[steffi-fiction]

I hate big time skips in narratives. I’m not saying they are a bad choice, but they just throw me off. It has happened several times that I just disconnected from a story because of a big time skip. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t feel the same anymore for me. 😭

[kellykline]

dramatic irony enjoyers when they know something the characters dont

[steffi-fiction]

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

key words: magical realism, heartache, historical fiction, generational story, slice of life

plot: Ava is born into family whose members either possess extraordinary abilities or have extraordinary things happen to them. All of them have been screwed over one way or another by love. Ava is one of them. After years spending her time only within the confines of her home, Ava figuratively spreads her literal wings in an attempt to fly and catches the eye of Nathaniel Sorrows. 

review: This review was supposed to be published a long time ago. But on the plus side, it’s a lot less heated than it intially was. I don't hate the book though. Would I recommend it to anyone? No. Would I ever read it again? Definitely no. Still, I don't feel like money and time were wasted. It was an experience and at least my curiosity has been sated. Sometimes you just pick a book you end up disliking. C’est la vie.

One reason The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender wasn't for me, is that the synopsis and tagline inspired expectations that weren't met. Personally, I would go as far as saying it is low-key misleading, so allow me to put the blame partly on the synopsis. I thought I might be treated to an adventure in which the titular Ava learns about her family's history and why she has wings. I thought she leaves home for that purpose and meets the wrong crowd interested in her wings for one reason or another. But she serves mostly as a sort of omniscient narrator until she appears half-way into the novel as actual character.  I remained hopeful that I was going to be treated to an engaging story. Once I started reading, it was a quick read though.

I’m not the strictest reader when it comes to explanations. You have flying whales in your novel and that’s just the way it is? Cool by me. But in this case it was sort of a lost opportunity to go into as to why some family members have magical powers or have magical experiences happen to them. Most existed for the sake of it, but completely irrelevant. Take them away, a lot of characters are stripped off anything remotely interesting about them and you have a generational saga without magical realism, but just historical fiction. I just think it would have served the novel well if Ava actually got to know why her family had these experiences. 

The characters are held at a certain distance and it makes it hard to really empathize with them. I felt bad for them, but it didn't really affect me deep down. It was more of a conscious reaction than heartfelt. Most were pretty one-dimensional and remained superficial in my opinion.

I think the amount of exposition was too much and the prose could have been a lot less purple for me. Sometimes I felt like the characters were just saying something because it sounds good, making this feel a little pretentious. However, I did like the authors descriptions of the setting. It made me feel like I was really there.

I’m still disappointed it wasn’t what I hoped it was going to be, but I’ll live.

edition: English 

trigger warning: depiction of rape and mutilation, possibly suicide, definitely suicidal thoughts, 

[steffi-fiction]

When I look at the list of people I follow, it is reassuring that I’m not the only who disappears for months without a word. :’D

Hello there, and I’m sorry.

[ieatstories]

Do you sometimes have this urge to go on an epic adventure that will completely change you as a person? Do you dream about pirate ships, highest mountains and deepest woods full of secrets, brave people seemingly not from this world? I want to discover the world so much that it almost hurts. Not just the world, but the magic in it. God, sometimes I just want to see the magic. I hope there is some of it left.

[introvert-unicorn-deactivated20]

Words to describe someone’s voice :

adenoidal (adj) :  some of the sound seems to come through their nose.

appealing (adj): voice shows that you want help, approval, or agreement.

breathy (adj): with loud breathing noises.

booming (adj): very loud and attention-getting.

brittle (adj): if you speak in a brittle voice, you sound as if you are about to cry.

croaky (adj): they speak in a low, rough voice that sounds as if they have a sore throat.

grating (adj): a grating voice, laugh, or sound is unpleasant and annoying.

gravelly (adj): a gravelly voice sounds low and rough.

high-pitched (adj): true to its name, a high-pitched voice or sound is very high.

honeyed (adj): honeyed words or a honeyed voice sound very nice, but you cannot trust the person who is speaking.

matter-of-fact (adj): usually used if the person speaking knows what they are talking about (or absolutely think they know what they are talking about).

penetrating (adj): a penetrating voice is so high or loud that it makes you slightly uncomfortable.

raucous (adj): a raucous voice or noise is loud and sounds rough.

rough (adj): a rough voice is not soft and is unpleasant to listen to.

shrill (adj): a shrill voice is very loud, high, and unpleasant.

silvery (adj): this voice is clear, light, and pleasant.

stentorian (adj): a stentorian voice sounds very loud and severe.

strangled (adj): a strangled sound is one that someone stops before they finish making it.

strident (adj): this voice is loud and unpleasant.

thick (adj): if your voice is thick with an emotion, it sounds less clear than usual because of the emotion.

tight (adj): shows that you are nervous or annoyed.

toneless (adj): does not express any emotion.

wheezy (adj): a wheezy noise sounds as if it is made by someone who has difficulty breathing.

[windsroad]

I’m reading house of many ways, and I just caught something I never noticed before:

“The fact is she was a stray. Or… er… Great-Uncle William said she was. And he can’t have had her long because he didn’t know she was… er… a bi… er… I mean a girl.”

CHARMAIN WAS GOING TO SAY THAT WAIF IS A BITCH, BUT THEN THOUGHT BETTER OF IT BC SHE’S TALKING TO THE KING

[steffi-fiction]

I still haven’t published 2 reviews I mentioned on my blog, but I’m also not certain if I want to finish them. Then again, it’d be a shame. Ahhh don’t know.

[auraseeingcoffeebean]

I wish to spend an entire day in a bookstore...or like 2 days....you know what let's extend that to a 3 day weekend. Might as well shoot for a whole week...or month.

[steffi-fiction]

I wonder how people will react to the ending I planned for my wip? Considering everything, I think it’s a good choice. But I’m not sure if readers would like it or the professionals (if they’re interested in my novel in the first place, of course) would let it fly. Well, I’ll finished this beast first and see if I’m okay with the end I chose after all. I think it is a little unconventional.

[promptdumpster]

[stefanieshank]

pupkin pie

instagram @stefanieshank

https://stefanieshank.bigcartel.com/

[sirobvious]

>go to Draculas castle

>he has a humidifier

>pour two liter of holy water into it

>leave

[sootonthecarpet]

Everyone, do not do this! Your local Dracula probably isn’t hurting you, and helps manage the area’s wolf and rat populations! In fact, most Draculas never leave their castles for more than an hour or two a night unless disturbed by humans. The FEW recent cases of Dracula attacks have all been proven to have been the result of a stressed Dracula mistaking clumsy hikers for its natural enemy, the werewolf. After overhunting by millennials in the 2000s, there are fewer than a thousand Draculas left in the wild today! Please stop spreading misinformation about an endangered species crucial to the ecosystem :(

[rem-ir]

Ok look I get where you’re coming from and here’s the thing: Draculas are crucial to their ecosystem. None of the information you’ve provided is accurate to North America, where Draculas are an extremely invasive species. I don’t get where you’re getting the “less than a thousand left” figure, unless you’re citing an out of date study from 2006. Their numbers are still worryingly low in Eastern Europe, but they’re not currently in danger of extinction.

You know what species is? Chupacabras.

The local chupacabra populations in North America are dwindling dangerously due to predation from Draculas. We can protect both species in their own natural habitats, but not in each other’s. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Mexican Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales both encourage the trapping of Draculas. Now, there are humane ways to do it, and you can look into them on your own time, but if you see a Dracula in North America, it is not supposed to be there.

[zooophagous]

This could all be avoided if people spayed and neutered their pet Draculas and stopped letting them free roam. Draculas don’t “need” to free roam, they do great on harnesses and enclosed pens, and free roaming opens them up to dangers from other predators and vehicle strikes, not to mention parasites, disease, fights with other Draculas and abuse from shady humans who take pot shots at them with crossbows.

For their sake and wildlife sake, keep your Dracula indoors.

[violentwavesofemotion-deactivat]

I travel alone with my heart. I’m not wandering lost, merely un-met.

Cecília Meireles, tr. by Natalie D’Arbeloff, from “How To Recognize The Road: Farewell,” (via pinespittinink)

[steffi-fiction]

I’m on twitter now. Name’s almost the same, it’s steffi_fiction.  And since I’m using my own face on there instead of my dog, I guess I’ll be doing a ‘face reveal’ on here, too. Getting real serious here. :’D

[today-only-happens-once]

To Tired Writers. To the people out there whose hearts very, very much want to write and work on WIPs, but who are just mentally and physically exhausted right now. It’s okay. It is okay to rest sometimes. Allow yourself time to rest. 

[zephyrrain-deactivated20221103]

Thank you I needed to hear this today

[steffi-fiction]

Sooo....This month didn’t even nearly go according to plan. I joined this year’s nanowrimo on a whim, wrote a few words, but then nothing much else happened in that department. :’( There’s no doubt I’m not going to win this year, but I’ll live.

It honestly annoys me more that I didn’t do much more my blog. Ugh.