#wordsmithy

Wordsmithy Book Chat

"Slippery Creatures" by KJ Charles

I only discovered KJ Charles this year and do you know what, I'm so happy about it. So far I've read the entire England World/Will Darling Adventures (including the free reads on KJ's website) and have even re-read Slippery Creatures (I'm coming for the rest of you books, get ready).

THESE BOOKS ARE JOY. SO MUCH JOY. 🌈

You know the kind of books that stick with you during the day when you're supposed to *working*? Yeah, that's what The Will Darling Adventures are to me.

Fun, exciting, with compelling and flawed characters (THE BEST KIND) that need both hugs and shakes 95% of the time. This book has it all - it's gritty, funny, adventurous and perfectly spiced. 🌶️✨

I don't wanna spoil anything, I just want everyone to read it and then come talk to me about Will and Kim. Please.

It's so wonderful to have you here. Let's be friends!

I'm Lans, a mid-30's enby author writing about queer characters.

I defy genre (to my own detriment), preferring to focus on the complexity of my MCs and the arc of their personal stories. But I wouldn't call it literary fiction either 😂.

So, what's this blog for?

Well, a few things. I plan to post about:

books I've read (this will be overwhelmingly gay)

novel & writing stuff

LGBTQIA+ things 🌈 , and

my journey as I explore indie publishing for potentially three novels in the next 12 months 😱.

Plus, you know, reblogging anything I find interesting.

Let's do some about me in dot points. I:

Have three dogs. They're my reason for living 🐕

Am enby, bi and aro-spec

Have 2, co-morbid mental health conditions 💚

Live in Australia 🌏

Am left-handed

Work in disability support

Want to connect, network and make friends 👋

Am a very high "Owl"🦉 or "C" personality - also INTJ-T

That's 8 points, which is long and also my favourite number, so perfect place to stop.

Don't be shy, come say hi! I can't wait to know you. 💙

Wordsmithy Book Chat

"Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell

I've had "Fangirl" sitting on my shelf for at least 12 months. A friend gave it to me. Have I read it? Not yet.

But then I ran out of audiobooks from the library so I borrowed my dearest friend's Libro account and decided to pick up "Carry On" after being told for years that I should read it.

And yeah. I should have read it years ago.

I also immediately went out and bought the physical book.

This book is fun, and I think that's all I want out of books at the moment - something fun and engaging. I love the way there's so much history to the characters that's woven through the story, and I love love love how ... shall we say, preoccupied? Simon is with Baz. Boy. C'mon.

Writing this makes me want to read it again. There was so much to enjoy about this book, and I had a great time with it - and it made me keen for the sequel, which isn't that easy to do. I drop a lot of books after the first in the series.

Timberdoodle Review & GIVEAWAY: Wordsmithy

Timberdoodle sent me another book to review this week: Wordsmithy by Douglas Wilson.

I guess I could have just assigned it to my high schoolers to read on their own. (Then they could’ve put what they’d learned into practice by writing this review for me.)

But I didn’t do that.

Because I’m a writer myself and because I wanted my younger children to benefit from the content, as well, I chose to…

Me: You've written quite a few books. If the readers of my blog want to take a crack at reading some Wilson, what would be the one book you would tell them to pick up and read? Life or death, money's on the table, one shot, one kill, one Douglas Wilson book for the gold. Go!

This is taken straight from our college care package devotions--but it is applicable at any stage of life.

One word that I hear over and over from the college students I talk with--aside from “epic” and “totes”-- is “authentic.”  “Authentic” has come to be the definition of the type of life experience we would like to have--particularly with faith.

I recently read a piece from Douglas Wilson that really made me think about this word and our world experience.  His book, Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life, was written to writers about writing, but I think we can extract more.  He speaks about what authenticity was meant to mean, and what is has culturally come to mean. 

So, to begin our discussion, my questions to you are this:

What does authenticity mean?  

How do you use that word in your daily life?

Have you ever used it to describe faith, church, a small group Bible study, or a person?

Why did you use that word for those things or people?

Have you ever used the word “authentic” to describe yourself?

You see, when someone tells me they want an authentic faith, what they’re really desiring is a life that is consistent not merely with the ethos of Christianity, but with the logos of it (if you don’t know what that means, go look it up.  It’s good for you).  One student at Georgianna put it this way: “We should be living Scripture.  When someone knows us, they should be able to know the Word because of our lives.”  

Sometimes I wonder--do you know that your real life has already started?  Do you know the credibility and dependability of the love of God for you?  Do you know that Jesus is authentically (truly undeniably) praying for you, is with you, and loves you enough to sacrifice everything to make relationship with you possible?

As you round the turn to the finish line of this year at school, let me remind you: you have a unique opportunity every day to both experience and demonstrate the love of God.  Finals are not the most important thing in your life.  This is not a multi-act play where you’re playing the college student now, and then here comes act three (“The Adult Years”) when you start getting serious about faith. You’re a part of a one-shot, action-packed life that has already started, and demands that you live it to the fullest if you say you really know Christ.  Don’t just act the part; really be a Christian--all day, every day.