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So, this is my first ever video/YouTube book review, and I pretty much stumbled and staggered all the way through it. I got better toward the end, I think, but... yeah. I left out what Genre it is (Fantasy) and I didn't read the "blurp" on the back *Facepalm*.
Needless to say, if you have any tips on making a really good book review on YouTube, TELL ME! I will take any and all tips and suggestions (even if it's something along the lines of "shut yer pie hole and stick to writin' stuff... just be advised that I can throw pie as well as eat it). Anyway, here is THE ARRIVAL (<--- Amazon Affiliate Link): When a rash of mysterious and brutal attacks throughout the Hechani Sea shatters tenuous relations, the city-states erupt into a destructive war. Embroiled in the conflict, young Atian officer Kelvar Alexandros is determined to protect his men and his country in the looming trials, despite his growing concern that the enemy may not be as evil as he assumed. Meanwhile, Mistress Telaine Le Fay, sorceress of Gothrond, is dispatched to investigate the hostilities. Her mission is to discover the roots of the conflict and negotiate a peace settlement. The situation proves unclear, however, and she finds herself inextricably tangled in a web of lies, desperately searching for an elusive truth. Telaine’s past mentor, the excitable intellectual, Jax, has a problem of his own. His studies have led him to a discovery that could have dire consequences, and he is determined to discover if the threat he fears is indeed real. In the desert sands of the Great Waste, an adventurous young man named Tor longs for something more than his mundane, everyday scramble for subsistence. Little does he know, Jarwulf, the infamous Blood Berserker from the north, and his mercenary band will soon arrive in his village – and sweep him off to a life he dared not even imagine. Amidst the tide of darkness rising in Vrold, the only hope may be an unlikely alliance, but evil is rarely obvious. It is a subtle force hiding in plain sight, and the truth is hard to find when even heroes can fall prey to its malevolent will...
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So, this video is pretty lengthy. I wanted to keep it as short as possible. But then I decided to hash out EVERYTHING about my hearing loss. I explain how I "lost" my hearing, what the doctors say about it, and I answer some of the common questions that people ask me about it.
If you have any more questions concerning my hearing loss, feel free to ask in the comments below (either here, on my blog, or on YouTube)! I was really nervous making this video. I am really nervous to post and share it. I don't talk about my hearing loss very often, and very few people realize that I am hearing impaired. I like it that way. I like being "normal" (not that having hearing loss at 25ish years old makes a person abnormal, or anything), and I like people treating me like a normal person. But, when you are missing a significant amount of hearing, that makes it almost impossible, even dangerous, for people to treat you like a normal hearing person. And, no matter how much I pretend to be "normal", people eventually figure out the truth. You never realize how much you depend on your hearing until you are missing it. Those with good hearing take their gift totally for granted. And people who are completely deaf have it SO much easier than a hard of hearing person. They live in a world of total silence. A hearing impaired person can hear fragments of things happening around them, and that makes the world a lot more unpredictable and scary.
Photos taken by @penny_the_writer on Instagram
Edited via PicMonkey Follow @pilot.the.trickdog on Instagram!
Space ships, playing cards, keys, and dragons, OH MY!
Here is a little video I made just yesterday about my favorite things that I own and geek out over. If you watch closely and look behind me, you can even see some of my favorite books!
Photos taken by @penny_the_writer from Instagram
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I am not a scheduled person. I barely have a routine. Honestly, the only routine I have revolves around my dog, and only because it is easier to follow his routine than it is to make my own.
Because of this lack of a schedule and routine, I tend to walk around all day long like a chicken with my head cut off. I have a ton of things to do, but I get distracted by a dozen other things that need done, and by the end of the day I can honestly say that I have been crazy busy doing absolutely nothing. It's embarrassing. Thank goodness, I am getting better, and mostly because of this handy little game/app called HABITICA. It used to be called HabitRPG, but that confused too many people, so they changed the name to Habitica. On Habitica, you basically turn your life into a game that you can play on the computer or phone. Does that sound bad? Well, it's actually a pretty great idea. When you join Habitica, you get a little avatar. This avatar has a life bar that will eventually run out unless the avatar gains experience and levels up. On the main page, you input habits that you to wish to increase or decrease in your life, such as "Drink More Water", "Take The Stairs" or "Smoked the E Cigarette (instead of a real Cigarette)". You also type in daily items that you need to do every single day, such as "Walk The Dog", "Make The Bed", and "Watch An Episode Of Star Trek" (Yes, that is in my dailies. Judge not.). There is a To-do list where you put things that you need to do eventually, but aren't a habit you need to work on or a reoccurring daily item. The plus sign on the Habits is for when you did good on that habit and you get points! The minus sign means you did bad and your avatar looses some life. DON'T touch the minus sign. Just don't. The Dailies are to be clicked every day. When you click them, you get experience points! If you don't get around to doing something on the daily list, and that item goes unchecked, then you also loose a little bit of life. For each item unchecked, you loose a little more life. The To-Dos don't do much except just sit around, waiting to be done. When you check one of them off though, you get LOTS of experience! Yay!
So I still don't have a schedule, but at least I know what I need to do, and I can use Habitica like a checklist and work my way through it each and everyday. It keeps me on track! Plus, it is a lot of fun.
There are chat rooms on Habitica, but they are totally optional for use. You don't have to even look at them, if you don't want to. Also, they are totally clean! The moderators work hard to make sure the chatrooms stay kid friendly. No foul language, no dirty topics. Very nice. The main chat room is called the Tavern. You can go and talk to pretty much anyone there from any part of the world. Most of the time, it's full of newbs asking a bunch of dumb questions. So the moderators welcome fun and non-newb conversation. There are also Guild Chats. You can join a guild (aka group) that focuses on something particular and chat with like minded people. There are guilds for Bible verse memorization, pet owners, financial discipline, wordsmiths, Star Trekkers, and so much more. Very often, these Guilds will also have challenges that you can join, which basically means that more habits, dailies, and to-does are added to your pile. These are good, though, because they are usually something you've been wanting to work on anyway. I don't spend a lot of time chatting with anyone, but I do like stalking the Tavern. The conversations there can be enlightening, to say the least. ![]()
As your avatar gains experience and levels up, you will find that you can do more with it.
For one thing, you can choose what class you want your avatar to be: Mage, Healer, Rogue, or Warrior. I'm a Mage. Once you choose your class, your avatar gets a Mana bar, and you can use this Mana in different ways. As a Mage, I can "burn" some of my red tasks and get lots of experience. *smiles wickedly* Once you reach a certain level, you also start "finding" goodies. Eggs, food, and potions start showing up in your inventory. But they aren't for you! You can pour the potions on the eggs and start collecting pets! Then you feed the food to your pets and they eventually grow into mounts, which your avatar can ride! Yes. My avatar has a dragon. Lots of dragons, actually. It rides the gold one all the time. My avatar also looks like a fox... only because "dragon person" wasn't an option.
Now, which do I play the most: the phone app or the computer online version? I play both, but I like the one I can play from my computer best. It's just easier to use. But the app is nice for when I am gone from my computer and need to check on things.
So, yeah. Habitica is pretty awesome. I would recommend it to anyone who has trouble getting things done throughout the day or needs to build new habits and break old ones. If you get on it, and would like some help or even just to chat, you can send me a Facebook message and we'll work it out! (Just follow the Facebook icon at the top of the page, or go to the "Follow Me!" button.
So, everyone in the blogging world is doing a "year in review" thing. I hadn't planned on it, but then I started looking through my pictures and thought "Ah, why not?". So here we are.
Don't worry, this'll be short. My year has been pretty good, overall. Like any year, it has had its upsides and its downsides. Most of the downsides waited to come along until the holidays, though (great timing, right?). The rest of the year, though, has remained pretty uneventful. First off, I started training Pilot to be a trick dog. He has earned his Novice Trick Dog Title, and we have been slowly, but surely, working toward his Intermediate Title. You can watch his trick videos here: Week One Training, Week Two Training, and Week Three Training. He is also planning to become a Therapy dog. He passed the Therapy dog test, but we have yet to make it to any supervised visits. He helped me make a Star Wars doggy costume tutorial for Star Wars Day, which you can see HERE. He and I also kept up a daily jogging routine all summer long! Whoohoo! I am super proud of myself for that, and Pilot of course loved it. Cold weather came along, though, and my stupid lungs cease to function in the cold. So. Yeah. Jogging routine is on pause and the old ball and frizbee have been brought out to play instead.
In the Spring, I was able to interview a lot of authors. It was tons of fun, I learned a lot, and I hope to be able to do some more interviews this year.
And, no - I did NOT get my second book published this year. It is finished, but not published yet. Read more about that HERE. If you want, you can read a scene (deleted) from the upcoming book.
I also got engaged....
Hee-hee... Nah. Just kidding. I'm still a blissfully single crazy dog mom. ♥
I had a fun birthday. My mom made me a Star Trek cake and my sister got me a Star Trek and a Stargate t-shirt.
To end the year with a bang and a bag of lemons, cancer popped up out of the blue and took my grandmother who has been living on our property with us for the last 5 years. She passed away before Thanksgiving.
I was really hoping to end the year by going to the theater to see the new Star Wars movie in my Jedi costume, but that didn't work out.
I was also hoping to have my next book ALREADY DONE AND PUBLISHED AND OUT OF MY HAIR AND AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!.... oops. Did I just pound that out in caps lock? Oh well. Despite said downsides, 2015 has been a decent year to live. I am looking forward to 2016 though, and I plan to accomplish a lot this year as a blogger, a author, and a dog mom! Goodbye 2015. Hello 2016. |
Kathryn FoglemanAuthor of the fantasy series, Tales of the Wovlen, Kathryn spends a great deal of time in the world of her imagination, having tea with fire breathing dragons, writing books on flying space ships, and practicing her mad scientist laugh with gusto. However, on occasion,she returns to this world just to play with her dog and blog about her fun. My BookGrab a Button!![]() Archives
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