Fall Writing Frenzy 2023

 

4. Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay

The Beekeeper’s Secret

By Jakki Licare

A bee zoomed over the thatched roof and rapped against the window. Lavender unlatched it, letting the sunshine and the bee in.

“Did they follow?” Lavender asked, closing the curtains.

The bee landed amid the hundreds of bees crawling along Lavender’s arms and danced his answer.

Lavender sighed. “Good. We can’t move her now."

She checked on Ms. Oakes, her mentor, who slept feverishly. Her bees lay eerily still over her heart. Black veins snaked around where the deadly white spider had bitten her. Ms. Oakes was the only person who could cure its poisonous bite which is why they had attacked her. Lavender thought Ms. Oakes’s magic would heal her, but she wasn’t improving.

Desperate to help, Lavender snatched a jar of honey. Closing her eyes, she focused on her bees’ tiny feet tickling her skin. Their dance created a buzzing energy which flowed through her fingers, saturating the honey with her healing magic. She spooned the honey into her mentor’s mouth and prayed. Exhausted but hopeful, Lavender fell asleep next to Ms. Oakes. 

Angry buzzing startled Lavender awake. She stared at the ceiling in horror as hundreds of white spiders crawled through the straw.

They had found them.

Fall Writing Frenzy 2022

 

Fall: Daniele Colucci for Unsplash

My City
By Jakki Licare

As the magical city, Vignette, readies itself for its fall show, chimneys puff gold, brown, and red smoke against the canvas of the sky. The city’s nervousness skitters through my veins as I shove the last log in. 

 “Don’t be nervous,” I say. A mournful puff of smoke escapes the fireplace. “You’ll be spectacular, as always.”

Soon, Vignette’s trees will explode their colorful leaves skyward, while pumpkins will swell until they’re building-sized. Street lamps will twinkle and fountains will mist autumnal rainbows, a fall painting created by the city itself.  

I wish Vignette luck, grabbing my sketchbook as I exit. I wade through the crowd, heading for an alleyway which will frame this fall’s show perfectly. The city’s jitters make my heart tremble, but then the flutter turns into a stabbing pain. I clutch my chest. What’s happening? I’m magically tied to Vignette, I can’t get sick. 

   

Using the wall for support, I stumble down the cobblestone alleyway where a single lantern glows. I yelp when my hand sinks into the wall. The slimy colors ooze down my fingertips. Touching the wall again, my hand dips in as if the brick has rotted away. 

Is Vignette sick? 

Am I?  

52 Books in One Year: May & June Wrap-Up

 

             Okay so May and June have gone by in a complete blur. Another season on the farm has begun and I’ve been busy helping my husband prep the fields and plant. As I write this the corn’s silks are emerging and our baby pumpkin and squashes are sprouting. 

            Considering everything that has been going on, I feel very proud that I managed to read 7 books in the past two months. Now, granted it should have been 9, but I’m only ten pages away from finishing one book and the other is an audio, so I feel very confident that I’ll make up these goals. 

But while I hit my reading goals in May I did fall into a book slump. And then I had the brilliant idea of reading genres I don’t typically read (usually because I don’t like them) in the hopes that they will pull me out of my reading funk. Not surprisingly, this  further entrenched me in my book slump and I had a hard time pulling myself out. Thus, spiraling me into not wanting to read in June. 

I think the number one thing I’ve learned from this book slump is that I hate characters who have no agency! A main character must be making decisions and moving the plot forward. I will not lie, I’m cringing as I write this because I know that I committed this awful offence in a draft I wrote last year. I think it’s easy to fall into the idealistic security that a plot is enough to pull a character through, but it’s not. Character’s desires and actions are far more important and way more interesting than any cool plot devices.

I did find two books that I highly recommend: Circe by Madeline Miller and Once and Future by  A. R. Capetta & Cori McCarthy. First, a quick shout out to Callie and Bean’s Books Youtube channel. Callie recommended these books in her video Fun retellings. I am so thankful I watched this video because it finally pulled me out of my book slump. Circe I think was my favorite of the two, although the books were so different they are hard to compare. Circe was so beautifully written, Miller’s way with words was pure magic and pulled me right in. I love the fact that Circe was so flawed and made so many mistakes, but she kept trying to make things right and worked hard to heal and accept herself. She was truly a character that will stay with me forever. And to further prove that Miller is amazing and you must read this book: her character was an exile on an island for almost the whole book and the plot never sagged, not once!

Once and Future was just fun. The writing is hilarious and I laughed out loud several times.  I loved following this retelling and trying to figure out how things will play out. Merlin’s aging backwards was such a unique idea which really added to the fun of the novel. I also really enjoyed Morgana’s development through Act 2 and 3 (I don’t want to say too much, but I really enjoyed it). If you are looking for books with great LBGTQ representation then this is a must on your reading list. The friends were so diverse and amazing, but also felt completely natural and worked well with the story’s arc. Definitely worth a read!

52 Books in One Year: April Wrap-Up

    

    I did it! I hit the goal of five books this month! Taking a break from the nonfiction this month really helped. Overall, I had a great haul of books this month which always helps me hit my goals. I also used audiobooks to help me stay on track this month. I fly through the books when I have the audio versions since I’m able to listen to the books while doing the never ending household chores.

This month I focused on multiple points of view mentor books to aid in my endeavors to tame my current beast of a revision. My favorite multi-pov book was I’ll Give You the Sun. I think Jandy Nelson did an amazing job of not only getting into a characters' heads, but viewing the world through their eyes.  Jude is always seeing good luck and bad luck in everything that is happening around her while Noah is always seeing the world through an “artistic” lens. I could open this book up at any point and read one sentence and know exactly which character’s pov I was in. Which is amazing! She also used her MC’s quirks to really ground the reader in their pov. Noah always has these little notes about how he would paint his emotions and Jude’s sections had quotes from her grandmother’s “superstitious bible”. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is trying to write a multi-pov book.

Another favorite of this month was Spellbreaker. This book made me realize the importance of holding information back from a reader. I devoured this book because I had to find out why Bacchus needed that one spell so badly. And the more information Charlie Holmberg gave me, the more questions I had! I’m definitely going back and pulling out some information from my first chapter and sprinkling it throughout the story like Charlie Holmberg does.

52 Books in One Year: March Wrap-Up

    Well, it’s official, I’ve fallen behind. I didn’t follow through with DNFing books that weren’t working and of course I got off track. I did get halfway through the nonfiction book that I should’ve DNFed, so I’m hoping that over the next few months I’ll be able to finish it on the side.  

    So while I enjoyed the books I read this month, I didn’t pick out a favorite. They were all well written books, but none of them really resonated with me. So I’m hoping next month will be a better book haul and I’ll have two to put up.

Next month, I’m ditching the nonfiction books. For whatever reason they aren't working for me. I do plan to try to pick up nonfiction again in the future, but I think taking a break next month is for the best.

I’m also going to be focusing on dual and multi pov next month to help me prep for my big revision! I’m currently working on re-outlining my next wip and I’m taking it from one pov to two. It’s been crazy trying to create two smooth character arcs when there used to be only one and then trying to decide what needs to be tossed and what should stay. But I’m making great headway and I’m looking forward to next month’s mentor books. Some of these have been on my list for years. 

 

52 Books in One Year: February Wrap-Up

I barely squeaked by meeting my goals this month of 4 books. I definitely had a rough start to this month because I ended up DNFing a non-fiction book. I did make my goal of 4 books this month only because I had started an extra book  last month. But hey, I did it! 

One thing I learned this month is to DNF and hopefully realize this earlier in the process. I’ve got to stop trying to waste time slogging through books I don’t enjoy. I don’t have time for it, so why am I doing it? It’s me being stubborn. While this trait can help me finish writing drafts, it can also lead me down dead ends. I really hate stopping something I’ve started, but it’s something I’ve got to start doing. Otherwise I’m wasting my time.

Another thing I learned about myself this month is that I really need cheery books in February. The gloominess of February ALWAYS gets to me. Between the cold and clouds, I start getting really sad. And then reading boring or gloomy books on top of it doesn’t help. Luckily, I finished reading Creating Your Best Life this month and it was the perfect read for February. Really inspiring and helped me reevaluate my life and goals.   Next year, I am picking beachy scenes, fun romances, and high pace adventures for February.

52 Books in One Year: January Wrap-Up

 

Feeling really pumped going into February because I actually exceeded my January goals. I read 4.5 books this month! I cannot believe this. I used to struggle reading 3 books in a month. Making reading a priority has really been the key to this success.

This month I tried to work on my focus. As I mentioned in my previous post, I really need to keep an eye on  my youngest during his zoom meetings. So, I’ve been reading at the table with him, but I found the zoom audio to be very distracting. I did try ear plugs, but the ones I bought didn’t fit properly in my ear canal. So, I pulled out my old noise reducing ear muffs from the farm. Not the most fashionable accessory, but they did the trick. 

Another thing I noticed this month is that I tend to fall behind on the weekends. The flexible schedule  seems to be my downfall! This is something I’ll have to work on next month. Luckily, the first book I read, Truthwitch (also my favoirte pick of the month), I was able to get on audiobook as well. That really helped me catch up on the days that I fell behind.

Overall, I’m really pleased with my progress this month! There are definitely some things that I need to fine tune, but I’m hoping I can keep up the good momentum. I wish you all luck pursuing your goals this month!