Well I can finally sit down and write out my review of Lynn Kurland's final installment of the first trilogy in her Nine Kingdoms series, Princess of the Sword. (So much for batch-writing and consistency. Maybe in an upcoming post I'll share the utter insanity that has been my life the past eight weeks, but anyway...onwards!) This series has been a delight, and this finale was no exception. I tend to be a second book person. It's the middle installments where the juicy backstories and ...
Musings
BOOK LAUNCH
The time has finally arrived: something I wrote is being published! As some of you may recall, I mentioned how I graduated from a little program where I obtained my certificate in written storytelling through the Story Center in partnership with Metropolitan Community College. What I hinted at, though, and can finally share in full details, is that as a graduate, they will be publishing my short story, which I was required to write as a part of my coursework, through their imprint [Woodneath ...
Coexisting in Harmony
The sages teach us that beauty is found within the balance of mercy and judgement; when gevurah is balanced with chesed, there is tiferet. Beauty exists in their harmony. This is a Kabbalistic understanding of how three of the ten sefirot---or emanations of the Divine essence, of the Infinite [Ein Sof]---are manifested within the world. To define what this beauty, what tiferet, is would take me much longer than this blog post will allow. (Good thing I wrote a fantasy novel to explore it ...
WOMS: The Mage’s Daughter
I'm angry (livid really), but instead of kvetching about my day job I loathe and how today's experiences confirmed some of my worst fears about my precarious position, or worse, raging about COVID since I'm still recovering from a recent bout---I'm going to gush about a book whose heroine refuses to stop being herself, no matter what changes or challenges she faces, because I need to be reminded that though I might not be able to solve my problems with a sword (and oh, how that would be SO much ...
An Opportunity for Heroism
Read until the end for a special announcement! Life has a funny way of knocking you down as soon as you pick yourself back up. The trick, though, or rather the goal, is to never stop getting back up, no matter how many times you're knocked down. Staying down means giving in, and giving in means accepting failure as your only fate. I realise most of us know this. If anything, I'm ranting to a mirror because this is what my soul needs to be reminded of after what happened last ...
Dayenu: A Pesach Miracle
Remember how a few weeks ago, I shared about how an issue at work had turned sour, so sour it might have even been antisemitic? Well, last week, on Rosh Chodesh Nisan, a miracle occurred. It wasn't a huge miracle; nothing like the splitting of the Red Sea, but it was my miracle. My little miracle, or Hashem's way of telling me everything is going to be okay. I can't reveal everything now, all the wonderful details and how they interconnect, what I can say is, I finally at long last ...
WOMS: Star of the Morning
I’ve been reading murder mystery non-stop for a little over a year now. Fantasy just wasn’t cutting it for me. It was all the same tropes, all the same plot beats; chosen one gets chosen goes on quest and saves the world. Of course, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but for some reason…I was sick of it. Like, I love Mexican food and could eat it everyday. Almost do. But sometimes I get sick of it and I need to cleanse my palate with either sushi (though, now it’s replacement is poké) or ...
But is it Antisemitism?
The unfortunate hot topic that I feel is incessantly talked about---at least in the circles I'm a part of---is antisemitism. I hope and wish and pray for the day when it isn't talked about at all because it is simply inexistent. However, that isn't the case; not until Moshiach returns. More unfortunate, it is very real and too prevalent and rising, so much so that this past week I endured an experience I have blessedly never encountered, but dreaded would one day come along. How ...
WOMS: A Perfect Equation
Please note: this post may contain affiliate links for products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It's time to review what I've read lately, and this week it's the next book in Elizabeth Everett's The Secret Scientists of London series, A Perfect Equation. We catch up with our daring Victorian lady scientists at the Athena Retreat where we find ...
Choosing Happiness
Recently, during a stupid fight with my husband, I blurted through my sobs, “I don’t remember the last time I was happy.” Though something deep inside reassured me it was a lie, the thought came from somewhere. After a day or two of introspection, and discussing what it could mean with my husband, I came to the realisation what I meant, what I felt, was, “I don’t remember when my circumstances were happy.” Happiness is a choice despite one’s circumstances. Always is. It’s the ...
