hunger for more—The Dragons of Chiril has it all. For a fun read I highly recommend it.

I very much look forward to purchasing the next book, Dragons of the Valley!

This is Going to Take a While…

I must admit to something. I have not started editing until just last night. But, on the other, more optimistic, hand: I started editing last night! ^_^

In my defense, I have been sick and feeling quite dead for the past few days. I could barely pay attention to the screen in front of me, which is no state to edit in. I would probably have made my book worse if I tried to edit like that. <--Valid excuse!! *cough*

Anyways, I did begin editing last night. And you know what? I edited for 45 whole minutes! You know how much I got edited?

……

……

……

One page.

Yep, 45 whole minutes and just a few paragraphs edited.

This…is going to take a while.

So, why did it take me that long? Well, for this book I am very determined to make it well written. I want clever words and flowing sentences, a nice story and interesting read. When I started this book I promised myself I would put 110% into it, and so that is what I am going to do. So yes, I spent 45 minutes editing a few paragraphs, criticizing every single word and examining  each punctuation mark until the poor little things squirmed. Tedious work indeed, but I think it is good for me. Plus, I actually quite enjoyed myself.

I shall continue on. Wear out my backspace button to its limits and choke my brain to its final thinking capacity. But at least I shall have a book that is edited!

Chaaarge!!

Swords of the Six Book Review

Synopsis
After being betrayed by his own greatest warriors one thousand years ago, the great white dragon hatches six human daughters, with his own dragon blood flowing within them, from eggs. Arming them with the very swords of the traitors’, the daughters are trained in the ways of the sword.

Six daughters, dragon blood flowing within their veins, are now sent off alone to bring one of the traitors to repentance, or justice.

Later, Ilfedo, a man of the woods, meets up with Dantress, the youngest but most powerful of the daughters, making their fates intertwine.

Betrayal and love circles this tale together until a great sacrifice brings it to a close.

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Summary
Swords of the Six is a Christian, fantasy novel written by Scott Appleton. It is the first book in The Sword of the Dragon series.

I stumbled upon this book not too long ago while browsing through our Lifeway book store with my little sister. My sister and I immediately spotted it and both snatched it up in awe. What drew our attention? The cover. That beautiful, beautiful cover. Plus, it had a dragon on it! So it had to be good, right? Then, I flipped it over and found that Bryan Davis, my favorite author of all time, wrote a very positive review for it. When I open it up I found Wayne Thomas Batson, another author I like, also wrote a review for it. Plus, the description sounded intriguing. So that was it, we had to have this book. Unfortunately, it was not all I hoped for.

This book had great potential, but came short in many areas.

First, the grammar needed much work. When I first started it I thought some errors were missed during publishing, but was surprised to see this was just the style the author writes in, making it very difficult to get through. I am a total grammar Nazi, so I just had a really hard time reading this book with all the mistakes. Commas were missing all over, jumbling sentences together that forced me to reread them a second time or two in order to understand. In a great deal of parts, suffixes were misused. Some words ending in ed often needed to be ing words, and vise versa. The way the paragraphs were parted were often a bit strange. One of the greatest things that bothered me was his use of but and and. On a very constant bases, sentences began with but or and. I am perfectly fine doing that occasionally, but nearly every other sentence? No.

Second, the story in general was a bit bland. There was no great plotline, no thrilling suspense, no epic climax, nothing drove it anywhere. It was just one little scene after the other where you kept thinking something epic was going to happen, but it never came.

Third, there was not enough detail. I was often quite confused during some parts and just was really hoping for more explanations on things, thinking maybe they would come later, but they never did. I think the story really could have gone into much more depth.

One other thing that bothered me was there were scenes that were literally copied and pasted from earlier. Twice I saw this, one of which occurs quite a few times. There is a reoccurring dream one of the characters has, and each time, the dream is written exactly like the first time. I have no problem with the reoccurring dream, it was part of the story, but I think each time it could have been explained differently or just said it was repeated, not copy and pasted about four times I think. Not the end of the world, but just annoyed me a bit.

Now, this is not to say this book was all bad. There were some great messages within it and definitely a few interesting parts. I know it is getting a wide audience of fans, so this might just be my opinion. The author explained that this book is more of a prelude or prologue, if you will, to the rest of the series. I suspect things will go into more detail later and perhaps have a much more grander story line, so I am certainly not going to completely forget the series altogether. This story probably is more of a prologue to all the rest.

Plot
The story immediately begins right in the middle of a great battle scene against a fierce dragon. I was actually captivated during the first part with the exciting battle scenes and treacherous characters that come as the battle ends.

After an ending of traitors killing the good, the story moves to a thousand years later in the great white dragon’s grand palace where six eggs are about to be hatched. Out of these eggs comes six human daughters, the dragon’s blood flowing through their veins. The idea of a dragon being a father to six humans girls seemed intriguing and fun to me.

When they are a few years older, the white dragon bestows three rusted swords to each of his daughters, explaining these are the swords of the six traitors that betrayed him a thousand years ago. Now his daughters must learn to use them in order to put an end to the traitors, who have apparently cheated age with the use of magic (or at least I am pretty sure that is why they have lived so long. It did not go into great depth of that yet.)

All the first few chapters I found rather interesting, putting grammar flaws aside. I felt as though the author was building up a great plot. To my disappointment, the book did not get anymore exciting after the first chapters.

Soon after getting the swords, another timeframe jumps to the girls being near 17 years old. Now having grown greatly talented in swordplay, the dragon sends out his daughters to find the first traitor, Xavion, and put an end to him. Strangely, this is where the story does not really get anymore interesting. Though they do go find the traitor, nothing much really happens.

The book splits into two parts, and near the middle we jump to the second part that more covers the story of Ilfedo, a man who lives in an untamed wood. This part I was not exactly pulled in to. I felt more like I was reading a pioneer story than anything, which I do not like, especially when I am expecting a fantasy story with dragons.

So here you have much pioneer-type stuff, for most of the rest of the book is about Ilfedo.

The ending seemed a bit drab to me, and somewhat predictable. Not much of a climax or anything. Although it did give off a good message about sacrifice. The author has a good heart and I am pleased he uses his writing for the glory of God. I will always give points for that.^^

Material
One thing I did mostly enjoy in this book was the battle scenes. Starting from the very beginning, there are quite a few conflicts placed here and there that were nicely written. The use of the six swords also interested me greatly. The swords, in the hands of the girls, had certain abilities and were used much throughout the story.

Though you do not see much of them, the villains I rather liked. You have rather scary winged humanoid creatures, devastating dragons, a powerful witch, some giant serpents, down to terrorizing bears, all of which played a good role and made for interesting fight scenes.

The setting of the book was very magnificent and fairytale-like. From the dragon’s magnificent palace to ruins of an once enormous fortress to the greenery of a fine forest, the lands seemed very enchanting and beautiful. I would have liked to have been given more of an explanation of the world it is set in, but being as how this is the first book I suspect more of that will come later.

There were definitely some Christian messages within the book, the greatest being that of the love of sacrifice, which was told beautifully. A strong contrast over good versus evil set the book well I thought, amongst other things here and there that I was pleased to see.

Characters
Though there was no great flaw with the characters I think they could have been better. As each of the six daughters hatched from their eggs, I was looking forward to getting to know each of them, but unfortunately did not get much of the chance.

Dantress is the main character and heroine of the story, as well as pretty much the only one you get to know very well of the six. I could never decide if I liked Dantress much or not. At some points I did, other times I thought her maybe a bit too perfect, while other times I was disappointed in her. It seemed like her character was a bit inconsistent.

The other daughters did not seem to have much personality, two of which I especially did not know what they were like at all. One part in the story made me very disappointed in these five girls, though they seemed to have a good heart throughout most of the book.

There were some characters I did rather like a good bit. The white dragon I was fond of, as well as his friend, a wise shepherd. Then there was Specter who was probably my favorite in the whole book. Ilfedo I did not have much of a problem with either, I think he was a fairly good character, although his character almost did not fit his lifestyle to me. Another somewhat inconsistent one.

All in all, the characters were fairly well done, but I think they could have been a lot better. Being as how this is more of a prelude to the rest of the series, I will not judge the characters yet, they might just need more “screen time”.

Appropriate Ages
With talking animals and a fairytale scenery, it would seem this book would be appropriate for the young, but I actually do not believe it is. While yes, there are some lovely places, the battle scenes can get quite gory. The entire theme seemed a bit more for an older audience, yet the writing and story I would think would point to the younger, so it is hard to say with this one.

The fights are definitely gory and the villains are very treacherous. My 13 year old sister desperately wanted to read it, but because of these things, and because she cannot handle gore very well, I decided she might should be just a little bit older.

I am in quite a quandary what ages to suggest. I do no think the young should read it, but adults might not find it greatly interesting either. I am thinking perhaps 14 or 15 years old and up for this one. It is all more in the matter of opinion of the person though.

Conclusion
I feel like this whole review is all negative, which I feel really bad about. This book did have some interesting things in it and a good message. I know it has a wide audience of fans, so I would not completely dismiss it.

As mentioned before, Swords of the Six is only a prelude to the rest of the The Sword of a Dragon series, which means there is most likely much more story, character development, and epic scenes to come. I am not going to quit the series here, think it can be an interesting story, and I think it might get to be that way. I honestly do not think I can give a proper review until I really have read the rest of the series. The second one, Offspring, is soon to be released, or perhaps already has been, so hopefully I can get my hands on it and see how this tale plays out.

Honestly though, I think it was worth the buy just to have that cover on my shelf. I mean, have you seen it? It is gorgeous!!

To put my opinion all into one sentence, I think Swords of the Six had great potential, but it was not ready to be published yet.