Crewel

Crewel (Crewel World Book One)

By Gennifer Albin

Genre: YA sci-fi, dystopian

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

Summary taken from goodreads.com: "Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.

Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls.  Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power.  Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it."

Wow.  

Gennifer Albin has woven a story as beautiful, fascinating, and compelling as the cover.  Such a creative concept, I'm jealous I didn't come up with it myself.

The characters were well developed: Adelice is such a witty, kick-butt heroine who says it like it is.  The love interest(s) were interesting as well, though I wasn't the biggest fan of the love triangle aspect.  Reminded me too much of Hunger Games, but will I be Team Erik or Team Jost?  (Personally, I'm in favor of Jost).

I can't give it 5 stars, simply because it took me about 70 pages or so to get into the story.  Not that it started slow or anything, simply that the story seemed so unbelievable it took me a while to get into the storyworld that Gennifer created. 

What I LOVED about the story (other than the awesome concept) was the writing itself.  Gennifer Albin is a master weaver of words.  Beautiful imagery, unique similes and metaphors.  I might reread this book just so I can learn from her how to write such beautiful scenes.

I HIGHLY recommend this book and can't wait to read the next book in this series!

Bonus:

Gennifer has an awesome pinterest board about Crewel.  Check it out!

Also, follow her on Twitter.  She tweets some pretty awesome stuff. @GenniferAlbin
If you follow her, feel free to add me too! @JennSoehnlin

Cupcakes and Writing: Funfetti

Funfetti:  Description

Whenever I see funfetti cupcakes with their kaleidoscopic display of fun colors, I can't help but smile. It's such a cheerful cupcake, bringing a little bit of joy and color to my day.  Otherwise, it'd just be a classic vanilla cupcake, which, while tasty, is nowhere as colorful and exciting.

I view those little colorful bits of yumminess in the cupcake and frosting as the description, imagery, simile and metaphor interwoven within the story.  It is possible to be overdone, and it is possible to be underdone.  It's a balance that I have yet to master, but I sure do appreciate it when I read it tastefully done within a story.

Now, I don't have a lot to say about this, except I could use some help in this area.  I know I write the bare bones of the story and therefore have a low word count.  I then go back and try to add more description as I revise and edit, but I know I could still add a lot more.  One book I found helpful in this area is Word Painting by Rebecca McClanahan.  But other than that resource, I need help adding more colorful elements to my story.  Anyone else struggle with writing description?  Anyone feel they over or under describe?  Any tips or hints?

Here's to adding the perfect balance of cupcake and colorful bits to our stories!

Word Painting

My entire WIP is filled with telling, rather than showing. I guess I'm bad at the details. I like to get the story out, why slow it down with description? (Yes, I'll admit, occasionally Siren can be right). But I read an article that has inspired me, and I think it's simply because of the wording. Rather than calling it show, they call it word painting. Letting the words create another world. Apparently there's a book out called Word Painting: A Guide to Write More Descriptively that I definitely need to check out!

Here's a snippet of my current WIP:

• Tell (with a smidgen of paint): We were walking back to the auditorium when I felt it before I even saw it. A huge wave of light seemed to emanate from the auditorium and rush toward us. It was a light so bright and overpowering that both Charlotte and I fell flat. The stunning sensation enveloped us, and then disappeared immediately.

Yeah, I tried to incorporate some 'show' in it. Check out my next attempt at show:

• Show (with paint): Before I could even respond what appeared to be a wave of light sprung from the gymnasium and rushed toward us. We both froze in our tracks.

  It crashed over us with such power and intensity that Charlotte and I fell on our backs. The stunning sensation swept over me, making my arms and legs tingle. I heard a dull ringing in my left ear. And then everything simply vanished.

Off I go to add more paint...

Oh, and to read Word Painting. :) See ya!