![]() ![]() Typically I choose books based on their description- is there something that stands out to me or sounds intriguing? That’s how I pick. I do have a few tropes I won’t read, including racists paired with people of color for their redemption, rapist/assaulter turned hero, or those that fetishize women or LGBTQ+ people. ![]() When reading romance, which I don’t get to do as much as I’d like, I read pretty widely, without regard to trope. My characters are just imperfect people, looking to be loved in a healthy, fulfilling way and that something I think we all want, regardless of orientation, gender, race, color, or creed. That’s been a big theme in my life, especially over the last few years. Another theme I often write about is self-discovery. My main one is redemption because I believe that those who truly want to right the wrongs of the past should have a chance to do so when that redemption doesn’t lead to the ill effects for someone else. More than tropes, though, I have favorite themes. There’s something hopeful about them, and while not every pair of friends can morph their relationship into a healthy romantic one, and not every relationship deserves a second chance, there’s definitely some appeal there. ![]() The reason is, out of all those familiar tropes, those are the two I’ve seen played out in reality most. My favorite tropes to write have traditionally been Friends-to-Lovers and Second Chance romance. ![]()
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![]() ![]() * “A timely and ultimately hopeful tale.” - Kirkus Reviews, starred review. It was released from Kokila(Penguin Random House) in June 2021, and links to purchase it are available online here, or through any bookseller of your choice. The Legend of Auntie Po is about who gets to own a myth, and about immigrant families and communities holding on to rituals and traditions while staking out their own place in America. Thirteen-year-old Mei reimagines the myths of Paul Bunyan as starring a Chinese heroine while she works in a Sierra Nevada logging camp in 1885.Īware of the racial tumult in the years after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mei tries to remain blissfully focused on her job, her close friendship with the camp foreman’s daughter, and telling stories about Paul Bunyan–reinvented as Po Pan Yin (Auntie Po), an elderly Chinese matriarch. The Legend of Auntie Po is my second full-length graphic novel, and my first middle grade(and historical fiction!) book. ![]() ![]() ![]() In the words of fellow WIRED writer Jess Grey, "It's the closest thing to learning magic in real life." Regardless of why you pick up an instrument-or what instrument you pick-my two decades holding drum sticks has taught me one thing: Learning to play music will do you good. ![]() ![]() It helps me feel connected to a world I am privileged enough to mostly see through a computer screen. I've found myself pounding away on the drum kit more and more in the past year and a half. I'd plug my headphones into my silver Phillips boombox, pretend the lights had just come up at a huge stadium, and wail out a take of the Beatles' “Help” while pretending to be Ringo. Shimmering atop the checkered carpet was a black Pearl drum kit. Whenever I got made fun of for my hair gel or my white Chuck Taylors (apparently mine were the girls' version, even though Chandler from Friends wore the exact pair I did), I'd descend into my suburban basement. I was in middle school when I discovered my stress-release superpower. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Clotel/Miralda/Clotelle, so revealed, evolving as history evolved, shows itself to be a masterpiece of the nineteenth-century American novel. An electronic scholarly edition created in 2006 unites the four versions in a hypertext that embeds each version in its original epitext. Opening with the auction of Currer, the supposed mistress of Thomas Jefferson, and their two daughters, Clotel and Althesa. Brown was born in slavery in Kentucky and escaped to freedom at the age of 20. Reception was hampered by the fact that many critics believed the version they were reading was the only version, and the different versions were regularly treated as separate novels. Clotel orThePresidents Daughter(1853), the first published novel by an African American, has recently emerged as a canonical text for courses in African. First published in London, Clotel or, The President’s Daughter (1853) by William Wells Brown is considered the first novel by an African-American. Slave women heroines, white in appearance, led Black militant critics in the 1970s to find the novel insufficiently Black. The story evolves from an abolitionist novel to a post-abolitionist romance, radically changing each time. Brown published three further versions of Clotel: as Miralda in 1860, as Clotelle in 1864 and as Clotelle again in 1867. ![]() William Wells Brown’s Clotel or the President’s Daughter (London, 1853) gives a fictive account of the slave daughters and granddaughters of Thomas Jefferson. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Yearling restaurant has been recognized as one of Florida’s best restaurants by Florida Trend Magazine for a decade, although if you read reviews on Yelp or TripAdvisor, you’ll find it has its critics. Stuffed fish and mounted deer heads abound. ![]() The ambiance of the place, which looks like a weather-beaten shack, is old Florida hunting lodge. It’s decorated with antique outboard motors, old guns and enough memorabilia to stock a store. Interior of the Yearling restaurant is full of vintage items and antiques. The Yearling restaurant serves Rawling’s legendary sour orange pie, as well as frog legs, catfish, venison and the best cheese grits I’ve ever had. The restaurant celebrates the Florida cracker culture that so enchanted Rawlings when she came to Cross Creek. (Photo: Bonnie Gross)Īlmost next door to the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings state park is The Yearling restaurant, a restaurant founded in 1952, when Rawlings was still alive and writing. The Yearling restaurant near Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Cross Creek home. When you visit Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park or the Micanopy and Gainesville area, the best way to get the most of the experience is to eat like a cracker.įortunately, it’s easy to do. ![]() ![]() Starring: Kit Connor, Joe Locke, William Gao Creators: Alice Oseman Watch all you want. ![]() ![]() It might take a while before the show returns with its much-anticipated second season, but luckily there is a world of literary fiction to turn to if you’re in the mood for more YA tales of queer kids finding love and friendship. Heartstopper 2022 Maturity Rating: TV-14 1 Season Romance Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love in this coming-of-age series. The eight-episode series has been critically acclaimed for its heartwarming love story and for its endearing representation of characters from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Nick is a kindhearted rugby player with the personality of a golden retriever, while Charlie is a shy lovestruck underclassman battling bullies and a broken heart. ![]() Based on the graphic-novel series written and drawn by Alice Oseman (who was also the scriptwriter for the television adaption), Heartstopper is a romantic coming-of-age drama revolving around two boys in the U.K. Our cheap used Heartstopper books come with free US shipping on. If your heart skips a beat for high-school bildungsroman and sweet queer romances, then you might already have a crush on Netflix’s new hit series, Heartstopper. Buy the whole collection of books in the Heartstopper series online from World of Books. ![]() ![]() James Gurney continues to make core art theory approachable, whether you're working traditionally or digitally." He then takes gradients to the next level by creating four plein-air paintings that put all the principles in action: fern study, a traditional landscape, and a cityscape while describing every step of the process and answering questions from viewers.Īrtist's Choice" ★★★★★ award from ImagineFX magazine. These exercises bridge from 2D skills to 3D form modeling. He then applies those principles as he paints a banded cylinder, a dappled light effect, and a checkerboard illusion. He uses watercolor, gouache, casein, and acrylic, but the painting insights are universal and will benefit oil painters as well. ![]() In this video workshop, James Gurney offers practical exercises for creating color gradations. ![]() Prefer to digital version? Download / stream at Gumroad ![]() ![]() “ Immensely original and unbelievably fun! The Disasters is a heart stopping space opera, where teen galactic outcasts are the stars. ![]() ★ ★ ★ Read the first three chapters online at Epic Reads! ★★★ Because they may not be “Academy material,” and they may not even get along, but they’re the only ones left to step up and fight.įull of high-stakes action, subversive humor, and underdogs becoming heroes, this YA sci-fi adventure is perfect for fans of Illuminae, Heart of Iron, or the cult classic TV show Firefly and is also a page-turning thrill ride that anyone-not just space nerds-can enjoy. On the run, Nax and his fellow failures plan to pull off a dangerous heist to spread the truth. Nax and three other washouts escape-barely-but they’re also the sole witnesses to the biggest crime in the history of space colonization. But Nax’s one-way trip back to Earth is cut short when a terrorist group attacks the Academy. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than twenty-four hours. Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. ![]() ![]() England.Ī 2020 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selectionĪ Tor.com Best YA Sci-fi/Fantasy book of 2018! The Breakfast Club meets Guardians of the Galaxy in this YA sci-fi adventure by debut author M. ![]() ![]() This is Montagu’s first time traveling, and although she is with her husband Edward, traveling at the time still had its dangers. Montagu, rightly so, equates fear with a physical ailment. Montagu writes, “I have been so lucky neither to suffer from fear or sea-sickness” (47). In her first letter in The Turkish Embassy Letters, she writes to her sister. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu defines her own sense of freedom and breaks from this tutelage by traveling outside of her comfort zone. More importantly, in the context of culture, standards are different throughout the world and typically followed without hesitation. What is it that is confining? Societal standards and pressure, thrust upon the masses by a small percent of the population. If there needs to be liberation, it implies that there is something confining or restricting. Kant describes being enlightened as liberation from self-incurred tutelage. It is this very stereotyping though that Immanuel Kant says prevents us from being enlightened or having the chance to become enlightened. ![]() Stereotypically, clothing is something women love. ![]() ![]() ![]() The emerging tragedy is the divergence of perspectives from Marnie’s parents about what’s best for their daughter. But after an episode prompts hospitalisation, doctors believe it is in her best interests to be allowed to die – a recommendation her parents (played tenderly by Horgan and Sheen) refuse to accept. A smiling, beaming child on-screen – on her good days you’d hardly know her form of muscular dystrophy is particularly severe. Marnie (played by Moriarty) has a condition which limits her life expectancy. Thorne (known for Wonder, Enola Holmes and His Dark Materials) has turned his attention towards a complex issue few can imagine enduring. Her character summarises the moral quandary of the show in its first episode: “How can you let go of someone who still laughs?” “I have never seen anyone attempt to recognise those struggles before,” she says of Bafta-winning writer Jack Thorne’s screenplay.Īnother Irish actor, Alison Oliver – who played Frances in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends – takes the role of Moriarty’s on-screen sister. She has cerebral palsy and plays a disabled character. ![]() Moriarty, from Killiney, Co Dublin, stars alongside Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen in the BBC One drama series which starts on Monday, June 12th. ![]() When 16-year-old Niamh Moriarty first read the script for Best Interests, she felt “seen and understood”. ![]() |