Monday Musings with Rachelle
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
–Martin Luther King Jr.
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Daily Kick in the Pants
Writing Tips by Rachelle:
Today I’m giving you a writing quote from Dave Farland
In speaking about the complexity of getting your novel the right length so that it is appealing to your publisher, booksellers, AND your audience, Dave said:
“What is an author to do?
There may be a compromise. Instead of writing massive tomes, working on endless descriptions, what if you instead wrote more “deeply”? What if you spent time considering how your setting would affect your characters, changing the way that they acted, felt, thought, and spoke? Could you immerse your reader into your fictive universe more deeply by making it a goal to do so in every paragraph, every sentence?
Think of your story as a chocolate cake. One way to sate the appetite of a fan might be to make a HUGE cake. But instead of making your cake larger, could you make it richer and more delicious?
Think about that today, as you work on your latest work, whatever it may be.”
Visit Rachelle’s For Writers Page to find more resources HERE
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10 Tips for Being a Successful Socialite
Rachelle’s Life Tips
We’re all different with varied interests, but no matter what our job or our interests, we use social skills every day. I hope some of these tips will help you to enjoy life even more, because nearly everything we do in life has some aspect of social abilities intertwined.
Here’s 10 tips for being a successful socialite.
1. Be a great conversationalist. Don’t just talk about yourself, ask questions about others too. When you’re bursting to share a story or news, remember not to interrupt. Americans interrupt a lot with people we’re comfortable with and generally when we’re excited about our conversation, the volume gets louder and louder. In fact, when I traveled to England for a study abroad, the teachers reminded us not to talk too loud.
2. Be an attentive listener. This means really listening to what the person is saying instead of thinking about what you are going to say next. Remember to be polite and take time to acknowledge and digest what the person has said.
3. Find common ground to discuss. Once in a while, we all have to spend a little time talking with someone who we may think we have nothing in common with or maybe the person always talks about the same thing (which might be something we have absolutely no interest in). We can either begrudge this opportunity or we can find something to discuss. I love to read and what I’ve noticed is that even if someone is not an avid reader, they can still take part in a discussion on a favorite book they have read or how a work of literature has impacted them. Try it sometime, you might be surprised and this technique can also spare you from discussing unpleasant subjects.
4. Enjoy the variety of life. Realize there is so much more to life than what you personally have experienced. Maybe I don’t know anything about golf, but I can still share a conversation with someone who is passionate about it. This is one of the ways we learn, by listening to others.
5. Have an opinion but don’t be opinionated. You’ve met people like this before, right? They might be okay to talk to, but they are so overbearing when it comes to their opinions, you’d rather steer clear of them. It’s okay to have an opinion or different point of view, but it’s not okay to force-feed your views on others.
6. Laugh. Don’t take yourself too seriously, or others for that matter. Most of the nerves that people feel which make them slip up and say silly things are because they are taking the situation too seriously. Lighten up and remember, we’re all human.
7. Let go of negative self-fulfilling prophecies. So your social experiences don’t always go as planned? Don’t talk down to yourself, saying things like: “I’m shy.” “I’m too nervous to talk to her.” “My words always get jumbled up and I sound like an idiot.” Your brain hears these statements and believes them and your sub-conscious works to make sure they’re true.
Instead, give yourself a positive dose of self-talk. “I’m confident and can carry on a conversation with ease.” “I can talk to anyone and feel comfortable.” Really believe that today is the day to change yourself and your expectations for yourself. *This works for any life situation, not just social aspects.
8. Learn more about something that someone else loves. My husband loves football and I really don’t, but I know enough about the game and the players in the NFL that I was able to attend a Green Bay Packers game with him and have an awesome time! It really was a great experience and if I’d had a different attitude or hadn’t made an effort to learn about something he loved, I would’ve missed out. It really doesn’t take that much effort to learn enough about something to carry on a conversation with someone you care about (unless it’s my rocket-scientist brother—that takes a little more studying).
9. Be Positive. What are the attributes of that person that everyone always wants to talk to? Do you want to be around someone who is always negative and constantly complains? Me neither—so make sure you’re not that person. Think of the personality traits you admire in others and develop them in yourself.
10. Smile. Every social interaction can benefit from the light of a smile.
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Book Review: Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull
Book Thoughts by Rachelle
At the Christensen home, we’re huge fans of Brandon Mull and his Fablehaven series. I’m currently reading the Fablehaven series to my eight-year-old son and this will mark the third time I’ve read it. I read the entire series once myself, then part of it to my daughters, and now to the next kid in line. He absolutely loves the books and is so excited to be able to take AR tests at school on the “big books” we’re reading.
Dragons were a very exciting part of Fablehaven so when we discovered that Mull was writing a sequel to the Fablehaven series featuring Dragons, there was all kinds of excitement!
Mull’s writing style is excellent because his characters are well-developed and the descriptions of the many different creatures, including dragons, in the book create a picture in the mind like a movie. Mull also uses tons of vocabulary or BIG words that challenge the readers to expand their word lists. I’ve enjoyed reading to my kids because they’ll often ask what a word means and then we can explain it. Other times, I know that they’ve learned a new word just from the context of the sentence.
The storyline is often intense and the kids never want me to stop reading.
If you’re looking for a great book and an excellent series to dive into with your family or just for your own reading pleasure, you won’t want to miss Dragonwatch and the entire Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull.
Here’s more about the book:
In the long-awaited sequel to Fablehaven, the dragons who have been kept at the dragon sanctuaries no longer consider them safe havens, but prisons and they want their freedom. The dragons are no longer our allies….
In the hidden dragon sanctuary of Wyrmroost, Celebrant the Just, King of the Dragons, plots his revenge. He has long seen the sanctuaries as prisons, and he wants nothing more than to overthrow his captors and return the world to the Age of Dragons, when he and his kind ruled and reigned without borders. The time has come to break free and reclaim his power.
No one person is capable of stopping Celebrant and his dragon horde. It will take the ancient order of Dragonwatch to gather again if there is any chance of saving the world from destruction. In ancient times, Dragonwatch was a group of wizards, enchantresses, dragon slayers, and others who originally confined the majority of dragons into sanctuaries. But nearly all of the original Dragonwatch members are gone, and so the wizard Agad reaches out to Grandpa Sorenson for help.
As Kendra and Seth confront this new danger, they must draw upon all their skills, talents, and knowledge as only they have the ability to function together as a powerful dragon tamer. Together they must battle against forces with superior supernatural powers and breathtaking magical abilities.
How will the epic dragon showdown end? Will dragons overthrow humans and change the world as we know it?
Other books you may enjoy:
Visit Rachelle’s Book Review Page to see all reviews HERE.
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*Affiliate links used in post. All reviews shared are Rachelle’s honest opinion.*
Monday Musings #3
Monday Musings with Rachelle
A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
–Maya Angelou
Beautiful! I hope you like this sentiment. It reminds me that I write because I have a story to tell and I live because I love life even though it’s hard.
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Book Review: Promises and Primroses by Josi S. Kilpack
Book Thoughts by Rachelle
Every book I read by Josi Kilpack gets better. She is a fabulous writer and I love the first in this new series about the Mayfield Family. I can’t wait to read more! In this first novel, we meet Lord Elliot Mayfield, uncle to several nieces and nephews with an idea for a marriage campaign. His nephew, Peter, wants none of it and is content to be a young widower with two children until he meets his new governess, Julia. I absolutely loved Julia’s unconventional character in this book. She loves caring for children and dogs and ends up in the perfect household. The way the romance develops in this story is careful, slow, and subtle, yet thrilling for my reader heart at the same time.
While Julia and Peter are navigating a new friendship developed in addition to their employer/servant relationship, Julia’s mother, Amelia is pulled back into the past when she meets the man she once thought she would marry, Uncle Elliot. At first I thought Amelia’s character would play a very small role in this story, but she ended up being a major force for the theme of this book and I loved it. I highlighted a passage near the end of the book when Julia talked with her mother Amelia about what we can do about past regrets and finding joy despite hardships. I do hope that you read the book and notice page 290 for that paragraph that rang so true for me.
This novel is another excellent addition to the proper romance line and I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next book!
Here’s more about the book:
Lord Elliott Mayfield has done his best to take care of his family, first his siblings and now his nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, he sees this new generation moving in the same direction of bad matches and scandalous relationships as the last. In hopes to change their course, he establishes a “marriage campaign” to motivate them to improve themselves through making respectable matches. With his heart in the right place, what could possibly go wrong?
Peter, Elliott’s eldest nephew, thinks the entire idea is ridiculous. A widower with two young daughters, he simply needs a governess, not a wife. Julia Hollingsworth certainly has the credentials and the experience, but is altogether too young and pretty for such a job. So why can’t he stop thinking about her?
Julia loves working as a governess, despite the objections of her mother, Amelia. And as it turns out, Amelia has a lot to say about the Mayfield men—none of it good. But Julia dismisses the rumors of ruined reputations and instead concentrates on helping Peter with his children and his fledgling business in canine husbandry. His kindness and gentleness is endearing—and increasingly attractive.
But Amelia, whose heart was broken thirty years ago by none other than Elliott Mayfield, is determined to prevent any relationship from blooming either between Peter and Julia—or between herself and Elliott.
Hearts and history collide as both couples must face their pasts and decide if risking it all is worth the promise of new love and a new future.
Other books you may enjoy:
Visit Rachelle’s Book Review Page to see all reviews HERE.
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*Affiliate links used in all posts. All reviews shared are Rachelle’s honest opinion.
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