My Brother Bought Me $25 Worth of Paranormal-Fantasy Romance : An Unboxing

 

As you may have seen in my recent Christmas Haul post, my brother bought me a pretty exciting present this year: a $25 box of Romance novels he purchased wholesale through an eBay retailer, themed around the premise of "Paranormal Romance." 

Here's the backstory as to why this is all so hilarious, because I realize that this is not the typically gift purchased by a 19-year-old college dude: 

My brother has never really been one for Romance romance, per se. He's an avid Fantasy reader, a genre in which there's typically at least a hint of romance present, but he's never felt any special kind of kinship to cupid's genre... the furthest he's gone was probably a couple of years ago, when he and I decided to read Stephanie Meyers' Twilight one summer. The reread was a great time, and one of the best parts about it was his teenaged perspective on some of the most iconic aspects of that book. 

Once I started reading Romance myself, a couple of years ago, he's enjoyed sharing this genre with me, too... not necessarily as a dedicated fan of the genre itself, but a willing participant in listening to my own effusions about what I've been loving (and hating) in the books I've been reading. 

(In particular, one of my favorite series from the past year - Sarah MacLean's The Bareknuckle Bastards trilogy - became so popular with him, that he still is able to refer to it, months later, by name. He's never read the books, and doesn't plan on it, but simply listening to my own half-garbled ramblings about the characters and plot beats made enough of an impression on him so that he's been bringing it up in random conversations ever since.) 

So, when a certain eBay retailer began making the rounds on BookTube and Bookstagram earlier this year - like in this video from Chandler Ainsley - of course I joked about it with my brother, just a little. I have a bit of a habit (or at least I did, back in the pre-Covid days) of trawling the shelves of my local Value Village for compelling backlisted mass-market-paperback Historical Romances I found intriguing; now there was this convenient way of amassing a large quantity of them, all at once, for only a little over a dollar a piece! 

On a lark, I added it to my Christmas list, and sent it off to my family, not really thinking anything of it. It was only after a chance conversation with my brother towards the beginning of December, that I managed to guess it outright: my brother had purchased a giant box of romance novels for me as a present. That was only half of the challenge, though, as he assured me that he'd included a set genre request that he was positive I wouldn't be able to guess. But that just made me laugh. 

"As long as it's not vampires!" 

to be entirely fair, it wasn't just vampires

So: 20 titles, for about $25, all backlisted, all, by his choice, Paranormal Romance. To my brother's credit, it really wasn't just vampires, something I was easily able to ascertain simply as I took each of the books themselves out of the box. Torsos and tattoos and claw marks and pensive stares... oh my.

All in all, unboxing all of the titles only made me more excited to delve deeper. Within 24 hours, I'd sat down with my book journal and a pen, and painstakingly researched each on Goodreads, in order to ascertain their average rating, how many ratings had been uploaded in total, and sleuth out some general plot theming. 

Two were set in small, fictional towns in Oregon, while two others dealt specifically with haunted houses in Savannah, Georgia. One involved a family of magic users in New Orleans, while two others were not of this earth at all, involving aliens and a cyborg with intergalactic origins. Amongst all twenty, there were dream-walkers, psychics, angels, aliens, ghosts, immortal fae beings, protectors of Olympus, and even a Celtic demigod, with vampires and werewolves ending up as a bit of a minor population. (Even within the two werewolf books involved, both of them involve a male werewolf falling in love with a dog-adjacent female professional: a veterinarian, and a K-9 handler!) One book features a focus on a spirit from the "Navaho nation," which - thanks to its 1994 publication date - will no doubt be the most problematic in the whole box, while another book included doesn't even appear to be a Paranormal Fantasy at all, and instead, has to deal with a Las Vegas mob family. 

Needless to say, I'm positively thrilled. 

So, here's the rundown of what, exactly, was in the box:

Master of Wolves, Angela Knight

The third book in the Mageverse series (a title I had to read three times through, as I thought it was "Megaverse" twice), this book has an average of 4.16 out of a little under 4,000 reviews, and was published in 2006. A werewolf goes undercover with the police force of a nearby town to find out who covered up the murder of his best friend, when he ends up catching feelings for... the K-9 dog handler for the precinct. 

Touch the Dark, Karen Chance

The first in its series, this book averages a 3.71 out of 35K reviews, and was published in 2007. It involves both a ghost-talker main character who has to work under a master vampire... and its description involves the joy-inducing inclusion of both "a bloodsucking Mafioso" and a "vampire Senate." 

The Guardian, Sherrilyn Kenyon

Not only is this the twentieth installment in its Darkhunter series, but it also stacks up a pretty impressive 4.34 average rating out of 18K reviews. Originally published in 2011, this is the one with the most dizzying concept, involving Dreamhunters, the Nether Realm, a missing god of Dreams who is needed on Olympus, and more. Please tell me I don't need to read the previous nineteen installments in this series to get a good grip on it? 

Dream Eyes, Jayne Ann Krentz 

The second in the Dark Legacy series, this book has a 3.98 out of 5 on Goodreads, with approximately 6,000 reviews. Published in 2014, it involves one of my favorite setups of the whole collection: a psychic counselor, protected by a psychic investigator, trying to track down a serial killer who's seemed to be targeting, you guessed it, psychics. Marvelous! 

The Crossing, Joy Nash

Number six in the Immortals series, this has a 4 average from 1,200 reviews, and was published in 2008. A Celtic demi-god rock star has to start taking life more seriously, when someone makes an attempt on the life of a fae child in his care, and involves a protagonist named "Artemis," who appears to be some kind of witch. 

The Phantom of the Bathtub, Eugenia Riley

Out of all of the books on this list, it has one of the lowest number of ratings - 3.46  average out of 246 total - and I'm willing to blame at least part of that on the jaw-droppingly hideous cover. Published in 2006, this is the one that I've been cheekily summarizing as "Everyone in this haunted house wants to kiss me," as a recently moved-in tenant battles out a love triangle involving not only the mysterious hunk next door, but the ghost of a sweet-talker who lurks inside her bath. Updated info for this read on Goodreads also promises ghosts in the square, a werewolf in the garden, an axe-slashing woman, a knife-wielding houseboy, and many more. 

Servant: the Acceptance, L. L. Foster

The second of its series, this read has a 3.87 out of only 511 ratings on Goodreads, and was published in 2008. This is one of the two books involving angels in this box, but at first glance, appears to be the eminently less readable one: a "God warrior" angel is sent to Earth, to serve as protection for streetwalkers, and comes face-to-face with the only person who makes this celestial being feel "human": a detective named Luther Cross. Heavy handed names aside - Grabielle as a riff on Gabriel, the dual gut punch of both "Luther" and "Cross" - one of the worst things about it, is the terrible cover. 

Nico, Sarah Castile

Remember the one I said wasn't even a Paranormal Romance? This is it! Though with a darkened, tattooed six pack on the cover, I think it's fine to make a mistake. It has a 3.94 out of 2,600 ratings, and was only published four years ago, and follows a Las Vegas mob king who falls for a girl from a rival crime family. Not vampires, but still sounds decent! 

All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire, Kerrelyn Sparks

How topical, for something that was a Christmas present! The fifth installment in the delightfully named Love at Stake series, this title carries an impressive 4.22 out of 12.6K reviews on Goodreads, especially because it was published back in 2008. This story involves not only a vampire-hating heroine, but a reverse bodyguard trope, a best friend stuck in a psych ward, and desperate attempts to prove that the vampire population is real to a deeply apathetic police force. 

Dangerous Tides, Christine Feehan

The fourth in a series about the Drake sisters - a magical family full of inherited gifts - this installment is rated a 4.3 out of 5, with 11.5K reviews, which I feel like is a pretty good showing for this list. It was published in 2008, and the sister in question has been blessed with the ability to heal people, which is pretty in keeping with the concept of water, and the title of the novel. As an overall concept, it's pretty tame compared to some of the others on this list. 

The Empath, Bonnie Vanek

The only other werewolf book on this list, this title is ranked a 3.48 with 431 reviews, and was published in 2007 as the first of its series. It plays into the classic romance trope of "fated mates," with a werewolf seeking out his mate, an empath, in order to bring her home and strengthen the pack from which he was recently ousted. The mate, in a wonderful play to type, is a veterinarian. 

The Summoning, Heather Graham

While the cover looks a lot more like a Suspense / Thriller than a real Paranormal Fantasy, it is - I kid you not - the 27th in its series, from the Krewe of Hunters. Set in Savannah, this book follows a woman living in a haunted bed-and-breakfast, who routinely holds seances as entertainment for guests, and really, shouldn't she know better, then? It was published only last year, and is rated as a 4.08 with around 1,700 reviews. 

My Fair Succubi, Jill Myles 

The third in its series with a 4.1 out of 1.4K rating, this was published in 2010, and while other books on this list feature love triangles, this one is a doozy: a succubus has to chose between a fallen angel named Noah, and her old vampire master, named Zane. We'll see how this one plays, though word-correct would have me mention here that "succubus" is the appropriate solitary form for the being, while "succubi" would suggest a plurality. 

Midnight Lover, Rosemary Laurey

Number five in a series, with a 3.9 rating out of only 298 reviews, published in 2007. Not a lot that's promising from those stats alone... until you read a little of the material. "Dark Falls, Oregon"? Getting better. A heroine who's "a reporter out for a hot story" while working in a paranormal organization, and a vampire CEO who doesn't trust her? We're almost there. Just straight up putting the words "vampire corporate espionage" on the back cover might have been a better selling point. 

The Portal, Sharon Pope 

The 33rd installment in the Silhouette Shadows line, but not a part of any series, this book has a 3 rating, right on the target, out of only 10 reviews... which should be expected, being that it was published in 1994. While the date excuses the nearly-awesome cover, it definitely doesn't the subject matter, as an archaeologist excavating a "Navaho" site lets loose a "shadow man" spirit from the other side, named Zakoura Kree. It's not worth it getting into everything wrong with that description, when it's only what we know from the outside cover... though I'm willing to guess that what's inside is probably worse. 

How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 Days, Susan Grant

This installment is the third in its series, with a 3.99 rating out of only 514 reviews, and was published in 2007, which explains every artistic choice represented on the cover. These choices appear to have gotten much better over time, in what I can judge from a quick Google Image search... which is also how I learned that this book was repackaged for Amazon just this past year as Cyborg and the Single Mom. (You go get that ebook money, Susan Grant!) This book follows an ex-evil fugitive cyborg hiding out on earth, and the single suburban mother who keeps his presence a secret. In the words of my brother, "It sounds like she really knows her audience."

Minion, L. A. Banks

The first in its series, with a 3.45 out of 6,000 review, this book was published in 2004. If I could give you a truly insane five-word summary of one of the books on this list, it would be this one, and the response I'd give you is "spoken word artist vampire hunter," as that is the occupation of our heroine. Whether or not she's any good at either career path is something we'll have to find out. 

Hostage to Pleasure, Nalini Singh

There were two names on this list that made me do a double take, because they're easily recognizable for fans of Romance, and this was one of them... which makes sense, because despite the fact that this book was published in 2008, it was already the fifth in its series, and when you search her name on Goodreads, there are seven full pages of results. It has a 4.19 out of 5 stars, with 28K reviews under its belt, making this one of the more popular titles on this list, and follows two rival alien species from different planets: one, a psychic being who's been enslaved with a neural implant, and the other, a leopard shifter. There is only so much more I can say about the cover materials about this book before someone's brain is going to explode. 

The Darkest Lie, Gena Showalter 

The other name on this list that seriously set off my "I know you" radar, this is the sixth in its series, published in 2010, with a 4.29 rating out of 5 stars, with over 33.9K ratings to back those numbers up. Far and away, this is the closest on this list I'm going to get to a "guaranteed enjoyable" read... which is weird, when you consider how out-of-the-box this concept is: a keeper of the demon of lies, Gideon, is "forced to his knees in agony" whenever he speaks the truth, but can tell when other people are acting false, which makes it pretty weird when a woman he's never met, claiming to be a demon-possessed immortal and his long-lost wife, turns up. (And in case you're wondering about Showalter's current title numbers, her Goodreads page claims she's written over 70 books, and I'm inclined to believe her.) 

At his insistence, I then proceeded to rank-order the entire lot. 

Here's how they ended up stacking up, just after a first-glance-peek and a little Internet recon. Top line is "Excited," middle is "Ambivalent," and bottom level is "Less than Stoked." (I would make it "Less than Stoker-ed," but again, rather a dearth of vampire books in this set.) 

Any chance you've read any of the titles from within this collection? Which do you think I should pick up first? Let me know, in the comments below!

I Can't Believe It's 2020 and I'm Doing a Christmas Haul

Okay, okay, I know what you might be thinking: this feels a little gauche, doesn't it? You would think I would know better than to brag about the material possessions I was gifted - through the generosity, love, and family time of Christmas - especially in this, the flaming trash heap that has been 2020. 

Particularly because I haven't even managed to come up with enough regular, non-haul blogposts this year, either. You've barely gotten a glimpse at what I've been reading, let alone what I've been adding to my bookshelves! (To be fair, though, that kind of imbalance between reading and purchasing has been another constant of my 2020, too.) 

Might as well duck my head, stay a swift course, and head towards the horizon of the new year with as little fanfare as possible. Might as well keep my mouth shut until the slate is wiped clean again. 

Or... I could just tell you. 

Hang the consequences! I got cool new stuff, and I want to tell you about it! Especially because as you might have guessed, a lot of them are books. And isn't that what you kind folks are here for, anyways? 

(Plus, a lot of them were thrifted. You'll see in a minute.) 

From Sibling #1, the List Detective: Vintage Cooking and Back to Kitchen Basics  

My eldest sibling - the closest in age to me - really honed in on one of the top requests from my list: the long-sought, difficult-to-find An Everlasting Meal, from Tamar Adler. Hardcover editions of this book are practically considered modern collectibles, and I've been searching for a paperback copy to call my own since I read it for the first time last December, and my sister absolutely came through. I screamed when I opened it, and I'm already considering making it a top entry on my TBR for 2021. 

On top of that, she also picked up another request from my Christmas list, which had a pretty large focus on the intersections of agriculture, sustainability, economic responsibility, and more, so she grabbed The Good Food Revolution, by Will Allen (with Charles Wilson). Both of these titles were purchased from Powell's in Portland - one of the top bookish meccas I've missed in the past year of sheltering at home - which was basically just a gift in itself, as well. 

The place she really outdid herself, though, was in a set of books she didn't even have to pay for: Thoughts for Food, Thoughts for Buffets, and Thoughts for Festive Foods, all claimed off a "give away" stack at her girlfriend's grandmother's house. They don't contain pictures - they barely contain anything other than instructions! - but they're definitely vintage, based on the copyright stamp, as well as the fact that I can find next to no information about them online anywhere. 

From Sibling #2, the Thrifter: Value Village Superhaul 

My second youngest sibling - one who also gifted me a cute set of tortoiseshell earrings, a green frog-shaped candle, and an amber glass baking dish - felt that their present could be beefed up a little by the addition of some Value Village-sourced cookbooks, too. To be fair, I adore vintage cookbooks (as you might have surmised from this list), and the ones they picked up held a bit of surprise. 

The Chocolate Collection is really something akin to a Taste of Home cookbook, if they had partnered with M&Ms for a full third of it. While some of the recipes inside are frustratingly, well, full of M&Ms, some of them - like those for homemade pudding, no bake pies, and fanciful cheesecakes - definitely seem promising. 

They also picked up a near-perfect copy of Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukin's seminal work The Silver Palate cookbook, which is honestly a real find, and would have made for a great present, if only they hadn't fallen into the classic pitfall of knowing someone's taste perfectly: I already have a copy! Thankfully, my mom doesn't, so the cookbook has been dutifully added to her shelves, too. 

The real exciting addition to this present, though, was in the inclusion of a cookbook I've never even heard of before: The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook. I quickly realized, upon doing a little research, that the fact I had no idea what it was, was pretty embarrassing on my part. Not only was it the first cookbook to ever make the New York Times best-seller list, but it is widely considered a classic cookbook of the '60s. The founder of the Pepperidge Farm line of supermarket staples - like Goldfish, Milano cookies, and what was, in the '50s, the first refrigerated puff pastry offered on the market - uses this healthy tome as a sort of cookbook-cum-memoir, detailing her life and culinary experiences, including a chapter on cooking from "vintage" cookbooks herself! 

From Mom and Dad (and also myself): an "Aspirational Farmer" stack 

It's the classic mom-and-dad conundrum: what do you get your kids for Christmas... especially when you've got four of them, all in their adult years? The appropriate answer, I think, is to give them carte blanche on at least a couple of their presents. This is always an especially good idea when it comes to books, as it allows for the present-receiver to unwrap their own deliberate selections... as well as source them from the most cost-responsible retailers possible. All it takes is an hour or two surfing Book Outlet, and voila: a stack of books for your kid for Christmas, for under $30. Everybody wins! 

So, thank you, Mom and Dad, for this exciting new selection of reads, pretty much dedicated to the small patch of land I keep in our backyard, whose reinvigoration I am already looking forward to in April. The titles I picked out: 

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, Novella Carpenter

The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution, Brent Preston 

The Everything Backyard Farming Book, Neil Shelton

Grow What You Love: 12 Plant Food Families to Change Your Life, Emily Murphy 

Grow Cook Eat, Willi Galloway

The one small outlier on this list, is a different sort of mental focus, but still in keeping along the same vein: Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4 a Day, by Leanne Brown. I originally heard about this book on an episode of the Dinner Sisters podcast this Fall, and really loved not only the recipes highlighted from the book itself, but also, the message behind the publication: Brown developed the concept during her Masters in Food Policy at Brown, and it was written in order to provide a free PDF of nutritional inspiration for those on very tight budgets, particularly the SNAP program of food stamp benefits. After the free download became a viral sensation, the print run was funded primarily through a successful Kickstarter project, with every purchase making another available to a family in need. It became the #1 cookbook ever funded on Kickstarter, and then quickly progressed to a New York Times bestseller during its second print run. In total, according to Leanne Brown's website, "over 96,000 printed copies of Good and Cheap to people in need," and "have also sold more than 115,000 copies" to low-income family groups and organizations "at huge discount." 

From my Younger Brother, the Reader: Filling in Some Blank Shelf Space... in a Big Way 

Earlier in 2020 - shortly after Covid shuttered his senior year of high school early, which also brought an end to the typical seven-to-ten hours a day he spent there - I finally relinquished a bit of a grasp on my bookshelves, and decided that it was time to let my then-18-year-old brother try his hand at reading some Tamora Pierce. 

What I didn't expect, was how quickly he'd make his way through her entire canon... including, surprisingly, the books of hers I'd never actually wound up reading myself. 

One of such series was the Alanna books, her first of their kind in the Tortall Universe. While I'd originally tried to read them in my early twenties, I did so only after I'd already fallen in love with Kel, Ali, and Beka... and unfortunately, it was pretty difficult to get into her earlier works, when I'd been reading so much more of her contemporary series. So, I passed on the rest of them, and simply contented myself to rereading Beka Cooper: Terrier for the sixth or seventh time. 

This did not work for my brother, who very quickly thereafter, insisted on filling out the rest of my collection for me, bestowed with the promise that I'd do my best to quickly catch up "to his level." I can't tell you exactly how I felt in having my eight-years-younger brother call me a "fake fan" of one of my longest literary obsessions, but it wasn't great, and I'm looking forward to reading as much Pierce as I can in the new year. 

While the Alanna books were a welcome collection to add to my already-bursting shelves, they also weren't the only reads my brother thought it was important to give me for Christmas. Not when another one of the requests on my list looked so alluring, too. 

You might have seen one of these boxes floating around on BookTube earlier this year: a collection of twenty titles, purchased wholesale from a warehouse of backlisted mass-market-paperback romance novels, for about $25. Who could resist such temptation, right? Especially, of course, when you would get to choose the theme of what came inside the box, too. 

But there's a lot more information for that one to come later... mainly because I'm still mentally processing all of the abs on these covers, myself. So hang on for a couple of days, and I'll give you an update, on how exactly I reacted when I saw that my brother had bought me a box of twenty backlisted Paranormal Fantasy romance novels. 

What fun reads did you find under your tree? Got any cool plans for any giftcards you got? Let me know, in the comments below!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Fantasy Names are Hard, and Never Underestimate the Power of a Great Outline

If you had asked me what my NaNoWriMo project for 2020 was going to be back in July, I would have given you nothing except a mildly panicked grimace. Whereas in past years, I have had an idea kicking not just months, but usually years in advance, this time, I knew I was short on them. Thankfully, I was not short on initiative, because in August, I hatched a plan. 

I was missing the creativity and unbridled limits that come from writing pure Fiction, something I hadn't taken up the opportunity to write for what was, essentially a couple of years. My 2019 NaNo project was a personal Memoir, while the year before that saw Fiction, yes, but in the form of an adaptation, one that came with its own set of limits. Truthfully, I hadn't written from-the-ground-up, only-mine-and-mine-alone Fiction since the previous year, 2017, when my NaNo took the form of a series of short form Horror pieces. It's been quite some time since I pondered the idea of writing a full-length Fictional novel. 

So, I spent my July embarking on a secret project: collecting as many strange and exciting writing prompts as I could find in ready access on Pinterest. I decided that in throughout the course of August, I was going to try and write a prompt a day of pure fiction. With every entry, I hoped to generate at least 500 words of text, as well as a working title and blurb for what form this hypothetical book might take. Granted, this project was doomed from the outset: I was already contending with a wedding in the extended family, the prep work for which I was eagerly involved, and at least half of the month would be spent in a completely different state with my family.

Long story short, I didn't get to my 30 fiction pieces... but I did get to 20! And instead of the simple parameters I'd given them, they ballooned up and out, to 1,000+ words for a complete scene, titles that I already found compelling, and blurbs that felt readable even then, in their bare bones format. Now, instead of stressing over an absence of ideas, I suddenly found myself grappling with a surplus. 

Thankfully, my younger brother was game to serve as a secondary sounding board. He came up with the next step: I would pick my top ten, then my top five, and after I was confident in my choices, I would send them to him to review. I was actually able to winnow my way down to four... when the unthinkable happened. 

It was in rereading my favorite choices that I began to clue in on the fact that two of them in particular might not be so different after all... in fact, they might just be a part of the same story! Crazy enough, my brother - at this point many, many miles away from me, pursuing his Musical Education degree at an in-state college on the other side of Washington - independently came to the same conclusion when reading through my entries, too. All of a sudden, the choice seemed clear: the hybrid story of the two plot lines and characters I'd charted back in August, would become the basis upon which a whole NaNo project would stand. 

Which introduced an entirely new concept to the table: this new, fun idea, was a Fantasy novel. I've never written Fantasy before. 

I make it a point of personal preference that every project I undertake is something new and exciting for me... a chance to stretch my boundaries and learn something new. I've written Thriller, Satire, YA Contemporary, Horror, and Memoir... but Fantasy was a whole other animal in comparison. 

But it also has a lot of personal significance for both me and my brother, as one of our favorite genres. Playing D&D with college friends is the closest I'd come to engaging with it directly before; the rest of my experience comes from a life of loving books, movies, and TV shows that take place in these far off, fascinating places, engage with creatures and forms of life beyond the stretches of human experience, that rely on complex systems of magic for which there are rules, and foreign diplomacy for which there must be a colorful and strange map hidden in the front endpages. 

Fantasy, as my brother and I responded to each other, was hard. 

But it was already there: the seeds of an idea germinating in my head, sending off shoots of character ideas and plot twists and the visions of a vaguely-Basquean castle towering above a bustling city marketplace, and the silent, strange woods behind a venerated school of magic. I knew I had to carry the story forward. 

Working Title: Ferdy Fernsby and the Jewel of the City 

It was the chance of a lifetime: a chance to get off of her farm, away from her overreaching stepmother, and into the wide world, where someone with money might find a use for her particular skill set. While lockpicking, stealth, and sleight of hand might not be a strong argument for employment in the boonies of farm country, they were absolutely an asset in the glittering city of Armarhia. 

If only Gemma had been the only one who had gotten the offer. An enigmatic and furtive backer had set the challenge – steal the jewel that protected the castle – to a whole network of rogues that spanned across the entire city. Now, the only group of people she’d felt included in in the past, had become her direct competition, racing to see who could reach the castle and the jewel first. 

But – unfortunately – Gemma isn’t completely on her own. For some reason, Jac has attached himself to her side, claiming an alliance that Gemma isn’t in any kind of mood to honor. However annoying having a rival rogue tagging along may be, it beats traveling alone. You never know when you’ll need to trip someone in front of a charging bear, right?

Together, Gemma and Jac have to traverse the city, find the hidden jewel, steal it, and deliver it to the hands of their secretive, unknown employer, before anyone else can… unless, of course, they kill each other on the way. But with so many others looking to take on that task themselves, they might as well work together… especially when the jewel ends up being much more trouble than any of the rogues had ever expected. 

    Ferdinand Fernsby was raised with the knowledge that he was destined for greatness. But there’s only so much magic you can learn growing the melons in your family garden, and drying out the laundry with a gust of wind… that’s why his mother bought him a placement at one of the most prestigious magic schools on the continent, far away from his own home kingdom. 

But while Ferdy has spent his days imagining endless libraries, fascinating classes, and connecting with the realm’s other most talented up-and-coming magic users, he in no way bargained for his unexpected classmate: the chaos-prone prince, Louis. While he struggles to keep up in his studies - combatting bullies and helping his accidental friend along the way - he finds out that it’s not just Louis’s own grasp of magic that’s going haywire… a malevolent force seems to be threatening Armarhia itself.  

    It’s only from an overheard conversation that he learns about the bounty on the jewel that protects their kingdom. There are plenty of forces who’d be interested in seeing those walls fall vulnerable, and Ferdy and Louis aren’t about to let that happen. 

    Now, the two boys are on a race against time to fix magic and save the kingdom… if they ever make it back to the castle at all, that is. Not only are other magicians and neighboring armies are out looking for them, but that’s not even mentioning the treacherous landscape that stretches between here and home.  

And to think, all he wanted to do was go to school!  

Usually, in my past NaNo experiences, this is where I would get to work: I'd put meat on the bones that I had grown, fleshing it out - albeit partially - into a functional outline, from which I could build into bigger and better ideas as I wrote it out throughout the project. However, like I said, there was that wedding to attend to, and September passed without so much as a backward glance; October, my birth month, similarly yielded no new ideas. By the time Halloween hit, and the end credits of The Lost Boys scrolled across our television screen downstairs, I figured I was doomed. 

So, on Day One of NaNo, I set myself an easy compromise. Just write a couple of chapter's worth of outlines, I reasoned. You can build off of them in the future. It's no use getting started without knowing where you were going. And it went well! In fact, it went so well, that the next day, instead of getting bogged down with writing an opening scene or something, I decided to continue simply writing my detailed outline instead. 

After a couple of days, I found myself encountering the same madness that had made an appearance in my August prompts: my couple of paragraphs a day, had suddenly gained enough detail and nuance to warrant three or four pages per chapter. I wasn't really writing a novel - there was no description, barest hints of dialogue - but suddenly, my work was looking more and more like I was really committing to the outline, the story flow, the escalation of the plot. By the end of the first week, I felt like I had made the right choice; by the end of the project, I felt like if there was ever a NaNo project of mine that could be a real novel, it would be this one. 

Notes from Writing: What's in a Name?

An offshoot from my brother's conversations about Fantasy Being Hard, was a more specific set of qualifiers: Fantasy Names are Hard in Particular. As someone who has no patience for lackluster insertions of high-scoring Scrabble letters into Fantasy genre names at whim - ie, Nyx, Zephyr, Veraen, etc. - I felt like I was stuck either playing to stereotype, or unable to connect characters with names that suited them appropriately. 

In this way, my biggest foible, in writing Fantasy was - at least at the start - generating names that sounded significantly "other," but also made sense. So, I began to rely on a longstanding practice of mine, which I trot out not only when I'm writing in this genre, but in general: I become a movie director, and try to "cast" someone from the real world - or a similar character from another fictional work - into my own project, someone close enough to the character I'm trying to name so that the mental image maintains its clarity.

For instance, when writing in 2016, I needed a general, everyman sort of character, who would find himself in extraordinary circumstances in a satirical world; he became "Guy," named partially for the character from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and partially because he became, literally, just some Guy. Another character in the same story was a hit man, someone who would occasionally become dark and prone to introspection, someone found in suits and sunglasses, but who still carried an innately redeemable storyteller's quality; because of this - and the fact that he was, at his core, a hit man for hire - dubbed him "Cash," like Johnny. 

In a Fantasy world, this came in clutch. The names feel at home in the world I created, but aren't always what you'd expect, and find their origins in a wide and ranging myriad of media, celebrity culture, and occasionally, gardening tools. 

• One of my main characters - a disaster prone Prince - originally started life as an "Albert," as I tried to cast around for a suitably gawky, clumsy name, that still preserved a connection to royalty. However, he eventually became "Louis," which feels a little more on the pedestrian side, yet which has ties to French royal lines. The change came because, as I continued to write him, he began to remind me of elements of a character from Disney's Meet the Robinsons who goes by that name. 
• I needed a dual set of competitors to work against two of my heroes; thereby, the two most prominent members of the Rogue's Guild came to be named "Peta" and "Duwain." Peta is an athletic and calculating powerhouse, who still manages to fit in nicely with the satin skirts and delicate manners of the elite... and she's named after one of my favorite professionals from Dancing with the Stars. Duwain, a colossal, muscular, imposing menace, who isn't afraid to use his stature against his enemies, is, of course, taken from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. 
• For just one chapter, I needed a character who could serve as a vehicle, for information, for movement, for a sense of pushing the plot forward. So, his in-story use matched his name: because of his appearance as a dockhand and in-world experience as an expert trafficker of stolen goods, he was dubbed "Barrow." You know, like a wheelbarrow, which is used to cart stuff. 

Hold me to this next year: I've beaten NaNo six times now, but have yet to tackle that elusive mistress called "consistency and sleep." Maybe it's not so much seeing if I can do it, but seeing if I can do it while also maintaining a regular and healthy bedtime.

So, I finished a few days early... almost a week, actually. And for the first time for a NaNo project, because of its status as a general outline, I have been able to complete a full story arc, getting the whole thing, the way it progresses, down on paper. I haven't had that before... none of my other projects ever progressed to a place where I felt like it could feasibly have a completed ending by the time I finished it, even if the ideas were 60% there. But this year, it did. 

And you know what? Fantasy is hard. But it's also fun, and rewarding, and the sort of thing I love for a real reason. 

Unfortunately, as of right now, I have to put the project to the side. Because while I love and enjoy spending my time building a world and characters, writing snappy dialogue and flowery descriptions, and putting all of those particular puzzle pieces in place, I also enjoy reading some, too. And being that after this nuclear-runoff hellscape of a year, I am nearly 20 books behind on my Goodreads Challenge, that's what I'm choosing to focus my attention on, instead. 

But my story is waiting for me to come back. So are characters, waiting for me to fill their world with colors and mouths with conversation. It's just going to have to wait for January for now... which means that 2021 is already shaping up to be a pretty good year, in my book. 

(And because I just said that, it's time to knock on wood 'til my knuckles bleed.) 

Did you take part in NaNoWriMo this year? What's your favorite tool for coming up with character names? Let me know, in the comments below!

A Seriously Slumpy Summer: Where I've Been, and What I Haven't Been Reading

Not really feeling up for a bit of a self-involved pity party? Feel free to skip this one. But if you're looking for a little more insight as to why I've been pretty silent on this space this year, here's an attempt at explaining where I've been. To be honest, it just felt good to write all of this out, whether or not anyone feels like reading it.

You'd think there'd be plenty of time to read while everyone is stuck at home, right? Unfortunately, for me, that hasn't been the case. While seemingly everyone else I know has been racking up major reading lists in 2020, my own has completely stalled. I'm currently trailing my own Goodreads goal by almost ten. 

That isn't to say I haven't been reading: that number would be different if I counted every single book I read, like romance novels and cookbooks. However, I don't count those towards my goal (something I've been considering changing for multiple reasons, none of which inspire me to do so five-sixths of the way through the year). So, while I am still actively pursuing and perusing new reading material - as well as cooking more than ever before - I am certainly not up to the level I'd hoped I'd be in 2020. 

Reasons I Haven't Been Reading, shorthand:

• My mental health hasn't exactly been conducive to accomplishing goals, large or small scale... being that we're in a pandemic, during an election year, at a time of major social and political upheaval. 
• I've been occupied with other tasks, like managing my garden and, again, cooking way more lasagna, chicken pot pie, and vegan cinnamon rolls than a regular person probably should be.
• Major family events have required my input, involvement, and emotional investment, like coping with a 2020 family wedding, sending my youngest sibling and only brother off to college, and more.

I've been incredibly jealous of those who've been able to use this time as a springboard for bigger and better projects (Two separate friends have started two separate podcasts, one relaunched her professional website, more than five turned furloughs and layoffs into a reason to head back for graduate school, and countless others have suddenly found themselves engaged! And according to the Washington Post, it's not just my social circle who've become masters of lemons-lemonade alchemy). 

Maybe I've been having a hard time reading because I also feel very stuck in other various parts of my life. A sense of purposelessness, shame over still living with my parents at 27, confusion over how to proceed with a professional career... all at a time where the economy is fluctuating wildly, and the coronavirus death toll continues to climb higher. I find myself feeling guilty for not being able to operate at my best, when the resources and support I have are highly-recognizable kinds of privilege. 

It's clear that it's not just my reading habits that have taken a hit, either. My dedication to journaling has suffered, as have my willingness to attempt practices I've found helpful in the past, like yoga, taking long walks, listening to podcasts, and more. It's hard to feel intentional when even the act of buying jeans - for the first time in two years, after three pairs fell apart over the summer - takes the wind out of your sails. 

I had lofty goals for this month, too: It's Fall, a season of renewal for me, and more than that, it's my birth month. I wanted to use this time to rededicate to my favorite healthy habits, and quickly pledged to myself that in October, I'd read for at least half an hour every day. By the third day of the month, I'd already had a misstep; by today, ten days in, I've only spent half of them making a concentrated effort to sit down, unplug my brain, and lose myself in something new. 

This is all especially frustrating, as reading habits have a very clear and important role in my life, with defined and consistent results at improving my happiness:

• It cuts my amount of screen time, sometimes by hour-wide margins. In a world where everyone now finds themselves connected virtually, it's a rare chance to rest my eyes. 
• It redirects my anxiety: instead of being trapped in my own head, hyper-fixating on my own frustrations, it offers me not only a way out, exploring problems being my own, but also some perspective on issues I'm currently facing. 
• It gives me a chance to connect with other people. Whether it's talking to like-minded readers on my bookstagram profile, or chatting with my brother on Zoom, engaging in bookish culture provides a foundation for further conversation, and important social facet I've been missing.

Needless to say, that final component - of the socialization, involvement, and sense of expression that comes from being a part of various bookish communities - is a really big one for me. My involvement on not only the blog, but also my Instagram page (which I've only managed to post on once since May), has demonstrably shifted. Every time I feel moved to post, it feels more motivated by a sense of obligation than enjoyment. 

Why bother? Who reads what I write? Who is engaging with it, or more than that, enjoying it at all? These are pretty regular questions for anyone who engages in a creative space (especially on the Internet) to be asking, but in a year when I've felt shut off from other outlets, it feels especially crippling. 

My brain relates a little too much to my laptop at the moment: years past its best level of usability, unable to sustain long bouts of action, not really being used for its intended purposes, but still trying its best. It doesn't work if it's not plugged in, and it takes about twenty minutes to boot up, but its still serving me fine. And you know what? Last week, I took off all the clear packing tape that had been holding its screen in place, and replaced it with duct tape, instead... and while it's far from ideal, it's working better. Now I just need to find a way to duct tape my brain, so it works just that little bit better, too. At least enough so that I can figure out how to move on from here. 

Maybe reading is the way to do it. Journaling, walking, listening to podcasts, too. I know what's good for me, it's just the energy it takes to change my behavior feels a little out of reach at the moment. I'm still trying to figure out how to get that energy back. 

 How have your own reading practices been challenged or bolstered by this blockbuster year? What do you spend your time on when you're not in the mood to read? Let me know, in the comments below! 

Top Ten (Well, Technically Fifteen) Tuesday: Books on my Autumn 2020 TBR

 

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

I think we can all agree that Summer 2020 has been, holistically, a bit of a bummer. 

Covid-19 is still raging across the country, family vacations were constrained by restrictions and safety nets, the West Coast was choked by smoke for weeks on end, and while my Sungold cherry tomatoes gave off enough good fruit to be turned into a champagne vinegar- and brown sugar-based jam this afternoon, my Pineapple Beefsteak Heirlooms never even managed to fully ripen before a major rainstorm swept through and split all of their skins. 

Really, I think, we've all been waiting for Fall. Cozy sweaters, festive candles, the shaky, hap-hazard return of cable reality television programming! And, of course, plenty of time to sit back on a drizzly, grey afternoon, and read a good book. 

Full disclosure: due to a mix of a busy summer schedule and depression, I've not finished anything in three weeks, and fell seriously short of my goals for Summer (but more on that in a future post). So, are the fifteen books on this list born from a surge of hope towards a healthier, more mentally-balanced Autumn? Or is my brain just unconsciously trying to make up the deficit for the eight books behind I am on my Goodreads Challenge? 

All I know, is that I'm a girl who's only a mug of hot chocolate, slice of pumpkin loaf, and a sub-60-degree afternoon away from a good reading time. And as of today, Fall is officially here! 

SEPTEMBER

Back to school time! While we are rapidly approaching the end of September, I'm hoping to pack in at a few titles into my reading schedule before we shift over to the requisite creep-tastic vibes of October. 

1. Paperback Crush: the Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction, Gabrielle Moss

Nothing feels more appropriate for back-to-school season than this pick, a bright, retro coffee-table-style paperback about the advent of the YA publishing category. (Originally, this book came based on a recommendation for those who enjoy the SSR  - Sh*t She Read - Podcast, which throws back to some of the books that dominated the youth of current Millenials.) Most excited for the chapter on R. L. Stine's Fear Street, honestly. 

2. Born for This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do, Chris Guillebeau

Like many young people (and old people, and middle-aged people) in the United States right now, I am currently unemployed. It's a huge bummer, and it's doing a really effective hit job on my sense of purpose and identity. To combat this, I challenged myself to a bit of a "Self Help September," and have been trying to pick up a few titles that really instill a bit of hope and positve habits into my brain. 

3. The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next #3), Jasper Fforde

When in doubt, go back to old favorites! I had a great time rereading the first two installments in this fun, unexpected series earlier this Spring when things began to shut down, and I'd love to spend more time with Thursday this Fall, too. 

4. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce #1), Alan Bradley

I started this one earlier this summer, but only made my way about 50 pages into it before I had to put it down for something else. I'd love to go back and finish it, as a mystery starring a plucky eleven-year-old actually totally fits the mood right now. 

5. The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1), Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A modern standard for those book lovers who love reading books about loving books and reading them, I haven't picked this one up since my Freshman year of college. However, I had more than one friend unexpectedly love it just this past Fall, and have been feeling a hankering to reread ever since. 

OCTOBER

It's time to get spooky-ooky-ooky! But in between runs to the grocery store for more canned pumpkin and red food coloring, or bouts of watching old Goosebumps episodes on Netflix, I've got to have something to read... 

6. Our Dark Duet (Savage Song #2), Victoria Schwab

I keep trying to recommend V. E. Schwab books to my brother, before I'm forced to confront a painful fact: while I own all of the books in the Darker Shade of Magic series, the Monsters of Verity duology, and both Vicious and Vengeful, technically speaking, I have only read the first book of each series. (I know, I'm a monster.) So I figure I have to actually get around to reading them all at some point, if only to pass my little bro some good reading material. 

7. You Should Have Left, Daniel Kehlman

Impulsively, I tacked this book onto a major Book Outlet order this past January, after I read a one-sentence review that simply said "Like Danielewski's House of Leaves, but much, much shorter." If it manages to cram even a fraction of HoL's unsettling eerieness into this pint-sized novella, I'll be impressed, and suitably creeped out for October. (Also, it's translated from German!) 

8. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton

I gave this book to my bestie for Christmas, in the hopes that we'd be able to read it together as a kind of book club. Unfortunately, such is the life of a mood reader: while Elise devoured it on vacation in Hawaii earlier this year, I've been incapable of touching it until the world turns a lot gloomier. 

9. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

A spooky reread, in honor of the fact that my younger sister Delaney - who loves scary movies - was absolutely obsessed with the Haunting of Hill House series from Netflix that came out last year. Now, apparently, there's a movie adaptation of this book, too, and she's insisting we watch it. Not sure how that's going to play out - I'm a notorious chicken - but at least I can read it! 

10. Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3), Libba Bray

Remember how I said I love my little brother, who also loves the same books I do, who I love to loan books to and share series with? Yeah, he's been real patient with me in terms of the Diviners series. I literally got this for my birthday - what, three years ago? - when it first came out, and while he waited for me to read it first, I never got around to it. So he jumped ahead in line and has been sticking around ever since, waiting for me to catch up. Maybe this year's the year? 

11. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice 

Full disclosure: I'm actually not a huge fan of the movie. For the kind of reason my Dad hates, in fact, because that decision is formed entirely on the basis that I'm really not a fan of either Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. But I picked this title up off of a $2 table at a thrift store last year, and I'm thinking that maybe the book will shake out differently? If not, I can always rewatch The Lost Boys as a palate cleanser. (In fact, I'll probably be doing that anyways.) 

NOVEMBER

Out of all of the montly TBRs I'm putting in this post, November is, by far, the one most open to variables, mainly due to the importance of NaNoWriMo in all of my end-of-the-year plans. When it comes down to it, I love reading during November, but I just have to make sure the material doesn't clash with - or worse, is too similar to - what I'm writing. Still, these books have a comfortable kind of Fall feeling to them that merit a place on this list! 

12. In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4), Seanan McGuire

If you haven't noticed, Seanan McGuire has been busy writing what I personally believe is one of the world's greatest Fantasy series, in novella form, for the past handful of years. I love them all so much, I actually have to ration out how fast I read them. Otherwise, I'll catch up to her publishing schedule, and then what will I do? (Also, those covers are just so beautiful!) 

13. A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries, Thomas Mallon

Every once in a while, it's fun to walk away from a secondhand book store with an old, antiquated title that no one's ever heard of before, that seems tailor-made just for you. This nonfiction exploration of the art and practice of journal keeping, inspired by the lives of journal-keepers throughout histories, only has 215 ratings on Goodreads, and I am so excited to read it. 

14. If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio

I feel like this has become a bit of a sleeper hit in the Dark Academia category since it came out three years ago, as more and more of those TikTok kiddos who love floaty white button-downs, jet black ink, and antique busts venture out beyond the realm of Donna Tartt. But to be clear: anyone who knows me, knows that "Shakespeare-obsessed drama students attend elite college, and someone gets murdered" absolutely fits my vibe. 

15. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith 

Honestly, I tried to get around to reading this one last year - when I feel like everyone else I knew was reading it, too - but kept getting distracted by other titles, instead. I would love to be able to commit to and read through a classic title this Fall, and this coming-of-age story might just be a great fit! 

What's in YOUR Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!

TODAY I AM TEN: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self, After Blogging Across a Decade

Date: July 24th, 2020
Delivery to: July 24th, 2010

Hello, Younger Me. 

Remember every time you had to do that assignment in class - whether it was for an overly ambitious grade school assignment, or in an English class in January, at the top of the year when you'd just come in all pale and dazed from a too-busy Winter Break - when your teacher would have you write a note to your future self, talking about how you hoped the world would be after a year, five years, maybe ten?

First of all, spoiler, but I'm 26, and I've never seen a single one of those letters return my way. So there's that.

And second of all, I'm doing that now, but in reverse. I'm writing to you from the future. Invest in hand sanitizer and face masks.

Let's kick things off by talking about you. You are currently embroiled in the bitterly hot days of the summer vacation between your Sophomore and Junior years of high school. It's taken you until mid-July to recover from all that social interaction from the school year, which means it's now time to panic over attempting a complete makeover montage before you go back to school in September. (I'm telling you now, that in ten years, you will do nothing but gain weight. You will love yourself more in a size 16 than you ever did in a size 8).

Here's where you are: You know how to drive, but you hate it. You drink, on average, two Diet Cokes a day, but still more when you can manage it. Your parents still haven't agreed to let you own any personal electronics beyond your non-iPhone cell, so you spend every summer morning booting up the desktop in your parent's room to manually check in on a list of twenty or so blogs you enjoy.

(Don't worry: both a laptop and a Kindle are on their way within the next year, and your best friend finally convinces them to get you an iPhone before you go to college).

The North Face jacket in question, seen here on
a church retreat on 16yo Me.

You were a chubby, quiet kid, who was bullied for being chubby and quiet, so for the first two years of high school, you got dressed every morning in the same way, whether it was above 90 or just pushing 32: the same Vans shoes, the same Gap jeans, and always, always, your full-sleeve North Face jacket. Thankfully, by now, you have shrunk it in the wash so many times that it no longer hits lower than mid-forearm, and by September, you'll have to give it up for normal clothes.

Last year, that cute guy you sat next to all year in your Geometry class kept a tally in his binder of all the words you collectively said to him over the course of the academic term (Less than ten). Little did he know, you pour ink into journals repeatedly, year after year, in composition notebooks full of words, because you're addicted to observing and reflecting on the world around you. In a lot of ways, that's the only way you can make it all make sense.

(Good news: you have a documented record of all of the ways Mom and Dad unfairly punished you for minor transgressions, from the age of twelve up, to reflect on later. Bad news: your younger siblings will get away with far, far worse, with only minor retribution, and your parents will carry on with a stunning lack of awareness or sense of equity whenever you bring this up. Being the eldest will never get more fun from that period of a year or so when you were eight, and you got to stay up a half-hour later than your sister.)

But there's only so many journals you can fill. And you can only look at someone else's blog so many times in a day, refreshing every other hour to see if anything new had arrived, before you start to wonder what it would be like to publish your own. 

So, you did it!

Let's say you just hit publish on your first post. You chose from a limited selection of pre-set background themes, because you don't know HTML (but had Dad not gotten in the way of you signing into a MySpace profile while you were only eleven so many years before, you might have learned). It's pink and has hummingbirds on it, which isn't exactly you, but it's also not exactly not? You look forward to a day when you'll be able to change things up for yourself.

And you'll be pretty good at it, too. After ten years of writing and uploading to your own, invisible corner of the Internet, you'll be pretty damn good.

Here, poor precocious, terrified, frustrated and anxious Savannah, are the Top Ten Ways Blogging Changes Your Life: 

1. It became a space to call my own. 
You've got three younger siblings, two of which are still in elementary school, and if there's anything that you've learned by now, there are going to be few and far between things in your world that belong to you alone. This blog is one of them. You own it, you control it, you choose what goes in or out, and no one else - not even your parents, your teachers, or your siblings - have any say in the matter. It's all for you.

2. It empowered me to speak confidently on the things I like. 
As a little girl who took nearly a year's worth of fencing classes at thirteen because you were so desperate to find a way to be brave, there is nothing that will boost your self-confidence more than this blog. In college, you will write about Fashion, and find a love of The Bachelor, and when you graduate, you'll realize you actually love Romance Novels. None of these things make you dumber, or less worthy of writing about what you think are more "serious" topics. No one is getting in your way more than yourself, and this blog is going to help check your self-directed anxiety to the side.

3. It gave me a college admissions boost.
As it turns out, while the University of Washington will love your 3.9 high school GPA, and how you are a Daffodil Princess, and Editor in Chief of the school newspaper, they also really liked that you are self-motivated, determined, and organized enough to start your own blog. Go figure.

4. It provided a concrete reason to keep reading. 
For every friend in college who bragged that they "hadn't read a book for fun since high school," you will never had to feel that way. Not only will having a blog give you more than enough reasons to keep reading, but it will also provide a platform to inspire others to get back into the habit, too... especially when it comes to your first gig.

5. It helped me land my first writing job. 
College Fashion is a name you'll recognize, being that you type its URL into Google every morning for sartorial perspectives on your future. Little do you know, that you'll end up contributing over 50 articles, across two years, in a column that only gets more popular with your authorship... including bonding with people across the Internet about your love of Dune, Howl's Moving Castle, and more.

6. It helped me find my voice.
At a time in your life when you figure that the worst possible person to be is your own self, this blog helps develop a means of speaking that sounded true to you. While your writing style occasionally fluctuates in formality and diction, you're still very much a continuation of the person you are when you first started writing, and it's this blog that helps you find that path of evolution.

7. It gave me a way to track my writing development. 
Will you occasionally grit your teeth and moan when you read posts from back when you were your age? Yes. But it's the equivalent of macaroni art on the fridge, contextually. You've got so much room to grow, kiddo, and this blog is a means by which you can track just how far you've come. Besides, it also helps you keep track of the five times you absolutely smash NaNoWriMo. Exciting, right?

8. It gave me space to find comfort in writing. 
When you graduate late from college? When you fail two classes, and had to move back home, instead of staying in Seattle like you had originally wanted? When you feel alone and frustrated because you feel like you're no further towards your goals than when you were the age you are now? You'll tell the Internet. (A therapist or something would definitely have helped, but for now, it's been enough.)

9. It helped me clarify my focus.
At your age, I was still thinking I wanted to be a journalist. I wanted to write for the News-with-a-capital-N, whatever that meant, and feel important and acclaimed and up-to-date. Now, I know that's not my course of action... and neither is fashion writing, graphic design, copy-editing, or many other things I've been able to try out while writing for this blog. I am still at a loss for what I want to pursue in the greater scheme of my life, but with this outlet, I have a means of getting closer.

10. It became a platform for something bigger. 
Whether it was talking about the election back in 2016 and inauguration in 2017, or it was the first week of Black Lives Matter protests back in June, this platform will give you an outlet to clarify and demonstrate your perspectives on the world around you, in ways that help me articulate ideas that are bigger than just yourself. You might still feel like you're just shouting into the void, but I'm more confident than ever that what I'm saying matters.

So when your mom asks you, sweetly enough, if the reason you didn't date more in college was because you spent so much time reading instead, you're going to know that it was for a worthy cause. (And to be clear, you still aren't dating all that much nowadays, either.)

All the best, 
Twenty-Six Year Old Savannah. 

2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 (the first year I actually acknowledge the anniversary!) - 

2015 Part One / Part Two - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 Part One / Part Two / Part Three - 2019 - 2020! 

I celebrated my blogging anniversary this summer in the same way I have for the past five years: by treating myself to some new books! It's one of the only times in the year I allow myself to buy hardcovers, especially recent releases, and I was so lucky to find every single book I wanted on my list.

Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire
The fifth novella in McGuire's award-winning Every Heart a Doorway series, not only was this one of my most-anticipated books of the year, but I'm not the only one coveting its gorgeous cover. I finally turned over the first three installments in the series to my younger brother this Spring, and he's been clamoring for more ever since. But he'll have to wait his turn!

Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel
If you recall, back in November, my National Novel Writing Month project had to do with reading Food Memoirs, as I was busy attempting to write selections of my own. Since then, I've only continued to lean into that concept... and while it's not a Memoir, you can find this title on pretty much any "Books with Food" list ever written.

The Tempest, William Shakespeare
The cheapest book on the list, and some might argue the most boring, as well. In a list populated with complex and interesting authorship, he's the one old white dude on it. But this year I've started swinging back around to reading ol' Shakesy-P for the first time since 2014, and I thought it was about time that I locked down a Folger Library copy of my favorite play.

Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas
Memoirs and Essays are one of my favorite comfort genres, and I've had this February release on my list since the start of the year. As a gay Black man recounts what it was like growing up as both of those identities in a Christian theology, in a suburban neighborhood, and contemplates what it means to grow up in "otherness," it's been heralded by many friends as a worthy read.

Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking, Toni Tipton-Martin 
Speaking of releases I've been looking forward to all year... this was the James Beard-award winner for American Cookbooks in 2020, and it's been hyped by an incredible amount of the content creators I love in the industry. Plus, there's shrimp on the cover!

Other things I did to celebrate the occasion: got boba tea and some baked goodies with my brother from 85C Bakery Cafe, cuddled the cat (despite the hurdle her sleepy noggin proved to be in using my trackpad), and enjoyed an entirely too-big Club sandwich from legendary local fixture, MSM Deli.

Thank you for spending ten years with me on the Internet. Without a badly-beaten-up laptop, semi-reliable WiFi, a pen and notebook, and plenty of books to read, I am nothing. 

Got any good ideas for the next ten years? Let me know, in the comments below!