July Wrap-Up Post

July has come and gone, and its left me in the dust wondering what just few by. Yes, that's exactly how I feel! So many things happened this month. A few awesome things, and a few awful things. But isn't that life?

So lets wrap up July!

✭Forth of July party✭Fireworks✭Flag cake (Yum!)✭Family and friends from church✭Patriotic music✭Went jet skiing✭Horse lessons✭Putting up our pool✭Super hot out!✭Good food✭Movie marathon✭Stacking 500 square bales in the hayloft #girlpower✭Writing✭Camp Nano✭Meeting new friends in camp cabin✭word sprinting✭went to a OC "picnic" aka a camp cabin activity where you bring one or two of your original characters to a literary picnic (my sisters laugh, but I think it's fun!)✭Frozen hot chocolate drink while writing!! ✭Bought a lot of veggies at a auction to process✭Make salsa✭Made cucumber salad✭Froze zucchini, onions, and yellow squash✭Found a four leaf clover (check that off of my summer bucket list)✭Also made lemon blueberry zucchini bread which was AMAZING!✭Swimming with lil sis✭Taking pictures of flowers, butterflies, hummingbirds, and dragonflies✭Practicing songs for VBS✭Helped take senior pictures✭Sunset drive for ice cream✭Painting pottery with friends✭Hayfields✭Storm clouds✭Homemade lemonade✭A foggy morning✭Book mail! I bought The Old River Road by Hailey Rose!✭VBS✭My first time helping with song service and games✭July 23 was the hardest day of 2019✭Workouts✭A day at the fair✭Getting excited about a new opportunity God opened up✭Also, can we all just take a moment to throw some *confetti* because: I won Camp Nano! This morning, I finished my goal of 30 hours✭30 hours is a long time! But I got a lot done!✭Honestly, a big chunk of July was really hard because my dog, Bella Baby passed away. She had been with us for 17 years, and I don't remember a time without her. She was my baby and followed me around everywhere. She was my best friend, she knew all my secrets and was always there for me when I needed her✭So yes, its very tough✭Prayers would be appreciated✭Anyway, I'm still Living✭Laughing✭Loving✭and Learning✭

✩At tongue twisters✩At VBS kids✩At inside jokes✩etc✩

Speaking of tongue twisters... here's a glimpse into my writing life: 

~~~

Me: my WIPs are like tongue twisters for my brain.

Me: I need a break.

Me: but I need Camp Nano hours.

Also Me: I guess I'll try my hand at flash fiction...

*1000 words later* * and still going* *already starts to plan plot, characters, etc*

Me: ok, now I have a brand new WIP. Great. Just great.

#sendhelp #writerswouldknow

~~~

Also, this made me laugh: 

✮My family✮My friends✮My animals✮All the summertime things✮

⭑Wow. Not really sure what to say in this part, because I've learned a lot this month, sort of⭑I've learned to keep persevering even when it's tough⭑That 30 hours is a big Nano goal⭑that God's got this⭑That life is hard⭑Crying is ok⭑But the empty feeling is not⭑Don't harden your heart when the going gets tough, let Jesus heal you⭑God works in mysterious ways⭑His plans are always good⭑There is a time and a season for everything⭑Keep going⭑Prioritize your daily goals⭑Make time for the people who matter in your life⭑Social media isn't everything⭑Show up for the here and now⭑Don't keep looking at the future, shine where your at⭑You are never alone⭑

~Mini Photo Dump~ 

^^ Ice cream and a good book, what more could I ask for? 

^^ Rosie with a new braid!

^^ My VBS "Staff" shirt! :)

^^ Pottery I painted! 

^^ Workout pic

^^ A hummingbird!!!

^^ Lemonade at the fair!

~Goals~

July goal recap: 

~Participate in Camp Nano! Check!

~Continue blogging twice a week. Yes! 

~Ride Rose. Sort of, I groomed her a few times and got on her a couple...

~Help pull off the fourth of July party at our house... Yes! It was a success!

~Eat Forth of July cake! Yes! And it was amazing! 

~Do some continuing education research. Nope, that will have to be a goal for next month.

~Garden. Not really. 

August goals: 

~Blog twice a week.

~Plan a surprise for my 100th post! (It's already in the works!)

~Ride Rosie.

~Garden.

~Write 5,000 words.

~Edit some of my WIPs.

~Read one book.

~Do something on my summer bucket list!

First off, how is it I'm already making goals for AUGUST?? How? Why is summer flying by so fast? So tell me, how are you spending these summer months?

 And if it's not summer where you live, how are you spending these winter months?

 Do ya'll still like my wrap up posts or do you want me to try something different for a wrap up? How was your July? I'll see ya in the comments! 

Answering Assumptions

In this post, I am going to be either proving you right or proving you wrong! Last Monday, I asked for y'all to try your hand at assuming some things about me. And you did! Now, lets see how well you know me! Prepare yourself for a super long post...

Also, I will be answering each of these with either Yes, No, or Sometimes... then give a little exclamation.

~YOUR ASSUMPTIONS~

Number One: Your favorite color is red or yellow.

My Answer: Sometimes

As some of you might think, red and yellow which are the color scheme of my blog, are my favorite colors. Although this is a good assumption (and a very observant one) it is not completely true. Yes, I love a cheery yellow color, and I also love red because it's our farm color. But... they are not my favorite color. In fact, I have no clue how the color scheme for Showers of Blessings happened. It just did! 

Number Two: You've always been a bit of a tomboy.

My Answer: Sometimes 

Well, my answer is yes and no on this one... Why? Um, well because yes, I can be a tomboy. I like adventures, don't mind getting dirty, not afraid of hard work, and don't care for girly girl types of things. But I'm also not afraid to paint my nails, fix my hair, and dress nicely now and again. (But make up it a no no. I just don't get into it... I can do a little lipstick and blush is nice, but all the other eye stuff I can't stand still for!) And, I will admit, I am kinda scared of doing daredevil stunts.

Number Three: Summer is your favorite season.

My Answer: No

Ok, so I like some things about summer. But I prefer spring or fall because they're not extremes. Summer is nice and I do enjoy it, but it gets crazy hot and my family likes to joke that I'm allergic to the sun... aka I get sunburns really easy! So, as much as Summer is a great season (and I like it better than Winter) it's not my favorite season.

Number Four: Historical fiction/non-fiction is your favorite genre of books and movies.

My Answer: Sometimes 

I love reading Historical fiction! And it is one of my favorite genres of books! But, I also like Christian contemporary, western fiction, funnier kids books (don't know what genre they would be considered...) and some non-fiction. So, technically my answer is yes, but I don't have just one favorite... (because as we have already discovered, I can't choose favorites!)

As for movies, I really don't know what genre I like! To be honest, I haven't given it much thought, I either dislike or like a movie. I really enjoy series though... 

Number Five: You're a pretty organized person.

My Answer: Yes

I'm glad you added "pretty" in the assumption! Yes, I am a fairly organized person. I love feeling organized, but I'm kind of weird about it. In other words, I'm organized in the things I do, but my organization skills fail to do their job when it comes to keeping my room clean and bathroom picked up... Just ask my sister.

So, yes, I'm fairly organized! 

Number Six: You write every day.

My Answer: Sometimes

I write most everyday. I usually don't write on the weekends, and somedays get to busy. But I try to write everyday...

Number Seven: You want to homeschool your own kids one day.

My Answer: Yes

If I ever get married and have kids one day, I definitely want to homeschool them!

Number Eight: Your favorite color is red or blue.

My Answer: Yes

Yes to blue! My favorite color has always been blue! Ever since I was three years old. I love sky blue! 

Number Nine: You love horses

My Answer: Yes!!! 

Yes, yes, and YES!!! I will always love horses! 

Number Ten: You'd rather live in the country than in the city

My Answer: Yes

Absolutely! I love country living! I don't think I would last a week if I had to live in a big city...

Number Eleven: You love adventures but dislike change

My Answer: Yes

Um, yes! Girl, you are spot on with this assumption! I'm always up for a good adventure, but change drives me crazy! 

Number Twelve: You love frozen hot chocolate drinks

My Answer: YES!

Yes! I love FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE DRINKS! You know me so well! *winks*

Number Thirteen: You like reading Louis L'Amour

My Answer: Sometimes

So, I really like westerns and Louis L'Amours books are really awesome... But sometimes they aren't my favorite. I really like Ride the River because it was about a girl, and most of his books don't have woman MCs. (Most of the girls are damsels in distress....*rolls eyes*) And, I like the Sackett brothers pretty well. So, my answer is sometimes because it depends on the storyline, characters, etc.

Number Fourteen: Horses are your favorite animals

My Answer: Yes

Horses and dogs are my favorite animals! <3 

Number Fifteen: You don't eat meat

My Answer: Yes

That is correct, I am a vegetarian.


Number Sixteen: You are the second to the oldest

My Answer: Yes

Yup! I'm the middle child! 

Number Seventeen: Your favorite breed of horse is Morgans

My Answer: Yes

So I am slightly biased because Rosie is a Morgan horse, but yes, Morgans are my favorite breed of horse! Some other favorites are Arabians, Quarter Horses, and Mustangs. 

Number Eighteen: You would rather be outside than inside

My Answer: Sometimes

I would rather be outside, yes. But it really depends on the weather or if I need to get some stuff done in the house. 

Number Nineteen: You love drawing, painting, and designing

My Answer: Yes

Drawing, painting, and designing are some of my favorite hobbies! And hopefully, design will someday be apart of my career...

Number Twenty: You LOVE Frozen Hot Chocolate Drinks

My Answer: YES!

Y'all know me so well! Yes, I'm obsessed with these! 

Number Twenty-one: You like eating healthy

My Answer: Yes

I love eating healthy, but it's hard to keep it up. I try, though! 

Number Twenty-two: You like writing poetry

My Answer: Yes-ish 

Yes, I like writing poetry! And the "ish" about it is I don't care for reading poetry, in fact, I really have no idea why poems come to me. 

I like writing non-fiction, fiction, poems, long emails or texts, and blog posts! So basically anything! 

Number Twenty-three: You enjoy blogging -- a lot XD

My Answer: Yes

I am SO glad I decided to start Showers of Blessings! Blogging is one of my favorite things now! 

Number Twenty-four: You prefer Western over English and bareback over Western :)

My Answer: Yes

I like riding in a western saddle over a English saddle (although I learned to ride with a English saddle...) But, I also love our treeless endurance saddle too! And bareback is always fun!

Number Twenty-five: Red is your fave color

My Answer: Sometimes

My favorite color is blue, although red is one of my favorites!

Number Twenty-six: Probably wear flannel and denim more than anything else

My Answer: Sometimes

Definitely in the winter!!

Number Twenty-seven: You like drawing

My Answer: Yes

I love drawing!

Number Twenty-eight: You like to cook

My Answer: Yes

Cooking and baking is a lot of fun! And I love seasoning things... I'm kind of known for that in my house.


Number Twenty-nine: Your the dare devil of your family

My Answer: No

Nope, as much as I'm intrigued by the dare devils, I'm not one of them... Although when I was younger, I was probably more so a dare devil. 

Number Thirty: You prefer baking to cooking

My Answer: Sometimes

I probably cook more than I bake. But in certain seasons, like fall and winter, I love to bake more!

Number Thirty-one: In the summertime you’d rather go barefoot

My Answer: No

As much as I like the romanticized idea of going barefoot in the summer, I like wearing shoes. My feet are too sissy I guess! (You should see me try to walk on our gravel driveway barefoot! It can get comical...)

Number Thirty-two: You love animals

My Answer: Yes!

I love all animals! I'm just one of those people!

Number Thirty-three: You’ve yet to read all the Circle C Milestones

My Answer: Yes

Your right, much to my dismay, I have not read all the Circle C Milestone books... I have read Thick as Thieves, but non of the others. I want too read them, but at the same time, I don't want Taffy to die!  All the Circle C fans will understand my anguish... right?

Number Thirty-four: While making food you’d rather improvise then follow the recipe exactly

My Answer: Yes

So, um, yes. I think recipes are great, but I also like to let my creative side shine while I cook, so oftentimes that means breaking a few of the recipe guidelines... what can I say!

Number Thirty-five: If you were to travel out of the USA you’d probably choose to go to Europe

My Answer: No

I've never thought about going to Europe before... But that probably wouldn't be the place I'd travel outside of the US.

So how well do my readers know me? Score out of 35 assumptions: 9 Sometimes, 22 Yes, and 4 No! So, I'd say ya'll know me very well! Great job everyone! Thanks so much for assuming some things about me, this post was super fun to put together! 

Did any of these assumption answers surprise you? Out of all of the yes answers, which one didn't surprise you the most? Did you like this style of post? What is one way you are enjoying your summer? Comment below! 

A Fire That Cannot Burn // A Poem

Good afternoon, lovelies! I wrote this poem for a contest a while back, but thought I'd share it today.

A Fire That Cannot Burn

Written by Brooklyne 

Rejoice still

Though hardships engulf 

As a searing flame

She will not let that stop her 

For no one can take away

Her joyful noise 

Shine on, friend!

Rejoice still

Though sorrows cloud

As a thick smoke

She will not let that hold her back

For no one can halt

Her song of praise

Shine on, friend! 

Rejoice still 

Though pain scorches 

As the heat of a furnace 

She will not let that hinder her light 

For no one can ever pause 

Her sweet melody

Shine on, friend!

Rejoice still

Though depression threatens to overtake

As a lit match not yet smoldered

She will not let that consume her joy 

For no one can put to an end 

Her contagious song

Shine on, friend! 

Rejoice still

Though lies flicker 

As a uncontrollable spark

She will not let that make her give up

For no one can discourage 

Her shout of victory 

Shine on, friend

Rejoice still

Though dusty ashes remain

As a silent reminder

She will not let that scare her off

For no one 

Can stop her now

Shine on, friend! 

James 1:2-4

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have it's perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

Exodus 3:2
"And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed."

Let this poem serve as a reminder that fires can either burn us or refine us. Let us choose to shine on, despite the difficulties we face. 

<<<Thoughts on this poem? Let me hear them in the comments below! >>> 

P.S. If you haven't made a assumption about me yet, head over to this post and assume something because I'm going to do a "Answering Assumptions" post soon!!! 

Childhood Books and Favorite Books // I Need Assumptions!

Ahh, childhood books.

The books you grew up on.
The books your daddy or mama read to you every night.
The books that you finally learned to read on your own.
The books that held you fascinated.
The books that gave you ideas.
The books that you play-acted like you were the characters.
The books that made you laugh.
The books that impacted you so much.
The books that you randomly think about now.
The books that made you become a bookworm.
The books that gave you the desire to write.

Yes, we all have them. Childhood books always make me smile when I think about them. And that's why today, i'm going to be doing a whole post about them! I'm going to talk about some of my favorite childhood books and why I like them so much!

I'm going to try to go in order as I read them, but I don't know the exact ages when I read them....
So here's a list of my childhood books AND some of my most favorite books still today:

1. Puddle The Duck
This little book has a blue felt cover with a handle, and I loved it! I would carry it around, and it was seriously the cutest book to read. It talked about Puddle the duck going around with his little bag, helping all the farm animals with band-aids and such, then in the end, they all had a birthday party for the horse! It was so fun, and every little kid should have a book like this!

2. Froggy Goes to Bed by Jonathan London
I remember having the most fun with this book! And why? Because my daddy read it to us in all these funny voices, and then he would change up the words and we would have to correct him because we knew it by heart. We would beg for him to read it to us almost every night!

3. Pony Investigators by Kathleen Pennell
This was another series daddy read to us kids. It was about two girls and their horses who solved mysteries and went and got ice cream for them and their horses! I liked this series so much that me and my older sister would play like we were the two girls with our horses (our bikes.) This was before we had real horses! Lots of memories!

4. Reel Kids Adventures by Dave Gustaveson
I don't remember this series as much, but I remember my dad reading it to us as well!

5. The Swiss Family Robinson by A Beka Book reading program
So this book was for school, but it was probably the first book that I read on my own, that I actually got into... *winks* For those who didn't know this, when I was really little, I didn't like reading... But now, I'm so glad that changed! :)

6. The Adirondack Kids by Justin and Gary Vanriper
Another one dad read to us! He would always make it fun, and change the words... hehe, unless he fell asleep!

7. Pony Pals
This series was the main reason I went to the library so much as a kid! I read this series when I was around 8 or 9. This was another series that my sisters, and cousins would play like we were the characters! And I loved that there was a map in the front cover... because hey, maps are fun!

8. The Boxcar Children
I actually don't remember reading all of them, but us kids would always play "shows" that were suspiciously similar to The Boxcar Children. *goofy grin*

9.  Books by Mr. and Mrs Stephen B. Castleberry
There was different series, but I read most of the blue cover ones, and daddy read us some other ones too. They were good, I liked the mysteries that these two brothers solved.

10. Sisters in Time series
 I loved reading this series! There was so much about history in them... my favorite was Daria Solves a Mystery.

11. Saddles, Stripes, & Stars series by Deborah Kent
I really liked this series! And my favorite book was Riding the Pony Express, about a girl who rode for the pony express!

12. Concord Cunningham Mysteries by Mat Halverson
I loved these books! It was about a boy who used his Bible to solve mysteries! But the best part? Each mystery would end, and you would have to look up the Bible verse to figure out how he solved the mystery. So cool! I remember reading a chapter each morning.

13. Peter Paul Pappenfuss series by Seth J. Pierce
I read these when I was a little older, but I have to say, they were hilarious! The Day the School Blew Up (first book) was one of the funniest books ever! Laugh out loud kind of funny!

14. Circle C Adventures by Susan K. Marlow
So everyone who has read my blog for any period of time probably knew I was going to include this series! Horses, 1800s, adventure... sign me up! I read this series when I was 13 years old, and literally grew up with the main character! She turned fourteen, and I was like... oh, I'm fourteen now too! I loved this series! And if you want to learn more about Andi Carter, check out Mrs. Marlow's blog HERE!

15. Goldtown Adventures by Susan K. Marlow
Another favorite for sure!

16. The Serenity Inn series by Kay D. Rizzo
As I got a little older, The Serenity Inn series became a favorite series! This was probably my first series that I read with romance in it. My older sister and older cousin read them first and I had never been interested in them (I tried to pick them up once or twice but didn't like the more complicated writing style.) Then one day, all that changed and once I got passed the first page, I couldn't stop! I loved the olden time feel of the books in this series, and the characters were amazing! My older sister warned me about book 6 and 7, how they weren't as good. So I skipped those and haven't ever read them, but I did read the rest and they are one of my favorite series! My favorite books were the first two books, Abigail's Dream book 5 (about the Oregon trail) and Rebecca's Crossing (last book.) I would definitely recommend this series, but for more mature readers only because of the romance aspect and the writing style...

17. The Chloe Mae Chronicles series by Kay D. Rizzo
This series was not as good as The Serenity Inn series, but I still really liked reading it! (Even though that happened! Sorry, can't tell because of spoilers!)

18. Maude March Misadventures series
The first book, me and my older sister listened to on a audio book, but the second book, we read. I really liked it! (And I surprised myself how much I liked listening to it! Usually I like to actually read the books...)

19. Louis L’Amour
I enjoyed most of these! My favorite was Ride the River because it was about a girl. I also liked the Sacketts.

20. The Wells Fargo Trail series
As much as I liked this series, I would definitely not recommend it to sensitive readers. It's a western, and there was some parts that were iffy. (More along the lines as detailed fights and such.) My favorite was the fourth book that I actually read first. Overall, this series was exciting, but I would not recommend it to just anyone....

21. Homestead series by Stephen Bly
Gotta say, this series is awesome! It is super family oriented, and squeaky clean. And that one scene with the sunflower, I laughed so hard! (My family would know what I'm talking about...)

22. The Skinners of Goldfield by Stephen Bly
Another favorite by Stephen Bly! This series is a must read for anyone who likes a good family western! <3

22. The Fire in Ember by DiAnn Mills
Many people have heard I like this book, probably because it's one of my favorites!!!

23. Love Finds You series
So there are a LOT of books in this series, written by many authors. I have not read all of them, but most of the ones set in historical timeframes I have read. Some of my favorites are Love Finds You in Sundance Wyoming, Love Finds You in Victory Heights Washington, Love Finds You in Hope Kansas, Love Finds You in Groom Texas, Love Finds You in Last Chance California, Love Finds You in Calico California, Love Finds You in Sugarcreek Ohio, and Love Finds You in Silver City Idaho!

Whew! That was a long list!!! And if you read the whole post... *high fives and gives you chocolate* Great job! So now, you have had a glance of what kind of books I grew up on! And how my taste in books grew! Haha, from Puddle the Duck to Love Finds You books! Anyway, I hope you liked this post! And maybe you have found some book recommendations along the way. (Because everyone should read Puddle the Duck!) XD 

Also, I need your help! 

I saw a lot of posts awhile ago asking for assumptions and seeing how well you know that person... so I thought I'd do a post like that sometimes in the near future! So ask away in the comments below! Assume something about me! (About books, life, my WIPs, whatever you want to assume!) Then I'll do a post seeing if y'all were right or wrong about me! 

So what are some of your childhood favorites? How about just favorites? Have you read any of the ones I mentioned above? Are you going to assume something about me?? 

Talk to me in the comments!!! 

Only in You, LORD // A Poem

Only in You, LORD 

Written by Brooklyne

Though mountains shake

And rivers rage

I will not break

I’ve found courage

Only in You, LORD

I cannot conquer

I cannot succeed 

I cannot become stronger

I cannot be freed 

Without you, LORD

Though nights are tough

Peace is rare among worries 

Facades harder to bluff

I can rise above the flurries 

Only in You, LORD

I cannot survive 

I cannot bond 

I cannot thrive

I cannot go on

Without You, LORD

Though I sink and slide

The slippery slope

Where darkness will hide

I place my hope

Only in You, LORD

I cannot grow

I cannot fly

I cannot bestow

I cannot try

Without You, LORD

Though I am weak
You are teaching me
To ask and seek
To knock and believe 
Only in You, LORD

Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Have you been going though a time in your life where you need to rely on God's strength to get you through? If so, know I am praying for you! I hope this poem was able to encourage you today! 

#writersunite Tag + WIP Collab with Boots!

Howdy, y'all! Today I have a super special post to share with you! A post that has been in the works for a couple months now! *drumroll* Introducing my first collaboration post and a super cool tag that I helped co-create! 

One of my blogger friends, Lilly (Go check out her awesome blog HERE) and I decided to put together a collab talking about our Historical Fiction WIPs! I will be talking about Dakota's Dream which is book #1 in my Winds of Faith Chronicles Series and Boots will be talking about her Historical WIP, Death Valley! 

Anyway, we decided to turn our collab into a tag for those around the blogosphere to participate as well! (I say "we" but really it was mostly through Boot's brilliance that this new tag was born!) 

To make things a bit simpler, head over to Lilly's blog where she will explain the tag rules! Because she does a better job at explaining things! XD 

But the just of this post is: both of us will answer the questions I came up with on Showers of Blessings, and then Boots (we call each other by our nicknames...) will post both of our answers to her 10 questions on her blog, Lilly Cat! 

So lets get on with it! 

1. What inspired the idea for writing this story? 

Ben- The inspiration behind my Historical Fiction series that I am writing is my family. And also our move to the country. In this series, I am going to be basing some of the main characters off of my family. This is my first ever book idea, and someday, I hope to publish all five books in the series! 

Boots- Some talks I had with my Australian friend. We're both writers, and we both thought it would be neat to write a story. We love ourselves some historical fiction, so when it finally go around to the point where we could start writing, it was a no brainer what we were going to write.

2. What message would you like your readers to gain from reading your WIP? 

Ben- In this first book, Dakota's Dream, the message that I would like to portray is to trust in Gods's plan for your dreams. Even if those dreams change...

I'd like this story to be about how God gives us dreams, but also how our version of the dream might be different than His. This book is also about hope.

Boots- Well, hopefully they take away a deeper understanding of how faith and prayer works (I still need to iron that firmly into the plot). I also want them to see that good does always win. Because God created it that way. It doesn't matter if you lose a battle, you're gonna win the war, inevitably.

3. What is the hardest part about the writing process for you? 

Ben- Staying consistent with writing. So many times I write when I have the inspiration to do so, and then when the excitement of a new idea fades, I'm left doubting in my ability to write. So the hardest part about the writing process for me would be to keep writing throughout the times when the words flow easy and when I'm stuck.

Boots- The actual writing. My perfectionist-editor brain hates it when there are typos/errors etc. I just want to go back and edit through or scrap everything I've written and rework it. *facepalm*

4. What is the best part about the writing process for you?

Ben- When the story almost becomes real. And the feeling of accomplishment when you hit a writing goal! 

Boots- The actual writing. xD It's just so fun seeing how the plot unfolds. I always plot my stories before hand, but sometimes they get out of hand and add or remove some stuff. Definitely makes everything more interesting!! ^^

5. What is your MC (main character) most passionate about? 

Ben- Moving to the West and living off the land.

Boots- Ehhmm, well, Jasmine is super passionate about having and taking care of her family. Catherine is probably pretty close to the same. They're both also hoping they're passionate about the Lord. So yeah, the basics. :)

6. What character do you (the writer) have the least in common with? 

Ben- Hmm, I'm not really sure! It seems like I have a little bit in common with most of my characters because I made them up, lol! 

Boots- Probably Thomas. Or one of the outlaws. (No spoilers here)

7. What five words would you use to describe your book? 

Ben- Faith. Family. Western. Adventure. Dreams.

Boots- *Blink blink* Okay, so this is going to be hard. Ummm...western (well duh), action, Christian, emotional, adventurous. Hopefully that's accurate.

8. What is the goal word count that you have set for your story?

Ben- Overall, I'd like my book to be full-length novel sized. So in my mind, I like a book that's about 90,000 words. But obviously, I have no idea if that's going to work out or not...

Boots- I'm hoping for 70 to 80k words. 

9. What is your wildest dream for your writing journey? 

Ben- To have my book(s) indie published!!! And it would be nice if people would enjoy reading them and gain a blessing from them. *winks* 

Boots- Ummm...I really have this huge dream to impact, inspire, teach, mentor...(all those crazies) girls. I feel like it's my calling. I don't know, I just want to support girls. 

10. What do you love about writing Historical Fiction? 

Ben- I love writing Historical Fiction because I like reading Historical Fiction! I like the simplicity and the western feel that most Historical Fiction books have. 

Boots- EVERYTHING!! I'm in love with history. Besides Bible and Literature and Composition, history is my favorite subject!! ^^

~~~ 

Now for some aesthetics and/or quotes! I made the first three graphics for Dakota's Dream using Canva and I must say, they were really fun to make! 

Psalm 31:25 NLT 

"She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future."

Hebrews 11:6 NIV 

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV 

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you or forsake you."

~~~ 

Now for a few of Boot's aesthetics for her book...!

^^ Nothing like a cliff hanger! Now I need to know what happens! 

^^ I LOVE this aesthetic! <3 

^^ More suspense! :)

Note: For more aesthetics for Dakota's Dream, check out my Pinterest board for Dakotas Dream by clicking HERE! Also, check out the aesthetic post I did for the Shared WIP Tag HERE. 

And go HERE to read more about Death Valley and see more aesthetics! 

Now, if you haven't read the rules for this tag yet, head over to Boot's blog, Lilly Cat. Also, check out the other half of this tag and my answers to her questions over at her blog! Boots is fairly new to the blogosphere, so head on over and give her a follow! <3 

So, it's my turn to tag two lucky bloggers! We would love to see others enjoying this tag, but don't feel obligated if it's something you aren't interested in... 

The two girls I am tagging is Rebekah and Liberty! (Who both have new WIPs they are working on! *high fives*)

Tell me about your WIP (work-in-progress)! Do you like writing Historic Fiction? 

Which was your favorite aesthetic? Have you seen Boot's (Lilly's) blog yet? What is your favorite Tag you have seen around the Blogosphere? Do you like finding new tags to post on your blog? Talk to me in the comments! I'd love to hear your thoughts!