Living and Enjoying *Now*

Hello, folks! And welcome to 2024!

(Yes, this is my new year post. No, I don’t care that we’re already more than halfway through January. Shh.)

I… have no idea where 2023 went. I mean, a lot happened for me last year, one of the biggest being that I gave birth to my fourth child. I also published another book. But honestly, the whole year kinda passed in a blur, and I’m too tired to remember most of it.

2023 was the year that I turned 30. I didn’t really say much at the time, but I feel like 30 is finally hitting me. When you’re in high school and college, you dream about the things that you’ll have accomplished by the time you’re 30. I don’t feel old enough to be 30 yet, but somehow it happened. I have done a lot of things I never thought I’d do (like having four kids and self-publishing 5 books), and there are plenty of things that I haven’t done yet that I truly expected to have done (like getting my driver’s license).

But 2023 is officially behind us. And we’re looking ahead to 2024.

If there’s one thing that sticks out to me for this new year, the one thing that really encapsulates my hopes and dreams for 2024, it’s simply living and enjoying now. I did try to simplify it down to a single word, but I’ve yet to find the right word that covers everything that I want.

Let me explain.

For many years, I feel like my life has been on hold. My husband is working on getting his doctorate in theology, and we are slowly getting to the finish line. He has about two and a half years before everything is complete, and then I’ll be able to boast being married to a real doctor. *winks* However, because we’re in that phase of life where he has to study and devote so much time to the doctorate, there have been a lot of things that our little family has had to put on hold. In many ways, I feel as though I’ve put my life on pause until my husband is finished with his doctoral work. I’m still keeping busy with homeschooling and keeping up with four kids, and writing here and there when life and sleep allow, but for the most part I haven’t relished and seized life. I’ll think about doing something and then shrug and say, “I’ll get to that one day.”

Do you know how easy it is to delegate things to one day?

But then it hit me. Our kids are living now. They are making memories now. They are growing and learning now. Even though they are still very young, these are years that we will never get back with them. I don’t want to miss that. I don’t want to enjoy my kids “one day.” I want to enjoy everything right now.

As a parent, it’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. You very often feel that you’re just surviving until the next bedtime. Some days that’s more true than others. Yes, it’s hard, but there are so many little moments that just make it all worth it. God calls children a blessing so many times in the Scripture and that’s really how we need to view them. I love my kids. I love being with my kids. I love learning with my kids. Last year, my word for the year was enjoy, and I really think God did help me with that. I thoroughly enjoy my kids — even if there are still days when I feel like I’m just surviving until bedtime. It is still worth it all.

But I’m tired of waiting. I want to be bolder this year, more intentional and immersed. I want to do things. I really do an awful job at keeping active on social media and promoting my books, but I’d like to work at being better about that. Particularly on Instagram. I want to take risks. I want to write more. I would love to publish two books this year (so stay tuned and keep me accountable). I want to start cooking and baking more things from scratch, especially since our family has so many allergies to navigate. I want to do all the things and make all the memories with my kids. I’ve dreamed about being the fun mom for so long, and it’s high time I live up to my own expectations.

I’m doing fairly well with the enjoying part. Now it’s time to work on the living now part. Living intentionally takes a lot of work. Surviving and then sitting back to destress on my phone isn’t going to cut it anymore. God has only given us one life, and I want to seize it and make the most of it. I want to live with no regrets.

I want to live and enjoy the life God gave me now.

~*~

What about you? Do you have a word for 2024? Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Let me know in the comments!

God bless!

We Saved Our First Hug For Marriage

Warning: Personal experience post ahead. Will probably spark some controversy.

(Please note: This topic may be better suited to older readers, but I did my best to keep things rated G-ish.)

In light of Valentine’s Day this past weekend, I’d like to take a moment to speak on something near to my heart when I think of romance and the like. Physical contact is a topic that comes up often in Christian circles. Do dating couples have physical contact? How much contact is too much? Where should you set boundaries? And, for cat’s sake, should you save your first kiss for your wedding day or is that just incredibly old-fashioned?

Saving your first kiss for marriage was a concept I was introduced to fairly early on in life. As a homeschooled tween and teen, it seemed pretty natural, considering I really didn’t know many guys my age (and the few I did know I knew I’d never be interested in). Since I wasn’t a super romantically-inclined individual, I always figured I’d save my first kiss for marriage. Why bother with kissing someone else’s husband? The notion was absolutely disgusting.

Kissing was something that, to me, is pretty intimate. I’d seen my parents kiss, and knew by their lives that they loved each other unconditionally. I knew I wanted that kind of love in my life, if God would have that for me. I wasn’t interested in dating around, or getting intimate with a guy that wasn’t my husband, or even having a first kiss experience that was outside of marriage.

I realize many people consider that really conservative and old-fashioned. And I’m okay with that. I wanted to be able to save myself fully for my husband — and not just physically, but emotionally as well. Intimacy, even with seemingly trivial things like kissing and hand holding, sparks emotions and thoughts, and I wanted to keep all those things for my husband.

Actual photo of the First Hug™

When my husband and I started dating (you can read that full story here), we talked through physical contact and set standards for our relationship. We had both entered the relationship knowing that we wanted to pursue — Lord willing — eventual marriage, but in case things didn’t work out, neither one of us wanted to walk away with regrets. Right off, we both knew we wanted to save our first kiss for our wedding day. However, he wanted to take that a step further and save our first hug for the wedding day, too. Meaning we would have absolutely no physical contact until we were married.

Here’s why. 1 Corinthians 7:1b states: “It is not good for a man to touch a woman.” The meaning of the word “touch” there is the idea of touching to light or spark a fire. Arousal. And this is what I was talking about earlier when I said I wanted to save myself emotionally for my husband. Arousal comes with a lot of emotions and thoughts, and they can be difficult at times to restrain. Once you’ve dipped into that pool, it’s very hard again to step back.

It had taken us a while to get to dating, and by that time both of us knew we wanted to be committed to each other and one day getting married. We didn’t know the future. God’s plan could be that we went all the way and got married; His plan could be that we didn’t end up together. We could only take it a day at a time, and follow where God led us. Since both of us already had feelings invested in each other, any touching would quickly spark arousal and lead to things we might regret. If God’s plan was for this man to someday marry another woman, I didn’t want to have memories of hugging and kissing him.

I’ve known too many couples who have — after beginning a relationship — hug and hold hands and kiss and snuggle, and while those things may not necessarily be wrong, after the relationship ended, the thing I’ve heard one of them say most is, “I regret doing that.” So often, couples get caught up in the emotions of the relationship, the touching and the feeling, and neglect the important things like honesty, communication, trust, and kindness. My husband and I both have a number of younger siblings, and we wanted to be able to show them that you can build a successful relationship not on a foundation of physical contact. We agreed that things like fist bumps and high fives were fine, but we wouldn’t go any farther than that.

We dated for 15 months, and then were engaged for 2 more after that. That was 17 months of no hugs, no kisses, no hand holding. I’ll admit — there were times when it wasn’t easy. I definitely had days when I was emotionally and mentally exhausted and depressed, and all I wanted was a hug from him. There were days when he would surprise me with little things, and in my joy I would have to find another way to thank him rather than giving him a hug or a kiss. But God gave strength, every time I prayed for it.

And we made it. On our wedding day, I walked down the aisle and held his hand at the altar for the very first time. I mean, my emotions were haywire at that point, and I can’t recall anything the pastor said, but it was so sweet to say that was the first time we’d actually touched.

When it came to our first kiss, right there at the altar in front of everyone, I panicked. I had no idea what I was doing, and we missed horribly. It was incredibly awkward. I was so embarrassed, and all I wanted was to bury myself in a hug and forget that everyone was still watching us. So, I hugged him. And that was our very first hug.

Now, I’m not writing this post to say this is the way everyone should do it. I realize that physical contact today is considered a very normal part of the dating life. But I cannot even begin to describe how sweet it is to save everything like that for your marriage. On our honeymoon, my husband and I spent a good ten minutes figuring out how we liked holding hands best — and it was so fun. After that awful first kiss, we took our time figuring out how to do it the right way. It was so satisfying knowing that we were both amateurs in the physical contact department, and we were figuring out everything together. And since we were married at that point, we both had the confidence of sharing those intimate things with only our spouse.

I don’t regret doing things the way we did. I’m so happy that we saved our first hug for marriage. Yes, it’s not normal, and yes, it was hard. But it was so rewarding. And we’re looking to celebrate 4 years happily married this summer, and many more anniversaries in the future.

So, let me encourage you reader — whether you’re single and still praying for that special someone to enter your life, or you’re looking forward to beginning a new relationship — consider your standards for physical contact. I don’t hold myself and my husband up as an example of a perfect relationship; we made a lot of other mistakes along the way. But we kept ourselves for each other, pure physically and emotionally. And we have no regrets.

I just want to leave with you this thought: If we could do it, it’s not as impossible as the world makes it out to be. Resolve to be pure.

God bless!

Life Update (Summer 2020 Edition)

Hello, readers!

If you hadn’t noticed already, I’m here to admit that I’ve been a little MIA concerning my blogging habits of late. Life has been a little nuts as I’m keeping up with a two year old who never stops running or talking and a nine month old who loves crawling and stuffing anything he can find in his mouth. Sometimes, a mom’s life is just keeping the kids alive for the day.

Don’t get me wrong — I love it. It just doesn’t leave a ton of time for computer stuffs. AND right now, I’m choosing to use what little computer time I have to mainly work on The Bear of Rosethorn Ring.

So, here’s my…

Writing Update

The Bear of Rosethorn Ring is coming along nicely. I just hit 19K total this weekend, and I’m REALLY hoping to finish up the whole first draft by the end of the month. Which is… *le gulp* THIS WEEK. We’ll see. But that’s the plan.

I would love to get this book out sooner rather than later, but definitely no later than next summer. *silent screaming* I’m still numb thinking that this will be my fourth published work. I’m soooo happy that I’m finally getting to do a more obscure and less-retold tale. Snow White and Rose Red really needs more love, guys.

Hiatus Update

I didn’t officially announce it, but I took a hiatus from Fairy Tale Central for the month of July. It was hard not to want to jump into everything The Gnome (the featured fairytale), but I just didn’t have time for it. *sadness* It was the right choice, since we spent the first 18 or so days on vacation, visiting my parents, and I wanted a break from stuff so I could enjoy my family.

However, I’m planning to be back at FTC in August to participate with the AWESOME fairytale we’ll be featuring (no spoilers, sorry). It may not be as much as I’d like, since…

Everything Else Update

Soooo…. we’re moving again.

I’m living in a sea of boxes, and I’m so sick of packing, BUT I’m over the moon to be moving. Yes, again.

My hubby and I have moved every single summer since we got married, and I’m ready to live somewhere for more than a year. THIS TIME, however, is VERY different since we’re finally buying a house and not renting!

(For the interested reader who wants the full story, my hubby and I first lived in a tiny apartment on our college campus; they didn’t allow kids, so after we found out we were pregnant, we moved to a small two bedroom apartment off campus; THEN we found out we were expecting again, and for financial and practical reasons decided to rent a three bedroom house with my hubby’s folks; NOW, we’re moving to a five bedroom where there’ll be lots of space for all of us (kiddos, in-laws, plus uncles). It’s kinda funny, considering this will be the first move we’ve not had to make because we’re pregnant. XD)

All of that to say this — I am not planning on taking another hiatus in August, but since I’m packing and moving house, please do not expect much of me online. *smiles* Hopefully, things will all go smoothly and calm down quickly enough that I can come back to a more regularly scheduled blogging.

Maybe.

*shrugs*

How’s your summer going?

Welcome to the New Place!

Hey, everyone!

A Synesthete Writer is now the official online home of Kirsten Fichter, author of fairytales and other fun things, and of Kiri Liz, the internet personality you weren’t sure was a real person. (I assure you, I am.)

For the last nine years, I’ve been (more or less) faithfully blogging on Lianne Taimenlore, keeping the world updated about my writing, general life updates, my thoughts on books and movies, and more. In addition to three other blogs (now long deceased), I hosted KiriBeth, a site dedicated to book and movie reviews.

A Synesthete Writer was first born as a college homework assignment for a non-fiction writing class. It sat in a stalled state for a few years after I finished the class, and I really wasn’t sure what to do with it. At the time, I was currently running three other blogs, and really didn’t want to bother with a fourth. I was in college, you know, and college students NEVER have free time to deal with four online children — er, I mean, blogs.

However, I’m ready for a change. It’s 2020, and if ever there was a year for change, this is it.

June 2019 Book Haul (And Announcements)

I’m not sure how many of you have noticed this, but I haven’t done a book haul post since (I believe) March. The reason? Because I didn’t have any new books to post as a haul.

It’s very sad, yes, but I’m also very happy to say that I’ve added two new books to my shelves in the month of June — so I can do a book haul post! Small, but it’s a post.

Anywho, what with moving and vacation, these last two months have been absolutely crazy, but in a quick local bookstore trip, I managed to find two books that I’ve been looking for for quite a while. (Sorry, Google images will have to work for this one, since I didn’t take one myself.)

The Candlestone and Circles of Seven // Bryan Davis

I’ve had the first book in Davis’s Dragons in Our Midst series for I don’t know how long. I’ve read through most of this series (including DIOM as well as Oracles of Fire and Children of the Bard) at one point, but I don’t recall most of the series, unless you count some epic moments with Walter. I’ve been wanting to re-read all of them for a while, but when you’ve only got the first book — let’s face it, it’s not that enticing.

Bryan Davis hasn’t typically been a favorite author of mine, but I recently started reading his Dragons of Starlight, and suddenly I’m more interested in reading more. I did not care for Echoes from the Edge or the Reapers trilogy, but his dragon stories are pretty interesting (from what I’ve read).

Well, there’s the grand book haul, and now I just have three more things to say:

ONE

Spindle Dreams is on its way! I’ve hit a number of snags dealing with the cover and formatting, but I believe we’re on top of all of that, and yesterday I ordered the official first proof copy to check for any last errors before we release the cover.

Thus, COVER REVEAL IS COMING SOON! I’m super stoked to finally be sharing this with you guys. It’s taken way too much time to get to this point — I’ll be the first to say that.

TWO

I have joined the ranks of fairytale enthusiasts over at Fairy Tale Central! I was super excited to see this pet project of Christine, Arielle, and Faith take off a few months ago, and I’ve been pretty religious about keeping up with their posts. And this month, Hayden and I have joined up to help write posts and do odd jobs for our wonderful fairy godmothers. Since I’m mommy as well as writer, I will probably be posting there the least out of the five, but I count it such an honor to be included.

Fairytales are just awesome, ok?

And…

THREE

Today, July 5th, marks the official 22 week mark of my second pregnancy. I’m still in shock that God has blessed our family with another baby, and I can’t wait to meet our little one in early November! It’s going to be fun seeing our daughter be a big sister — she loves babies!

God bless!

That Little Thing Called Time

Still alive, I see. And finally coming back to post something.

2018 brought me a lot of things I had only ever dreamed of. It was amazing to see God act in every area of my life. It’s still hard to recognize that 2018 is OVER. It’s done. And we’re not getting it back again.

Part of me believes that 2018 was my busiest year ever. Let’s list a few things from those 365 days, shall we?
~ I completed my undergraduate degree and graduated college.
~ I gave birth to our first child.
~ We moved our family to a new (and bigger!) apartment to accommodate our growing family.
~ I stood as a bridesmaid in one of my best friend’s/cousin’s wedding.
~ We celebrated our first wedding anniversary.
~ I finished writing Spindle Dreams.
~ I won NaNo (again) by adding 54K words onto The Twelfth Kingdom.
~ I helped my parents move out-of-state over Christmas break.

Looking back, I feel like I accomplished a lot of things. I remember a lot of fun times with family and friends, rough days finishing up my degree while 9 months pregnant, long nights learning how to mommy, and sweet moments with my husband. I was busy. I got a lot done, right? Not enough.

I also remember all the lazy moments and wasted hours from 2018. I think one of the biggest things I learned last year was that being busy isn’t the same thing as being productive. I had a lot of goals for myself at the beginning of 2018. I don’t think I fulfilled even a quarter of them. Instead, I binged my way through postpartum recovery with episodes of Cake Boss, Counting On, Love It or List It, and House Hunters. I scrolled through hours of Pinterest instead of writing another 500 words on one of my WIPs. I read and reread Facebook posts by the dozen instead of putting a couple dozen words together for a blog post. Confession: Tasty videos are super addictive.

I wasted a lot of time.

Now, I’m not saying any of these things are bad. I don’t consider TV shows and social media to be immoral; too many times throughout the day I found them extremely helpful when needing to contact someone or look up a recipe or look up baby information. I just don’t have the greatest self-discipline when it comes to monitoring the time I spend on such sites.

Those wasted moments really come back to haunt you. Let me tell you. I’m sitting here in 2019, thinking of everything I’d wanted to get done but didn’t in 2018 and wishing I’d used my time a little wiser. Time is something that, once it’s gone, you can never recover. And I don’t want to get to the end of 2019 and have the same regrets of wasted time that I had in 2019.

One of the things I’m learning currently is that being profitable doesn’t have to mean big goals and time-consuming things. I think one of the biggest reasons why most people fail like 93.876% of their New Year’s resolutions is because they set impossible tasks for themselves that are bigger than the state of Texas. Profitability can be writing 500 words a day on a WIP. It can be putting together a 250 word blog post. It can be editing one chapter of another WIP a week. It can be any number of small things; the most important thing is that YOU DO THEM.

Yes, I know it’s already a week to the end of January, but 2019 is still fresh! And as Anne likes to say, “Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet.” This is still a new year with no mistakes in it yet. The only mistake would be to waste it. Let’s take it one day at a time, one small goal at a time, one step at a time, and make 2019 much more profitable than last year.

God bless!

Joy in Brokenness?

How do you deal with feeling broken? 

When your health always seems to get the better of you, is there any joy to be found?

I used to be a really healthy kid. You know — the kind that could walk into a dentist’s office and walk out again without any cavities. Staying healthy was easy. And other than your average cold during the wet season, I was hardly ever laid up in bed or stuck on the couch.

It’s amazing how quickly something like that can change, though. In 2007, my family moved to a new house which was surrounded by fields on three sides. Those fields got liberally sprayed with pesticides and all sorts of chemical nastiness every spring, and my family never realized how dangerous that situation could be. In 2011, I suffered a pretty severe case of bronchitis — after which I was quickly diagnosed with asthma and multiple allergies. I won’t bog you down with the entire list of allergies, but besides being allergic to half of outside, I couldn’t eat chocolate, soy, buckwheat, fish, and walnuts.

After being so free for so many years, it was a huge blow. I couldn’t run around and play outside like I used to. I couldn’t eat whatever I wanted. In fact, there were several restaurants that I couldn’t eat at period. Seriously, have you tried to eat out with a soy allergy? Forget Chinese.

I’d never had health restrictions before. I couldn’t understand why God gave them to me.

To be honest, I got rather bitter about it. My body had basically been poisoned. In addition to the allergies and asthma, I contracted mono (ebstein barr virus) in the next few years. The changes to my body also put me at a high risk for cancer and infertility. For years, I worried that, if God did lead me to marry someone, I would never be able to have kids.

Infertility was really hard to accept because most of my life I’ve wanted the chance to be a mom. And taking the step to dating my to-be husband, Jed, only made it worse. I knew how much he wanted a family; we both wanted a large family. But considering that I was a carrier of mono, I’d probably pass the virus onto Jed after we were married, and there was a pretty good chance I’d pass it onto any children that we might have together.

I felt utterly broken and useless. 

Jed really was a true blessing sent from the Lord. In those low emotional moments (which happened more often than I’d care to admit), he would always point me back to God. Every time I complained about feeling broken, he was quick to assure me that I wasn’t. True, my body may have been limited physically, but that didn’t mean I was broken. There was still joy I could embrace while avoiding eating chocolate and contemplating a future with no children.

My joy doesn’t come from being complete and unbroken. My joy doesn’t come from a healthy body without dietary and physical limitations. My joy doesn’t come from ten robust children running around in a big farmhouse. My joy doesn’t even come from my practically perfect husband/then boyfriend.

My joy comes from the Lord. 

God is my Sustainer and the source of all my joy. To step beyond the feeling of brokenness, I had to change my perspective. God didn’t allow the multiple health issues because He wanted me to have a hard life. He gave all of this to me as a gift because He knew I could handle it. Even in the moments when it feels most overwhelming, I have to keep that outlook. I can handle the hard stuff because I have an Everlasting Rock in my Creator. And that will never change.

It is still difficult to accept the health challenges. I think God used the allergies and other things to get my attention. I was focused so much on myself and my perfect future that I didn’t think about what future God might have planned out for me. I had to let go of my own dreams and learn to willingly follow God wherever He might lead.

Today, I am happy to say that the mono is more under control, and I am the very proud mother of a healthy 5-month-old baby girl. As an added bonus, during my pregnancy, I discovered that some of my allergies cleared up, specifically the food intolerances to chocolate and soy.

I don’t know if my kids will experience the mono virus. I don’t know if God’s plan for my life could be flare-ups of mono and a battle with cancer in the future. I don’t know that my allergies will return, or if the laundry list of ones I still have will ever go away.

But I do know that Christ is sufficient. Whatever He gives me He knows I can manage it. 

And I think that’s been the most helpful thing of all. If I can change my attitude towards my circumstance and find a way to praise God in it, the problems almost melt away. Yes, they’re still there, but they don’t feel as consuming anymore.

If I have the body that God intended me to have, health problems and all, I can rejoice because I’m living inside His plan for me. If I only ever have one child instead of ten, that’s the best thing ever. If I can’t walk outside in the spring without my inhaler, so be it. It’s so comforting to know that God is still in control. And even if He never allows me the perfect future I envisioned for myself, it’s okay because He has an even better plan for my life. I just have to keep stepping up in faith and trust Him to lead me.

There is joy in brokenness. 

God bless!

Happy Palindrome Week!

Because of my synesthesia, cool numbers always fascinate me. When the stars line up and the colors just scream at me, I can’t help but admire them. But it’s not always the colors; sometimes the technical, analytical aspect is just too awesome to ignore. Although I’m not a huge math person, I enjoy seeing things line up perfectly. I guess you could say I have a bit of synesthetic OCD.

Lately (this week, in fact), the internet has been blowing up celebrating an odd occurrence known as “Palindrome Week.” For those of you who don’t know, this week (or so) of August is the only week this year that is the same forwards and backwards. See below.

*Image not mine; found via Google search.

Isn’t that so cool?? Every date is the same backwards AND forwards. The little synesthete in me is just so happy with this. Yes, this sort of thing has happened more than just this year, and technically Palindrome Week this year (2018) extends from August 10th to Augusth 19th (longer than the picture above acknowledges). That’s 10 days in a row that can be read the same backwards and forwards!

August 11th happens to be my birthday and, on top of celebrating with a free pizza from a local restaurant and my hubby surprising me with a special date to get ice cream, I got to celebrate my birthday as being part of Palindrome Week! (Yes, I’m a nerd.)

Palindromes are one of those number things that fascinate me. So do consecutive numbers. And to help celebrate this week of cool numbers, I have another “week” of cool numbers that I’d like to share with you all in a short, nerdy post. These are not palindrome dates, bur rather consecutive dates that fell so perfectly that it would be a shame not to share during this week of weeks.

Ready?

June 20, 2015

I found out that Jed was interested in me. 

April 21, 2018

I gave birth to our first baby — a little girl named Annika. 

April 22, 2017

Jed and I got engaged. 

April 23, 2018

Little Annika’s duedate.

June 24, 2017

Jed and I were married. 

August 25, 2017

Jed and I found out that we were going to be parents. 

April 26, 2015

I severely friend-zoned Jed and told him we’d never be anything more than friends. 

It alternatively boggles and fascinates me that the the days of the “20s” are so key to every big step that Jed and I have made together. Please note that these events did not all happen in the same year. This has been a four-year process; though, I never thought that in just four years I’d go from friend-zoning a guy to giving birth to our first child.

Isn’t it cool how God works things out according to His plan? I’m so glad for this four-year, consecutive-date plan. Of course, now I’m going to be pretty alert for big changes anytime another consecutive date rolls around.

How about you? Any special consecutive dates in your life? How are you celebrating Palindrome Week?

God bless!

One I Forgot…

Looking back through my posts I discovered there were a few drafts I had begun on awards. Apparently, back in the day, I’d been awarded and never got around to finishing a post about it.

And get this — the awards were from 2014.

2014!! 

I guess these were something I’d gotten right before I started my freshman year at college, and then crazy school life kicked in and I completely forgot about them. So they sat, cold and neglected in my drafts folder, waiting for the day when they might see the sun again (if ever).

My original draft had included links and a big thank you to the two bloggers who had tagged/awarded me, but when I went back through the links, both posts were gone. Both blogs were gone, too. Either they’d been deleted or turned into a private blog. I neglected these things for so long that the bloggers who awarded me had already moved on with their lives. If one of those bloggers is reading this now — I’m very grateful for your nomination and I apologize that I never got around to finishing a post about it until now.

I’m not huge into the awards now, but one of these had some tag questions that I thought would be fun to answer. Who doesn’t like a fun tag? I love reading them on other people’s blog because it’s like one of those “Get out of jail free” cards from Monopoly — except it’s a free card for blog readers to snoop and learn interesting tidbits about the blog writer’s life. Yes, I’m curious. And I apologize — I have no idea with which award these questions go to.

~*~

 1. What type of music do you listen to? (Genre, artists, songs?)

Honestly? Mostly soundtracks. For writing, I prefer composers like James Newton Howard, Patrick Doyle, Alan Silvestri, John Powell, Alexandre Desplat, Andrew Lockington, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Howard Shore, James Horner, John Williams… and the list could keep going. 

For cleaning, it’s always fun Christmas music or Broadway musicals. And don’t start that about Christmas music only being for December. EVERY MONTH IS CHRISTMAS MUSIC MONTH. Broadway… too many favorites. I would end up keeping you for hours. 

For general listening, I enjoy sacred albums from conservative groups like The Wilds or Soundforth. Or some good Emile Pandolfi, Sir James Galloway, or Andrea Bochelli. Tchaikovsky is my favorite classical composer, hands down. I could listen to the entire Swan Lake ballet on repeat. AND I HAVE. No regrets. 

~*~

2. What usually cheers you up?

My husband. 🙂 I know it’s cliche, but he always knows how to make me smile. It doesn’t take him long at all to figure out my mood; he knows me sometimes better than I know myself. 

And while he’s at work, I cuddle with my baby. She’s almost 3 months old now and getting to the stage where she wants to “talk” and make the most adorable baby noises. Also, she’s super cute. 

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3. What makes you sad?

Watching my husband leave for work. I am so grateful he has a job, but watching him walk out and then watching the car drive away is devastating for me. So, typically, I can’t watch him leave. If I’m tired enough after a rough night with baby, I’ll start crying. I didn’t use to be an emotional mess… and then I got married. I tell my husband it’s his fault I’m so emotional now. 

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4. Is there something you constantly misplace at your house or anywhere?

I’m sure we’ll be losing things more and more as baby starts to get older. For now… probably my water bottle. Or baby wipes — I have a million packages all around the house, but unless it’s in plain sight, I don’t usually remember where I left the last package.

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5. Do you have a favorite book? Why or why not?

I do not have a favorite book. Because I have favorite bookSSSSSS. I honestly don’t understand how people can only have one favorite book. It’d be like living life with only one favorite meal. You just can’t do it. There will always be more than one.

~*~

6. What is the longest you have slept?

Recently? 7 hours. Which for me is really good. #newmom I don’t know that I’ve slept longer than 8 hours at a time in the last 4 years. I get tired, but I can’t seem to stay asleep for long amounts of time. If someone has the secret to napping, please let me know. I would send you all the virtual gingerbread you want for a secret like that.

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7. Do you have anyone you go to for advice?

I always talk to my husband first (no brainer). Personally, I think he’s a genius in every area of life (I mean, seriously — he’s getting a doctorate!!). Before I was married I always went to my dad, and I still do ask for his opinion on a lot of stuff. Unless it’s baby advice… then I talk to my mom (who’s had 6 kids) or my two sisters (who worked for a combined 6 years in daycare). 

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8. What is the one habit you are proud of breaking or want to break?

One habit I’d like to break? Biting my nails. I don’t gnaw and chew on them endlessly, but I’m constantly forgetting where the nail clippers are. My husband has a specific spot for them in the house, but I can’t ever remember it. (I guess this would be the correct answer for #4 above; technically, they’re not lost — I just don’t remember where to look, or sometimes just to actually look.) I just think, Wow, those are long. I could hurt baby. And then I quickly take care of them.

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9. What do you usually order at a restaurant? What is your favorite restaurant?

BEEF. Of any kind. I am a steak, burger, complete cow girl, hands down. I’m open to other options, of course, but I don’t cook with beef very often at home, so when we go out, I like getting that.

I don’t know that I go out to eat often enough to have a favorite restaurant. My husband recently treated me to Steak ‘N Shake for the first time for our anniversary, and IT WAS AMAZING. I got a delicious burger AND a mint Oreo milkshake. Basically, paradise in one meal.

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10. What is your favorite word? Least favorite?

Fika. The Swedish word for “coffee break” — translated loosely. It involves coffee, friends, and something sweet to eat, and I normally try to have my fika every day. Lately, I’ve been substituting hot chocolate for the coffee (because of my other favorite word “mama”), but it’s still awesome. 

Least favorite? Good-bye. For obvious reasons. 

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11. Describe something that happened to you for which there was no reasonable explanation?

Give me a minute. I’m sure there’s something; I’m just not thinking of anything right now.

While working at the library, I found two $10 Walmart giftcards (on separate occasions). I tried to track down each time the person who’d lost the card, but both times was unsuccessful. Every email I sent came back negative, and no one called in for a lost giftcard. After letting them sit in the library safe for a month, my boss let me take the cards. One of the cards I found during the summer, but the other was during the school year, and I thought it really weird that I was the one who ended up finding and keeping both when I had another twenty coworkers who could have found one of the cards. I was sorry I couldn’t return the cards, but it was nice to add it to the week’s groceries.

Is that odd enough?

~*~

If anyone would like to steal these questions for his/her own post, please feel free! Or, comment your answers below! I’d love to read your answers — like I said, I’m a very curious person. 

God bless!

Getting To Know Me Tag (Writer’s Edition)

My good friend, fairytale enthusiast, and writing buddy Christine recently posted a really cool looking getting-to-know-you writer’s tag. I read through her whole post, thinking, What a great tag! Man, I’m so jealous no one tagged me with it! This would be so much fun to fill out! To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve filled out a tag of any kind, and it’s also been a while since I’ve consistently posted on my blog. This tag looked like just the thing to get me going again. 

And then, lo and behold, I got to the bottom of the post… and she had tagged me. 

Thanks, Christine! *grins* 

So, let’s jump into this thing. 

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RULES

Link back to the person who created the tag

Thank the person who tagged you

Share the tag graphic (Optional)

Tag eleven bloggers

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THE TAG

Vital Stats And Appearance

Name: Which one do you want? My online name is Kiri Liz, my writing pseudonym is Kirsten Fichter, and my real name is Kirsten Davis. Take your pick; I’ll answer to all of them. Just NEVER Kristen.

Nicknames: Kiri, mostly. A lot of family members call me Kitty. When I went to college, I got tired of people pronouncing my name wrong or just not remembering my name, so I introduced myself as Kit for a while. I also answer to Dee, Kirsty, Kirry, and now Mama. *grins*

Birthday: August 11th — the same as Chris Hemsworth; I get weird looks when I tell people I’m Thor’s twin (just 10 years younger). At least, we looked more like twins before his haircut. 

Hair color and length: Dirty blonde and long-ish. I just had a huuuuuge trim so it’s just to my mid-back now, but before it was cut I was just sitting on it. 

Eye color: Blue/gray/ish. I used to be very blue, but I think it’s changed over the years.

Braces/piercings/tattoos: None. Piercings and tattoos are probably my biggest fear; the thought of putting a hole or foreign ink into my body makes me feel sick. It’s not the needles, though — I went through a whole summer of allergy shots and was just fine.

Righty or Lefty: Righty.

Ethnicity: Germish. That’s German and English combined, for those of you who don’t know. And then I’ve got some Scot, Scandinavian, Native American, and random bits of other things thrown in. I’m a true American mutt.

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Firsts

First novel written: The first book I ever began working on was a Civil War story about a girl named Ruth. I can’t remember what I called it, but I still have the notebook of handwritten chapters somewhere in my writing paraphernalia. Ruth disguises herself as a boy and joins the Union army with her brother. I was very proud of it.

First novel completed: Lianne Taimenlore. Yes, the same story I named my blog after. I completed writing the first book of the series back in, oh boy — years ago, but I lost the beginning of the second book when my sister accidentally knocked over our computer and I’ve actually not gone back to it since. Lianne is a half-elf who, after her father dies, has to flee from a killer and have all sorts of adventures. I planned at least a trilogy of adventures for her, and I hope I get around to writing it all one day.

Award for writing: I won “grand prize” in my local county fair for a poem when I was a teenager. I liked to think that it was a big deal, but basically every kid who entered something in the fair got a prize.

First publication: Well, that depends. I’ve had a poem published in an online writing magazine for Christian youth. The magazine was discontinued in 2013. Since then, I’ve self-published The Rose and the Balloon through Amazon. Link in picture below. *shameless advertising* 

Conference: None… yet.

Query/Pitch: I began writing a query and pitch for Secret of the Hazel Tree, but never got the courage to send it to an agent or editor since I was still working on edits. Writing isn’t easy, folks. Especially when you remember that other people will be reading your words and making judgment on every one of them.

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Favorites

Novel (that you wrote): Probably Secret of the Hazel Tree. It’s long and everything that I wanted in a fairytale retelling. My goal was not to twist Cinderella in my own way, but to stay as true to the original tale as possible while making all the fairytale elements and Cinderella under-explained plot points seem believable. I still can’t believe I wrote it all in 5 months.

Genre: FANTASY. Seriously, I don’t know that I really have another genre that I write in. I’ve begun a couple contemporary, historical fiction, dystopian, fan fiction, etc. novels, but never really got past a few chapters. Technically, I’ve done a little steampunk with The Rose and the Balloon but it’s only light steampunk.

Author: Why must you ask this question??? TOO MANY. Charles Dickens, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Donita K. Paul, Wayne Thomas Batson, Jaye L. Knight, Jan Brett, Margaret Wise Brown, Jane Austen… and the list goes on and on.

Writing Music: Typically soundtracks by James Newton Howard and Patrick Doyle. It used to be the LOTR and HTTYD soundtracks, but I’ve had to shy away from those since the music gets me thinking about and quoting the movies as I listen to the songs. I’ve learned it’s better for me if I don’t know the movie too well, so I don’t get distracted with the soundtrack. Anything with lyrics is bad, too.

Time To Write: In the morning before everyone’s awake, or in the evenings after everyone has gone to bed. So… basically when no one but me is awake. 

Writing Snack/Drink: Depends on my mood. Sometimes, it’s a nice cup of coffee with creamer. Sometimes, a bowl of pretzels. Sometimes, applesauce. Sometimes, chocolate. 

Movie: The Lord of the Rings. Was that even a question??

Writing Memory: Probably the first time I ever participated in NaNoWriMo. I did it in April, just to see what it was like, and I wrote 50K words in 30 days. And that was the beginning of The Dragon Tamer. 

Childhood Book: Ooh, that’s a tough one. When I was really little, it was The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear (illustrations by Jan Brett); in my teens, Life of Faith: Millie Keith series. 

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Currently

Reading: My husband and I are reading the Wheel of Time series aloud, and we’re currently in book four, The Shadow Rising. I did not think I would get sucked into this series so fast. Yeah, the books are like 700 pages apiece, but we’re flying through this thing. A lot of our conversations lately have been about the books, asking each other questions about the characters, making predictions about what we think is going to happen. It’s been so much fun. 

Writing: Ha. Actively working on one project right now? Shamefully, no. I just came off of a week and a half vacation for visiting family and my cousin’s wedding, so it’s taking me a bit to jump back in. Wheel of Time has me itching to get my hands back into The Dragon Tamer series, but I’m trying to keep myself focused on editing right now. FOR REASONS. *be on the lookout for updates in the near future* *waggles eyebrows importantly* No, I’m not spilling secrets yet. 

Listening to: I’ve been stuck on Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo recently, but that doesn’t make good writing music at all. I had the immense privilege to perform this epic of a piece as part of a choral concert in college. Hours of practice, guys. It was amazing. So worth the effort. And now I can’t listen to it without singing along. Seriously, if you want something that’s going to send chills up and down your spine, you have to listen to it. It’s Psalm 100, giving praise to the Lord in, I think, 6 or more different languages. GIVE IT A LISTEN. 

Watching: Just watched both HTTYDs while visiting my family, and SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THE THIRD. So far, Dreamworks hasn’t messed this series up for me and THAT TRAILER looks so incredibly EPIC. I’m also really stuck on watching Cake Boss clips. And consequently making cake because I get so hungry. That’s the problem with watching anything with food. 

Learning: How to Mama. It’s been a new adventure, being a first-time mom, but I’m loving it. Our little girl has been so good — we don’t deserve that. Yes, she has her cranky moments, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world. 

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Future

Want To Be Published: I’m hoping to get something else self-published sometime soon, so we’ll see what happens. That’s my goal, anyway. 

Indie or Traditional: Indie for some things, definitely, since it takes less time and I can control everything going into it. *ducks head* Yeah, I’m a little bit of a control freak when it comes to my work. One day, I’d love to get into traditional publishing, too. 

Wildest Goal: My husband laughed when he saw this one and said, “Have 19 kids, right?” I watched a lot of the Duggars and Bates while in recovery after birth (they both are families of 19 kids, for those of you who don’t know), and we’ve talked about having that many, too. Can’t say for certain if it’ll happen or not; only the Lord knows how big our family is. I’m so happy with the one little girl we have right now, but I’m looking forward to being able to give her a partner in crime. 

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Thanks, Christine, for tagging me in such a fun post! I’m not going to tag anyone at this moment, but any writer who would like to steal this for himself/herself, please feel free! Rules are posted above, but the tag questions I’ve copied down below so it’s easier to copy and paste onto your own post. And no — don’t glare at me for neglecting to tag people. I’m claiming Mommy rights right now. Baby comes first. Yes, I pulled that card. Plus, I’ve got to get this thing posted and I don’t have a lot of time. 

Enjoy! 

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Vital Stats And Appearance

Name:

Nicknames:

Birthday:

Hair color and length:

Eye color:

Braces/piercings/tattoos:

Righty or Lefty:

Ethnicity:


Firsts

First novel written:

First novel completed:

Award for writing:

First publication:

Conference:

Query/Pitch:


Favorites

Novel (that you wrote):

Genre:

Author:

Writing Music:

Time To Write:

Writing Snack/Drink:

Movie:

Writing Memory:

Childhood Book:


Currently

Reading:

Writing:

Listening to:

Watching:

Learning:


Future

Want To Be Published:

Indie or Traditional:

Wildest Goal: