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A Study in Juxtaposition: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

November 03, 2024

A look up the beach Approaching Hispaniola, the second largest island of the Greater Antilles shared by the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, by air, we get our first glance at the lush green mountains that give way to lush flatlands. Farmland backs into cities. We lose sight of the ocean as the plane descends. The Punta Cana International Airport promises us a magical tropical stay. As we walk under its palm frond roof to stand in line at customs, air conditioning is relatively non-existent. The baggage carousel is mostly open-air as the walls don’t reach the roof. I, however, am more concerned with my bag not taking the ride yet. Once it finally showed, we rolled our bags to the shuttle that would take us to our resort. From the airport to the resort, our shuttle drove past beautiful new construction and crumbling shacks. Tropical trees turned into shopping centers. Gates to private communities and sprawling resorts sat next to abject poverty on garbage lined str

Letting Life Lead

September 07, 2024

Pain has been my constant companion for almost a year. Like a character in an adventure novel, life keeps throwing obstacles at me. Since the release of Hope (The World In-between 5), both my parents passed away and I got divorced. As I have been healing emotionally, my body has been going the opposite direction. Specifically, my back. I am under doctors’ care, and I have seen a reduction in pain. However, my journey is far from over. Perhaps it would be best to explain how I got here. Back pain seems to have been a steady thing for me for years. I always thought it was my stress residing in my back muscles. My back was so bad last year that my boyfriend got me a massage for my birthday. It was glorious. Then, a month or so later, the pain started to return. Not just in my shoulders, but in my lower back as well. After a couple more massages, I decided that I needed to do more for my back. I started yoga. I love yoga. Not power yoga. Not hot yoga. Taking the time to get

Writing Workshop— Achieving the Climax

May 13, 2024

Berty and friends continue to adventure in the world in-between the portals. I can feel myself reaching the climax of the sixth book in the World In-between series. Exhilaration rushes through my veins while dread weighs my hand. It’s a weird feeling knowing that your time with your friends is coming to an end. Perhaps that is why so many authors write series. In my head, I know what should happen. I have planned the moment. With every word, every sentence, every paragraph, it advances. My heart races as my pen scribbles on the page. Rawness flows through a rough draft that will never be felt again. In the rawness, the best of plans change. After a good number of books with the same characters, I wonder how much new can be left. What else can these characters face or experience? As an author, the terror of having nothing else to write creeps into your mind at times. Those fears have to be combatted or the ink will cease to flow. No matter how much I plan, my character

Book Review: Fun Fresh Fantasy

April 24, 2023

Title: Koru: The Trainer I Used to Know By: Katelynn Balcom Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy-Romance Review Rating: 3 ½ Stars out of 5 When I first started reading, I thought the book reminded me a little of The Princess Bride . The similarities are in the book structure and roughly in the beginning plot. Koru: The Trainer I Used to Know is structured as a story within a story—the main character is telling the story to an in-story audience. The plot is a universal one of boy meets girl, boy does something stupid, and then boy spends the rest of the story trying to win back the heart of the girl. Overall, it is well executed. I feel that it could have had more depth in spots. Also, the subplots could have used a bit more meat as well. The characters shine in the story. Gabriel, our POV character, narrates the story well. We understand his motivation—as a whole. This happens to be a place where I believe the story needs a bit more. I would have liked to have

Learning from a Book Review

March 25, 2023

I offer to review books . Usually, I will post my review here and on Goodreads as well as post links to buy the book that I got to read. However, every once and a while, I read a book that won’t get a good review. This is that book. This book is the author’s first book, so I will not mention the title nor the author’s name. I have emailed the author about my poor review before posting, and actually have agreed to review the sequel. With that said, let’s talk about the book and its issues. The premise of the book is that the main character, whose name I can’t remember (problem), becomes a masked hero to save her city from a destructive alien. The concept is great. The execution has major issues. I am going to put my editor’s hat on to critique the issues in this book. The first issue is the prologue. It could have been a chapter on its own. I personally feel that the book should have opened on its main character. The opening would have introduced us, the reader, to the charac

Iceland in Winter: What to Pack: Everything Else

January 05, 2023

Glacier Everything I brought with me to Iceland for a late December trip fit in my carry-on backpack and its clip-on daypack . I did a ton of research about what to bring. Some tips worked surprisingly well. Since, I wrote about clothing in this post , I’m going to discuss what else I brought. Yak Trax gives you traction on ice. They are metal coils wrapped around silicone that stretch around the soles of your shoes. I had no problem getting through airport security with them in my pack. They nest in each other and fold in half to take up less space. I placed them in a nylon drawstring bag to protect the other items in my pack. These saved my bum from many bruises. When it’s cold outside, my nose runs. On this trip, pretty much everyone’s nose ran. I brought slim packs of facial tissue that fit in my pocket perfectly. Each pack held ten tissues. And I had six packs. I should have brought more. Hotel rooms also have tissues—rough, nose scratching ones. I could not find

Iceland in Winter: What to Pack: Clothing

January 04, 2023

Cold and windy that day Iceland in late December gets cold and windy. Expect to experience below freezing temperatures and even colder wind chills. Be prepared for it to snow and for the wind to blow the snow into your face. The sidewalks and streets and tourist areas, especially around water, can be slick. And, you can wait for the bus for your tour or to the airport for quite some time in the cold. Unless you live in a city with a non-stop flight, expect at least a two hour delay in an airport and perhaps a good deal of walking between gates. The airports are hot. The planes themselves can be chilly unless the flight is packed. And, no matter where in Iceland you go, the cold outside counters the hot inside. The key to regulating your temperature throughout it all is layers and your ability to zip or unzip or remove and store easily. This is what I brought with me that kept me warm and it all fit in a carry-on backpack and personal item . Let’s start at the bottom. Feet. Y

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