The Pirate's Daughter's Sectret by Molly Evangeline

Orphaned at a young age, Skylar McHenry grew up as little more than a servant and shunned by everyone around her because of her reputation as a pirate's daughter. Each day Skye faces is marked by some new struggle. Her only hope is to rely on her heavenly Father's care and comfort and the solace of her best friend, Will, who has become more than dear to her.

Just when an unexpected encounter gives Skye a small glimmer of hope that things might change in her favor, her world is shattered. She is awakened in the night by cannon blasts. Pirates storm the orphanage, drag her away, and force her aboard their ship. The cruel captain's intentions are clear. He will extract from her, through any means necessary, the location of the treasure hidden by her father. For Skye to divulge the location would mean breaking the last promise she made to him. She's certain she never will, but what happens when the lives of those dearest to her are at stake?

The Pirate Daughter's Promise is full of daring high seas adventure; sweet, wholesome romance; surprising discoveries; unlikely new friends; and the rewards of trusting in God even when life seems impossible.

You can learn more about Molly here, or by visiting her blog. The Pirate Daughter’s Promise is the first in a series of 4 books, called the Pirates & Faith Series.

These books are all available on Amazon.com and are also available for the Kindle.

MY THOUGHTS:

I passed this book along to Ashley when it arrived, not sure at all what her thoughts might be. I was pleasantly surprised. I’ll let her take over from here ---

Mom got this book for me to review and I wasn’t sure what to expect of it. Because, well, I’ve never really been interested in pirates. At all.

So when I saw the book, I was kind-of reluctant to read the book. I let it sit in my room and wait to be read. Eventually, I picked it up and started to read.

And I was really surprised.

As soon as I started it, I couldn’t put it down! It surprised me. It had suspense, romance, a little bit of sword-fighting, everything that people want to read in a book.

I didn’t want it to end! I wanted it to keep going on. As with any good book, they end way too soon.

I recommend this book to any teenager! If you like romance, suspense, pirates, you’ll like this book! It had such a great mix of everything you would want in a book.

I hope to read the next books in this series, as soon as I can get a hold of them.

Lazyness

I've been so lazy with my writing so much lately. I can't find myself writing a story that I actually have ENJOYED writing. I have started book after book, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I'll find one that I can actually keep writing, without getting sick of it.
I finished a story - my first story I've ever actually finished that was over 50,000 words - (this was a couple of months ago that I finished it) and I haven't written a good, long story since then. I have so many story ideas and plots running through my head but I can't seem to actually sit down and write them.
I haven't been this lazy with my writing in such a long time and it's actually more tiring than writing a full-length story. I don't know what's wrong with me.
Like, shouldn't I just be able to sit down and write, without feeling like I don't want to? I have to write, it's such a big part of me. I can't stop just because my body is telling me to.


My newest story is kinda fun though. I started this one a couple of days ago and am really enjoying writing this one. It's one of those stories that is so easy to write because it's about the friendship between me and my best friend (Sky.) It's actually only loosely based on it, but the characteristics are the same, so it's so easy in that way. Coming up with the whole plot for the thing was the easy part. Writing it is the hard part. It has to be quirky, cause she and I have a quirky friendship.
(pic to the right: my new characters, Ashlyn and Skylar from my story about my friend and me. If you can't read it - it says: Ashlyn Saige McKinley, Skylar Kendall Williams, Cole Isaiah Barlow, Xaviar Tate Johnston, Trey Matthew McNevan - Oh my! - When friends get together, you never know what might happen.)
Although, my friend, Sky, and I have been writing our story like crazy again. We had gone on a lull and hadn't been writing much but now we're back into the swing of things and we're writing our next novel (when this one's finished, it'll be our third finished), Becoming Bekah. We're really excited about this one. It's our first book that's in third person. I hadn't written in third person before this story and was excited to start something new. It's actually the best we've written together and we're thrilled about this one. You can read all about Becoming Bekah on our writing blog here.
Be sure to read over the Ashen Sky Life Typecasts when you go to our blog. It's a lot of random ramblings but it's also a lot of fun. We just did a Questions and Answer about our stories, writings and our lives. It's quite interesting to say the least.
Sky and I have like 12 plots that need to get written! It's crazy. We've got so many ideas and aren't writing fast enough for our stories likings. But of course, they will wait until we're finished with Becoming Bekah. Which is slowly getting finished. We have about 17-18K more to go, but it probably won't take us too much longer if we keep writing at the pace we are going.
Our first story we ever wrote together was Love Anyway, which took us only 51 days to write and it was 73,000 words. We were pretty proud of that. Of course, that story needs a lot of work before it ever gets shown to anybody, lots of mistakes that need fixed, but it's a good plot.
Although, Becoming Bekah is taking us a little longer - we've been writing it for 72 days - and we have about 64-65K. I think it's because we're both super busy and haven't really had time to write a lot lately. It's kind-of discouraging, but the book is turning out better than we even anticipated.
Anyways, what was the point of writing this blog post?
Oh. Right.
To tell you that I haven't been writing much on my own lately.
I will get back into writing. I will. I will. I will.
'Cause writing is such a huge part of my life. I've been doing it since I was ten. I can't stop now. :P
~Ashley

My best friend, Sky, and another friend of mine are doing a monthly blog meme for writers. I am going to do this...because, well, this girls writes. I love writing. So here are my answers for the first month's questions.

Trying to figure out what character to do here....Elysse. That's who I shall do.

Does your character have a methodical or disorganized personality?
Oh my, oh my. My characters are usually all disorganized. About everything. Can I just say that now? I think it's partly because I, myself, am disorganized, except when it comes to writing. I usually always have my characters almost completely planned out before i start writing. As for a plot though...well, that usually slowly comes along with the characters. The characters are more important to me than a plot. If I can't connect with my characters....I can't write a story about them.

But then...Elysse is one of the most organized characters I have. She is from a book - or story - I am planning to write with my friend, Sky. She is one of those characters that yes, I can totally relate to, but no, I am nothing like.

Does he or she think inside themselves more than they talk out loud to their friends? (more importantly, does he or she actually have friends?)
Think inside themselves? More like...talk to themselves. But they've almost always got a best friend. In my latest story, my main characters are based off of my best friend and me, so it's simply so easy to write, it's not even funny.

Elysse- her best friend is a guy. They've known each other since they were babies and have been best friends since then. They fight like crazy, but couldn't imagine life without each other. They are so close.

Does his or her name have a special meaning?
My characters' names all have their own special meanings. My character's names MUST be names that I absolutely love, and would ... mostly likely, name my kids the names someday. Because, in a way, my characters are my children. I name them, I tell them what to do.
Oh wait. My characters actually tell ME what to do a lot of the time.
Kinda crazy.
Only writers would understand what I mean by that, am I right?

Does her name have a special meaning? Well, I'm not exactly sure how I came up with her name. I usually look through a baby name book and think "OH! That's a really cute name...I love that." But for this one, I'm not exactly sure how I came up with it for her.

Is there something he or she is afraid of?
I think that everyone has their fears and my characters usually have ONE thing that they are deathly afraid of - whether it be snakes (ick) or something more meaningful like not being able to trust people.

Elysse is most afraid of losing people in her life that she loves more than anything. She's lost a lot over the years that she's been on earth and she's afraid that people are going to walk out on her when she needs them the most.

Does he or she write, dream, dance, sing, or photograph?
Usually at least ONE of the words listed above.

Elysse is ... none of the above, actually. Sure, she enjoys doing those things - but she's not really an avid writer. Oh...I know. The girl is a dreamer. Which is up there, but I didn't notice it until I reread the list. She loves to sit and dream about what life she will have and who she will marry and what her life will turn out to be.

What is his or her favorite book? (or genre of books)
Elysse loves reading. But I'm not sure that I ever thought of what her favorite book was. She definitely would enjoy Christian nonfiction over everything else. But I would have to say that if I had to pick her a favorite book - it would be the....
BIBLE.

Who is his or her favorite author and/or someone that inspires him or her?
God. Definitely. He's the author of creation, right? What better author is there?

Favorite flavor of ice cream?
Oooohhh...yum, ice cream. I would definitely say oreo. And yes, it helps that I also like oreo ice cream.

Favorite season of the year?
Fall. Yep. She loves the fall.

What is their full name?
Elysse Marie Moser.
Better known as Elle.
She never is called Elysse. It's too girly for me. Even though she is one of my more girly characters she's definitely not girly enough to go by Elysse. So yeah, she's Elle almost all the time. Or her best friend calls her Ellie occasionally (when she lets him get away with it.)

Sing, Sing, Sing

Last night, a group of ladies from my church went to see Chris Tomlin in concert in Hershey, PA. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect of the concert, because, well, truthfully, I'd heard that it was a more worship based concert, making me think that it wasn't going to be loud and .... well, fun.

Well, I was definitely surprised. The concert was definitely a worship based concert. All the glory was being given to God and not to Chris Tomlin, even though he was the one on stage, singing the songs. All the songs' lyrics were on a screen, so that everyone could sing along. It was just...awesome.

Louie Guiglio was the speaker. He was such an amazing speaker, he had me in tears - and let me tell you, not a lot makes me cry.

All in all, the concert was an amazing experience. If you like Chris Tomlin's music and he's coming to a city near you, I definitely recommend going to see him!

A quote

From reading Jane Eyre today for school, Mom and I came along this quote, which I found to be so real and true. I thought that I would share it on my blog.

“Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigor; stringent are they; inviolate shall they be. If it is my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?” - Jane Eyre

Eyes.

Day 27: A Physical Feature You Love

I didn't quite understand this one, so if I took it the wrong way, forgive me now! :P

Okay. Okay. Here goes.

I love eyes.

Yes. Eyes.

Especially when they're blue.

Some people have those blue eyes that just "pop" when you see them. They just make me smile.

A lot of my characters in stories have blue eyes that "pop", because I love them.

Yes. Eyes.

The Beach!

Day 26: A Childhood Memory

Wow, this girl here has a ton of childhood memories. There are just too many to even mention. I don't know where to start.
Some of my favorites include:

1. Going to the beach.
   My family has been taking me to the beach - Ocean City, New Jersey - almost every summer since I was born. Actually, my mom was pregnant with me the summer of 1993, when she took me for the first time. This will, most likely, be my 15th summer at the beach. (I missed the last two, due to different vacations we have been taking.)
   
2. Disney World
   This is one of my FAVORITE childhood memories. I went to Disney World for the first time when I was 5. I love Disney World, if you don't know that, you probably don't read my blog very often! ;)
   

Easy and Yummy Cake!

Day 25: A Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cake mix, any flavor (I prefer white or yellow)
2 cans of pie filling, any flavor (I prefer cherry)
1 stick butter or margarine

Directions:
Spray bottom of 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the pie filling evenly over the bottom of the pan. Top with dry cake mix. Slice the butter in thin slices and place over dry cake mix. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Serve with ice cream.

Penelope....

Day 24: A Movie You Never Expected Yourself To Love

When I first saw the description for the movie Penelope, I thought that it sounded dumb and that I would NEVER want to watch it.
But I turned it on anyways.
I have no idea why.
I guess I was just curious if it was any good or not.
I watched the first couple of minutes and was instantly intrigued.
So I kept watching.
And by the middle of the movie, I was in love with the characters and just HAD to know what was going to happen.
By the end of the movie, it was on my list of all-time favorite movies.
I never expected to like it.
I never expected to love it.
But I do.
And I could watch it over and over.
Especially with James McAvoy in it.
I think he just makes the movie all the better.
If you don't know who he is, he played Mr. Tumnus in Narnia.
He was cool in that, but he's awesome in Penelope.
Yeah.
So I loved that movie.

Loveeee

Day 25: A Way in Which You Want to Be Remembered

This one is a hard one. How will I be remembered? What will people think of when they think of me when I'm gone? I hate the thought of no longer being on this earth, but it will happen.

First and foremost, I hope to be remembered as a person who truly loves the Lord and did everything for His glory. I want people to think of me and KNOW that I'm in Heaven with my Lord and Savior and have no doubts in their minds.

I also want to be remembered as a person who loved others. Someone who looked at people for who they were, and loved them anyway.

I want to be remembered as a good friend. Yes, there have been falling outs between friends, but who hasn't had those? I want people to look back and say that they knew I was there for them at some point in their lives.

Ashen Sky {Life}

Day 22: A Website

There are so many websites that I could suggest to my blogger friends that I go to constantly! But of course, there is not enough room for all of that.

1. Ashen Sky {Books}
   This is a blog that Sky and I started together, to write about our authoring and what's going on in our stories. If you haven't visited the blog, please do so!
2. Orli Online Magazine
   This is an online magazine that my friend Ali started and asked me to write for right off the bat. The first issue is going to be coming out this Spring and I can't wait for it to come out and see how everything's going to work! I'm enjoying my writing for this magazine!
3. Kids of Faith Online
   This is another online magazine that I write for. I've been writing for this one for a couple of years now and really enjoy it! Sky started this one and I write both music article and an article about {Shining Stars} - Christian music artists who are shining their lives for Jesus.
4. Facebook
   
5. Twitter
   

Those are the websites that I go to the most, spend most of my time on.

28 Day Blog Challenge: Day 20

Day 20: Something You Know You Do Differently Than Most People

I've heard that, as a girl from Pennsylvania Dutch Country, I speak differently than a lot of other people in the world. I've given some of my accent over to some of my friends, Sky even says that she started saying things like I do! :P Here are a couple of things about PA, it'll help you to understand me a little better.

You Know You're From Pennsylvania When....

You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything but "Philly." And New Jersey has always been "Jersey."

You refer to Pennsylvania as "PA."

"You guys" is a perfectly acceptable reference to a group of men & women.

You know how to respond to the question "Djeetyet?" (Didyoueatyet?)

You can use the phrase "fire hall wedding reception" and not even bat an eye.

Words like "hoagie", "crick", "chipped ham", "sticky buns", "shoo-fly pie", "pierogies" and "pocketbook" actually mean something to you.

You know several places to purchase or that serve Scrapple, Summer Sausage (Lebanon Bologna), and Hot Bacon Dressing.

You know exactly what to do when your mother tells you to "red up" your room.

You think very little of an Amish buggy on the road.

You learned long ago how to "step carefully" around the buggy tie-ups in the supermarket parking lot.

You can go 2 weeks in winter without sunshine and think this is normal.

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know that it comes in several colors: Red, Blue, White, Brown, Gold.

You know what REAL potpie is.

You ask the waitress for "dippy eggs" for breakfast.

You can stop along the road to buy fruits, vegetables, or crafts on the "honor system."

YOUR turkey has "filling," not "stuffing," and most certainly, NOT "dressing."

You say things like, "I'm calling off today," and "They're calling for snow."

Hearing horses clopping down a paved street doesn't bring you to the window to see what's going on outside.

You prefer Hershey's Chocolate to Godiva.

School closings due to snow take the radio stations a half an hour to finish, because just about every town has its own school district.


Frequently go "with," e.g., "You going to the market? Mind if I come with?"

Refer to something as "a whole nother," e.g., "That's a whole nother issue."