Daughter of Smoke and Bone

The Book Courtship Tag

/ saraletourneau / 27 Comments

Book Courtship banner 2

I haven’t done a strictly bookish tag in a while. So when I saw this adorable Book Courtship Tag at Ayunda’s Tea and Paperbacks a couple weeks ago, I knew I wanted to squeeze this in before Valentine’s Day. 🙂

The Book Courtship Tag “follows” the different stages of courtship and challenges bloggers to pick one book that fits each stage. These picks don’t have to be romances. In fact, they can be anything you choose from your bookshelves. So, let’s see what I picked…

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Favorite Reads of 2015, Part 1: Books Published Before 2015

/ saraletourneau / 31 Comments

Fave Reads 2015 logo cropped

Finally! It’s time to reveal some of my favorite reads of 2015! 😀

Last year I almost twice as many books as I did the year before, and a fair number of those books were published before 2015. So, I’m going to share not one year-end Top 10 list, but two!

Today’s will focus on my favorite pre-2015 books I read last year. Each entry will include my reasons for its inclusion on this list and a link to the full review. Also, since I like to keep you all in suspense, the list will go in ascending order, from #10 to #1. 😉 Here they are:

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New at DIY MFA: A Case Study on Art as a Literary Theme

/ saraletourneau / 2 Comments

DiyMFA

I love it when an author makes art intrinsic to a story. Whether they highlight painting, poetry, or acting doesn’t matter. Simply reading about art awakens my imagination and draws me closer to the creative characters who are featured. However, did you know that by involving art in a story, the author is also making a thematic statement about the subject?

That’s the question behind my newest post for DIY MFA’s Theme: A Story’s Soul column. We’ll examine how art is used as a literary theme in two different novels, as well as the parallels in both examples that can help us explore the same theme in our own work.

Click here to read “A Case Study on Art as a Literary Theme.”

Got any questions or suggestions for Theme: A Story’s Soul? Feel free to comment below or tweet me at @SaraL_Writer with the hashtag #AStorysSoul.

Another Liebster Award!

/ saraletourneau / 49 Comments

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Still combing through the blog tags and awards I was recently nominated for, and today it’s Liebster Award time. Thank you for the nomination, Phoenix Grey! 🙂

Here are the rules for this version of the Liebster Award:

  1. Once you are nominated, make a post that thanks the person who nominated you and links back to their article.
  2. Include the Liebster Award sticker in your post.
  3. Nominate 7 to 10 other bloggers who you feel are worthy of this award. Let them know they have been nominated by commenting on one of their posts. You can also nominate the person who nominated you.
  4. Answer the 10 questions asked to you by the person who nominated you.
  5. Make 10 questions of your own for your nominees.
  6. Lastly, copy these rules in the post.
  7. All of the nominees are free to accept or reject the nomination.

So, Rules #1, 2, and 6 are done already. (I hope it’s OK that I’m skipping around…?) Now let’s go on to Phoenix’s questions!

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The Liebster Award Challenge

/ saraletourneau / 35 Comments

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A big thank-you to KL Caley @ New2Writing for nominating me for the Liebster Award Challenge! This honor gives bloggers the opportunity to share more about themselves and then to “pay it forward” to other bloggers whose sites they enjoy. This version of the Liebster doesn’t seem to have a restriction on the number of followers for eligible nominees (whereas the Liebster Award received here did), so everyone is game this time around. 😉

Here are the rules for this version of the Liebster Award Challenge:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
  2. Answer the 11 questions that the blogger gives you.
  3. Nominate 11 blogs that you think are deserving of the award.
  4. Let the bloggers know you nominated them.
  5. Give them 11 questions to answer.

So, let’s start with KL’s questions!

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The Real Neat Blog Award

/ saraletourneau / 24 Comments

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Heather Jackson and Robin Rivera at WriteOnSisters.com have nominated me for the Real Neat Blog Award! Thank you so much, ladies! WriteOnSisters.com is one of my favorite writing resource blogs. So, regardless of whether you write novels, short stories, or flash fiction, I urge you to check it out at your next chance. 😉

Accepting the Real Neat Blog Award is pretty simple. You answer five questions posed by the person / blog who nominated you, then nominate four or five others and ask them five new questions. Let’s see what Heather and Robin wanted to know!

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Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 7: The Lucky Number Seven

/ saraletourneau / 24 Comments

book-stack

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly event hosted by Tynga’s Reviews that shares the books (both physical and virtual) that you recently purchased, borrowed from a fellow reader or the library, won from a giveaway, or received as gifts. Stacking The Shelves will post on Saturdays as new books are added to my shelves. 

First of all, a quick apology for the recent inactivity here.  Life offline has been hectic lately, so I’ve had to re-prioritize things to focus on the WIP, a couple outside articles that have deadlines, and necessary relaxation. Posts for this blog have slipped as a result. I hope to catch up over the next couple weeks, so bear with me for a little bit.

Now – more books. Yes, I’ve gotten heaps of books for Christmas and from Barnes & Noble recently, but certain titles I was looking for at B&N weren’t in stock. *gasps* So, I promptly decided not to wait to get them. *lol* Today’s Stacking The Shelves therefore includes my latest Amazon haul, as well as a book gifted by its author. And if you noticed the title, this blog’s seventh edition of STS will feature seven books! How about that? Continue reading →