2016 TBR List

"If you wish to be a writer, write!" -Epictetus 

This is my 2016 To Be Read List, which will be ever-increasing.  I will keep this as my featured post so you guys can see the updates. 

1. The Last Star by Rick Yancey (YA Science Fiction)

In the month of January, I have been super-obsessed with The Fifth Wave series.  While it's not perfect, I very much enjoyed reading it, and the writing and execution was stellar. I know this book doesn't come out until May 2016, believe me that I will go to Barnes and Noble and buy it on May 24th. So excited for how this series is going to wrap up!

2. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Memior/True Story)

Saw the movie and I loved it, however, I have never gotten the chance to read the book, so that's what I'm going to do this year! Hopefully.  This is the true story of Louis Zamperini. 

3. The Distance from Me to You by Marina Gessner (YA Realistic Fiction)

So this book is in my genre, and I love finding those rare gems that are in that niche that I call 'my genre' - more on this later. So I plan to haul myself to Barnes and Noble to get this book because it looks freaking awesome. It's about this girl who goes on a trek in the Appalachian mountains to find herself before heading off to college. 

4. Darlah (172 Hours On the Moon) by Johan Harstad (YA Horror/Science Fiction)

This book is originally in Norwegian by a Norwegian author, so it is extremely hard to find. It's obviously about 172 hours on the moon, but more specifically, a testing program sending teenagers to space.  I'm not sure when I'll ever get to read this, but it's horror science fiction and it sounds so amazingly intense I can't wait. 

5. Alive by Scott Sigler (YA Science Fiction)

I don't know a whole lot about this book, but usually, I've heard that this makes a book better. So the rough synopsis is that a bunch of teenagers find themselves locked in a coffin.  The only form of identifications are the markings on their bodies and names on coffins.  They then have to figure all of this out and survive.  Sounds contrived, but I find myself drawn nonetheless. 

6. Looking For Alaska by John Green (YA Realistic Fiction)

Dear general population:  STOP telling me that this book is so amazing.  I don't want to know. I'm so glad that you love it but please stop ranting and raving about how amazing it is - you're kind of spoiling it for me. 

Anyways, most people are well-versed in what people say is the YA god of our time.  It's about this skinny kid who goes to boarding school and meets this wonderful girl, Alaska. Cliche, I know, but hey.  Why not?

7. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (YA Realistic Fiction)

This is another one of those popular books that I've yet to read - but I want to so bad. It's about Mia, who's got a perfect life, but all of it is shattered when her family dies in a car crash and she is in a coma.  Then, the story is her making the choice of life or death.  

Sounds epic.  Sounds deep.  I must read. 

8. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (YA Romance)

Think zombie apocalypse meets Romeo and Juliet. I was interested in the movie when it came out, but never had the chance to see it. However, I've always been interested in the concept and heard great things, so let's see if I like this one. 

9. Nil by Lynne Matson  Supernatural YA

Recommended by Amy, she described it as 'Lost meets The Maze Runner.  And knowing me, this is all that I really need to know.  Wish me luck in finding this sucker. 

10. Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys Historical YA

A story about 4 teens whose lives cross in a historical tragedy akin to the Titanic. I have heard raving reviews of it, and have been interested in the history surrounding it. So hey, let's give it a shot. 

Of course I will read other books over the 2016 period; however, these are the ones that I vow to finish. And by posting this on my blog, I am holding myself accountable.  Then, I can look back at the end of the year and see how unproductive I was.  

Check out my Instagram to check out 2015's Top Reading Hits - @olivia.j.the.wordshaker

~The WordShaker

"Writing In The Glory" by Jennifer A. Miskov: A New Blog Series. Becoming the Message - Part 1.1: Writing In the Anointing

"While many times we write a book with other people in mind, the deepest transformation usually happens in our own lives," -Writing In the Glory, page 14

A wonderful friend at my church recommended this book to me, called Writing In the Glory by Jennifer A. Miskov. 

Writing In the Glory:  Living from Your Heart to Release a Book that will Impact the World

This book is sprinkled with writing prompts and things to think and pray about, and then, in turn, write about.  So once a month, I will be picking these prompts and posting them on my blog. 

This week's is titled Writing In the Anointing, and the prompt was this: 

1. In my research on revival, I have noticed many times that when babies are dedicated to God, either before or after their birth, a special blessing rests upon them for the rest of their lives. Take a few minutes to surrender your book to the Lord.  I encourage you to consecrate and release it to the Lord as an offering even before it is fully birthed.  Write a few paragraphs reflecting on how this felt or what God spoke prophetically over your book as you did this. 

And like the fickle little butterfly that I am, I totally started writing about something else. However, I do want to take a moment and focus on what the prompt is, and set that in stone. 

Lord, I surrender this idea to you in it's entirety.  I commit the words that I write, the characters I create, and the situations that I set up to ultimately reflect You and the purpose You want to reveal to the readers of this book. I ask that You flow through me as I am writing, and help me not get discouraged and remember that this is all for You - that there's a reason for all of this. 

When the Diary of Anne Frank was first made into a play, it was happy and cheerful - full on Disney fluff. This was in the fifties when the wounds of World War II were still raw and festering, and their deaths were only implied.  However, it was revamped in the nineties, harder and more realistic, but still containing the heart of the Diary itself.

And now, besides Isis, the greatest tragedy and threat that plagues America today is shootings. Cruel, insane people getting their hands on weapons, and walking into a place and opening hellfire. And back in early 2014, a dark idea blossomed in my mind.  While books have been written about school shootings before, never have they been very popular, however, I have felt a story blossoming within me -  a black rose with thorns that strike cringes when I mention the idea.  So I shut it down.  Ignored the plot bunny for a while while I worked on finishing the first draft of 'A Cactus In the Valley'.

But still, every once in awhile, I would be drawn back.  The story would stick it's hands in past the monster that was my current story and demand to be told. And so, during worship this Sunday, this story was once again brought to the forefront of my mind - I had noticed that many times I had been inspired to write this story when spending time in the presence of God.  So I asked him, "should I write this story?" because at that time, I was working on planning out a trilogy (crazy, I know).   And all I got from Him was a resounding 'yes'.

But my mind protested:  "It's about a school shooting, for goodness sake!" "No one will ever read this, much less publish it!"  "I'm not skilled, qualified, or experienced enough to write about something as raw and as tough as this!"

And after days of reluctantly sticking to this story regardless, I was doing some outlining work when God told me this: "Don't worry or give up on publication of this novel - there's a reason I'm having you write it."

And that's good enough for me.

~The WordShaker

Ships Just Passing in the Night

"Pen down your emotions before they rot your heart," -Sahej

So, I was talking to a friend earlier this week and I used a metaphor of ships passing in the night to describe my experience at school. And, well, it became a poem. Enjoy!

Based on the idiom originated from a poem by H.W. Longfellow.

Ships Just Passing in the Night

Copyright 2016 Olivia J, The WordShaker

There once was a lone sailor

On a solemn ship, just passing in the night.

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Its lone beam cut through the grey darkness

Of the piercing sleet and rain

pitter-pattering on the choppy sea

wrapped in cold and blight.

The sailor looked up, turned his eyes to the sky

And saw nothing but the clouds above

And he said to himself:

"Am I the only ship on this sea, just passing in the night?"

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Off on his journey he went, for months at a time,

Seeing no one, not a star in the sky

On his long, hard journey

to deliver the light.

Lonely and laborious, the job was

But he was the chosen one,

qualified for the job.

And, every once in awhile, he found something bright.

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Once in a blue moon,

although he ne'er saw such a sight,

his lightvessel's beam

would strike with ease

another ship just passing in the night.

Ecstatic, the sailor would rush to the rails

crying out, "Hello!  Is anyone there?"

And sometimes, the ship would draw near

exchange a friendly gaze, or a wave from its passengers

or a flicker of the bow's headlight.

But these were just ships passing in the night,

and the sailor would be alone again, having shared his light

and the ship would sail on

into the deep and treacherous night.

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The tempests beckoned him, and the boat creaked in fright

But the old sailor never ceased,

for this was his position,

and he would be sure to do it right.

Every once in a while, the sailor would have the luxury

of coming home, to his friends and his family.

The ship would be filled with fuel,

the cabinets stocked with food,

by friends who eagerly awaited for him

on the port in the daylight.

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And the old sailor, happy and full

would set back out on his long journey.

The anchor was polished and he was light of heart,

and ready to help the ships, just passing in the night.

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~The WordShaker

Life is a mystery waiting to be unraveled. (2015 in Overview)

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you," -Beatrix Potter

Life is a mystery waiting to be unraveled, and the years are the stepping stones along the path we all take.

Never did I think that I would get so low that the only place to go was up.  Never did I think that I would suffer my first broken heart.  Never did I think that a family member would commit suicide.

But never did I think that I would overcome.  Never did I think that I would go on my first date.  Never did I think that I would finish my novel. Never was I able to show love to the lost more than I was this year.

Never could I have predicted all of the bad that would befall, but never could I have imaged the great.  Truly, 2015 was a year of change and overcoming.

And never did I think that I would experience God's love like I have in this past year.

Never have I been a stronger, better and more mature person, which, truly, is the second most important thing in life.

Going into the year, I set only one goal for myself: to finish the first draft of 'A Cactus In the Valley' (Then 'Deus Ex Eremus: God From the Wilderness'. I'm still, ahem, working on the title). And on October 3rd, 2015, the first draft of my second novel was complete at 321 pages, and 109,853 words.

Only can I thank God for all of the good that has happened to me, and truthfully, I thank Him for the bad (hindsight is 20/20).  Because without my Savior, my life wouldn't be as flourishing as it is.  And despite myself, He his guiding me.

God qualifies the called, not calls the qualified.

So, writers, be encouraged! Take heart, for He has overcome the world. Set goals, because you can do anything through Christ who strengthens you.

My goals are as follows:

1. Swim more on a regular basis, because heck, I love it!

2. Finish A Cactus In the Valley 100% and get it ready for publication.

3. Prepare for marriage (domestic things as well as spiritual maturity and prepare to be a wife)

So, 2016.  Hit me with your best shot.

~The WordShaker

The Significance Behind my Pen Name

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader - not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon," -E. L. Doctorow

A little Christmas present for all my readers. <3

Olivia J, The WordShaker.

Why, you may ask?

The 'Olivia J' part is because that's my name.  Olivia is my first name, J is my middle initial - pretty self explanatory.

'The WordShaker' is an allusion to one of my many favorite books:  The Book Thief, which is about a foster girl who is taken in by this old couple in World War II Germany - and she steals books.  The background part of is that Max, the Jew the Liesel Meminger and her family are hiding wrote her a small story.

The synopsis is this: Essentially, Hitler - described has having a small, odd mustache and wanting to rule the world - decided that he would do it with words. Not with brute force or guns, but with words.
These words are personified as literal seeds, and he goes around planting these seeds and they grow into trees of his words.  'Farmed thoughts', the book even says. When the word trees were spread throughout the country, he would give certain ones to certain people, along with special symbols.

After a while, there were so many trees with words on them that people had to be hired to maintain them - these people were called Word Shakers. And the best wordshakers were the ones who understood the power of words and knew how to use them. One of these monumental wordshakers was a small, skinny girl  - AKA, Liesel, if you didn't get that already -  and she was hailed the best wordshaker because "she knew how powerful a person could be WITHOUT words". This is the reason why she was the best and collected the most words and climbed the highest. 

From a tear of love and friendship, a seed was born, unlike the ones administered by Hitler, and amidst the other trees, she planted this one. And this tree grew faster and much more wonderful than all of the other trees, and everyone knew that Hitler would come and have it ordered to be chopped down.
He did, and when they took her away from the tree, she screamed - 'You can't cut it down!  Please!' But he ordered for his ax.

Then, the small wordshaker ran to the tree and climbed up in it's branches, and waited for it to fall.  But the blade could not even make a mark in the tree. As one hundred and ninety six soldiers tried to hack away at the tree, stubborn and afraid, the wordshaker remained.

The people wondered how she survived up there, but what they didn't know is that the other world shakers would help her and throw her supplies.
Many days passed, and still the tree grew and the words multiplied, and when the last soldier finally gave up in trying to cut her tree down, he shouted "It's no use - you can come down now!"

But she said, "No, thank you."

But eventually, a beaten down, sad-looking ax-man came into town.  He asked the people where the tree was, and they lead him to it. Instead of hacking away with his axe, he began to hammer nails into the tree and climb up to the branches.

The people thought he was insane, but he climbed higher anyway.  When he reached the girl, he asked "Is it really you?"

And the wordshaker realized that it was from him that she got the seed that grew into this magnificent tree.

Eventually, they came down, and the moment that the wordshaker stepped foot into the dirt, the axe marks began to show, and the tree toppled over into the forrest.  The world shoot as the forest cleared around this great tree, and even if the people could remove the tree entirely, there would always be a path in the evil forrest carved by the wordshaker's tree. And when the girl and the man emerged from the tree, they saw that the crowd that had been around the tree since it's inception were gone.

And the man and the wordshaker left, but every once in a while, they would stop to listen, because they swore they heart the whispers of words, still emanating from the wordshaker's tree.

*squeals in glee*  Can't you just see why I love this story?  I probably don't need to explain to you why I chose this for my penname, but then, why would you be here?

I chose this as my penname because I want to be a wordshaker.  I want my words to have so much power that no one can take them away.  I want my words to have so much power that they will live on after my death.  Because my words are all I have to offer this world, so I must make the best of it. Because all my writing is is a reflection of my creator God, and what He has placed in me to glorify him and help others.

And I will end this by quoting NaNoWriMo's slogan:

"The world needs my story."

~The WordShaker

My Review of 'I'm On Your Side' by Emily J. Vaughan

"Thank you for showing me I could feel as alive as I do in the pages of my books," -Unknown

Disclaimer:  Vaughan contacted me and asked me to give an unbiased review of her novel, I'm On Your Side, in turn for the ebook for free. 

I finished this book in less than 24 hours. Considering that it's more of a novella than anything, this shouldn't be a surprise since I usually zip through anything that I read.  But I can finish anything in less than 24 hours if it pulled me in like this book did. 

Here is the book synopsis:

"When Cassie is placed with her newest foster family, the Benders, she is hoping for nothing more than a place to stay. But when she meets Jeremy she stumbles into a friendship she hadn't realized she wanted. Jeremy might be the one person who can understand her, the only one who's been dealt a rougher hand than she has. When Jeremy finally opens up about his closely guarded past he makes her promise not to tell anyone, and Cassie is left with a choice. Keep her promise and abandon Jeremy to a world that has already taken so much from him. Or don't keep it, and doom him to the life she's been wishing to escape for years."

I'm On Your Side by Emily J. Vaughan

Synopsis and cover photo from Emily's Website. 

Like most reviews, I will start out by talking about the things that I didn't like about the book, and reveal my star rating at the end. 

I felt that some of the flaws were the writing.  While it wasn't inherently boring - I kept reading, of course, it never embellished the story like good writing should. In my opinion, the prose of a story should always enhance what is happening, by making something more intense, more heartfelt, more whatever the author is trying to convey via word choice, phrase variation, etc.  And while Vaughan's writing style is functional and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, it didn't add much to the story in the way of a literary art form, as it should. Some moments that should have been dragged out with visceral detail, were written in flat narration. Some moments of expression or feeling could have been enriched with clever figurative language. It wasn't all that distracting, but this novel could have been taken to the next level with a unique writing style. 

But maybe that's just me being picky. 

Another thing is that I feel that this book should be longer.   It felt like it took place in such a short amount of time, and this might be because it's a novella, but everything could have been taken to a much deeper level if it was a full length novel. I say this because I was enjoying myself throughout the book, but felt unsatisfied at times because of it's clipped pace. I wanted to spend more time with Cassie, Jeremy, Megan, and Bill.  I wanted these side characters to be more developed.  I wanted more side plots and insight into their backstories and emotional change and healing. However, this was all limited because the novel was only 44,000 words. The climax would have been more impactful if more time within the story as well as time outside of the story (length) had been taken to develop everything. 

However, I must give Ms. Vaughan props for developing characters in such a tight space. Cassie and Jeremy were wonderful - I fell in love with Cassie's bravery and was pulled in by Jeremy's tender wit. And Cassie's emotional journey was absolutely beautiful and ripped my heartstrings straight out of my chest and stomped right on them. Wonderful characters in this book, and like I said, this might have been one of my favorites if it only had been longer. However, the plot, mystery and journey of the novel was unraveled with skill and care by Vaughan. Those two elements were spot on. 

 Unique and grippingly concise, I loved the theme of 'sometimes being a friend means breaking a promise', as seen on the cover of the book.  This is not seen a lot in YA literature today, and the deviant from the mainstream is admirable of Vaughan. The whole book was a breath of fresh air from the steamy romances and serious dystopian trilogies that pollute YA today. 

Overall, I liked this book, and will definitely read it again. 4/5 stars. 

Contact me at oliviajthewordshaker@gmail.com or @olivia.j.the.wordshaker on Instagram

~The WordShaker

I miss them. (An Update on my Writing Life)

"There's always room for a story that can transport people to another place," -JK Rowling.

I miss them. I miss Wyatt and Terra. I miss Wyatt's dorky humor. His fiery tendencies. His strength. I miss Terra's kind passion. Her bright soul. Her strength.I miss walking with them, I miss watching them interact. I miss being with them as they grew and changed.  And now all I can do is look back on the journey.

The experience of writing this story has been nothing but cathartic. If you know me, this story has reflected my life, struggle, and personal growth over the past year and a half. And it means the world to me.

Though I could read about them forever, since their story can be contained in a hunk of pages, I still miss them. Because my time with them has ended. Because I am not the author of their story - I was just the one writing it down. I don't control them - they roam freely in my mind, living on. However, I am not allowed to follow them around anymore - because their part of the story has ended.

I long to run back to the Arizona desert, back to the unforgiving wilderness and it's deceptive ways.  I long to see them scrounging for food in the damply arid climate.  I long to feel the hot sun baking my skin.  The dusty rocks and the leathery lizards.  It's only now that I realize that it wasn't just Wyatt and Terra that pulled me in, it's the entire desert world that took me by the collar of the shirt and dragged me in. When I was stressed, I could just daydream of my story. If I was sad, I could think of their pain. Every day, I could lose myself in the Sonora desert with two teenagers so diverse yet so alike. And now, there's nothing.

That part of my story is over.  Sure, I can read about them until the cows come home, but it's never like walking with them over those red rocks and eating amaranth leaves in the hot, waning sun.

I wish I could do it all again, because the ride is always so much fun - I could not have asked for better. I walk with them through the ups and downs, and I love it.  Because, my experience as a writer has always been like playing God - since I have *ahem* some control issues.

One of the ways that I have always been able to relate to the vast and endlessness that is God Himself is to compare myself to Him.  Kind of.

For the sake of this metaphor, I'm God, and my characters are the humans on the earth.  I don't control them, but I see and guide and direct - and love.  While we look at each other with contempt and hate, all I see is my precious little cinnamon rolls who are too good for this world.

Because stories are important.  They flow in our veins, and they make us who we are. And I need to get my story out there.

"Our lives become the stories that we weave," -Once On This Island

And so this is why I'm considering taking a break from my story. It's one of those things where I get so involved in my work, that everything else falls apart around me - nothing else matters.  In my English Lit class, we recently read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and a key part of the book is that Victor Frankenstein becomes so obsessed and involved in his craft that he can't see his art with clarity or objectivity anymore. I start to get sick of my story, start to have the words become monotonous and the characters become 2-D. Which sucks.

But the real problem is, is that while I have a few side stories I'm working on right now, none of them are sticking - and I'm still getting inspiration for Wyatt and Terra, and oh, good God, I miss it all, as I have stated many times before.

And I feel that if I let this story go, that it will never come back.  That I'll lose the connection with my characters and the passion for my story.  Which also sucks.

*sigh*

Something that I'm learning about myself is that I can't function without a creative project to work on. Something to throw myself into. And without a novel, I'm going slightly crazy.  My life feels pointless. 

So yeah.

~The WordShaker