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Spoiler Alert.

It’s no secret that good plot twists can make a dull book good and a good book even better. Take City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken Both have plot twists, but both handle them in different ways. Please note, whatever my own feelings on these books, they are still good books. I just feel that one has a better plot twist than the other.

In City of Bones, we follow Clary Fray, a normal teenager who discovers that she is descended from demon slayers, known as Shadowhunters. During the story, we meet a boy named Jace and Clary gets a crush on him. At the end, it is revealed that Clary and Jace are not only brother and sister, but their dad is the villain, Valentine. Now, this is a good twist. It plays with our emotions, since we want to see Clary and Jace together, but we also don’t want to see it at the same time. It’s a conflict for the reader.

At the time of writing this, I’ve only read about two-thirds of The Blacksmith Queen, but I’ve already gotten past the major twist, so I think it’s fine. The story as I’ve read is that a king has died and his brutal sons are fighting each other for the throne. A blacksmith named Keeley doesn’t see this as a bad thing, since it means more business for her, until a prophecy names her younger sister Beatrix as the new queen. Now the sons are after Keeley’s entire family. Keeley is a talkative character who is friendly with all the good guys, but starts smashing people with her oversized hammer during battle. Beatrix is a quiet bookworm, who is already aloof and very queen-like. Also accompanying them is the middle sister Gemma, who is a warrior. Gemma and Beatrix hate each other. The three of them, along with a couple of other friends, have made it to the Witches, a group of women who mostly focus on math and logic, but they have a seer in their midst. The seer names both Keeley and Beatrix as queens. This should be the twist, right? Well, not quite. Keeley and Beatrix are talking quietly, when Beatrix suddenly pulls out a knife and stabs her sister, almost killing her.

Here’s the problem: is it unexpected? Yes. Is it good for the story? I’ll leave that up to debate. As for me, no. I don’t think it’s good for the story. Throughout the entire first part, everyone we meet has said that Beatrix is plain-looking and that she wastes her time reading. As an author and a reader, I find this rather insulting that reading is seen as “a waste of time.” I wanted to see Beatrix succeed, to prove everyone wrong. She was the underdog hero. I was annoyed when Keeley was named a queen too. It seemed to take away from Beatrix’s victory. Now, it turns out that Beatrix was the bad guy all along. I haven’t been too eager to finish the book, since my favorite character up to this point is suddenly trying to kill her own family. It feels like a twist for twist’s sake to me. Beatrix didn’t have enough of a personality to make her a hero, so let’s just make her a villain instead. And her motivation is that she doesn’t want to considered plain. Great? I don’t know. Maybe the rest of the book picks up, but at the moment, it feels more like a chore to read after this “twist.”

In my opinion, the best twist is the one set up from the beginning. Clary and Jace meet in the first couple of chapters, so they have plenty of time to develop crushes on each other, before it’s all ripped away. In The Blacksmith Queen, it just seems to come out of nowhere. If this is the type of twist you like, I think you will really enjoy this book. As for me, though, I think it’s time for me to move on and read another book.

On October 8th, my family and I took a trip to The Living Desert, the local botanical garden and animal park. It was me, my parents, two brothers, and nephew. We were there for about three hours and it was three hours well spent. The three most interesting animals were the coyote, mountain lion, and bobcat.

We saw the coyote first and we must have shown up during meal time, since at least two of the coyotes were running around, excited. The third coyote just stared at the other two from where he lay, obviously wondering what all the racket was about. One coyote even stood on a rock and howled. I’ve never actually heard a coyote howl before, so that was exciting.

The mountain lion was active. A couple of people were there with a child. The lion kept running at the glass, trying to get to the little girl. It reminded me of when I was about three and looking at a leopard. The leopard paced on his side of the glass, licking his lips, thinking that I might make a good snack. I ran and hid behind my mom’s leg. The big cats’ natural instincts are to hunt small prey and this child looked like prey to her.

The cutest out of the three was definitely the bobcat. He was playing with a ball, batting it to and fro, acting like a housecat. As we watched, however, the ball came rolling toward us and got tangled in some wire. The bobcat pawed at the ball, until he got it free, at which point, he started playing again. He actually knocked the ball into the air, brushing the leaves of a low hanging tree.

All in all, it was a fun day. We saw so many cute and interesting animals, like a bighorn sheep standing on its own private rocky hill, a tortoise flipping another tortoise from its shell back onto his feet, and even a couple of wolves chasing each other. The animals were truly a joy to see.

On the Friday before Labor Day, I had to take a train. I was going to meet my parents, who were working to clean out our condo, so they can sell it. I stayed for five days, before heading home. My trip down, however, was more eventful than I expected.

When I got to the train station, I found out that Labor Day weekend is very popular for travel. It didn’t really mean much to me at the time, because my destination was only three stops away. The train arrived and I headed for one of the rear cars, thinking it would be more peaceful and quiet than if I was in the front. The trip went well. We got past the first two stops and I grabbed my bags in preparation to get off. Just before we stopped, I headed for the doors and they wouldn’t open. I could see that we were in the right station, but I couldn’t get off the train.

Panicking, I started looking for another door, even heading back through my car, desperately searching for a way out. I even asked some random passenger if he knew the way out. Finally, I found my way to a door with a guard… just as the train started to move. Panting, I hurried to the guard and tried to explain the situation. Luckily, it turned out that this was planned. The guard told me that they were just pulling up slightly and that they would let me off. I practically ran onto the platform, once the doors opened.

I found my parents quickly, so they were the only people still waiting on the platform. Once I calmed down enough, I learned that because Labor Day is a popular travel day, the train employees had added a couple of extra cars to the end of the train. They weren’t able to let me off originally, because my car wasn’t in front of the platform, but still in the middle of the track.

Well, I was able to help my parents clean up the condo, but I learned an important lesson that day: do not underestimate the popularity of trains on Labor Day.

I self-published Silver Rose back in October 2017. Since then, I’ve been working on the sequel, Silver Crescent. And working, and working, and working. I must have started and restarted that book at least two dozen times. I just couldn’t seem to get the beginning right. Then, a couple of months ago, I restarted again. This version is actually working.

In the last couple of months, but especially in August, my writing’s been going much better. I’m currently around page 64. I’ve added thirty pages in the last couple of weeks alone! Writing is so much more fun when it’s going well.

Silver Crescent Sample Paragraphs

I jerked awake to the sound of beating drums. The sound was loud, persistent, and unsettling, like somebody’s irregular heartbeat right in my ear. After a few moments, the sound faded away and I was left alone with the crickets and my two sleeping companions.

Just a dream, I thought, closing my eyes, but sleep eluded me as my mind raced.

Ba-bum! Ba-bum!

I sat bolt upright. There it was again. I glanced sideways. My friends, Mag and Artie, didn’t even stir.

Today is J.K. Rowling’s birthday. As such, I thought I would share my rankings for the Harry Potter books. Now, if you disagree with me, that’s fine. Everyone has their own opinion. This just so happens to be my order for the books.

Spoiler Alert.

7. Half-Blood Prince. The sixth book is boring, in my opinion. I know a lot of people like it, because Harry learns about the Horcruxes and how to defeat Voldemort, but it’s still presented in a pretty dull way. Most of the book is just Harry and Dumbledore going through Tom Riddle’s memories and that’s fine, the memories are my favorite part of the book, but where are the rest of the characters? We see Hermione and Ron arguing throughout the whole book, Draco trying to fix the Vanishing Cabinet and Snape attempting to help, and pointless romances between Harry and Ginny and Hermione and Ron.

Nobody gets much character development, except Harry, Dumbledore, and Voldemort. Everyone else just feels stiff and a parody of their usual selves. Why is Hermione snapping at Harry for using the Half-Blood Prince book? She’s never done that before. In fact, Hermione should be happy that Harry’s doing well in class. Sure, Harry should be asking Slughorn why the changes written in the book are better than the official instructions, but he is still learning. Hermione should be pleased.

There’s no much more to say about Half-Blood Prince. It’s boring, I find the romances tacked on, and the fact that Dumbledore uses students to deliver messages to Harry make them feel like owls.

6. Order of the Phoenix. Book five is where my love of Harry Potter started to wane. I was pretty young when all the books came out and I hated that the books became darker from this point on. Even now, I still don’t like how dark they’ve become. Now, I love conflict in books, how else would we have a plot, but there’s a difference between fun and gloomy. The first four books were fun. The last three are gloomy. My brother and I have a name for Order of the Phoenix Harry: “Caps Lock Rage Mode Harry.” Harry is just yelling all the time in caps lock, making him unpleasant to be around. He has good reason to be angsty, what with Voldemort coming back and Cedric’s death, but that’s not what I want to read. Everything is way too dark and gloomy and it took me forever to get through this book the first time, because it felt like a chore to read. Reading should be fun. You shouldn’t have to force yourself to do it. Plus, I hate Umbridge. Who doesn’t?

The only redeeming qualities in this book are Luna and the fireworks. Luna is a ray of sunshine. I love how she can cheer up both the reader and Harry while barely even trying. She’s my all time favorite character. Fred and George are their usual fun selves in this book. The fact that they were able to set off the fireworks and cause chaos for Umbridge was a brilliant move on their part. I love the mental image of Umbridge running from the fireworks.

5. Deathly Hallows. The seventh book beats out five and six for one simple reason: Voldemort is defeated. This is what the seven books have been building toward since Sorcerer’s Stone. (I’m American). The plot is boring, since a huge chunk of it is just Harry and Hermione going on a camping trip. Oh yeah, and Ron’s there sometimes. Moving on. It does pick up a bit when they go to Malfoy Manor, but I’m still disappointed in the plot. I wanted Harry and Hermione to be actively fighting against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, taking down their bases and forcing Voldemort to go on the defensive. Instead, they almost starve to death in the woods, while having no idea what they’re doing or where they should go. Woo.

Now, that being said, it does get a bit exciting at Malfoy Manor. I was devastated when Dobby died. Infiltrating Gringotts was interesting, even though I feel as if it would have been easier and the goblins might have helped if they explained about the Horcruxes. Regardless, it was cool to see them escape on a dragon.

The battle of Hogwarts was bittersweet. It was exciting and I love how Voldemort died like a regular mortal, not a supernatural creature, but there were too many deaths. Lupin, Tonks, Fred, and countless others. I’m really torn up about Fred. You can’t just separate Fred and George. I would’ve preferred Percy sacrificing himself to save both twins. Percy would have been redeemed and we could’ve kept both Fred and George. Done. Alas, it was not meant to be. Still, it was satisfying to see Voldemort defeated and good win the day. Just don’t talk to me about the epilogue. Ever.

4. Goblet of Fire. This book and my number three spot are actually interchangeable. I love them both equally, so it just depends on which one I like more on a given day. Goblet of Fire is a fun book, especially since we get to see more magical schools: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The extension of the magical world helps to put the books into perspective. If Harry fails to stop Voldemort, he could go after more people, not just the ones in the U.K. I’m not too bothered by Harry being in the Triwizard Tournament, since he’s the main character. The plot would be pretty boring if he wasn’t forced to compete.

That being said, Voldemort probably could have had Crouch Jr. turn Harry’s glasses in a Portkey and grabbed him on his next Hogsmede weekend, but nobody ever said Voldemort was smart. And again, there’s more of a plot if Harry competes.

This is the book where I started to dislike Ron. It annoys me to no end that he abandons Harry before the First Task, but since he is sorry, I can forgive Ron. It was just a momentary lack of judgement on his part. I do have an issue with Ron abandoning Harry again in Deathly Hallows, but that’s a problem for another day.

Beyond that, I am sad that Cedric dies at the end of the book. I wish he would have lived, but I understand that Harry had to be the sole survivor for the Order of the Phoenix plot to work. Fudge might have believed both Harry and Cedric together. Cedric’s death just turned Fudge against Harry for an entire book.

3. Sorcerer’s Stone. Like I said above, I love Sorcerer’s Stone and Goblet of Fire equally. Sorcerer’s Stone beats out Goblet of Fire simply because it’s the first book and our introduction to the series. I love entering the magical world for the first time and learning all it has to offer with Harry.

That’s not much else to say. My only complaint is that McGonagall throws four first years into the forest. Let me get this straight: Harry and Hermione get into trouble because they help Hagrid late at night, so their punishment is to help Hagrid late at night. What? I just wish McGonagall could have used a bit of logic. Why would Harry and Hermione feed Malfoy a lie about a dragon, tricking him into wandering the halls at night, and then do the same thing themselves? If it was just a lie, why would they risk leaving Gryffindor Tower? To watch Malfoy get in trouble? It would make more sense for them to go to bed and simply hear about it the next morning. Neville would have spotted them in the Common Room and they could have explained the situation. McGonagall makes no sense in this scene.

2. Chamber of Secrets. I love this book! Its so much fun! This book is lighthearted and whimsical, just like the first book, and I love the mystery. Yes, it’s obvious now that the memory of Tom Riddle was possessing Ginny, but when the book first came out, who would’ve guessed that? I also have a soft spot for this book, because I have fond memories of reading this book, absorbed in the story, while my brothers and nephew were noisily goofing off around me. Good times.

1. Prisoner of Azkaban. It should be no surprise that this is my favorite Harry Potter book. It seems to be universally loved by almost all the fans. My reason for loving it is simple: Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. I love both characters. I already mentioned that I love the mystery aspects of Chamber of Secrets. Well, Prisoner of Azkaban seems to ramp this concept up. We’re trying to understand why Sirius might have betrayed Lily and James, when plot twist, it turns out Sirius was innocent all along. I just love the reveal at the end of the book.

Well, there you have it. This is my ranking for all seven main Harry Potter books. If you would like to leave a comment, telling me your rankings for the books, I would love to hear it.

I mentioned back in May that I decided to volunteer with the local library to teach English as a second language. All the classes would be on Zoom. After going through several virtual training classes, I would either work one-on-one with a student or teach an entire class. I was assigned to co-teach an English Conversation Club. Essentially, the point of the club is just to get people to talk. Coming up with topics is another matter altogether.

I’ve taught three classes so far and the students are great. They’re all over eighteen and none of them were born in America, so they bring a rich variety of culture and life experience with them. My co-teacher and I have also learned from them. We did a lesson on the first day of Summer, where we mentioned the northern and southern hemispheres. One woman from Peru said that in her country, it’s cold during June and July and warm during November and December. I’d never realized the Peru was in the southern hemisphere.

All these people want to learn, grow, and thrive here in America and knowing English is a good first step. It’s hard to live anywhere, if you don’t know what people are saying. The English Conversation Club’s purpose is to give them practice, so they are comfortable conversing with others in this great melting pot we call America.