Smashing & Dashing Characters of 2016 Awards #BookTag

So Cait @ Paper Fury has a character award book tag and I thought I'd try to do it despite being bad at remembering half of what I've read.


1. Most Relatable Character

Renna Faythe in Dare and Deny by Tricia Mingerink. In fact most quiet caring characters who get stuck in dangerous situations. The ones that start falling for 'the guy who thinks he isn't worthy' without realizing it. Kyrin Altair also fits this.


2. Most Pure and Precious Animal Companion

I wouldn't call her pure and precious, but I'm going with Punzel from Song of the Sword by Hope Ann. She's a fen-hopper, which is a winged cat that lives in the Shadowfen. She's a bit feisty and prefers the name of Shadow-wing. Anyway she does a good job of keeping Roinette company.

In the same book, the hero Evrard has a Messenger Falcon for a side kick. So two animal companions for the price of one.

3. Fiercest Fighter

Trap Merodach from The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock. He might not be the fiercest, but he's certainly skilled.


4. Most Amazing Sidekick

Solomon Hawke in A Time to Speak by Nadine Brades. Or Shad Alistaar in Deny. Or the other person I'll remember tomorrow.


5. One You're Surprised You Loved (Book or Character???)

A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Neitz. I don't read Sci-Fi. But I liked this. The main character Sandfly and the world were so far removed from what I know, that it was a little hard to get into, but once I did, it was fascinating. A~A²

6. Best Sassmaster
Knife, from Knife by R. J Andersen.

7. Best Anti-Hero
I'm not sure if he's technically an anti-hero but Rain Walker from Black Tiger by Sara Baysinger. I'm not quite sure what I think of him. At first he appears a total jerk and then he starts acting nicer, and just as I start o think he might be a good person he does something dreadful again. I like characters that jerk my emotions around like that.

8. Best Worst Villain to Hate

Pathetic villains usually mean pathetic heroes, which means forgettable books. That said there's a villain who isn't even worth hating in Safety Assured Leaving East of Medicetti by Trish Mercer. At one point I hoped he'd be redeemed, but he just got worse. He's miserable and has a terribly skewed worldview.


9. Truly Astounding Worst Ya Parents

I don't really read much YA and can't think of any.


10. Truly Astounding Best Ya Parents

Parvin's parents in a Time to Speak.


11. Toot Toot Best Ship of Them All

Best? There is no single best. But Amber and Granite in Lady Dragon, Tela Du by Kendra E. Ardnek. This is a very sad ship, because Amber has been the evil Lady Dragon for 3,000 years while Granite stayed good. He loves her, but hates what she does, and she pushed him away and won't listen to his advice. And they were so happy for the first 3,000 years. #Amberite (I almost choose the other main couple of this book #Reutra)


12. The Most in Need of Protection

Temperance, or Marie from the Virtues and Valor Series by Hallee Bridgeman. She gets tortured by Nazi's and almost dies of pneumonia. Also the series is fascinating. Eight overlapping novellas, each telling the story of a different person. And since they all go by code names and don't give personal details out, there's a lot to guess at through the books.

13. Most Boring As a Barnacle

Can't remember. I've come across a number of boring character, but they don't stick in my head. Why should they?


14. Best Little Royal

Not sure what this is supposed to mean, but Princess Lily in The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doue. A wonderful princess who does take her responsibilities seriously. And with 11 younger sisters there's a lot going on.

15. Very Surprised You're Still Alive

Aislyn from the 27th Protector series by Laura Campbell. This girl has many narrow escapes. Not that I actually thought she would die, but it's a miracle she hasn't. A very dangerous miracle in fact. A traitor. That's why she one of the few 27th protectors who's beaten the odds and lived.

16. Best at Horrible Decision Making (makes bad decisions)

Vrell in From Darkness Won by Jill Williamson. And Achan.

17. Cutest Dork 

Reuben Eaglechaser of Lady Dragon, Tela Du. He's the guy who alway checked in his wardrobe for Narnia, thinks he knows exactly what's going on when he ends up in a fantasy world, and rarely takes anything seriously. And the way he loves Petra is kind of dorky. 

18. Cleverest Little Hellion

Eva from The 27th Protector series. And  several other characters. They need to be clever. But Eva is younger, so 'little' fits her.

19. Most in Need of A Nap

I'm too tired to think of an answer.

20. Want to Read More About You

Most of the people I've just mentioned. Lady Firebird in Firebird by Kathy Tyers.

And that is that. I hope you all have a merry Christmas. God bless you.

6 Non-Writing Things I did in November

Hello friends, This is going to be a short post because I've been busy lately and I'm out of practice. Besides you would all rather I wrote my stories than my blog posts anyway, right?

1. Work

Yes, boring and not even something that takes a lot of time, but I did make sure it happens. That's actually why I finished NaNo early. The last day of the month, or in this case the last two days are the busiest for me work wise.

2. Scripture in Schools

This is the reason two days at the end of the month were busy. On the 30th I helped with Christian Education in schools for the first time ever. It's a great thing to do. These kids have so many questions about God and the Bible and a surprising number of answers too. Here's an example of what kind of conversations I've been in:

Boy 1: How do you draw God?Me: God is really too big and complex to draw, etc.
Boy 1: Is he really that big?
Boy 2: Yes. He made the whole world in seven days.
Boy 1: Okay, that's big.

3. Sewing

This was only when I needed a break from writing but I started sewing a dress. finished it on the 2nd of December.

4. Baking

Mostly bread as usual. We did have to buy a few loaves, but that was mostly lack of planning, not lack of time. Sourdough takes time. And I helped with the shopping several times, another normal activity.

5. Building and Garden

I don't remember any details, but I certainly did some. We're renovating our bathrooms at the moment, so there's plenty to do. (and when they're done that'll be the end of about 13 years of renovations. Which means we can work on the roof, the carport and the extension.)

6. Celebrations

These are weekend things, so probably didn't have a lot of impact on my writing time, but they did happen, A dear friend got married and one of my brothers had a birthday. Just simple things. Except that the wedding was outdoors and I didn't use sunscreen.


And now I'll go onto talking about this month. I'm still working on Lady of Courage, doing a bit of outlining to figure out what else needs to be written. I also did another exciting thing I won't get to mention elsewhere. Another brother had a birthday and we went on an overnight hiking trip. Exhausting, but doable. I enjoy physically challenging myself occasionally and it was fun.