Our Time to Fight Back // Guest Post

Today I have my epic cousin J. A. Penrose here with us! She's recently had a mission trip to Myanmar/Burma (google it if you don't know) and since she came back I've been blessed to have her ranting/rambling passionately at me (in her own sort of way). She is legit a real inspiration guys, you should hear her. (Plus we're like twins pretty much so yes.) (In my mum's words we're 'scarily similar.')

She's been doing a few articles on Wattpad -Evangelising and whatnot- and, after reading them for her, I decided to shove it in your faces invite her to guest post on my blog.

She agreed, we both forgot for a while, and then I remembered and here we are! Anyhow. I shall stop blathering on and hand over to her.

- - -

Thank you Jane for inviting me here! (I’m glad to know that you reckon that my change as a missionary is an improvement!)

Well, hi all. I’m Jess, Jane’s crazy/awesome/random cousin! I’ve lately gone crazy with Evangelism thanks to seeing awesome things through God! I’ve lately started a campaign on a writing site called Wattpad, to send encouragement to Christians to Evangelise, and Evangelism to non-Christians as a chance for the Holy Spirit to reach them! 

So, hopefully, after reading this first entry, you awesome guys will mention it to a few people and even look at the rest yourselves! *gasps of horror* You can also, if you feel called, start something like that yourselves! So, that’s it for the rambles from the author.
Enjoy!

“Let no man despise thy YOUTH, but be thou an example of the believers, 

in Word, in Conversation, in Charity, in Spirit, in Faith, in Purity.” 

1 Timothy 4:12 (KJV)

Most teenagers believe that they can do no more than go to school, university, a well paid job, and maybe get married one day. This is the best of what society feeds us. But there is so much more. So much more.

We as a generation need to step out and change. We are the generation of technology, of chaos, of terrorism, but we are also the generation of revolution. We can change the world with every day of our lives and everything we do, no matter where.

From a Christian perspective, this is even more clear. We can bring more people to God. It doesn't matter if you're a Catholic, Anglican, Baptist. It doesn't matter if your skill is rap, art, maths, simple friendliness. We have all been given great gifts from God and they are part of His image! We need to step out in faith and tell the world. We need to use our gifts. We can do so much. Don't just sit there and pray that someone would fix the world. You may be God's answer to your own prayer.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NIV)

Let us go out and tell the word. We have all got different gifts.
We need to Rise.

It is our time to fight back.

~ J. A. Penrose~

-read the rest of her to-be-continued series by clicking here-

//ABOUT

J. A. Penrose is a fifteen year old daughter of the most Holy God on High. She is an Australian writer, musician, and evangelist. Her passion is to use her life for Christ's work and His glory. To make a difference and spread some true Hope in this messy world. Check her out on Wattpad, Google+ and her blog and get to know her better!
(Quirky fact: she's a Tolkien obsessed fangirl and partially fluent in Quenya)

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How are you using the gifts God has given you?
Isn't that song so cool??
(okay maybe it's just me though. :P)

Explore Leira Blog Tour: K is for Ky Huntyr

I have a thing for characters by the name of Ky. (Cai, Kai and Kye work too.) When I stumbled across the Songkeeper Chronicles (actually, it was probably my sister who found them, but I do enough stumbling for us both so yeah.) (I'm not sure how that side note got so off track in one sentence.) I fell in love with Ky Huntyr immediately.

And today you guys get to hear all about him!!!

Author Gillian Bronte Adams is here today and she's going to give a rundown of this super epic Ky-fellow who Jane won't stop flailing over.

So without further ramblings, I'll hand over the stage to Gillian!

- - -

Thanks, Jane, for hosting me here and helping me celebrate the (almost) one year book birthday for Songkeeper! (If this is your first encounter with the blog tour, we are continuing a series of alphabet posts looking at the world and characters and magical creatures of the Songkeeper Chronicles. And you can follow the tour at Gillian's website and find a list of all the stops at #exploreleira tour.) And we also have an awesome giveaway that you can enter at the end!

Today, we’re looking at the letter …

K is for Ky Huntyr

Oddly enough, it is sometimes easier to write one of these spotlight posts about a minor or secondary character than one of the major point of view characters. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps because there is so much information about these main characters spinning around inside my head, that it’s hard to translate that firestorm into words on a page.


So what is it that makes Ky who he is? He is not the biggest or the strongest, not the fastest or the bravest, not the smartest or the most well-spoken. He isn’t always right, even when he is convinced that he is. But he has conviction and the courage to back it up, and he cares deeply about those he seeks to protect.

Ky lives in the occupied city of Kerby. Five years before the events of Orphan’s Song, the soldiers of the Takhran, the Khelari, took over the city. They established a digging works along the banks of the River Adayn just outside the city walls. Not long after, people began to disappear. Taken, by the dark soldiers.

Three years before Orphan’s Song, Ky’s parents were taken. Forced onto the streets, he found refuge and a new “home” in the Underground, where he was paired as a “younger brother” to Dizzier to learn the ropes. 
When it came to training, Dizzier preferred to literally hammer his point home with punches. Ky is too free-thinking for his own good. In the Underground, survival is key … but Ky just couldn’t master the art of survival at the expense of others. Somewhere in between dodging dark soldiers, avoiding Dizzier, and nicking enough bread and apples from the market to contribute his fair share, Ky met Paddy and made a fast friend.


Paddy chuckled softly. “You’re such a fool, y’ know that, Ky?”
He snorted. “Thanks, friend.”
–Orphan’s Song


In many ways, Paddy is far more his brother than Dizzier.

For a weapon, Ky chose a sling that he wears wrapped around his waist like a belt. Like all in the Underground, he must undergo sword training in the Ring, but something about the blades always strikes him as unbalanced and clunky. He will wield a blade in a pinch, but only then.

We see the roots of Ky’s character in Orphan’s Song but he really blossoms and grows in Songkeeper. When the world falls apart, a person’s true mettle is revealed, and that is true of Ky. He’s got guts and plenty of them. We love to see heroes overcome, and Ky is an overcomer. Knock him down, and he’ll drag himself back to his feet. Weaving and staggering to keep from falling again.

But standing ... and sometimes that is enough.


Cade was halfway across the room by the time Ky managed to lurch to his feet. Head spinning, he yanked the sling from his waist, snatched a rock from the cavern floor, and relying on feel rather than sight, sent it zinging against the blade in Cade’s hand.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and forced himself to stand straight. “The fight’s not over.”
– Songkeeper


What makes Ky who he is?

His indomitable spirit. He simply will not give up. Driven by conviction and hope, he rises and rises and rises again, determined to stand for what he believes to be right.


Trivia Question: What item does Ky “nick” in the market place in Orphan’s Song to earn a place in Cade’s approval?

What character qualities do you admire most in your favorite characters?

- - -

Check out the links below for a place to purchase the books:

Amazon: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

Barnes and Nobles: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

And before you leave, don’t forget to enter the giveaway! 

One lucky winner will take home a copy of Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, and a gorgeous handmade mug. Two lucky winners will take home copies of Songkeeper! Open to international entries. Enter through the Rafflecopter below and be sure to visit Gillian's website to continue following the blog tour. You can earn new entries for each post that you visit along the way. 
Winners will be announced after April 15th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GILLIAN BRONTE ADAMS is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, coffee-loving speculative fiction author from the great state of Texas. During the day, she manages the equestrian program at a youth camp. But at night, she kicks off her boots and spurs, pulls out her trusty laptop, and transforms into a novelist. She is the author of Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, and Out of Darkness Rising. Visit Gillian online at her blog, Twitter, or Facebook page.

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What character qualities do you admire most in your favorite characters?
Interested in reading these books yet?
(hint: the answer is yes)
Check out my reviews here: Orphan's Song, Songkeeper

20 Fun Facts About Down Under and the Inhabitants Thereof - Guest Post by Jane Maree

*chokes* No. You didn't read the title wrong. This is a guest post by myself.

Okay, so to explain...Remember how Savannah Grace did a guest post here a while back? Well, at the same time, I did a post on her blog, which was, at that stage, private. (Now it is no longer, so go check it out, 'kay?) But all of you (well, some anyway) wanted to read the post I did so...here it is. Only slightly edited so it's not quite as weird (aka: no longer sounds as much like I'm doing a guest post for myself).

*drum roll*

Hey all! As you should hopefully have realised, I'm Jane Maree. (Yes, I very much hope my blog-readers would have realised that by now)

My task here today is to give you a couple of random facts about Aussies and our country.

Zzzzz...

Oh sorry. I just fell asleep because I realised how boring that actually sounded.

Let me rephrase it.

*clears throat*

I SPEAK A MESSAGE FROM THE FAR SOUTH. MY WORLD CONQUERING REIGN IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. TIME FOR A NEWS FLASH.

Okay. I am officially hopeless at this.

Ready?

No?

Neither am I.


So, before we begin, I'd best apologise in advance because *whispers* I've never done a guest post before (particularly not for myself), so I have roughly 0.009283% idea of what in the world I'm even doing. 
Hopefully it won't be too long or anything.

First off, we'd better do some geography, so you can remember what the Land Down Under actually even looks like. Here's a map:

I live in New South Wales. That, my minions, is shortened to NSW, because who could be bothered to write out the whole thing every time?

Now, pay attention, we Aussies have only 8 states (and not all of them are even officially states) to remember, because we value our brains and don't want to even attempt to remember the 159 or-whatever-it-actually-is American states.

On that note, I have a question for all you Americans. DO you actually memorise all those states and the abbreviations? (If you do, consider me amazed) (Also, apparently a lot of you do, according to the actual guest-post comments. I am officially amazed.)

Anyway...I guess I'd better move on to the facts of randomness!  10 Facts about Down Under first:


1. The seasons are reversed here.
No, I don't mean that it's hot in winter and cold in summer (haha ha ha. Nope. It's just warm in winter and a completely fried sausage in summer). I mean, that for us, summer is December-February, and winter is June-August.


2. Snakes are evil.
Particularly the Brown Snakes.
Every summer they sneak along and lie in the sun and slither around on their dastardly evil missions. No, I've never been bitten (my sister once came within a metre (like...two feet away or something) of one and it had it's head raised to strike and everything. She ran. Sensible girl.) Native Aussie snakes are protected. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to help them keep their heads attached when they come too close to our place and there's a shovel around.
Of course we don't kill them, or anything. We just...spread them around a bit, so to speak. (Y'know, head over here, rest of the body over there...)


3. That said, THE ENTIRE COUNTRY ISN'T OUT TO KILL US ALL.
It's actually quite harmless. Yeah sure, there's sharks and snakes and my backyard is completely packed with the most poisonous spiders in Australia - and they're also the second most poisonous in the entire world (not to make you terrified of coming to visit) - and there's also the massive goannas (monitor lizards) that have been known to eat four of my last guinea pigs in one meal. (I haven't had guinea pigs since. I just gave up on them after that incident)


4. Our school year doesn't start in September.
Who even came up with that idea? Why start school in the middle of the year? For us, school year starts in the most logical place: the beginning of the year.


5. Australia is actually about the same size as the USA.
Only it's got less states, less people and more frying desert and middle-of-nowhere-nothingness, so that fact isn't realised by many.


6. We have...beaches?
This is the thing that I've never been able to grasp. Sand, water, sun, seagulls. Other countries don't have as many cool beaches? Like...what? Europe has half of them with pebbles instead of sand. HOW?! I do not get any of this.


7. Apparently there is 3.3 times more sheep here than people.
Weird huh? To be honest, I didn't actually know this before, but I was looking around for inspiration and discovered this fact. And deemed it random enough to put here.


8. Koala 'bears.'
Do. not. ever. call a Koala a bear in front of an Aussie. Because it will be the most wrong thing you have ever said. And I will not take the responsibility for any injury you gain after speaking those words.


9. Kangaroo meat is not a sought-for delicacy.
In fact, I can personally assure you that it is gross. I once at a kangaroo kebab at this Bush-Tucker camp we were on. But only because I'd been busy helping out actually making them, and everyone else had eaten the rest of the food by the time we'd done skewering the stuff. *shudders* Never again.
I've also eaten possum stew. It...wasn't bad. A bit hard to get down (nowhere near as hard as the kangaroo), but the best part is being able to gross people out by saying that I've eaten some.


10. WE ARE A PARADOX.
Because someone invented that you cannot be an continent and an island at the same time. BUT WE ARE. Australia is both. Just because we can't be. So we are. Just 'cause - Down Under Logic.



Phew. First ten done. Halfway to finished. We can do this.

Onward to 10 Facts about the Inhabitants Thereof


11. We have to put of with the notoriously American Blogger spell-check. 
We write 'favourite' and bing - BIG. RED. LINE. Excuse me, favourite is spelt with a 'u' here, no matter what you think, brainwashed spell-check. (As is honour, favour, and all those other ones)


12. We are inherently proud of our criminal ancestry.
And if you can trace your great-great-great-whatever back to a bush ranger?! That would be SO COOL. But no. I'm just related to the dude who named the clouds (Luke Howard if you were curious. He's a great-great-somethingorother-uncle I think).


13. Yes. We totally call French Fries chips.
And those things that some people call crisps? Hah. We call 'em chips as well. Wouldn't want to be normal or anything.


14. Not all Aussies have wrestled a crocodile.
Like, uh...no. I haven't even seen a wild one, and if I did, the first thing I'd do would be RUN AWAY SCREAMING IN TERROR. Either that or stand there staring in shock until it ate my leg off.


15. What you call chickens, we call chooks
No really. I'm serious this time (what no! Me? Serious? Never. Except for now). Apparently it's one of those slang words that we use without even realising it's anything out of the ordinary. We call baby chooks chickens or chicks, and big chooks are called...chooks.


16. We don't actually go around saying 'G'day mate'.
Sorry to burst that bubble, but we don't. Some people do, but not most. The most Aussie greeting that you'd actually be likely to come across would be 'howdy'. I use that one now and then.


17. Not all of us are outdoors-bushwhackers.
Some are, naturally, but others prefer to be inside. And for some strange reason, not everyone has dreams of gliding (hang gliding or paragliding, I'm not fussy) off the nearest mountain ridge. Adventure apparently isn't everyone's slice of pizza. (Hehe, get it? Cup of tea was far too British so I turned it into slice of pizza. Okaaay, I think we should move on.)


18. We can't all throw a boomerang.
I am disappointed in myself.
I have watched other people throw it perfectly the first time they ever even held one.
I have watched them be so good at it that they had to jump over the boomerang when it came back and almost whacked their legs.
I have tried.
I have failed.
I have climbed the tree to try get the silly thing back out.
I have also failed at that because it was an extremely tall tree and the thing was right at the top.
I have stood awkwardly at the bottom while the first-time-expert successfully got it down.
I have apologised profusely for almost getting it stuck for eternity.
I have tried again.
...
I have gotten a boomerang stuck in a tree more than once.


19. Our brains are all fried every summer.
True fact.
Maybe.
But it's hot, and it sure feels like my brain gets fried. Except for when I spend most of summer sitting inside enjoying the air con that keeps us alive.

Something tells me that after this post no one here is going to be doubting the fried-brains fact...


20. We all walk upside down because it's the bottom of the world.
...
What? You don't believe me?
Well...yeah okay. Maybe not then.



*deep breath* There. 20 random fun facts about Aussies and our country. And a guest post by myself.

Not sure if many people can say they've guest posted on their own blog before...

It's a talent some people have.

So there you are. Hope it was at least vaguely amusing. (Haha, actually no. I would honestly hope you laughed your head off, except then the hospital fees would be expensive and the surgery would be far too complicated and it would be much more simple if you don't go that far overboard with the laughing.)


Americans! Are there crazy facts about your country that I might not know? (Hint: the answer is yes)

|| Jane Maree ||

(P.S. Good news. You're getting another SS+S installment of Friday. *cue celebration and confetti*)

The Importance of Secondary/Minor Characters - Guest Post by Savannah Grace

Heyo everyone. As you hopefully read from the title, [cue everyone going back and actually reading that monstrosity of a very-long title] today I have a wonderful friend here to do a guest post!!!

Welcome to Savannah! *cheers and applaudations*

Now, I would give you a link to her blog and all because it's such a fun place of epicness, but unfortunately it's also private. So it would kinda be pointless.

[Edit: SHE'S JUST STARTED A PUBLIC BLOG, SO YOU SHOULD TOTALLY GO CHECK IT OUT!!! Scattered Scribblings]

Equally unfortunately, that means you don't get to read the guest post I did for her (which was called '20 Fun Facts about Down Under and the Inhabitants Thereof' just in case you were curious). If anyone feels terribly eager to read it, do say so and I might post it here as well.

Now, I say Savannah is a 'friend' but to be honest, I've never met her, or talked to her in person, or anything. Don't worry! I'm fairly sure she's a legit human being--oh sorry. Actually, she tells me she's an orphaned elf from Middle Earth.

That figures, I guess.

She and I 'met' over Camp NaNo and have been great buddies ever since. She's a very epic person. And I am very pleased to welcome her to my blog!

I'd better stop rambling now and hand it over to her, and see what she's got to say about the Importance of Secondary and Minor Characters.


[Enter Savannah]


  Harry Potter. Lord Of The Rings. Star Wars. The Hobbit.

   What character do you think of when you hear those words? Most likely the names Frodo, Harry Potter, Bilbo, and Luke Skywalker came to your mind. The main characters – pretty much the stars of the show.

   But honestly, the stars of those shows would probably be DEAD if it wasn’t for side characters (sorry, sorry, just had to point that out).

   I’m here today to discuss the importance of secondary/minor characters and how to use them + not use them.
 

 Don't you love the pic Savannah made? It looks so...I dunno...American. :D

1. Without them … well, you have no cast. Whatsoever, really.
   Guess that makes a pretty good first point, doesn’t it?  

   So, um … who else REALLY doesn’t want to read a story with only ONE character? Come on, what fun would that be? Without Secondary and minor characters, you have NO cast of characters! And without a cast of characters, you have a very bland story.

   I don’t think I want to read a bland story, thank you very much.

2. They’re an extra POV/pair of hands
   If you’re writing a very huge novel, there’s a good chance that you won’t be in your main character’s head the ENTIRE time. There will probably be a couple places where the scene is from a different character’s head.

   And that doesn’t work without a side character now, does it?    

   Of course, they’re also useful when you need two things to happen at once in two very different places. Send the side character off to place B and main character to place A.

   Problem solved.

3. They’re help (or company) for the main character
   Could YOU make it through life all on your own? You couldn’t. I’ll just tell you that.

   And your main character can’t either – trust me.

   Your main character will probably need a friend … and maybe mentor-ish kind of character … or siblings and parents … you know, all the works.  Or half the works, whatever works for you *shrugs*.

4. Don’t have the secondary save the day
   YEAH you don’t want to do that. The main character is supposed to save the day, not a secondary character. Sure, we’ll like the secondary a lot (or you’d at least hope we do), but we’re really rooting for the main character.
 
   For instance, what if Hermione had killed Voldemort instead of Harry (you know, somehow …)? I for one do not think that J. K. Rowling’s fans would have been pleased (she might end up with a bunch of Muggles yelling at her very loudly). Or what if Pippin had destroyed the Ring instead of Frodo?

   Secondary characters can do a lot of great things, but don’t turn them into the main character.

5. Secondary characters can have plots of their own
   Ever heard of this funny little thing called subplots? Well yeah, you need side characters for those (most of the time).

   And what fun is a story without one of two little subplots? I literally can’t think of one story I’ve read that doesn’t have subplots, can you?

   A story definitely become more full when you add subplots (just don’t add too many – then it’s simply overwhelming). Secondarys help with that.

 
   SO yeah. There’s a peek into my brain.

   *looks over post* *realizes … it wasn’t actually very helpful* *shrugs* *uses it anyways*

   *exits stage*

Don't ask why I put it in Spanish...Random impulse, and it looked cool. :D

So there we are! Thanks again Savannah for the guest post, it was great fun.

I hope you all enjoyed it, and maybe even learnt something. (More use than mine was, unless you wanted to learn about the randomness of me)

(Just wanted to mention, Savannah and I blew our brains up attempting to work out our American/Aussie time zones so we could publish the guest posts at the same time...So I published this at 10am Monday, and she did it at 7pm Sunday. [cue a few more brains exploding at how that even works] It took us a while to work it out. :P)

And...I think that's basically it!

Don't forget, that if you want to read the guest post thing that I did for Savvy, just ask, and if there's enough of you wanting it I'll post it here as well.  

Fair Winds!

|| Jane Maree ||