Hannah Orenstein wrote Head Over Heels before Covid happened, and before the 2020 Olympics were postponed. So, her novel reads like a "what if?" sorta proposition. The story follows Avery, a former elite gymnast whose Olympic dreams were dashed by an injury, and her emotionally abusive coach traumatized her as well. After years of listlessness, a bad breakup causes her to move back to her hometown. There, she runs into her former …
Use the Enneagram For Awesome Character Development & Conflict
You’ve heard it before; the first step of writing a novel is determining your main character's wants and needs. Easy, right? Not always. Good news. If you're feeling stuck on this not-so-basic first step, there's something that can help. You can use The Enneagram to develop awesome character development and conflict. What we want and need is often determined by our personalities. For example, in The Hunger Games, both Peeta and Katniss are thrust into the same …
Book Review: The Summer of Broken Rules
The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther captures the raw emotions of grief, the complexities of growing up, and the intoxicating magic of summer love in a flawless narrative. The setting of Martha's Vineyard is more than just a backdrop - it's a character that weaves itself into every aspect of the story, beckoning readers to pack their bags and book a trip ASAP. With echoes of The Summer I Turned Pretty and shades of We Were Liars, this …
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears is the Exact Same Story as The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears is the exact same story as "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Okay. Maybe they're not EXACTLY the same. But we can't ignore the similarities.
Britney Spears recently released her memoir, "The Woman in Me" and I listened to it on audio (Michelle Williams does an excellent job narrating). It’s all about Spears’s personal journey and struggle for autonomy and freedom. Similarly, Charlotte Perkins …
Book Review: Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
I started going on extra-long walks just so I could listen to this one more. It was funny, having just released my latest novel, to listen to Yellowface, which is partly a satire about the publishing industry. I could definitely connect with the commentary about the hypocrisy in publishing and the narrator's frustrations. But if I'd only focused on that element of the novel, I'd be missing the point. R. F. Kuang's writing is a slow burn, and that's …
