Hello, lovely readers!  I have been rather quiet recently, for which I apologize.  The reason for this is that my summer became uncharacteristically but wonderfully full.  So here is a brief update on some of the things that have been going on:

1) I became involved in the youth group at my new church and am getting to know my students and fellow leaders.  They are awesome, and such blessings!!

2) I worked with my Dad, who does house remodels, for a bit.  Here is a poem inspired by those fun, tiring couple days.

3) I have been doing a LOT of writing:

• For my eleven-book series that takes place in a made-up world and follows the history of that world from creation to the end of time.
• For a five-book series I am writing with my amazing friend Cece, entitled “Through the Veil.”  A brief synopsis:  In a universe where earth and fairy-tale world coexist in the same place, only twelve people in each world are able to see and travel through the link between the worlds.  These Travelers are unaware of each other’s existence and think they are alone until one day, by a strange coincidence, two of them meet and embark on the greatest adventure of their lives.  I am so majorly excited for this, I cannot even put it into words.  It is basically probably one of the most epic things I will ever be a part of.
• For a youtube series tentatively entitled “The Imaginary Adventures of the Twelfth Doctor,” which my friend C.J. and I are working on and which is inspired by the extraordinary BBC show “Doctor Who”–which you should definitely check out.
• And, though I haven’t technically started writing it yet, I’m spending a great deal of time thinking about continuing “Lady Elizabeth,” which always ends up being way more intense to write than I anticipated, due to the heavy amount of research I impose upon myself in order to be entirely historically accurate.  Ah, the joys of being a History student writing historical fiction.  Perhaps that is the reason I’ve been so much in to writing fantasy/science fiction/fairy tale recently.

4) I’ve been reading, for pleasure. It has been a good time to knock some books off of my infinite “To Read” list.  These include: the Series of Unfortunate Events series, Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” and “Antony and Cleopatra” (I thank my Roman Republic class this past semester for my new obsession with the Romans), Francine Rivers’s Mark of the Lion series (which, incidentally, takes place in the Roman Empire), and Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time.  All of these I recommend for your readership :)

5) I’ve been painting!  Here are a couple of the pictures:

6) In addition to all this, God has been doing a lot of work inside of me, so you may tentatively look forward to a post about that :)

That is all for now.  May your summer be blessed!