Author Interview: Hailey Hudson and The Hardworking Creative | Olivia J

"You fail only if you stop writing," -Ray Bradbury

Welcome to my first author interview! This interview is with the wonderful Hailey Hudson, author of Hope Is a Thing With Feathers.

Olivia: Hey, Hailey! Why don’t you introduce yourself . . . but not how you normally would. Give us something juicy, something weird, something scandalous.

Hailey: I've ridden standing up in a Jeep through the Andes mountains, my car is named Dobby after everyone's favorite house-elf from Harry Potter, and one summer I accidentally ripped my big toenail off and walked around with no toenail the whole summer. Is that scandalous enough?

O: How did you start writing? Was it a particular book, or did you have a natural affinity to tell stories?

H: I grew up reading lots of amazing books, and they all kind of came together until there was never a time I didn't have a story in my head. The first story I remember writing was when I was four, and things just kind of escalated from there.

O: Why do you write? Do you write for yourself, or for someone else?

H: I write for myself because I don't think I could live without writing. I'm kind of private about my fiction writing, actually; it was a little disconcerting last year when I had a book published, because my story wasn't mine anymore.

O: Let’s get into some meatier stuff. I hear you’re starting a website called The Hardworking Creative. Tell us a little more about that, as well as your inspiration behind the project.

H: This website is a place for anyone who's bursting with a dream. I know a lot of young people who are very creative and talented, and they have big dreams--but they aren't actually doing anything to get them where they want to be. Hard work is very important to me, so I wanted to combine two important aspects of what makes me me (creativity and hard work) and share it with my fellow hardworking creatives.

O: That’s so cool! So, it will be kind of like a resource/inspiration website? Will The Hardworking Creative have a presence on social media?

H: Yep! THC will offer not only the inspiration to kick-start creative projects, but also the resources young creatives need to actually see the projects to completion. And yes--THC can be found on all social media platforms.

O: What inspired you to start up this website?

H: There's really a tangible void in my life right now of people to create with. I desperately desire people with whom I can undertake creative projects, but there just... isn't really anyone. So I decided to create a place for them and hope that they will come. The soundtrack of The Greatest Showman also had a huge deal to do with this website.

O: That’s so . . . inspiring! Will this website be for just writers, or for other types of artists as well?

H: This website is for absolutely anyone who does something creative. If you sew, play the violin, paint pictures--as long as it requires creativity, you're welcome at THC.

O: Thanks for being with us, Hailey. Check out her links below! But before you go, share with us your favorite quote and why!

H: Thanks for having me, Olivia! My favorite quote is by Ray Bradbury:

"If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads... Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world."

O: Wow, I absolutely love that quote. I might change it to be my favorite writing quote! Well, thanks again for being here with us! Hailey's social media links are below!

Instagram: @haileyh412

Twitter: @haileyh412

Facebook: Author Page

Blog: Now All I Know is Grace

I hope you guys enjoyed this author interview. If you'd like to be interviewed by me, just shoot me an email at oliviajthewordshaker@gmail.com

~The WordShaker

The Devolution of "The End of the F***ing World" | TV Review

"If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster," -Isaac Asimov

The End of the F***ing World is brilliant. 

It really is. It's dark and subtle and blunt but also deeply heartfelt. I watched this story in one massive, exhilarating breath. 

However - and if you're a regular, then you saw this coming - it has some problems. If you're here looking for all of the things that TEOTFW does right, then you've come to the wrong place. There are hundreds of other reviews that cover the almost insurmountable good aspects of TEOTFW. This blog post is all about the bad.

You've been warned. 

~

The show starts out fantastically. And by fantastic, I mean FAN-F***ING-TASTIC. 

TEOTFW jumps off from the premise that James is a self-diagnosed psychopath and Alyssa is a moody and rebellious teen disillusioned with her family life. Immediately, this intrigued me. It seemed like your typical road trip love story with a dark twist. And to a point, it was. 

James is established as an unfeeling outcast with a dark and ambiguous past. For a while there, there's this strangely wonderful disconnect because you care for him, but you also hate him because he's kind of an awful person. 

Then there's Alyssa. She's tough-as-nails and rude, but also carefree and eccentric. She's the character we identify with the most at the beginning, not just because of characterization or development, but because she shows a full range of emotions, and James is still a bit of a terrible person at this point. 

*Side note: Can we just take a moment and praise the storytelling gods that neither James nor Alyssa were manic pixie dream characters?*

I'd argue that Episodes 1 through 4 are the strongest. They carry a subtle emotional weight, while softening the two hardened characters with an incredible amount of interesting tension. And I think I've narrowed it down as to why the rest of the season falters. 

There's a moment that perfectly verbalizes the problem. James thinks to himself: 

"Having finally murdered a human, I realized something quite important: I was pretty sure I wasn't a psychopath."

After James kills the serial rapist/murderer - and after the aftermath - , the story seems to meander along until they inevitably get caught.  It nearly devolved into a generic teen-love road trip story. 

And it's because that nearly all narrative and character tension disappears. 

The pitch for the story, and what the story hinges on - James being a psychopath and road tripping with this girl to find her father - disappears. Sure, they still try and find her father, but the foundation of the story and what the first four episodes was built upon is torn out from under it. The main concept just falls apart. 

After about Episode 4, James subsequently loses about 75% of his character complexity. Instead of being mostly unfeeling and hell bent on murder, he becomes a shy boy with a tortured past (which everyone has seen before). He loses this complexity because now, James has very little to do other than run from the law. More on that later.

The show also loses its dramatic irony, which is what made the first episodes funny in a skin-crawling kind of way. In turn, it loses it's narrative tension. Back when we believe that James is going to kill - or, at least, attempt to kill - Alyssa, it adds a sense of unease and anxiety to an otherwise strong, heartfelt, and darkly funny teenage 'finding yourself' road trip. And that was extremely engaging, interesting and new in an often contrived but well-meaning genre, and I was disappointed when the whole show unraveled from there. 

Th show's other main problem is it's focus. At the beginning, James is the focus. While Alyssa is his means to an end, she remains a strong and consistent driving force in the story. However, the picture is still painted that James is the protagonist, while Alyssa is one of the two main characters. (Yes, there is a difference. Look it up. Article #1, #2) I digress.

After James' "goal" is reached (killing someone), he ceases being the protagonist, and the mantle moves on to Alyssa, who still needs to find her dad. However, while well executed, her story arc isn't nearly as interesting as James'. 

Ex: "Girl searches out deadbeat dad only to find that he's a deadbeat dad, realizes stuff about life, and falls in love with a boy?" Totally haven't seen that one before. But "teens with emotional baggage embark on a quirky road trip PLUS some psychopathic tendencies and dark humor?" That sounds a hell of a lot more original. 

The story tries to tie it back in, making it James' story with the final moments of the show, but it falls flat since we've spent the last half of the season with Alyssa as the focus. 

TEOTFW seems to be divided into two equal parts. A dark teen comedy-drama with amazing subtlety and a compelling thread of tension to an almost stereotypical teen love story  with the themes of love, deadbeat dads, and quirk. But, like I said, the latter isn't bad, but for a show that starts off so incredibly strong while including the classic elements of the teenage road trip, the last four episodes feel . . . lacking in the dry charm, subtlety, and tension that made the first four episodes so good. 

That all being said, TEOTFW is still fantastic. I still highly recommend it. The characters, direction, dialogue, and emotional and humorous dynamics are all wonderful. I can't stress that enough. Days after finishing this show, the story stuck with me, and I expect it to stick with me for a while. However, it stumbles a bit from dissolving character and narrative tension and focus problems. 

Objective Rating: 8.5/10 would recommend.
Enjoyment Rating: 9/10 would recommend. 

I think I just expected something different. And maybe that's on me, or maybe that's on the show for portraying A, B, and C throughout the first four episodes, but then portraying X, Y, and Z for the rest. 

But I digress. In conclusion: watch The End of the F***ing World so we can fangirl about it but also pick it apart together. Think of it as a bonding experience.  

~The Wordshaker

Book Review: Wings by Olivia Faye Scott | Olivia J

"The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe," -Gustave Flaubert

Whoa! What is this? Another book review on another amazing indie author?

Hell yes. 

follow me on Instagram @olivia.j.the.wordshaker

Disclaimer: I was sent this novel in exchange for an honest review.

As if being a teenage girl wasn’t hard enough already, Isabelle Parke has a significant other burden on her shoulders. Ever since a car crash killed both of Isabelle’s parents and sister, she has been struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, ‘friends’ who don’t stop talking about the fateful Accident, plummeting grades, a (stupid) therapist and a cranky adoptive aunt.

So when Isabelle finds a guardian angel sitting in her bedroom, she just assumes he’s another one of the side effects from the Accident. The angel introduces himself as Jophiel, assigned by God to help Isabelle accept and get over what happened to her. Again, totally PTSD. However, Jophiel begins doing things that no figment of imagination can: picking out tasteful outfits, bantering with Isabelle, and actually helping her when others cannot. Isabelle comes to realize that whether Jophiel is actually her guardian angel or she really is crazy, her life will never be the same.

~

You all know the drill!

Spoilers, duh.

The Bad

1. Nitpicks

First off, this book was fantastic, and all of the bad things I'm going to say about it are nitpicks. But I nitpick them so the author can see these and learn to make her work absolutely perfect. Because it's damn near there.

There was some unneeded description of menial tasks. Things that could have been described in two sentences were entire pages long. Transitions were also a bit slow. Sometimes I got to the end of a bit and thought - wait, what was the point of that dialogue? or - wait, what was the point of Scott showing X-character doing this? Just a small thing, but it would have tightened the prose up a bit.

My second nitpick is that the theme of Isabelle 'needing someone to blame' for the accident was underdeveloped. In retrospect, it made sense because her needing someone to blame is a natural, human reaction. However, it wasn't hit hard enough, since that ended up being the climax of the book.

If Scott had woven in themes of Isabelle's discontent with not having someone to blame, and showed her blaming other people - and herself - more, the big emotional moment of Jophiel revealing to her that he was the driver would have been a moment of astounding clarity and heartbreak. Now, the moment didn't fall entirely flat, but Scott could have taken it up a notch and tied the whole story together.

I think this last nitpick comes from Isabelle not being entirely aware that she has to change. No one can truly change unless they admit that they need help, that they need to change. If she was more aware of her dysfunction, but didn't exactly know how to change or didn't believe she could, then her whole arc and especially the climax would have absolutely knocked me out of the park.

It sure as hell came close to, though.

The writing was a bit juvenile but perfectly functional. It also worked with the context and tone of the story. I suppose my apt towards purple prose is a personal preference.

Some things were a bit cliche, but the cliches didn't fall flat. Cliche isn't really a bad thing. It would only have been a bad thing if it was poorly written or the cliches felt contrived or just didn't work, which certainly wasn't the case for Wings.

The Good

1. The Characters

Oh my goodness. I absolutely adored the characters in this book.

Jophiel and Isabelle were fantastic together. Their humor and relationship dynamic was beautiful, and I felt all of it. I even believed that they were in love even after a short amount of time. I just . . . wow. Even writing this, I think back to how they helped each other and just smile. It was all so beautiful and perfect. They were so broken, but they worked so well together. I'm a sucker for good character arcs, and this sure did hit the spot.

I also liked Isabelle's family dynamic with her aunt and cousins. They each had distinct personalities, and I loved how their relationship with Isabelle changed over the course of the book. The whole dynamic between them felt so . . . real. Loving, yet distant. Accepting, but unsure. I liked that the family wasn't vilified or patronized.

I just, gosh. I loved this book.

2. The Plot

Now, this part might be entirely biased because I just adore stories like this. The plot of Wings is simple. Angel comes to Isabelle to help her work through her problems. Angel inevitably has problems of his own. Healing and fun stuff and character development.

But it works so well because Scott's writing along with the deeply flawed and likable characters creates an incredibly realistic and heartfelt world. You can't help but love Isabelle and Jophiel. You can't help but tear up at the sad parts, and laugh and the witty dialogue.

I'm such a sucker for stories of personal change and healing, and Scott has crafted a simple yet exquisite story of pain, loss, love, life, and friendship.

And I adore it.

3. Pretty Much Everything

I loved the integration of faith. It wasn't overly preachy, but worked within the context of the story. This is about angels, after all. I loved how in tune Scott seemed to be with teenagers, and how high school works.

Just, the emotional dynamics, the characters, the arcs. I hate to sound repetitive, but pretty much everything in this book was a success.

Objective Rating: 8/10
Enjoyment Level: 9.5/10

~

Wings will be finding its way onto my favorites shelf. Thank you, Olivia Faye Scott for writing an amazing book. Oh, and thanks for sending it to me, too.

~The WordShaker

Book Review: Control Freakz by Michael Evans | Olivia J

“Writing is a gift to yourself, and it’s a gift of giving a story to someone else,” -Amy Tan

This is my second indie book review, and I’m finding that I quite like it! Contact me on Instagram at @olivia.j.the.wordshaker or through my email at oliviajthewordshaker@gmail.com for review requests.

Follow Michael Evans on Instagram @mevansinked

Disclaimer: I was sent this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Alone. Abandoned. Threatened. Natalie has lost all hope for a better future. Everything she’s known and everyone she’s ever loved is gone, and it’s up to her to get her old life back. In Michael Evans’s first novel, Control Freakz, Natalie’s journey toward a better life begins.

When Protocol 00 is enacted, Natalie’s family is taken by the government, along with the families of her two best friends, Ethan and Hunter. With nothing to lose, and the threat of government hitmen kidnapping them at any moment, the three must battle to survive in a horrid, post-apocalyptic world run by President Ash and his invasive government. They want answers. And they’re willing to jeopardize everything in desperate pursuit.

Risking ruthless leaders, attempted mind control, and her very existence on the planet, Natalie, along with Hunter and Ethan, will stop at nothing in their quest to regain everything they’ve ever known. Her spirits crushed and her will to live destroyed, Natalie knows everything is dead and gone, and soon she will be, too.

Memories connect us to the past, and can often cause us to long for a better future, but they can drive our minds into a state of hell if a better future is unattainable. Nevertheless, Natalie’s hope for a better a future remains.

~

This was the first science fiction dystopian novel that I’d read in a long time, and it was really refreshing. Control Freaks takes the dystopian tropes and stereotypes and subverts them, and makes them a bit more digestible for an audience that’s sick of the same old dystopia.

As usual, we’ll start of with The Bad.

Spoilers, duh.

The Bad

1. The Writing

This one’s a hard one, because some of the writing was fantastic. At times, the description of emotions was heartbreaking and raw. But other times, it was excessive and long.

Emotional dynamics in a story is the level at which the emotions fluctuate. Control Freakz has very little emotional dynamics, and sometimes this makes for an exhausting read. Going back to the emotional descriptions, Evans’s descriptions of emotions go around and around, and, to an extent, it’s effective because it energizes the novel with a constant sense of anxiety. However, Evans takes it a bit too overboard and the novel ends up having just one, monotonous emotional feeling. There should have been moments of tension and release, moments of humor, moments of wit, and moments of numbness, all on top of the sense of constant anxiety that Natalie feels. With just some cuts of emotional description and additions of variety in emotions, Control Freakz could have been an intensely emotional and complex novel, but it barely missed the mark.

Another critique of the writing style was the inclusion of sequels. Sequels, in this case, are the italicized thoughts of a character. My only criticism was I thought they were a bit unnecessary. Evans does a fine job of conveying Natalie’s feelings without her stating them directly, or  having her add some commentary with her reactions.

Control Freakz has a tonal problem as well. It all boils down to this: Natalie doesn't sound like a girl. Now, I understand that everyone reacts differently, and people aren't bound to gender stereotypes, but women tend to react differently than men do, despite the character's outlined personality. While Natalie felt very strongly, her thought processes, descriptions, and reactions didn't feel . . . feminine - and Natalie wasn't outlined as a character to be particularly butch. There's nothing wrong with Natalie as a character, necessarily, but part of a character's identity is their gender. While this doesn't always determine how they act/think, it does effect aspects of them, and this is something Natalie lacked.

2. Hunter

While Evans directly states why and how Natalie and Hunter are together, it never sank in. Their relationship never felt like it was a driving force, or felt fully developed, and I think that's because Hunter was a very weak character. He had little-to-no development, arc, or backstory that explained why he was the way he was. And since he wasn't developed, I didn't believe and couldn't connect to his relationship with Natalie.

The Good

1. Ethan

My hat goes off to Evans for not including a love triangle in this sci-fi dystopia. I honestly thought that's what was going to happen, and I was pleasantly surprised that the three were just friends. 

Okay, but onto Ethan as a character.  He was by far the most developed character. He was smart and an absolute hardass, and his internal conflict blew me away. He's one of those genuinely awful people that you understand and root for anyway. I'd honestly love to see a story from Ethan's point of view. 

2. The Themes + Motivations + Character Stuff

Evans does a spectacular development of themes. They don't always hit the mark, but they're fleshed out and tie together the strings of the novel, and cover the parts where it falters. 

Natalie's desire to find a new life/get her old life back was at times overbearing considering the use of sequels, but it still held a deep place in the story and I could see a beautiful character arc come to fruition over the forthcoming novels. It was truly very raw and relatable to someone in that situation.

The theme of control blossomed at the end of the novel, but it was obviously an undercurrent throughout the whole thing. I devoured the last part of this novel because of all of the reveals, and it was like a camera coming into focus. All of these things that Evans had set up where finally making sense, and it was a great experience.  

The themes of mental illness, pain, and death were also very present. They were established very well, but I don't have much to say about them because they don't get resolved other than with the heart-pounding moment at the end when Natalie stands true in her resolve. I assume that these arcs will come full circle in the other books as well, and I look forward to it. 

I also loved how Natalie, Hunter, and Ethan were very ordinary. It was refreshing to see in a YA dystopia where every spunky teenager is somehow super important and leads legions of armies. Danielle didn't pick them because they were special, she picked them because they were expendable. Evans really has found a much needed niche in the genre of YA dystopia. 

3. The Worldbuilding

The worldbuilding in this book surprised me, because it ended up being a 'less-is-more' approach, which actually worked. With dystopian stories, authors often try to strip America to it's bare bones and build from that, which gives a sense of disconnect from the America we know.

However, Evans's world didn't feel too different from our own, and I think that's what made it so compelling.   

Objective Rating: 6/10
Enjoyment Level:  7/10

Overall, this wasn't a perfect book - as very few books are -, but Evans really brought some strong, new concepts to an old genre, and I have high hopes for the rest of the series. 

~The WordShaker