Characters in QT

So I thought this would be a fun little post to write up. What would the characters in The Red War Trilogy do with all this Covid-19/shelter-in-place stuff going on right now?

(They technically are medieval fantasy characters, but just imagine they were in real time, haha.)



Marywyn - Would comply with the shelter-in-place, at least in the beginning: wear masks and gloves and be extremely careful and safe. Would not complain with those who ask her to wear said mask/gloves to places. Has gotten a lot of gardening done, and is enjoying the time off.

Wisdom - Has been extra busy, driving around helping in-need families and the elderly. Brings them food and whatever things they need. Leaves things on their doorsteps with uplifiting, handwritten notes. Handmakes masks in her spare time (what spare time, haha).

Connaven - Complains about how hard the QT is, despite sheltering in her parent's huge mansion, complete with swimming pool, fitness room, and in-home movie theater. Has made way too many TikTok videos and is bored out of her mind, but is convinced that if she steps outside she will die.

Duren - Restless. Goes for a long run every morning and then stress-builds stuff around the house. Isn't personally concerned about the virus, and meets with friends when he can. Has completely re-organized the garage twice since QT started. The tree-house, porch, and doghouse were not in the yard before QT... Has probably started 5 new hobbies.

Mithrinn - Goes about life as normal, laughs at people in masks and considers them to be needlessly extra careful. Is constantly sharing "is this just a government hoax" articles on Social Media. Gets annoyed when told to wear a mask into a store, and rants about liberty and freedom.

Raya - Her life hasn't changed much, to be honest. She forgets to go down the grocery store aisles the "right" direction and worries she'll get arrested. Carries a mask in her purse but only puts it on when stores require it. Has enjoyed what extra time she now has with friends who normally work. 

Jaran - May or may not be living on a throne made out of toilet paper. When he's not helping Duren with the latest QT project, he's probably binge-watching something.

Mask - He's just relieved he no longer stands out in the crowd (since he normally wears a handkerchief over his nose/mouth). Doesn't watch any news or have social media, so honestly is just doing what his friends tell him.

Maxin - Hardly ever goes out anyway, but when he does, he doesn't wear a mask or anything. Said he "read something in the newspaper" about there being a virus...

Tache - Is the one trying to explain to Maxin that they could have it but not know it and still end up passing it around to people. Has given Maxin a bunch of extra masks and gloves but apparently Maxin keeps misplacing them...not to worry, Tache stocked up on a bunch, and even if he runs out, he could probably ask Jaran for some...

Dominin - Has stockpiled and put himself under mandatory QT. Hasn't left the house in weeks. There's a viral video of him aerosol-spraying a bag of groceries. He's not letting anyone visit, but will wave at them from the windows.

Ondore - No one has seen her for the past few weeks. General assumption is that she's gone off-grid again, but whether that's because she is concerned about the virus or concerned about governmental control, no one knows.

Well, how was that? Tag yourself - I'm Raya! (And feel free to steal the idea and do a post with your own characters.)

My Pet Peeve About Book Reviews

So, I'm gonna put up a disclaimer and let y'all know that I'm not talking about "a certain person" or anything like that. I occasionally write these kind of reviews myself, so there's a bit of preaching to the choir here.

That being said, let's jump in...



Book reviews are an important part of the reading and writing community.

As readers, we check out book reviews to help us decide if we want to read a certain book/series or not. Do people seem to enjoy it? Dislike it? Are there a lot of "poor writing" or "boring" comments? Have a bunch of people mentioned the tons of language or lust-filled scenes? Or has everyone been putting up glowing "amazing storyworld" and "beautiful writing style" comments?

As writers and authors, we understand the importance of good reviews. We bribe our readers with swag and free ebooks in exchange for honest reviews. If our book has only a few reviews, there's a chance readers are less likely to buy the book...

As a member of Rebellious Writing, I understand the importance of using reviews to warn readers of the possible sensitive material found in fiction. I don't want to waste my time (or be forever traumatized) by reading something that I'll eventually DNF because of content.

So you can imagine my slight annoyance when I look at reviews, and most of them are something along the lines of....

"OHHHHH MY POOR SMALL ADORABLE BABY BOB" (just insert the name of the cute, possibly angsty, male character from the book)

Me: *eyeroll*

HE'S SUCH A PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL

Me: sooooo ummmm is there anything in this book I need to be warned about?

HE IS MY NEW FICTIONAL BOYFRIEND

Me: Anything else about the book that you liked?

So maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. :) But you get the picture. I'm hoping for some coherent "this was done really well and this is amazing and there are some swear words and maybe a kiss oh and I really liked this character, he's written so well and I loved his story arc."

As an author, I'll be honest and say that reviews purely consisting of "AHHHHHHH POOR SWEET BOB" will make me smile. After all, if I wrote such a sob story arc, I expect people to sob over it.

But as a reader, I would like more information. "POOR SWEET BOB" isn't going to make me want to read the book. "Well written storyworld with no language or sex" will definitely make me want to read the book.

So to recap...scream about that cute character all you want. But maybe provide a little more information about the book as well? So like, we kinda know what it's about besides the cute/amazing/traumatized guy?

May Wrap-Up

Guess who barely noticed that May has finally come and gone? Me.

Anyways, my month was super busy. Lots of farm work. Lots of editing. I got a new bookkeeping job, so that's cool. Read a bunch.

Thanks to some fun farm happenings we now have:

1 horse (Pepper)

2 dogs (Louie and Max)

2 cats (Spice and Ragnar)

3 cows (Susan, Sweetie, and Sir Loin)

3 big pigs (unnamed, haha)

4 little pigs (Itch, Hen Wen, Bee, and Red)

20ish egg laying chickens

3 roosters

3 hives of honey bees

1 useless white male duck

1 useless mallard duck

20 meat chickens

10 baby turkeys

60 baby chickens of some weird french breed that my dad randomly ordered

Oh, and some fish in a tank that my mom takes care of.

And approximately only ONE HALF OF THE BARN ROOF (and did y'all know that NC has been getting a crazy amount of rain this month????)

So THAT IS WHY I AM SO BUSY GUYSSSS

Met up with Evan and Sarah for a hike - first time seeing each other since the virus stuff happened.


I WENT HORSE CAMPING

My mom doesn't ride, so she hiked while Jennifer and I rode our horses.

Some of the steep mountain trails.

Sarah and Joe stopped by for a few hours and we went for a hike.

 

Jennifer's girls also came for an afternoon and they got to ride while we hiked with them.

Taking the horse trailer through the drive-thru because we couldn't park and go inside...

Max went on his first trail ride and did splendidly!
  
Such a well behaved puppy!!! <3

The new little piggies!

Going for a drive before the rain returns... 
Cows, horses, and the big pigs out in the pasture enjoying it *not* raining for the moment...


Max enjoying a gator ride.

Ragnar in the flowers.

Busy bees, haha.

I trailered Pepper up to VA and we did a nice 10 miles together.

Hope everyone else had a lovely May. I'm worn out...fixing the barn roof, feeding all the animals, nursing a sick pig, doing a 100 mile virtual race with Pepper, finishing a round of edits on a CERTAIN BOOK THAT SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS BUT I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT, and trying new kinds of teas because JUSTIN THATS WHY.