Jennifer Morash

About a month ago, I announced that I had begun my second novel. Not only that, but I was going to finish it, or hit 50000 words before the end of November as part of NaNoWriMo. I did not. In point of fact, I stalled out about halfway through the month at roughly 20000 words and ten chapters. Technically, this counts as failure. I mean, I set a goal and didn't meet it. Now, I could hang my head in shame. I could take this as a sign that I'm not cut out to be a writer. After all, I wrote my first novel in less than a month. Sure, it was super short at roughly 35000 words in the first draft, but I finished it. (And, yes, the second draft is more than twice as long) I'm not going to do that, though. This little endeavour taught me a few important things. First and foremost, it taught me that this style of daily goal oriented writing simply does not work for me. The NaNoWriMo model gives you a daily suggested word count. It's not static, mind you. It is the number of wor...

About seven years ago, The Night Circus was released, written by a debut novelist named Erin Morgenstern. It seemed to come out of nowhere and exploded onto bestseller lists everywhere, and with good reason. It was magical. Ever since, I've periodically gone looking to see if she had released anything else, and to my chagrin the answer was always no. Then, in early October, while taking a peek at upcoming releases on Audible, Erin Morgenstern's name popped up. The Starless Sea was clearly not a sequel to The Night Circus, and thank goodness for that, some stories should never be added to. No, this was a stand alone once more. Not read by the immensely talented Jim Dale this time, though. I was simultaneously elated and nervous. I had been eagerly awaiting more from her, but it had been so long now that I worried the anticipation might lead to disappointment. And did Jim Dale's performance lend a magic to the first book that would now be lacking? Also... why did it take sev...

Last week, a new streaming service came on the market. Most of you have heard of it by now. I'm talking about Disney Plus, of course. As any of you who regularly read me know by now, I am an enormous Disney fangirl, so it is surely no surprise that I've been anticipating this one for awhile. I had that app downloaded the moment it became available - that was about seven in the morning, for me. Thank goodness it dropped on a day that I wasn't working. But is it any good? And is it accessible? Let's answer that second one first. The short answer is yes. The longer answer? Mostly. Now, let me be clear that my experience is only with the IOS app. I don't have any other devices, nor have I tried to stream anything from my laptop's web browser, so I can't speak for anything else. The app isn't perfect, but it's close. Nearly all buttons are labelled, which means that Voice Over (that's the iphone's text to speech native app) can read them. The in...

This week marks Remembrance Day. In fact, while this post won't go up today, it currently is November 11 as I sit down to write this. Additionally, here in Canada we recently held our Federal election. In the US, next year will see there own. What do those two things have to do with one another? Those fallen soldiers, and all those who fought and returned to us, did so to ensure our freedom. Freedom from oppression, yes, but also the freedom to do something like choosing our leader. Many gave their lives for that freedom. Many returned with scars, some visible and some not. For my own part, the veteran I was closest to was my great uncle Neil, who fought in World War II. Neil was a kind, gentle man who loved to make furniture. He also liked to talk. But I never once heard him talk about the war. He was proud of his work with the Legion, he participated every Remembrance Day, but he would not talk about the war. I've always thought that this fact told me all I need to know abo...

It's the start of a new month. Granted, it isn't usually the most cheerful or exciting month of the year here in Canada, without even Thanksgiving to bring some warmth to the heart. However, for me, this November is an exciting one. I have two bits of news to share with you all. First, I've begun writing my second novel. Why on earth would I do this before my first has reached a state of completion? A few reasons. Firstly, with the second draft done, it is at a stage where only minimal changes will need to be made, minor fixes in response to beta feedback. No more full rewrites there. The story and plot points will likely remain as they are. That makes it safe to venture into new territory, as my second book is its sequel. Second, I have a feeling that it may be easier to pich two completed books in the same series to a literary agent than just one. And should, heavens forfend, no one wan these books, then it's still practice. Finally, ther's NaNoWriMo, which for ...

Ah, Halloween. The time of year when we don costumes and pose as something other than what we are. When children roam the streets in search of treats. 　 I love Halloween. I always have. Dressing up is fun, and not something that an adult can often get away with. I'll be doing so tomorrow at work. I wish sometimes that I could get away with it more often. 　 The thing is, though, that I do. We all do. We all wear disguises of a sort. We do it all the time. It's just that our disguises have nothing to do with fancy clothing, makeup or masks. Not physical ones. 　 Don't you ever feel like no one, or perhaps only very few, know the real you? That you have to wear a mask of sorts to hide something? That if the world knew your true feelings on something, you would be judged? 　 Or perhaps you feel like an imposter. Like you are only pretending to know what you're doing professionally. As though your colleagues are actually better and more knowledgeable than y...

Stardust by Gaiman and anything by McGuire Discworld by Pratchett with wit that inspires. Books that take flight like a bird on the wing These are a few of my favourite things. 　 Okay, so. I find it hard to answer the question "What's your favourite book". I don't have a favourite book. Perhaps I might in a given moment, but that says more about my mood when asked than it does overall preference. 　 I do have favourite authors, though. 　 Neil Gaiman. The man can write and narrate. I'm fairly sure I could listen to him reciting the proverbial phonebook, but he'd have to find one first. I might not love all of his books equally, but I do at least enjoy every little thing he's written, and love quite a lot of it. From his whimsical short stories to his entrancing novels. He does good screenplays, too. 'Stardust' is an audiobook I often turn to when I'm feeling stressed, listening to him reading it is soothing in a way I can...