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I will have a giveaway running at one point all year. There will be four in total for the whole year. When one ends, another begins. This way I can keep giving and you’ll still have an opportunity to win!

There will be one winner that I will send $25 worth of book(s) to. You can pick ANY books you want. (not just the books pictured above…. ANY)

The rules are simple:

must be following me: @booklover277

reblog / like this post to enter. reblog as many times as you want.

I will be buying the book(s) from book depository or amazon, so make sure one of those will ship to your country.

if under 18, you must have parent/guardian permission.

must be willing to give me your address

must have your ask box open, so that I can contact you.

If the winner does not get back to me within 48 hours, I will be selecting a new winner.

giveaway ends July 10, 2018

GOOD LUCK!

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This is my brilliant, perfect Niece, settling in to read her current favorite book, “Chu.” It’s about a little panda with a big sneeze and was written by one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman. Niece is so in love with the series that she must have all three books read to her each night at bedtime, and she absolutely must have at least least one to take with her in to her crib. We watched her page through it on the video monitor.

*teary-eyed* Loves Gaiman, sleeps with books. Just like her auntie. I’m so proud!

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#Goals

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Divination: Effective Questions ✨🔮

Moving forwards

What is holding me back?

What can I learn from the past?

What am I ignoring?

What is my biggest block at the moment?

How can I overcome x?

What do I need to know/see/understand right now?

What do I need to focus on?

What do I need more of in my life?

What do I need less of in my life?

What is the next step I must take to make my desire a reality?

Personal

What is trying to come forth in my life?

How can I be more powerful and effective in my life?

What is my greatest source of strength?

How can I improve my ability to x?

What talent do I have that I need to use more?

What characteristics do I need to fully embrace?

What skills and talents will best serve me?

What spiritual lesson am I trying to master right now?

How does my current path align with my spiritual purpose?

What message do my patron deity/spirit guide/angel have for me?

Love

What is blocking my self-love flow?

What should I let go to increase my self-love?

What’s my major self-love challenge?

How can I increase my ability to give love?

How can I increase my ability to receive love?

How can I improve my relationship with x?

What do I need to know about my relationship with x?

Are our paths compatible?

What should I do to attract my partner?

Is there anything in the past that’s stopping me from meeting my partner?

NOTE: Nothing is set in stone! Divination is for advice.

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For my next giveaway, I have an ARC of Julie C. Dao’s FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS up for grabs, coming out on October 10th, 2017!

Summary: The Wrath and the Dawn meets Snow White and the Huntsman in this dark and mystical East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl’s quest to become Empress.

18-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and  exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins–sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

This is International!

Reblog or like this post to enter (though really, try not to spam your followers too much…)

You don’t have to be following me to enter, but you must be willing to give me your address and have your ask box open.

This giveaway ends on Saturday, September 16th at midnight EST.

If you win, your ask box must be open so that I can contact you. You will then have 48 hours to reply, or I will pick another winner.

Winners will be chosen at random.

Good Luck! And feel free to drop me an ask if you have further questions!

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Mr. Gaiman, I'm on the journey to write a lot of different things. Novels, Comics, Screenplays, and so much more. My biggest problem is that with so many projects/ideas in mind, I constantly jump from one to another because I can't decide which project is the "right" one. I worry all the time that if I finish the wrong story, no one will want to read it and I'll blow my chance as a writer. Do you have a way of knowing when it's time to write/release a story, or am I just being silly?

You aren’t being silly, but you need to start finishing things. 

There is no “right” project. You have lots of bad sentences and clumsy stories, awkward comics and terrible screenplays inside you, and you get to the good ones by writing the other ones down. Imagine that each time you write “The End” a  “You are now much closer to being Good” light will go on inside your head, and it will be true. Some of those stories will be bad enough you won’t want anyone ever to see them. Some of them will be wonderful. But what you are doing is learning and getting better.

There is no “wrong story”. There are just stories you should write down and finish and learn from. The thing that is most likely to “blow your chance as a writer” is not writing.

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I really do hope Scotland goes for it... But... What would the UK flag look like then? 

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Her Eyes pt. 1 (exerpt from a story I’ve written)

Mitherel was a benevolent god. Leonard was certain of it, which is why he obediently executed all the tasks he would recieve, during meditation and prayer. It never much bothered him, that often he was asked to butcher various creatures, since they were evil, murderous by nature and often hard to qualify as living. His sacrifices: vampire claws, heads of warewolves, the undead or witches were all rewarded with blessings and Mitherel’s grace. Not to mention the gratitude of the civilians, tormented by monstrosities, which snatched their babies out of cradles and turned loved ones into the creatures of the night. Leonard recieved a medal of honor from the king himself, for the service he’d been doing for the kingdom and its people.

What then, could banish sleep from his noble mind? He wondered at that himself. This, was the third night of his suffering; the previous two spent on futile efforts to chase away haunting visions. He saw her everywhere, a black silhouette in every shadow, a dancing figure in the campfire flames. She refused to leave him in peace.

This night, he wandered restlessly, while lower-ranked soldiers slept calmly, as only the just do. He felt on his shoulders the judgemental gaze of the Moon – the mother and mistress of darkness. In the name of the Sun, he had murdered many of her children, yet never has he felt as disturbed as now. He returned to his tent: a large structure of red canvas, with the shining image of his god meticulously embroidered onto the right wing of the entrance; neighbouring on the opposite wing, his family crest, a mighty lion.

He knelt before the altar, looked at the  radiant visage of his savior, and started praying. He begged his god to obliterate the memories of events, which had unfolded three moons prior. (...)

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Reblogging because it did make me write. 

If you're a writer and you see this post, stop what you're doing.

WHENEVER YOU SEE THIS POST ON YOUR DASH, STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND WRITE ONE SENTENCE FOR YOUR CURRENT PROJECT.

Just one sentence. Stop blogging for one minute and write a single sentence. It could be dialogue, it could be a nice description of scenery, it could be a metaphor, I don’t care. The point is, do it. Then, when you finish, you can get back to blogging.

If this gets viral, you might just have your novel finished by next Tuesday.

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Shoutout to all the people suffering from insomnia around the time of the full moon

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When you’re in a writing mood, but also really tired and feel like you don’t have an idea for how to continue so you should stop but damn you’re in writing mood. 

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These are so very moving. 

Dedications | Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

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I always start feeling like practicing magic is a good idea when I have a crush on someone. Like I don’t care about any other aspect of my future I just want to read tarot to know if he likes me back and if we’re going to be together 😳

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Hells yes!

BASICS:

Genres:

Alternate World: A setting that is not our world, but may be similar. This includes “portal fantasies” in which characters find an alternative world through their own. An example would be The Chronicles of Narnia.

Arabian: Fantasy that is based on the Middle East and North Africa.

Arthurian: Set in Camelot and deals with Arthurian mythology and legends.

Bangsian: Set in the afterlife or deals heavily with the afterlife. It most often deals with famous and historical people as characters. An example could be The Lovely Bones.

Celtic: Fantasy that is based on the Celtic people, most often the Irish.

Christian: This genre has Christian themes and elements.

Classical: Based on Roman and Greek myths.

Contemporary: This genre takes place in modern society in which paranormal and magical creatures live among us. An example would be the Harry Potter series.

Dark: This genre combines fantasy and horror elements. The tone or feel of dark fantasy is often gloomy, bleak, and gothic.

Epic: This genre is long and, as the name says, epic. Epic is similar to high fantasy, but has more importance, meaning, or depth. Epic fantasy is most often in a medieval setting.

Gaslamp: Also known as gaslight, this genre has a Victorian or Edwardian setting.

Gunpowder: Gunpowder crosses epic or high fantasy with “rifles and railroads”, but the technology remains realistic unlike the similar genre of steampunk.

Heroic: Centers on one or more heroes who start out as humble, unlikely heroes thrown into a plot that challenges them.

High: This is considered the “classic” fantasy genre. High fantasy contains the general fantasy elements and is set in a fictional world.

Historical: The setting in this genre is any time period within our world that has fantasy elements added.

Medieval: Set between ancient times and the industrial era. Often set in Europe and involves knights. (medieval references)

Mythic: Fantasy involving or based on myths, folklore, and fairy tales.

Portal: Involves a portal, doorway, or other entryway that leads the protagonist from the “normal world” to the “magical world”.

Quest: As the name suggests, the protagonist in this genre sets out on a quest. The protagonist most frequently searches for an object of importance and returns home with it.

Sword and Sorcery: Pseudomedieval settings in which the characters use swords and engage in action-packed plots. Magic is also an element, as is romance.

Urban: Has a modern or urban setting in which magic and paranormal creatures exist, often in secret.

Wuxia: A genre in which the protagonist learns a martial art and follows a code. This genre is popular in Chinese speaking areas.

Word Counts:

Word counts for fantasy are longer than other genres because of the need for world building. Even in fantasy that takes place in our world, there is a need for the introduction of the fantasy aspect.

Word counts for established authors with a fan base can run higher because publishers are willing to take a higher chance on those authors. First-time authors (who have little to no fan base) will most likely not publish a longer book through traditional publishing. Established authors may also have better luck with publishing a novel far shorter than that genre’s expected or desired word count, though first-time authors may achieve this as well.

A general rule of thumb for first-time authors is to stay under 100k and probably under 110k for fantasy.

Other exceptions to word count guidelines would be for short fiction (novellas, novelettes, short stories, etc.) and that one great author who shows up every few years with a perfect 200k manuscript.

But why are there word count guidelines? For young readers, it’s pretty obvious why books should be shorter. For other age groups, it comes down to the editor’s preference, shelf space in book stores, and the cost of publishing a book. The bigger the book, the more expensive it is to publish.

General Fantasy: 75k - 110k

Epic Fantasy: 90k - 120k

Contemporary Fantasy: 90k - 120k

Urban Fantasy: 80k - 100k

Middle Grade: 45k - 70k

YA: 75k - 120k (depending on sub-genre)

Adult: 80k - 120k (depending on sub-genre)

WORLD BUILDING:

A pseudo-European medieval setting is fine, but it’s overdone. And it’s always full of white men and white women in disguise as white men because around 85% (ignore my guess/exaggeration, I only put it there for emphasis) of fantasy writers seem to have trouble letting go of patriarchal societies. 

Guys. It’s fantasy. You can do whatever you want. You can write a fantasy that takes place in a jungle. Or in a desert. Or in a prairie. The people can be extremely diverse in one region and less diverse in another. The cultures should differ. Different voices should be heard. Queer people exist. People of color exist. Not everyone has two arms or two legs or the ability to hear.

As for the fantasy elements, you also make up the rules. Don’t go searching around about how a certain magic spell is done, just make it up. Magic can be whatever color you want. It can be no color at all. You can use as much or as little magic as you want.

Keep track of what you put into your world and stick to the rules. There should be limits, laws, cultures, climates, disputes, and everything else that exists in our world. However, you don’t have to go over every subject when writing your story.

World Building:

Fantasy World Building Questionnaire

Magical World Builder’s Guide

Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creating Religions

Quick and Dirty World Building

World Building Links

Fantasy World Building Questions

The Seed of Government (2)

Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy

Fantasy Worlds and Race

Water Geography

Alternate Medieval Fantasy Story

Writing Magic

Types of Magic

When Magic Goes Wrong

Magic-Like Psychic Abilities

Science and Magic

Creative Uses of Magic

Thoughts on Creating Magic Systems

Defining the Sources, Effects, and Costs of Magic

World Building Basics

Mythology Master Post

Fantasy Religions

Setting the Fantastic in the Everyday World

Making Histories

Matching Your Money to Your World

Building a Better Beast

A Man in Beast’s Clothing

Creating and Using Fictional Languages

Creating a Language

Creating Fictional Holidays

Creating Holidays

Weather and World Building 101

Describing Fantastic Creatures

Medieval Technology

Music For Your Fantasy World

A heterogeneous World

Articles on World Building

Cliches:

Grand List of Fantasy Cliches (most of this can be debated)

Fantasy Cliches Discussion

Ten Fantasy Cliches That Should Be Put to Rest

Seven Fantasy Cliches That Need to Disappear

Avoiding Fantasy Cliches 101

Avoiding Fantasy Cliches

Fantasy Cliches

Fantasy Cliche Meter: The Bad Guys

Fantasy Novelist’s Exam

Mary Sue Race Test

Note: Species (like elves and dwarves) are not cliches. The way they are executed are cliches.

CHARACTERS

Keep reading

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Parapapa love useful tumblr tips

Guide: How to Give Your Story a Purpose

Anonymous asked: Hi! I’m writing novel and I’m having a really hard time figuring out filler events. I’ve got basic things that happen but nothing is really that exciting, to be honest. It’s just basic interactions with a group of around ten people. I guess I’m not really sure what my point of the novel is and I know I want it to mean something more than an abstract representation of who I am.

Well, you never want to have “filler events” in a novel, because all they do is waste time, and readers don’t like to have their time wasted. Instead, do this: 1. Choose a conflict for your story. Conflict is the engine which drives the story forward. Without it you have a flat story. It sounds complicated, but conflict is just the struggle that the story is all about. The conflict of Harry Potter series was the struggle to defeat Voldemort. The conflict of The Hunger Games series was the struggle to defeat the Capitol (first by winning The Hunger Games, then by winning the rebellion.) And the conflict of The Lord of the Rings series was the struggle to destroy the One Ring and bring peace to the land. But a conflict doesn’t have to be so grand–it can be as simple as the struggle to survive your senior year of high school, the struggle to make friends in a new town, or the struggle to win the heart of the cute guy who runs the yogurt stand near your work. Whatever you choose, this struggle–this conflict–will fill out your story and give it the point that it’s currently missing. 2. Choose a goal for your characters. Conflict is the struggle itself, but the goal is the point the characters are struggling toward. In The Hunger Games, Katniss wasn’t really looking to defeat the Capitol so much as she just wanted to survive. It just so happened that in order to do that, she had to thwart and then defeat the Capitol. If your conflict is the struggle to survive the last year of high school, the goal the character is struggling toward might be to get good grades and stay out of trouble. The goal is tied to the main conflict but is more personal to the character.

3. Figure out your character’s motivation. Motivation drives the character through the struggle, toward the goal. It’s the reason that they want to win the struggle. It’s why they do everything that they do. Why did Katniss want to survive? Because she wanted to take care of her loved ones. Why does your character want to get good grades and stay out of trouble all year? Maybe success means parental permission to backpack across Europe over the summer. Once you choose your character’s motivation, your character’s actions will make more sense.

4. Decide on an antagonist.  

You can’t have a struggle without an opposing force. If you had a tug o’ war with people on only one end of the rope, they would pull the rope and instantly win. They would have nothing to struggle against, and it would be boring. But if you put people on the other end of the rope, pulling with all of their might, now the people on the other end of the rope have something to struggle against. The antagonist is the person, people, thing, things on the opposite end of the rope. Every time your character starts to gain ground in the tug o'war struggle of your story, it’s the antagonist’s job to yank hard on that rope and cause your protagonist to lose ground. The motivation provides the pull from the character’s end, the antagonist provides the pull form the opposite end. 

The antagonist can be a super villain, it could be a well-meaning but overstrict parent, it could be bullies, a catastrophic weather event, an evil dystopian government–whatever you want. And it doesn’t have to be something bad. It just has to be something which, for whatever reason, creates obstacles to whatever goal your character is trying to reach. 5. Choose obstacles. Once you’ve settled on your antagonist (or antagonists if you have more than one), you need to figure out what obstacles will best stand in your protagonist’s way. You should choose some they can tackle easily, and some that will throw them off their game. Sometimes they will fail and come back at it a second time and triumph. If your antagonist is a strict teacher, perhaps the first obstacle is a pop quiz which your character aces without batting an eyelash. But maybe the next obstacle is a group assignment–which is bad news for your character who doesn’t play well with others. The group assignment goes south and results in a D grade for the character. So, the character has to figure out how to tackle that bad grade and bring it up. Perhaps they choose to do extra credit which fails to get the grade up above a C. This is an “all is lost” moment for the character, but then maybe they do something great in class and the teacher awards them with more extra credit, which brings their grade up to a B. Your protagonist is ready to pack their bags from Europe when they find out that the final exam will account for a whopping 75% of their grade–mom and dad require all A’s for the trip to be a go… can your character do it? The uncertainty as your character attacks each obstacle is part of what keeps the reader turning pages. When you’ve done all of the above, you’ll find that your story comes together much easier and that you suddenly have much more to write about. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s enough to get your story to a much better place. :)

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And how was your Thursday afternoon? #summer #summerreading #thursday #booklover #bookstagram #masterandmargarita #michailbulgakov #loverussianwriters

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Living in the city center

Advantages: you live in the city center. Disadvantages: you live right next to a club that blasts music till 4 am on a Thursday night when you need to get up at 6 to go to work the next day...